Let me see if I got this right........several mentions of bringing in Mobley when I remember several years ago many, and I do mean many post requesting something just short of running him out of town tarred and feathered or some such idiotic bravery. Gee, maybe we should speculate on matching him in tandem with Stevie Franchise. No offense, but some of the post really indicate an abundance of too much free time on hand. Myself, Swift should get the nod followed by Simmons, then 'the bird'. Leave Walker where he is. Thank you and props all around for Rockets support.
Interesting to see how many people want Toine on the board, the last time this was posted everybody hated the idea. People that say he has an attitude problem are dead wrong, he brings it and he is a great locker room guy and cheerleader for any team he is on plus the guy is durable, say that for Stromile Swift. He also has toned down the bombs away act and was taking more low post baby hooks than 3 pointers when he was in Boston, only glaring weakness the guy has is his FT, it is horrible. I'd like to have him but I know that Boston is his first choice. I hear that the Celtics want to keep Toine if they can pay him 7M or less and not the 14M he is making now. So if the only offers he gets in FA are a Celtics or Houston offer of the MLE then he is staying in Boston.
Really? That sucks. I guess he would command more than the MLE because he's only 28, and contray to public opinion, he does continue to get better. Every year he seems to do something a little less stupid than the year before. A positive sign.
Because those were our achilles heels last year. Nothing to do with our troubles getting points outside of TMac/Yao (Walker got 19 a game last year, 19.8 for his career) or rebounding (9 last year, 8.7 for his career). Walker averaged 19-10 on 46% shooting against Dallas in 3 games last year. If San Antonio can get a broken down Glenn Robinson to fit in, I see no reason why we can't make a guy with the skillset of Walker to fit. As far as acquiring him...MLE may be enough or may not. Tough to read. But, in a S/T, Boston would probably jettison Blount with Walker for expiring contracts. Or perhaps would be interested in getting Mike James back (allowing them to let Payton go). xiki- Believe it or not, sometimes a spade is a spade. I have a hard time believing one of the first 3 people we're contacting is a "smoke screen". How does that help us? We're in trade talks with another team, and tell them we may sign Walker, so all of a sudden they're gonna hand over their PF at a discount? Not likely. Walker has too much star power to allow himself to be a tool like that.
Hmmmm, a S&T for Blount and Walker. Now, there's a thought. We could use Walker against the Dirks of the league, and force them to have to defend the perimeter and not be able to double on Yao and then we could use Blount against the Duncans of the league and have a good post defender and help defense for Yao/Deke. And Boston gets the opportunity to waive Raef and along with the expiring contracts they get from us, they get the opportunity to rebuild in a hurry. Or maybe just a S&T with Boston for Walker with the option to pick up Raef or another PF that can actually play weakside defense with the LLE.
I haven't watched Simmons play too much but if he is going to play the SG or SF I think we will be torched by quick SGs. I know a lot of people are going to dislike this idea and think its ridiculious but Simmons in my opinion is a guy better to come off the bench for this team then anything else, playing perhaps SG, SF, or even PF against certain teams. (Unless of course he can really guard twos). But its like who would pay all that money to sign a bench player =/ Swift is supposively the new improved Cato. A guy who can play along with Yao and swat shots and rebound. But he still has the word "potential" written next to his name which in my opinion shows that he hasn't proven himself yet. Walker I could see as this team's 3rd scorer coming off the bench behind a guy like Swift. He would torch opposing teams bench four, and also would provide the spacing Padgett brought last year with his three point range. BUT, Walker's shot selection is awful, doesn't have a great basketball IQ, and from the little i've watched has very little clutch (I recall him shooting 25% from the field in one playoff series). I personally think that this team NEEDS a consistent point guard, a good defensive shooting guard, and a four which can defend the paint and rebound the ball extremely well as well as knock down open shots to provide spacing. In my opinion, our point guard situation is in trouble, I love Sura and his heart but he is injury prone and thats not likely to go away with age. Mike James is a great sixth man scoring point guard but as a starting point guard ummm no..... the guy is too eratic at times. In my opinion the perfect guy to play this position would be Daniels. Great Assist to Turnover ratio, decent defender, and as i recall watching in the playoffs clutch. If Simmons can guard the two then yes its a great pick up, a tall SG who is a great defender...hmm..makes me think of Prince albeit Prince plays the SF position. If he can't provide the defense to guard quicker guards I think bringing back the Cat would be a great idea. Cuttino is a good defensive guard, can provide scoring...his only down fall being that he sometimes takes bad shots. At the four if Swift can rebound play great defense and consistently knock the 15 footer great sign him up. Walker would be great coming off the bench providing that third scorer this team desperately needs. I do not however want to see walker as our starting forward. He is at best an ok defensive power forward and he is undersized and can't rebound all that well. One last side note.... I think Juwan Howard is the one guy who may be left out of this equation with all the new fours that may come in.....if thats the case he is going to be used in a trade possibly.........
