Every once in a while there is a truely black day for a franchise. You pass on an explosive 2-guard because you feel you already have a guy at that position and draft a center named Bowie 'cause you really need one. You become enamored with the #1 pick and trade your #3 pick and a bigman named Parrish because you think its best for the franchise. You trade your young #2 pointguard, your undersized powerforward and a host of other players for an over-the-hill Charles Barkley. My only hope is that Yao and T-Mac are really good enough together so that maybe we can keep this trade of that list.
I think Battier will give us something like 15 points, 5, boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 TO and probably shoot 40% from 3 and 50% from the field. But I can't see him playing power forward for us. He's the 3 on offense and the 2 on defense. I think Van Gundy hands him the Kobe Bryant Ray Allen matchups. I can also see the rest of the deal being Damon Stoudamire or a re-signed Bobby Jackson for our TE and Warrick as the Swift replacement to complete the deal for Gay and Swift. Gag on Stoudamire. Maybe we are getting Alex Johnson or Lawrence Roberts. I would think Memphis has to send us back a 4. Otherwise they've got Warick, Stro, Alex Johnson, and Lawrence Roberts all competing for backup minutes. They also drafted Lowry. (I'd kinda like to have him. He is a super quick gnat that really brings it defensively.) It should be obvious that there are more parts to this deal than just Battier coming back this way.
How good is Gay? Why did he drop to 8 in a poor draft? If he is all potential then I have had enough potential with EG and Slowmile already. Last years FA signings were a mistake and this took care of it. Slowmile is 2 steps too slow in the head for this or any other team. His B-ball IQ was not worth the 1 dunk a game and 2 rebounds. Now, with the 8th pick, did the Rockets get a shooter? check. A good defense player? Check. A season player? check. A starter? check. I know we all love the Rockets and every player we have is gold and every player other teams have is dirt. I know. You know how hard people laughed with the possible trade of #8 and Head for #5? Head is not as well thought of as people hear seem to think. As for Slowmile, he is thrown in to balance the trade. I see no lost in that. However, the Rockets will need a body or 2 for the PF spot. Maybe Novak (32nd pick) with his sharp shooting will get a chance to play.
then throw in that they gave away Swift for nothing instead of trading him for New Jersey's picks or at least a bag of chips...
Forget Duncan, Ginobili and Parker... Bruce Bowen won the championships for the Spurs. Who needs talent when you are Bruce Bowen?
So don't just give away a player with potential. We should have try to trade him to a team where his skills will be uetter used. Memphis and Houston did not use his skills so it is hard to judge. Just remember what happened to Atlanta with Boris Diaw. In Atlanta he was garbage, now in Phoenix he is a starter and a lot of teams would love to have him. I think it is time for the Rockets to try a different system. JVG system just does not work in the NBA anymore.
RICHARD JUSTICE RUDY GAY IS BETTER THAN SHANE BATTIER, EVEN NOW AS A ROOKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL OF THIS IS BECAUSE JVG WON'T COACH OR PLAY ROOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!! JVG IS THE STUMBLING BLOCK PREVENTING OUR ROX FROM GOING FORWARD YES THE ROCKETS NEED TO REBUILD BOTH WITH EXPERIENCE AND ROOKIES. WITH NEEDING TO REPLACE SIX PLAYERS IT MUST BE CALLED REBUILDING!!!! Mr. JUSTICE YOUR ARTICLE SMELLS OF CD AND JVG AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW WHEN THE ROCKETS WIN 55 GAMES NEXT SEASON THEY WILL BE CONSIDERED A FAILURE !!!!!!!!!!! TO BE A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER WE MUST BE THINKING OF WINNING 60GAMES, NO LESS!!!!!!!!! TO DO THIS WE NEED GREAT PLAYERS TO FILL THE ROSTER OUT . BATTIER IS SLOW and gets injured frequently--last season!!
93% of you are smarter than Justice. Id read yalls BS before Justice's any day of the week. Justice is dead to me, he is a cancer on upon PTI.
A) I know this isn't relevant to the thread but it bothers me every single time I read this bit of misinformation on the BBS: the Barkley deal was not a bum deal, it was move for impact player at a position at which we were in dire need (to get over the hump that was Seattle). We gave up Cassell, Horry, Brown, and Bryant, a crew which -- all due respect to the greatly romanticized Cassell and Horry -- did nothing but get us swept out of the playoffs the year prior against Seattle. Anyone who remembers us getting bent over by Kemp and Payton during the early/mid nineties understands why we made this deal. B) Battier plays at Memphis deepest position. As previously stated in other threads, he hasn't been their first, second, third, or even fourth option. He's an excellent perimeter defender, by all reports a class guy, an efficient shooter with plenty of size. He's perfect for this team. Thats not to say Gay won't pan out or become a Superstar caliber player. But Battier makes sense on this team. We came out of this draft much improved -- not as improved perhaps as we could have been but improved nevertheless.
Battier is a 10/5 guy and gets 35 minutes a game. He's not going to average 15 for us. He's not a scorer. Look at his stats for 2006. He broke 20 points once in the 2006 calendar year. Also, guys seem to produce even less offense when they join the Rockets. On the other hand you have Rudy Gay, an athletic freak with a smooth jumper. Name one flop from Uconn that was a lottery pick? Charlie Villanueva Emeka Okafor Ben Gordon Caron Butler Rip Hamilton Ray Allen Donyell Marshall I could live without getting Gay, but trading him and Swift for Battier is insanity. Potential Star + 10/5 guy for 10/5 guy.
10, 5 and 38-40% 3-point shooting. Also, solid, steady perimeter defense and smart team player who will pass, defend the ball and make open shots. So, yes, the missing piece to the puzzle.
we're not one 10/5 player that plays 35 minutes/game away unfortunately. Also that 10/5 guy makes a whopping one three pointer a game.
please Battier is a piece, but he isn't even close to the missing piece. We have absolutely no bench and no backup bigman, If you think Mutombo is going to be healthy all year you have another thing coming. and Chuck Hayes can't back up both Yao and Juwon Howard. We still dont have a viable 3rd scoring option or another player that can create off the dribble. We better bring V-Span over or the season could get ugly.
owe you an apology? Rockets'll be 55-27 with healthy Yao and T-Mac with/without Gay or Battier. not say Gay but #8 pick + Swift worth more than just Battier!
