Detroit has had Ben Wallace for a while and has a roster that is fairly dedicated towards playing a grinding defensive game. Until this past season, the Rockets have not been inclined to play a defensive game and they still lack a <i>Ben Wallace</i> type that allows for strong pressure on the perimeter by the other players. Is Prince a good defender? Yes, but it has to help playing in a <i>system</i> that places a higher value on defense than the Rockets have had in recent years. The <i>system</i> or <i>model</i> that the Rockets have been using as a guide to rebuild (post Dream) has been hazy (undefined?) for the past several years and that is part of the reason for the lack of significant progress.
It's pointless to mention, but I wish we would have had the foresight to draft Andrei Kirilenko instead of Kenny Thomas in '99.
well there have been bad picks and bad breaks.... michael dickerson was a bad break. the guy was playing great but suffered career ending injuries. griffin i will still say was a good pickup and he showed huge potential after his rookie season, but outside issues came into play (namely the death of his brother who was the one person who kept in him line and was his role model) and eggie completely fell apart. but to not mention CD picking horry, cassell, and cat is being very selective. also lets not forget that yao was not a no brainer. saying that is only looking at things in hindsight. there were many "experts" who were not big on yao and his potential hang ups with the chinese govt. cd has made some boneheaded moves, but you did forget to mention some of his better ones.
I still can't believe how CD gets crapped on in this forum. Tell me what team or GM has struck gold in the draft year in and year out. It is universally understood that projecting NBA talent in the draft is an inexact science at best. Save for the occassional "can't miss" player (like Shaq), teams play a guessing game and hope for the best. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I was in the Summit when we drafted Horry and heard the ensuing crescendo of boos as many (most) fans wanted Harold Miner. Horry has 5 rings...I don't think Miner had 5 seasons. And lets not forget that CD has consistently gone out and persued the talent the coaches and management felt we needed, from Drexler and Pippen (good idea/bad result) to JJ and Pike. Sometimes you win (Drexler and JJ), sometimes you lose (Pippen and Pike) BTW...forget Prince, how many teams passed on Spree, Finley, Kirilenko, Nash, J. Oneal, Artest, and Kobe.
Good post, hindsight is always 20/20. The only decisions, I feel, the Rockets can be criticized on are (1) Passing on Rashard-we all knew he was gonna be big time, and (2) Drafting Jason Collier-did he even know he was going to be drafted that year? Anyone who thought the EG pick was bad at the time did not know college bball and talent. Our whole city was ecstatic when we got him, and yea, we traded 3 players for him, but RJef is really the only one of the 3 that can be labeled anything more than a role player. Again, impossible to predict. No GM in the league would have drafted Jefferson ahead of EG at the time. How late did Stockton and Malone get drafted? Jordan, supposedly the greatest player ever, was passed up by two teams? You never know.
PhiSlammaJamma: "Prince was a wussy in college. He got a lot better." Prince was not a wuss in college. He played big in the biggest games and never backed down from anyone. I said at the time he would make a great addition to the team, but like a lot of other people, I wondered if his slight frame would make him too fragile for the more physical play of the NBA. I'm glad he's doing well, but I don't blame anyone for passing on him. There are no guarantees at the 15 spot. And Nachbar may still make it.
I hate all these threads becuase everyone talks about who got passed up after they become good. Before they play a game in the NBA it's all luck and good scouting and just sometimes people end up playing better then they were in college becuase of the system they are put in. Prince being that example in Detroit. It's all Hindsight. You can't perdict what these people will do, if they get injured etc etc. Part of the game....
I agree about Prince. In the few games I watched him in college, I thought for a guy his height, he had really long arms, great handles, and great range. I thought he would be moved to shooting guard with his thin frame. I also thought he would have more impact in his first year, but he doesn't really seem like a team leader type.
I for one was upset when the Rockets picked nachbar over prince, when prince showed that he was a good player and leader at the university of Kentucky. However, as usual with the Rockets they often overlook the best player to choose the player that would please their rich season ticket holders rather than the player that could help them win. Nachbar have yet to prove that he will be a player in the nba, while tashaun has already helped the Pistons win a championship. You nachbar lovers keep hoping that he would develop, while prince will continue to be a pivotal starter for the Pistons who are a threat to win more championships. Those nba executives that passed up on prince, and many other good player, Paul Pierce comes to mind, show u why only a few ever win anything because the rest or just wannabes who have the slightest clue what they are during.
Check out Larry Bird's comments about the makeup of the NBA compare to its season ticketholders. The Rockets are wise in their accessment of their ticketholders, knowing that Houston is one of the most conservative city in the nation, the Rocket are fully aware that their ticketholders are turn off by the recent trend of hip hop culture players which makeup the majority of the NBA as is detail by their attendence record over the last three years. This explain the Rockets willingness to take foreign players over more promising players such as: Mirsad Turkcan over Rashard Lewis and Bostjan Narchbar over Tayshaun Prince. The Rocket are going all out to please their ticketholders at the expense of winning, hoping that one of their non hip hop culture player will pan out. This is also the problem with Texas A & M and the University of Texas football program. They can never win a national championship because they are out to please thier alumni.
lilrooster: "the Rocket are fully aware that their ticketholders are turn off by the recent trend of hip hop culture players [...] This explain the Rockets willingness to take foreign players over more promising players such as: Mirsad Turkcan over Rashard Lewis and Bostjan Narchbar over Tayshaun Prince." If the Rockets were just out to please the fan base, they would have taken Rashard, the home town boy. He's not a "hip hop culture player" and neither is Prince. I think the Rockets just badly misjudged Turkcan and took him over Lewis because they felt they needed to "win now" and not wait for the high schooler to develop. They rolled the dice and got snake eyes. The jury is still out on Nachbar. In retrospect, I'd say they made a mistake (20/20 hindsight), but Nachbar could still make it.
I really hate it when people call Mirsad Turckan and Micheal Dickerson mistakes. We traded Turckan for a draft pick almost right away. We traded Dickerson for Steve Francis. While neither of these players amounted to much, the Rockets managed to get value out of them. CD was the person who was responsible for the transactions. So I think its unfair to act as if he's done nothing but get nothing. As for Detroit's GM being brilliant, they also drafted the following 1st round "winners": 2001 - Rodney White (traded) 2000 - Mateen Cleaves (out of the league) 1996 - Randolph Childress They also traded away Bonzi Wells in 1998. The draft is a crapshoot, and if you look hard enough, most teams go through periods of poor selections.
Can anybody check the draft history of the Spurs, Pacers and the Jazz? To be a good GM, at least you should pick somebody who can either contribute to the team or give you some trade value after 2 years. Say a Mobley or a Kenny Thomas who gives you a Posey later on. EG is a not a bad pick, but after 2 years, the GM should know better to trade him for something of value. Sometimes you realize your mistake early, sometimes late, but you have to make your decision fast, like Jerry West who traded away Gooden in the same year after picking him early in the draft. You do not need to strike gold every time but you want to accumulate value on each draft. For a team like Rox who is not like LA or the Knicks that can attract FAs, or with owners like Cuban who is willing to spend, it is very important to have a good management team. Nobody wants to go to Jazz, but they always have a good team because of their draft.
sun12: "like Jerry West who traded away Gooden in the same year after picking him early in the draft." Or Rick Pitino drafting Chauncey Billips and then giving up on him after a couple of months? Sometimes giving up on someone is a mistake and believing in them a virtue. I think if CD has a fault, it's that he tries to hit home runs all the time and strikes out too much. A nice solid opposite field single is OK now and then, too......
