He is a better PG than James and possibly Sura as well. He can score is big and athletic, plays defense but he isn't a true pass first PG. We need a guy who can take the pressure off from T-Mac from being our primary ball handler and get Yao easier scoring opportunities.
BTW, Clutch, <b>thank you so much</b> for doing these profiles. You do so many things that don't get thanked enough. These are making the dreamcasting a much more informed process, and makes coming to the board during this time more fun. You're so cool.
I agree with this notion of T-Mac running the offense. Daniels is no more of a playmaker than Sura or James so it makes no sense adding him based on that perspective. Bobby Simmons isn't a SG and moving T-Mac back to SG isn't an option.
T-Mac running the offense is a fact not a notion Like I said I'm not that hot for AD anymore. If we brought him in it would be because he is younger, faster, better defender & better ball protector than what we have at PG now. His lack of an outside shot does concern me. I'll leave those decisions to JVG.
Compared to MJ, AD is actually older, definitely not faster and it's certainly debatable who is the better defender. He's a better ball protector, although MJ's assist-to-turnover ratio of 3-1 as a Rocket isn't exactly what you would classify as poor either. He's got Sura beat in most regards although I really think a healthy Sura with both his back & knees working for him might have something to say about that. Bottom line: AD is a career bust that's shown glimpses of maybe being starter material. At 30 years old, "maybe" being starter material isn't good enough for me. With this MLE we need to acquire an actual STARTER. Not an okay bench player, a starter. JVG basically all but sured up that decision when the JJ-Wesley trade was made. T-Mac is far better suited and has thrived at SF and nothing will change that. Simmons is a good player and I like his game a lot, there just isn't really a place for him on this team.
I've liked AD for the last few years and apparently so have the Rockets. I think AD definiately fits in the Rockets scheme. He has nice size at the PG position at 6'4" and is a good defender and is tough. JVG loves those tough guys. The thing with AD is he can swing over and play the 2 spot and even is tough enough to play some 3 depending on matchups. I think he would look great here in Houston. Daniels will be very soughtafter this offseason. The Lakers will be looking at him and so will Cleveland and I think he would do well in both places. In terms of the Rockets getting him though that might be tough. I think AD is a luxury in terms of what we need to do with the MLE. We first have to shore up the PF position. But as said above, you might be able to get Daniels in a S&T with Seattle for someone like Mike James. I like MJ a lot but like Daniels more. Seattle is looking for a good backup to Ridnour and they will lose Daniels this summer anyway. If they could get a decent backup PG in James for a S&T for Daniels then I think they would do it. Seattle was looking at James last off season too. What if the Rockets were able to do: • the Daniels (4 year deal) S&T for Mike James. • did a S&T for Sprewell (3 year deal) to David Wesley (expiring contract) • and then were able to persuade Swift to sign here for the MLE. We could field this team. PG: Daniels / Sura / Norris SG: Sprewell / Spanoulis SF: McGrady / Barry / Bowen PF: Swift / Howard / {1st Round Pick} / Padgett / Baker C: Yao / Deke Daniels, Sprewell, McGrady, Swift, Yao. We were looking to get more atheltic? There ya go! Daniels, Sprewell and McGrady provide a TON of speed and athelticism on the perimeter. Swift gives us speed and quickness in the post. We would still have nice depth with Sura, Barry, Howard and Deke as the primary backups. In fact 2 of our starters THIS YEAR would move to backup roles in Sura and Howard. And we might even get something out of Spanoulis and our 1st round pick. Again, making those moves could disrupt the current team's chemistry, but the reality is the team as it currently is assembled right now probably has gone about as far as it can go.
I agree lets get MJ and DW out of there. The problem is that they are too streaky. We need consistent playmakers on this team that can get everybody going.Getting AD along with Spree and Swift would be unbelievable offseason aquisitions!!
If it was one final spot left on the playoff roster who would you pick AD or MJ? My answer would be AD. Definitely the smarter player and can get in the paint at will and hit the midrange jumper. MJ can take it to basket, but he leaves the most important thing behind his brain.
He also wants to get athletic, more speed and someone that can create their own shot. That could be Sprewell. JVG WANT to get younger, but that doesnt mean that ALL of our moves will be for younger players.
You realize both guys are more consistent jump shooters beyond 20 feet than either AD or Spree right? If the choice is between the two (or Wesley), yeah I'd probably take AD. To me he has a lot of the qualities of Sura and James all rolled into one player. But he also isn't that much better than either. If Seattle wants to S&T AD for either James or Sura or Wesley (plus no more than a future #2) in a contract on the lines of Sura's I probably do it. But I don't see this as very realistic (from Seattle's perspective or from what AD will probably get in the market--see Derrick Fisher) and I don't want to use the MLE for a guard slightly better than Sura, MJ, or DW with our other needs. With the acquisitions over the last year or so (remember I was really high on AD before then), the amount of upgrade is a lot less than what many think, lots of the benifits he brings has to be weighed with his inconsistent outside shooter.
I don't think we need Daniels anymore. He was a good option before we made the moves we did during the season. That doesn't mean he isn't a great person that would fit in this system, but i think we made the right moves and the PF spot is still the one that means the most and we need to get that fixed up.
I do recall JVG talking on 610 radio about the pt. guard position being the first thing to be taken care of. This is vital if the Rockets want to advance deep in the playoffs.
So is making FT's in the 4th quarter of playoff games. Kinda hard to blame our PG's on that one, don't ya think?
