Interesting approach...Rockets would have just encouraged him to play through it and then wonder why the team has dead legs come the Conference Finals...
So much disrespect toward Tucker in this thread. That guy should always be revered in Houston. Put some respect on PJ's name. He gave his all for us. He showed up in the playoffs. He damn near never missed a game with us. I honestly think he deserves to be mentioned among the all-time great Rockets role-players.
100%... 8 million dollar contract, 30 million dollar playoff value. It's too bad we let Trevor Ariza go. The Paul/Harden/Ariza/Tucker/Capela squad was nasty.
I'm more annoyed with Morey then PJ. One of his biggest faults was his over-reliance on PJ. Plan A was play small ball with Tucker for 38 minutes. If that didn't work, plan B was to play small ball with Tucker for 48 minutes. I think the Rockets are currently in plan C.
He is definitely in the rockets lore of beloved players who were not superstars. For me that includes him, pat bev, Chuck Hayes, ariza. Prob more I am leaving out but you get the gist. One of my favorites, ofcourse it didn't hurt that he is a longhorn
Lol please. An unsubstantiated assumption used as another opportunity to bash the rockets. Nothing new - posts like these flood this forum. I love tucker (one of the best free agent signings to come through Houston)....the bucks can keep him out and “protect” him all they want.... little do they know this 36 year old is washed. It’s the sad brutal truth.
Lol, he wasn't that washed last bubble playoffs, nobody is expecting him to be Pippen or Dennis Rodman. (Except the Rockets) If he is rested enough, he could be very well effective for 25 minutes in the most important games that are the deeper playoffs.
They knew it was a matter of time before he was gone. Irresponsible behavior towards an honorable dude.
Man my point only is the Rockets have had this habit of playing guys through injuries. I saw a game where KPJ was clearly limping in this meaningless season the Rockets were clearly like "Yeah, it's fine." It's not unsubstantiated either, Tucker played through injuries, it's what he did. It's tough, it's cool to brag about, but I'm not sure it helps the team in the long run.
Do you really think organizations have cultures about playing through injuries more than coaching staffs do? I'm not arguing whether or not PJ played through injuries in Houston. I'm just saying if he did (or was encouraged to, or was allowed to) I would put at least some of that on Mike Dan Toni's coaching staff culture than the front office or even the training staff. Dan Toni is the same guy who played Harden huge minutes and kept a short rotation. The training staff is supposed to get guys ready and advise the coaching staff, and then that's where a big gray area starts. When Greg Popovich was pulling players out of late-season games, for instance, that was not him following a trainer's decision, IMHO. That was a head coach deciding what gave his team the best shot in the playoffs.
I think it's a bit of everything and yeah, MDA probably played a role in it. I think it's the player (obviously if a player say he doesn't feel comfy playing I think any respectable organization will shut it down at once) and the coach and training staff are supposed to protect the players from themselves. I don't know in the end, I just think it's never wise to play guys through injuries in a regular season game unless that game is deciding if you make the playoffs or not then I'd get it or some situation where it's a battle for seeding and there's a team you really are trying to avoid, I guess I'd get it then too.
Fair on what the Rockets expected him to be and do. He's a year older - i just don't see him being as effective anymore especially on the defensive end, which was his calling card.
Tucker does not belong on a rebuild squad. For all we know the Rockets could be on a fast return to relativity, but as it stands they have amongst the worst records in the league. Tucker being traded to a contender was pure class by the organization.
Woj: They brought in PJ Tucker in a trade from Houston prior to trade deadline. You have not seen him impact that team yet the way they hoped he would, especially defensively. PJ Tucker is going to have make a more dramatic impact than he has yet. CF: Y WE NO GIT MORE FOR TUCKER?! STOOPID TILMAN & STONE!
