New Pops to the Rox rumor (UPDATE: Confirmed Rockets reach verbal agreement)

So why didn't Shaq take other offers out there besides the Lakers? You are conveniently ignoring how Shaq loves the limelight. And there has always been speculation about how NY won the lottery to get Ewing.

And why do you think the Lakers aren't worried about going over the luxury tax? It couldn't be because they are a big market team that are the 2nd most successful team in NBA history...naaah. Let's see if Jerry Buss would go over the line if his team was in OKC. And please don't use the Clippers as an example, being in a large market does not make up for stupidity and incompetence.

That crying part is ironically funny. You're pretty good at that.

I never said the Lakers were lucky. I'm just ridiculing you for comparing their NBA history and where they are at right now to the Rockets situation past and present. It's not exactly apples to apples no matter how much you argue it is.

Those teams are in different situations then the Rockets right now. They are in a win now mode and getting a 30 year old and over star is not as important to them as to what they can help that team win now. The Rockets are trying to get younger, that's pretty obvious. And if you bring up Barry, then you must be ignorant to the reason that he was signed because Yao and Tmac still had a chance to play that season together. Barry is not a make or break kind of signing. And you tell me if the Rockets could have put something together to get Gasol at the time. If all it took to get Gasol at the time is an expiring contract trash player, then what's the difference about the other 29 teams' trash players who had expiring contracts that matched Gasol's? A trash player with an expiring contract is a trash player with an expiring contract. Unless you see merits in a trash player, which you have a knack for.

I've already given credit to Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak for the work they've done in Lakerland. Again, I implore you to get on the phone with Daryl so you can tell him how to get a Magic, Worthy, Kareem, Kobe, and Shaq type of players. It's easier said then done.

Other teams may have been upgrading and changing their rosters, but Daryl hasn't exactly stood still and twiddled his thumbs while being the GM here. For the most part I commend his moves or at least intrigued. Getting Scola for a quitter who wanted to run back home, getting viable rotation players in the late 1st round or in the 2nd round. It may not be a Kobe for Divac type of move but Daryl is being proactive. As for Tmac and Yao, we may have sink our hooks on damaged goods, but it's not like franchise players are easily attainable. Unless of course you're the Lakers.

So to sum this all up, and to quote you on one of your threads, quit crying.

 

I love how Morey is doing all these under the radar type moves, basically getting a younger, more athletic team.

Brooks, Lowry, Landry, Ariza, Scola, Pops Mensah Bonsu, Budinger, Taylor, Andersen, is a core to build around for 2010. Especially if Battier stays, tracy is gone, and Yao is healthy (oxymoron) but these guys will be fun to watch

 

V.3, we could go on and on and you're not going to see it my way and i'm not going to see it your way. You believe the league is rigged for La and I think they make their own luck. I'll leave it at that and I will continue to support the rrockets like I did after they traded moses in his prime. We will see in 4 yrs or so if this team is any closer to a title than they are now.

 

To be fair, part of my stance was that the Lakers was so successful in part because they are in LA. Kareem said he wanted to be traded to a big market team even after winning a title with the Bucks. So tell me how can a team like the Rockets be faulted for not getting in the Kareem sweepstakes.

 

i totally agree with you - except i think tracy stays. if morey thinks tmacs worth it - i'll trust him over anyone.

 

its awesome to see morey stockpiling valuable talent like this, but they can hardly be called a championship-calibre supporting cast. with the nuclear arms race between Orlando and Cleveland and Lakers and Blazers and Raptors, adding a few dleaguers and second rounders here and there ain't gonna cut it.

we better see a move to improve the team before the season starts. and I think we will. Roster spots right now are a mess with guaranteed contracts and even if we don't make a move now, we are gonna see moves during the trade deadline.

and that includes tracy

 

http://www.basketball247.co.uk/news/archives/00000444.shtml

Pop's sister blogs for this site but this isn't her article.

That could mean a better situation or contract?

 

You do know the Lakers didn't win any titles during the kareem era until magic came right. When you get the chance, go research and see how west surrounded a aging Kareem. Go see how they got Magic a yr after being in the playoffs. Go see how they got the #1 pick in worthy a yr after a playoff birth. Go see how they got Byron,mcadoo,green,rambis, and cooper. See what you're not looking at is how and it wasn't because everyone wanted to go to La. Shaq always said he felt like a big fish in a small pond in Orlando, but being a Jersey dude, although he went to high school in San Antonio, why didn't NY or NJ make a play for him? Why didn't NJ or the other 12 teams draft kobe instead of Charlotte?

We can play this game all night and you will stick to what you say and I will do the same. Bottomline is the lakers haven't relied on ping pong balls for fate. They didn't put their franchise fortunes on 2 injury prone psuedo stars because the owner loves one like a son and loves the other because of off court ventures. They don't get down like that.

2 yrs ago La had the best record in the west until Bynum went down. Bynum was playing very well at the time also. Kupchak said then he didn't think they would make the playoffs with the team he had. He blew up the phones, read the tea leaves and made the move for Gasol. I remember people on this talking about Gasol as if he was a superscrub. Gasoft and every other nickname you could come, but he goes to La and now the league made memphis give him to La. Right.

Like I said, we will just agree to disagree and its not against board laws to do such. We will see how the rockets come through this and hopefully they can be serious threats again.

