Your memory is failling you. At the start of 2005 we had the following four players: Bob Sura, Mike James, Derek Anderson, and David Wesley that we don't have now. We had Swift but now we have Battier. We also have to wait to see if we can trade Battier and how we use the MLE and TE.
First of all, everyone is two years older, and on a team as old as we are, that really is a major factor. I really cannot stress that enough. Second of all, we had Mike James, and Bobby Sura. Right now, we have neither. Deke is not the same Deke from two years ago, and Wesley was a capable 2guard two years ago. Oh yeah, and T-Mac had not missed any significant time due to a chronic injury. The reality is, that we have the weakest pf situation in the league, we don't have any shooters except a rookie we took in the second round last night, we don't really have a full-time starting point guard, nor a capable backup center. We have huge holes. Now hopefully we can fill some through trade and FA, but it's not a given. Right now, we are definately not as good as we were when we won 50+ games.
Uh, no. Mike James had been traded to Toronto for Alston, Bob Sura was out with Knee and back injuries, but the other 2 you got right. DD
From looking at the addition of Switft, our PF is either old or inexperienced. Rockets need to sign a free agent PF. Ben Wallace was supposed to be a FA this summer rite? PG: Alston, James, Head SG: T-Mac, James, Sura SF: Battier, T-Mac, Bowen PF: Wallace, Battier, Hayes C: Yao, Wallace, Mutombo Can you say contender?
Fair enough. Let's hope you are right. That would be nice to be able to put him at the 4. For some reason I just don't see it though, mainly because JVG has a man crush on Juwan. I am mainly talking about banging down low for rebounds. I think he is a good rebounder and would probably improve his numbers if he played PF more. I say if he can guard the other teams best player effectively then let him, whether it be a 2,3, or 4 who cares. Let's just hope he will be able to guard most of those guys and cause some mismatches on the other end with his range.
The thing that really just bugs me is to see so many people on this board go into damage control when there really is no way to defend this trade. DaDakota(who I respect and agreed with on Redick) is marking Rudy Gay off as a complete bust already, who is to say that he doesnt put up more than 10 and 5 in his rookie year? I would wager that he does. If we get nothing but Battier back in return then Im just speechless. I do believe that we have improved our team, don't get me wrong. But it is the degree to which we COULD HAVE improved our team by standing pat with our draft or at the very least choosing a different team to trade with. Bottom line, Jerry West absolutley raped CD and there really isn't any logical argument to the contrary.
Rudy Gay may indeed put up those numbers, but will he provide the defense, the sound passing, and intangibles that a solid pro like Battier bring? Battier was drafted number 6, and he has become a steady performer, people drafted at number 8 usually become a solid player, but not for a couple of years. Heck, we were happy with Yao in his rookie year averaging 13.5 and 8 rebounds......do you think Gay will average 13ppg his rookie year? Because I think Battier will. DD
last year's #1, Bogut, only scored 9.4 and 7 rebounds playing just under 29 minutes a game. he was also considered NBA ready.
Akuma, Exactly, and if you look at our draft history, or anyone's for that matter, very few players actually contributed right away. Draft history In fact in 94 and 95 we did not have a pick and we won a championship one of those years. CD has a history of crappy drafts but good trades, so maybe he is just playing to his strengths. DD
Well lets look to our team. Luther head averaged almost 9 points and 3.3 rebounds.... Why is it so far fetched to believe Rudy gay can do better than that for our team? Oh and Dakota, yes I think Rudy Gay is quicker, longer, more athletic than Battier and thus under JVG would be a better defender. Its too bad JVG doesnt like to coach young players and would rather bring over the Brunson's, Frahm's, and Battier's of the NBA. But hey, they have good character so I guess its a wash right?
Channing Frye, last seasn's #8 pick averaged 12/6. That was with a slow start. I have a hunch Gay will at least meet the scoring number....
people assume that Gay is going to get at least 10/5. people also assume that Battier only will get 10/5. maybe Battier get 15/6 (more rebounding from increased time in general and at PF) shooting 50% FG. maybe Gay get's 9/4 shooting <40% playing only 25 mpg with foul trouble and turnovers. these are two likely realities that could happen for Houston and Memphis. now just to fix that gaping hole at PF. of course the Lakers in their day (80's and early 00's) never had that strong PF. but they had Pat Riley and Phil Jackson instead of Dummy.
LOL - on a REALLY REALLY bad team......Battier will play a significant role on the Rockets this year. Swift and Gay would not have played a significant role on the team, we upgraded in every sense of the word. DD
I find it amusing how you belittle people who "assume that gay is going to get at least 10/5", and then turn around and project Battier to produce 5 points and a rebound greater than his 5 year average. Battier is a proven product, 5 years in the league and he will give you 10 points and 5 rebounds. Hes played 30 minutes almost every year so you can't expect much more. We don't know what you get with Gay I agree, but we do know that he lead his team in scoring and that team had 4 first round draft picks. We also know that he was considered the most talented player in the draft. We also know that no UCONN player in recent memory picked in the lottery has not been a good pro at the very least. Stop trying to do damage control by over valuing Battier.
