Wafer, Alston, Scola. They all deserve the props their getting for picking up their play since Tmac and Ron have been out. But Brent Barry is a guy a little under the radar right now making a big impact. In his last 8 games, Barry is shooting 15/27 from behind the three point line for a blistering 55 percent. His heady passing and his movement with and without the ball has also been impressive. It sure is going to be interesting what coach adelman does when 2 of our big three come back. I think Barry is a guy that can be huge for us especially in the post season. His three point shooting really helps out when we are going through droughts on the offensive end. I think Adelman has to find a way to get him atleast 12-20 minutes a night.
Everyone knows we have an abundance of wing players. What bothers me is you would rather trade a guy who has experience and a proven track record in the playoffs(ron artest/tracy mcgrady) for some scrubs that haven't proven anything on the big stage against elite competition(mike miller/Kirk Hinrich).
The team is getting better and better. If TMac and Ron Ron come back and play within the flow of the current play with a "Team First" mentality, I don't think there is a need for any trade. Let the team gel more for the playoff.
JVG, It is not about experience it is about minutes. We do not have enough minutes at the SG/SF positions to play 5 NBA players. Tmac Artest Battier Barry Wafer They all should be getting minutes....and 4 of them should be 30 mpg players..... So, I would trade Artest, as his expiring contract is the EASIEST to trade for value. Does that mean I don't like Artest? No, of course not...but we are really weak at PG....Rafer and AB are both incosistent. If you can dump a wing - which is a redundant piece because we have other talented players in that spot - and upgrade our main weakness, I think it helps with the distribution of minutes....and keeps 4 wings in the mix. DD
The way Wafer is playing, when it comes down to it Barry's minutes will be sacrificed.. <br> I totally agree with you that Barry has been crucial to success though... When it comes down to it, the wing rotation should look like this: T-Mac/Wafer Battier/Artest PG: Alston/Brooks Bigs: Yao-Landry/Scola Scola-Landry/Artest <br> I think to make it work, Adelman will have to play Artest or Battier at the 4 spot quite frequently
We just disagree.....I think you have to find a way to keep and use Ron Artest. You supremely undervalue defense here. In the playoffs, how do you think were going to get to the level we want to get at? With our middle of the road offense? or with our top level defense? We're going to win with our defense. Artest gives us a huge prescense on that end and he's no slouch on offense either. Swapping him for an average, overpaid PG is not the direction we need to go in.
I think matchups will dictate who is used, but in our offense, 3 point shooting, decision making and spacing is essential. Barry is superior to Wafer in all of those categories. I love what Wafer is bringing to the table right now, but theres a reason why he is fading as the game goes on, because what he does is take advantage of breakdowns defensively. That doesnt happen very often in big games and in playoff games.
If anyone should go its shane. What has he done? At least I know wafer will attack the rim, barry can shoot, tracy can create and ron is the toughest guy on the team. Ron does everything shane can do plus some. Get Battier the hell out.
As impressive as Wafer as been, I don't think Dakota's assessment of him being a 30-min player is ideal. The guy sure is playing very well right now, but we've seen lots of scrubs like him play like sure-fire NBA players for a stretch then by the time next season starts they're off NBA rosters. Terrence Kinsey anyone? I'm not saying that Wafer should be kicked out of the rotation with TMac and Artest return but let's not hand him the keys to the team yet. 10 games in a season is too small a sample to trade away a star for.
Not sure that's going to happen. RA still played Battier 35 minutes despite him having a cold shooting night. It will be interesting to see what RA does with Wafer when mac and Artest are back but I think RA wants to go with this starting lineup. Rafer Mac Battier Scola Yao
I agree. I think you could even compare him to Landry a little. When we were short on bigs last season, Landry came out of nowhere and had aten game stretch where he was averaging about 15 points a game and he was shooting a ridiculous percentage from the field. SOmewhere in the high 60s. He hit a bit of a wall. It happens to young players, and I doubt that Wafer is going to be able to avoid that.
Barry has been playing well within the system and makes smart passes and plays. I particularly loved the behind the head pass tonight to luis scola for the easy jumper in the second half. Although I love shane and his consistent defense he has been disappointing lately with his shot and offensive game. All he seems to be good for is dumping it in to yao. Did anybody see all those missed threes lately (0-4 tonight including one horrific airball that seemed like a pass straight in to millsaps open hands)? Lets hope its just a small slump or he just may get traded.
i would play barry more and eat into rafer's minutes and battier's. he really fits in with von, AB and artest on the floor. i would just play rafer to start the game (for around 5-6minutes) to set things up, end the 2nd (for around 2-3mins) to stabilize things going into the half. start the 3rd quarter (for around 4 minutes) and to finish 4th quarter (around 4minutes) unless we're leading by lotsa points. same for the batman.
I agree that Barry's D is the weak and Von is better option. It all depends on what we need. If we need scoring and penetration, I'm going with Von, AB, Landry and Artest off the bench. Deke if he can give us something. Please hire Deke as an assistant coach and fire Sikma
I have to agree. I'm not one of those never-got-over-the-Gay-trade guys, but Shane's looked a lot like Hayes without the strength this year. If Shane still has value we go get it now. But I'll admit to a certain bias, if Yao's still healthy then I want to see us lose, if we must, with offense. I still don't think last year vs. Utah was a fair valuation of Adleman, I really think he can balance offense and defense.
Let's suppose you're right, and Battier really does suck this year. How is it possible that the Rockets -- who are filled with very smart and experienced basketball people, who pour over videos, who understand all the offensive/defensive schemes that the team is trying to execute, who have the best vantage point in the arena for actually assessing how well the players are performing -- value what Battier brings so much? Evidently it's not just Morey. The coaches are still starting him and playing him close to 30 minutes a game. Feigen has reported that all the Rockets staff including scouts, coaches, and front office guys, rave about what Battier brings on the floor. It doesn't add up. Evidently, Battier is doing some really positive things. Even his staunchest supporters on this board will recognize that he has not been shooting the ball well, and he's not going to create good shots off the dribble, and he's practically useless filling the lanes in transition. Those weaknesses are well known. But given the overwhelming evidence that the Rockets love what he gives the team, I think we have to just accept that he's doing a lot of very positive things. To me, it's pretty clear on the defensive end why he's so effective. On offense, less so, but the Rockets seem to like what he does there as well.
say both mcgrady and artest come back healthy next week, can battier take a little 2-week leave? i believe he's not 100% and he's just taken a shot to his ankle. or barry can take less minutes. we will need more from him coming playoff time. save some wear and tear. or morey can construct a good trade... a good problem to have imo.