 

Moses was a restricted free agent and Houston (stupidly) didn't want to pay what Phillie offered. They signed Malone to match the offer sheet and then traded Moses for Caldwell Jones, who was getting a bit long in the tooth (and in no way, shape, or form comparable to Moses, to say the least), and the Sixers 1983 1st round pick, which became Rodney McCray. So while I agree Houston was stupid trading Moses, they thought they couldn't afford him and ended up with McCray, who was a starter and a very good player. Whether they could have picked someone other than McCray is another thing altogether.

 

Since you ostensibly know so much, what "advanced" quantitative approach was used by the Rockets when signing Barry to a TWO year deal?

What were the dependent and independent variables in the decision to draft Dorsey?

What math equation led the Rockets to sign Pops?

 

Wouldn't that be sweet! But I am of the though that he passed. Do you know?

 

For one, Brent Barry is now a valuable expiring contract...and a perfect trade filler.


Say the Bucks sign Sessions for 5 mil, and we want to trade Landry for him, who makes 3 mil. GUESS what contract we can throw in to make the trade work?

 

Please stop ankle biting with this nonsense. Cherry picking examples of low investment, low risk players who sit at the end of the bench makes you look stupid- and you don't need the help. Seriously, with all of the humiliations you have taken around here, you've got some gall to call out anybody's opinion on basketball.

I don't even think you are even interested in the issue at hand, but I will respond. The regime under Morey has produced solid results through under the radar aquisitions and low draft picks. You were probably whining about Landry, Brooks, Scola and Hayes (when you weren't curled up in the fetal position over Battier) when Morey acquired them. They have been solid players and they didn't cost much. That's a function of scouting and player development. They sink a lot of money into it and it has paid dividends. It's not some huge fluke that they have managed to stay in contention despite having both max contract debilitated by injuries.

The initial point that I was making is that Les Alexander is, indeed, committed to winning over the long term and these investments in the team's future (see their use of the D League) is proof of that.

 

Back to Pops. Anyone seen this video? Its a compilation of good things said about Pops by alot of people that include JVG, Marion, Kenny Smith, Claderon and many others. I'm beginning to feel good about his addition. And Rox will be running this coming season.

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That doesn't answer the question of why a player who was almost 40 that nobody else wanted was signed to a 2 year deal by the Rockets.

Looks like I struck a nerve, but you've always been quick to get excited and emotional.

You still didn't answer any of my questions (probably because you have no clue) about the statistical methodology and quantitative approach used by the Rockets that you arbitrarily claim is "more advanced" than any other team. You just make vague and ambiguous generalizations about it with nothing to back it up. Again, nothing new when it comes to you. Also, I should add that Brooks was Adelman's pick, the Spurs dumped a lot of salary on us for Scola, and Hayes is a 3rd string player. Not sure how the "statistical models" you're so laudatory of had anything to do with any of those decisions.

Lets also not forget you're the person who agrees with resigning McGrady for 4 years @ $40 million. I guess that's another move you would praise as an investment that shows a long term commitment to winning. For a guy who calls himself BMoney, you sure are intellectually bankrupt.

 

Veteran leadership, 3-point shooting, High basketball IQ, Low risk move, Can always use another shooter, Championship experience, PLANNED expiring contract. etc...

The rest of that post is awful
http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-11-01/news/rocket-science/
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3658571


Scola, Landry, Brooks, and Chuck have been complete steals....


BTW, link me to where it says that Brooks was "Adelmans pick"...

 

You mean like Clyde Drexler

 

You are funny. I gave you two starters and two rotation players Morey got for nothing (seriously, how big was that contract from the Spurs again?) and you dismiss them out of hand, or say that Brooks "was Adelman's pick." By your definition, who is to say that Brent Barry wasn't Adelman's pick?

My "vague and ambiguous generalizations" pointed out the documented scouting and player development systems that Morey has put into place. These articles mentioned stastical models that are unique in player evaluation, unprecedented investment (that means money!) and an alignment of player development program with their D league operation that no other team in the NBA has. Read the articles- they mention that the Rockets use advanced and expensive statistical models, scouting systems and player development systems that go beyond what other teams are using. There, I wrote it twice so you (might) get it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3658571
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?_r=1
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/06/29/houston-rockets-starting-first-of-kind-partnership-nba-d-league/

I will cop to one thing you wrote- I do get emotional over the Rockets. They are my team. I think a lot of their so-called fans around here are quick to label them failures when they have been a team we should be proud of. I also get emotional when ill-informed people like you spout nonsense on what used to be the best basketball BBS in existence. This thread is a perfect example- you still must feel upset from the ass kickings you got in the Stephen Jackson thread and you wanted to make yourself feel better by picking a fight in this thread. It's nothing new, but it's stupid.

 

Can this guy shoot anything outside of a layup?

 

Hammer, don't hurt em'!

I don't know and I guess know one else does, but I don't think these advanced stats have netted the rockets a all star type talent either in the draft or via trade. I'm not saying it works or don't and I understand the low risk type of moves or medical advantage, but barry,francis,and bonzi have netted zero.

I was b****ing last year when they signed him because i'm watching him do nothing for the spurs. If the spurs thought he was over the hill as a player and they tend to hang on longer than most, why did we even enter conversations with the guy? Not only that, it was early in free agency. Francis was a anchor around our neck also because it kept the rockets above the lux tax. So its kinda like we had to pay a team to take francis and a draft pick, then we had to turn around and pay for those same 2nd rd draft picks. Its like a merry go round.

Knote, Pops is like a landry clone without the mid range jumper. He's a very good athlete , finish well and with power, and is a good rebounder. Problem is, just like our other guys, he's 6'8 maybe 6'9 at best. As long as he's in a finishing position, he will be ok, but asking him to do anything else is a stretch.