I think he is just saying that we need a good PG to advance in the future. Our guards didn't lose us the series, but Sura was all banged up and TMac had to bring the ball up most of the time-I'm sure JVG would much rather have TMac down the court getting ready for a play set up for him rather than the other way around. But I like AD. I think if we could do a S&T w/ Sura + 2nd rounder. AD is a tall PG that is very athletic, he had the BEST assist:to ratio last season and was #2 this season. He is a good shooter and he can run the floor and finish. Getting AD would be a HUGE addition to the team, but of course a PF is #1 priority.
I know what he's saying but my point is he's talking about how we need some kind of great PG to advance deep into the playoffs meanwhile we did everything possible to shoot ourselves in the foot during a series we should have won with what we already have. If we could have advanced who knows what could have happened after that. It's not like AD would have done any better than Sura or MJ in that series. If you've followed this thread, i've posted several times how I think AD would be a minimal upgrade, if even that. Antonio Daniels 2004-05 Statistics PPG 11.2 RPG 2.3 APG 4.1 SPG .68 BPG .04 FG% .438 FT% .816 3P% .297 MPG 27.0 Sura 2004-05 Statistics PPG 10.3 RPG 5.5 APG 5.2 SPG 1.07 BPG .11 FG% .427 FT% .750 3P% .355 MPG 31.5 MJ 2004-05 Statistics PPG 11.8 RPG 2.8 APG 3.6 SPG .88 BPG .08 FG% .441 FT% .752 3P% .386 MPG 25.1 I know as well as any that you cannot base everything on numbers, and i'm not. But look at them, what are we REALLY gaining besides a better assist-to-turnover ratio. And it's not like this guy has the kind of intangibles we need to put us over the top. Okay, so theoretically that's one less turnover a game---is that really worth neglecting the PF spot to acquire?
What we would be gaining is a much better defender. Daniels is much quicker on the defensive end than either Sura or James. James is quick with the ball, but he isn't a great defender. Sura is ............well Sura, all hustle but very little foot speed and quickness. What Daniels would give to us is defensive quickness and the ability to deflect the dribble drive so that Yao isn't always getting into foul trouble with a guard penetrating on him and throwing his body into Yao's. That means more minutes on the floor for Yao with less foul trouble. That means a Yao in the fourth quarter that can go all out and not have to worry about fouling out. That means a Yao getting the ball in the block more often in the fourth quarter and not playing tentative because he is worried about picking up #5 and 6 on the offensive end. James should come off the bench with a strong defender like Deke who has the defensive reputation and doesn't get as many of those fouls called on him as Yao does. Likewise, Sura is probably best suited for our second team off the bench where he can create and play helter skelter ball with all the grit that he brings to the table. Besides that, if Daniels were playing on this team, he would be getting a whole lot more open looks than he did in Seattle. Teams don't have to defend the post and double Seattle's big men. They are all flying out to the shooters, Allen, Rashard, Ridnour, and Daniels, because that is where the vast majority of Seattle's points come from. You put Daniels on the Rockets where he is receiving the ball from Yao and TMac off the doubles, his shooting percentage goes up 5. You can't look at stats in a vacuum.
Daniels is the exact type of point guard that Van Gundy would love. Smart, scrappy, excellent defender, never plays out of control. I completely disagree with your opinion that he doesn't offer intangibles. The guy is all intangibles. He reminds me a lot of a Derek Harper or a Ron Harper type of point guard. He may not have flashy stats, but he would fit Van Gundy's system to a tee. He's a system point guard. Put him into a system and he will run it to perfection. It was obvious during that Mavs series that Van Gundy was reluctant to put the ball in our point guard’s hands, fearing they would make a mistake or deviate from a play. I have no doubt with Daniels here, Van Gundy would have absolutely no fear putting the ball in his hands during crunch time.
It's not like Sura isn't a smart, scrappy, excellent defender that plays out of control. AD is better at protecting the ball but just about all of those qualities you just mentioned accurately describe Sura as well---an injured Sura, might I add. JVG would have been reluctant to put the ball in Magic Johnson's hands in that series. Our pick-and-roll with T-Mac running it was impossible to guard or stop. It wasn't because Sura, MJ, Wesley or whoever were mistake prone, it was simply because T-Mac is such a gifted passer and playmaker that he wants the ball in the hands of his best player. Granted, that's a little unconventional since in most cases the PG does in fact do most of the ball handling. JVG chose to go with T-Mac as the playmaker and I can't say I don't blame him---it's not like it wasn't effective or ended up costing us the series. The only problem with that offense is everybody not named Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady couldn't do much more than shoot open shots. You simply can't have that, you need guys that can get to the basket. Whether its AD, Stoudamire, Kidd or whoever else you wanna throw into our offense, we need guys that can get to the basket and not strictly float around on the perimeter. When you have a guy that commands us much attention as T-Mac does running a pick-and-roll with a center like Yao Ming that means the other 3 guys on the floor getting next to no attention need to step up. MJ is the only guy that can get to the basket. Sura can as well, he's been hobbled with back & knee problems so he hasn't had much explosiveness. I really think Sura when healthy along with MJ coming off of the bench can give us what we need for now. Sure, it's not a long-term solution by any means and if the right move comes along that gives us a chance at actually upgrading the position, I am all for it. But do you really think adding a 30 year old question mark is really any better? I don't know about you but I want to see us build a championship team and given how important each offseason will be at tweaking certain areas, a 30 year old question mark shouldn't be good enough for you either. Focus on upgrading the PF position, add some youth and depth then let's dance. **By the way, I appreciate the input New Jack. I've posted in this thread several times and I couldn't get much more than "AD is better than MJ and that's all I have to say." out of most people.
