Anyone remember the Cleveland Cavaliers from the early 90s? Full of talent and always dangerous during the season, they just never stayed healthy enough to make any noise in the playoffs. Now I really feel for Brad Daugherty, who used to put up Yao Ming numbers before sitting out two full seasons and calling it a career. And of course you had Larry Nance, Mark Price, etc etc. These are different teams, but it's interesting to note that, albeit very talented and good teams in their time, those Cavs are nothing but a footnote in the NBA history books. Sometimes I get the feeling our Yao/TMac teams with the 22-game winning streaks and the Game 7 losses might have to accept the same bitter reality. The difference I see is that the Cavs of the 90s held onto their promising young guard (Brandon) and put forward a steady but mediocre team for the next 3-4 years. With Morey, I think the Rockets can turn this ship around much quicker. Anyways, just a thought that's gone through my mind of late, esp. with TMac and Yao possibly out for longs stretches. Note to cynics: No I don't think this team is doomed, I'm pretty sure we'll have an exciting season with some pleasant surprises. And I do think the TMac saga will end well (either a good trade or a good recovery)...
I don't know what to believe anymore. We lost Yao, Tmac, and Artest. What's there for the Rockets? Probably nothing this offseason.
the cavs held on to mediocrity because they were scared to start from scratch. same with the knicks in the ewing, houston, johnson years where they were always injured. morey passing on ron for ariza shows the commitment to building a championship team, and not holding onto mediocrity. if we have to hit the bottom before we can start to climb again, then so be it. it's better than another 3 or 4 years of first round exits, only to realize it's time to play the lotto.
So does that mean we'll be drafting one of the greatest players of all time first overall in a few years? I can't wait!!
Actually the future is bright for the Rockets, I think Scola's value has never been higher , as well as Battier. TMac could either return to glory (low probability) or get traded to team looking for cap relief. If Yao doesn't respond, we can settle with him and have alot of cap space in the '10 market. We have some good pieces like Landry and Brooks apart from what I just mentioned. With the drafting ability of Morey and the multiple risks we take with 2nd rounders, we will continue to have a solid pool of talent that we're not committed to (Dorsey, J. Taylor, etc)
I just hope Scola and Battier could be healthy the whole season long. That's the last thing I can hope.