Quick Question! With all this talk about getting Walker, Swift or Simmions with the MLE or a S&T - What does Houston have to offer to their old teams for a S&T. Why would they take on salary just for the hell of it? -- they are FA's Are we going to show off the Euro-PG during summer games and draft picks? I just don't see Memphis/LA or Boston wanting anything the Rockets have to offer.
exactly what I wanted to say. Why are people saying JVG has the special ability to "mold" players. Who has he molded?
Stromile Swift seems like the best fit obviously, but i dont know if the MLE is enough to get him, so it seems like we would need to do a sign and trade. Actually, with all of them a sign and trade would have to be involved because I am pretty sure the Clips would match an MLE offer and Walker could probably get more elsewhere. Simmons will probably stay with LA at least for this year. My guess is he will sign a 1 year contract somewhere, the Clips will match it and he will become an unrestricted free agent next season. Stro I hope wants to come to Houston enough to take less money, and I hope the competitors price wont be too much higher than what we can offer, otherwise I'm thinking we will have to "settle" for 'Toine. But honestly even if Walker is all we land for a S&T of say Wesley or Sura(hopefully Wesley) plus a cap filler possibly(i donno the cap situation) I would be happy. I am thinking he would be a nice addition and a combo of Juwana and 'Toine at the 4 mixed with Tmac and Yao. We could put all 4 on the court together at times in games, seeing as how Walker has got the range. Throw in the combo guards of Sura, James, Head, and Barry and we got ourselves some serious contenders. Im excited and I cant wait to see how it pans out.
DAMN! I read this and the first thing I thought of was a flashback to Anthony Mason with the Knicks playing point-forward. LOL! Maybe that is JVG's master plan.
walker has experience as a starting p[ower forward, unlike swift, who backs up gasol. and his three poinr shooting spreads defenses.
Since your mind is already made up, I doubt the facts will change your opinion.... * Latrell Sprewell - after angrily choking PJ Carlissimo. Grunfeld says one of the reasons the Knicks hoped Sprewell would be a good fit was that "Jeff is a players' coach. He's not a yeller. He relates to his players." Van Gundy is the sort of coach who motivates teams through guilt: He makes them feel they'll be letting him down by losing." http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/sports/features/881/index9.html * Marcus Camby - Ask the Knicks why they've come to respect a man so different from themselves and they all speak a version of Marcus Camby's words: "Because we know how hard he works and how bad he wants to win," says the Knicks' rubber-limbed center. "When your coach is like that, it trickles down to the team. You don't just want to win for yourself; you want to play and win for your coach. You can tell by the permanent bags under his eyes -- all he does is eat and sleep basketball. We want to play hard for him because we know how much he puts into it." http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/sports/features/4577/index3.html * LJ & Camby - VG grabbing Alonzo Mourning's leg in a scuffle with LJ and Camby hitting Van Gundy with a punch intended for Danny Ferry.... http://tspweb02.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/01-16-01/2001011609_s11_Across.html. * Kelvin Cato - career year under JVG. Jonathan Feigen - "Van Gundy's New York Knicks teams were as driven as he is, filled with his near maniacal competitiveness as exemplified by Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell and current Rockets point guard Charlie Ward." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2922584 * Juwan Howard - "all we need for you to do is rebound and hit open shots" -JVG * Yao Ming - "I'll pay the 100k fine". * McGrady - "...the best coach I've ever played for." Players don't respond to VG at all.
my personal wish is that we somehow land antoine walker through a sign and trade and pick up spreewell through free agency. I also think we should consider Mark Madsen as a cheap pick up. His defensive intensity and pure hustle for loose balls would be an ideal fit off the bench.
