Photoshop: Stoudemire in a Rockets uni (merged: Rockets-Suns trade rumor)

i dunno, a PF isn't our most pressing need. all of you would be so content giving up brooks+mcgrady's expiring, but is that what we really need? amare is a great player, im a fan despite his **** defense and rebounding, but in an offensive scheme like ours, is he THAT much better than Scola that we should give up our main expiring and starting PG (without getting one back??).

Amare won't be scoring 25 a game like he's done with the Suns, and on this team that doens't maximize their possessions like the Suns, have a PG of Nash's caliber (we'd only have Lowry at the PG, that's it) and utilize amare's ability to run, how much better will he play than scola.

 

1stRndExit4Life#1,

understatement of the year.

bad doesn't always equal stats. it equals commitment and respect for the organization and teammates.

This is why your cheap flea market kobe wanna be was ousted from Orlando and why fans in all 3 cities don't like him.

 

It's really hard to fault Amare as a player. Injury risk aside 9and he has been randomly injured for a bunch of games, like Yao), Amare is a very efficient and capable scorer. You could maybe argue he didn't "mesh" as well with Shaq as you'd want, but I think that was a little overblown. Before his injury he was still having a great season, AND Shaq's numbers were back up again, too. Statistically, they were a pretty dominant frontcourt.

The problem with the Suns is that they never changed their style, and then fired the coach they brought in to help change their style. And Shawn Marion fit that style better than Shaq..not because Shaq and Amare couldn't play together, but because if your success if dependent on running and gunning and small ball, and you bring in a center who doesn't fit into that style well while also losing the one player that allowed you to really exploit "small-ball" (by playing Marion at the 4 and Amare at the 5), well, things will get worse.

I believe Amare is a great, great PF, can easily play in a half-court system with some running, and would benefit from a team that focuses on, and is very capable of playing solid half-court defense. He'll never be KG defensively, but he won't be a sieve.

I think this is the issue, though. It's not even giving up Scola as much as if something went down, you'd be using one of your trade chips to address a position that is already strong.

It's not secret, and doesn't take rocket-science to figure out what the Rockets needs are.

#1 = Health
#2 = a real, starting caliber shooting guard
#3 = size in the frontcourt, specifically a true backup center

It's not that adding Amare wouldn't be helpful. It would. Especially if the other option is do nothing, hope Tracy comes back for the 2nd half of the season and performs, and then have a little bit more money to use next offseason (though still not enough to do anything major). I'd rather get Amare than do nothing.

But whether PF or PG, as most of the rumors have been about, it doesn't make sense. They don't address a key need.

I'd still contend that Morey is looking to move up into the lottery more for a SG (Harden, DeRozan...or I'll add in Evans, given his size, he is the one PG you could utilize defensively as a two and would give you some interesting lineup possibilities), and is trying to hold out trading Tracy for a potential all-star-eque type shooting guard that could potentially be available (Rip, Kevin Martin, Redd, Carter, etc.)

 

Fair. Does that mean, though, that there is 0% chance of him contributing positively ever again?

 

Chill out Yao4REAL,

the proper reply to this guy's statement is:

"At least Yao plays defense in the 2nd round"

 

IS THIS YOU?

 

with amare's intangibles... he can play defense on a team that plays defense...

 

All I know is we struggled against the tall front line of the Lakers. I think Stoudemire improves our chances, especially when we can't count on Yao to complete a full season. I ask these questions:

1. If Yao stayed healthy, do we defeat the Lakers? (Maybe, mabe not)
2. If we had Stoudemire last season, do we defeat the Lakers? (Chances are definitely better) Even after Yao goes down? (I like our chances)

We did take the Lakers to 7 games, but don't forget we got pounded in two of those games without Yao. In game 4, I think we caught the Lakers by surprise. We do need to improve our front line, I love Scola & Landry, but they struggled against the bigger PF's & centers. I do believe we need to keep Scola, his hustle is contagious and he wouldn't have a problem coming off the bench. If we could get Stoudemire for T-Mac & Landry.....do it! If it takes Brooks, maybe we could get a point guard for Landry.

 

Sure, if he gets his ass out of Houston.

 

LOLOLOLOLOLOL WOW!!!!! you couldn't be serious. Do you just believe what you said??? Without Yao the Rockets are nothing on defense??? Man please. How many times have we seen Yao on the Sideline with Deke in there and the DEFENSE was much better. The Rockets didn't lose a beat with Yao out and Deke in. They actually became much better wise guy.

Yao makes teams scare of attacking the rim?? do i ever see players go one on one with Yao?? Are you serious?? How many times has Yao got dunked on. Why would guys be scared of attacking the rim when he gets dunked on. I watch the game and by all means I don't see any fear in any guys when they attack Yao. Opponents know once they attack Yao they are going to get a call on him because lets see Yao doesn't move his feet that well.

 

Smoke Screen

 

Wasn't Yao on the sideline with McGrady and Deke

 

Bingo. The other thing to me is how well Amare can complement this team. Against the Lakers (granted, no Yao), we struggled on the boards because we lacked guys who could rebound outside their space. Scola and Yao are terrific at boxing out and controlling rebounds they should get, but Odom/Gasol ate us alive on "jump ball" type rebounds. Amare isn't a great space rebounder, but can go get the jump ball type rebounds.

Brooks is a good player, but players often get their values overinflated by a big playoff performance. If he can now fetch a 26 year old 4-time all-star PF, more power to him.

 

Age is a factor in this. How long can you possibly keep Battier around?? How long can you possibly keep Scola around? Scola is no ordinary 3rd year player. He did play overseas also.

 

I hope for something bigger.

 

Seriously, Knee-Mac got paid 22M and only played 30 + games this year and you said that? Jeez.

 

This is the Age you talking about?

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Tinman, you are just mean.

 

Both good points. I slightly disagree in that Scola is a very crafty rebounder who can steal some rebounds. But those jump balls were killing us. Particularly because the refs never called over the back. With Amare, that would never happen to us.

And I also thought Brooks was impressive in the playoffs, but he'll need to put it together for an entire season before we can make any conclusions. Boobie Gibson is still fresh in my mind.

 

so your argument is that when you replace Yao with a Hall of Famer who is potentially the greatest defensive player of the last 20 years, the defense gets better, and thus Yao must be a bad defender?

Yao is a tremendous defensive force. Your eyes notice the limitations, but he has a great impact on the game. The stats support it, too. He has ridiculous defensive "measurables" whether you believe in the accuracy of these tools or not. Talk to someone who is tasked with "measuring" this in the rockets organization and they will tell you Yao has a much bigger defensive impact than 95% of basketball fans realize.

now please, stop with this.