Has any professional franchise in sports ever had so many consecutive CRITICAL offseasons? 2005 - We aquire Tracy McGrady to complement Yao and find out in the playoffs that we are a fatally flawed team. 2006 - Injuries to our two stars reveal that our supporting cast is woefully inadequate. 2007 - A rebuilt team goes back to the playoffs only to find that once again we are fatally flawed. We have 2 pieces that are so rare that it is virtually impossible to let them go. A former scoring champion that can also dish out assists and play point, and one of the highest scoring big men in the game. Every coaches dream!? Right now I would guess that the Rocket's upper management is reeling in a fashion similar to the BBS... just not quite as chaotic and without everyone running around the office acting like Donald Trump on the Apprentice. I feel for Les Alexander. He probably doesn't have the slightest idea of what he's got. What we know: 1) JVG is a good coach. He's taken a team to the finals. 2) McGrady and Yao are rare commodities. 3) The supporting cast has major deficencies. 4) Morey is a sharp guy, but the only moves that appear to be influenced by him were playoff failures (Battier, Hayes). What we don't know: 1) Is JVG's coaching philosophy incompatible with the NBA rule changes or our personel? 2) Can McGrady and Yao perform in an NBA that may not look like it used to? 3) Will the guys who sat on the bench all year be able to contribute some way in the near future? 4) Will Morey bring in more guys like Chuck Hayes who are the opposite of playoff mismatches. We know that things are going to change. Question is... which things? What are the potentials? 1) Coaching is easy to change. You don't have to draft or trade them. Their salary doesn't count against the cap. If you have to make a change, this is the least risky. 2) Getting players the caliber of Yao and McGrady is so difficult that it might plunge the Rockets into another 5 year slide if you mistakenly trade them. 3) Not sure how much flexibility we have for change on the bench. Others know way more than I do on this. Is it a choice of tweak changes or shelling out some major cash a la Mark Cuban? Are we going to have to dump money into buyouts and salary cap overruns? 4) Morey just walked in the door. He is easy to change. My personal opinion is that you don't risk dumping McGrady and Yao until you see them together under a different system. Everything else is a potential change. Will Les be able to buy himself a bench?
I hope that the Rockets can acquire some key free agents even if it means going over the salary cap. But that hope is quickly diminish when I remember that our owner can only afford giving out tshirts to the lower bowl and pom poms rather than getting everyone in the arena a tshirt like what I saw during the GS games in Oakland.
I want to resign Chuck Hayes. Do that and make sure that whoever we bring in isn't a bad character and I will be happy.
great post. obviously roster moves need to be made, but the one thing that needs to change more than anything is van gundy. there is no question he is a great coach, but he is not the RIGHT coach for this team. honestly, tmac and yao are not mentally that strong. i love them to death but they aren't. it breaks my heart seeing mac break down like that. we need a coach that understands the psychology of basketball. the pressure on tmac should NEVER have gotten to the point that he played as tense as he did this series, and mac shouldn't have been allowed to throw all the weight on himself. it killed his confidence and it was obvious that he there was no faith in his jumpshot all series long. i have no doubt jvg did the best job possible in terms of preparing these guys and studying the competition. but he failed miserably in keeping his players loose and confident.
everyone should be forced to read this before making a new thread or even posting about the offseason. STicky! as for solutions.. i'd say we hafta look hard at finding a way to get mo williams in here. there may be a way..
should we be concerned with a new GM? i just picture all the NBA GMs like a good ole frat party, and the new guy... a) will not being taken seriously b) will not get the love CD did from the good ole boys (after years of building these relationships). c) every one is going to try and rip him off. d) when he calls other teams....."WHO?!?" it kinda scares me that we have some rookie hands handling this crucial offseason. i also wouldnt doubt if this was a factor in JVGs early 'retirement' (if he really di d 'retire')
I don't think it will happen, but it is one of the potential changes the Rockets could make. Like I said, the personnel that I believe Morey is responsible for did not help us in the playoffs. Hayes was an excellent +/- man in the regular season, but come playoff time, the good old fashion shot block took him out of the games. During the regular season Hayes performed well because he was hungry.... but EVERYONE, including the 6'-11" power forwards are hungry in the playoffs.
Good post. JVG is a good coach, but he is not the coach for this team. Mike James, Stromile Swift, and Bonzi Wells were all aquired for JVG and they just did not fit into his system or mindset. People would have to be out of there minds to not think that (JVG's half player Bonzi Wells) coming off the bench could not have helped this team in the playoffs. They really needed his experience and toughness. If the rockets had drafted the rookie Paul Milsap, would JVG have played him in the regular season or the playoffs?
The rockets need 2 guards who can shoot 3's and create their own shots (and be given permission to do so). Get that, and the rockets will be fine,.
WE NEED A FREAKING POINT GUARD!!!! look at the stats rafer is putting up. 25-74 shooting?? thats freakin 33%. and look at the mins he logging up.
Really, if there's one thing I like about this offseason, it's that there are likely to be more good free agents than teams with salary-cap room. Rumour has it that Jason Terry might (big might) be on the trading block... although I doubt we can get him, if he (or any other solid PG) is on the market, it would increase the overall supply of PGs so that maybe another decent one would fall to us. Of course, even if we don't get anything out of it, it would be hilarious if the Mavs just blew up their roster over this one lost series.
Doctor Robert, I agree with most of what you said. However, I don't agree with you about this statemeent: We don't have a lot of hope riding on Hayes because he is simply there to provide the occasional offensive rebound, play good D and take charges. Battier's post season stats are almost the same a his regular season stats.
