Dude, put down the pipe. No way this team misses the playoffs with Yao and McGrady, no matter the scrubs you put around them. Dream and Drexler were able to win a CHAMPIONSHIP with Chucky freaking Brown at PF and Mario Elie (no disrespect intended, but he wasn't the premier SF) at the 3.
Huh? How many NBA games has Nelson played in and proved he 'could take his game to the next level'?? Are you sure that's what you meant to say? If it is, then you might want to check your phone messages.. I hear the Mother Ship has returned and is ready to take you back to your home planet. Seriously, at least let the guy PLAY some games before you pass all these judgements.
T-Mac might be even better than Drexler, but Yao is nowhere near the Dream. Everyone here is assuming Yao is going to be great next season. Well, his performance in last two months of 2003-2004 and playoff should be able to demonstrate otherwise. I think we will be fighting for the 7th/8th spot in the west and Jazz/Suns could sneak into playoff.
Again, put down the pipe. T-Mac and Yao will lead us to the playoffs, and I would guess it will be in the 4-6 seed, not anywhere near the bubble. I would be willing to bet on it.
If Ming continues to develop at his rate, next season he will be 20ppg 10 rebs on a conservative basis. McGrady is McGrady and a bad yr sharing the ball will drop 25ppg. This team will be better than Dallas and really pushing Minny and SA. If The Lakers trade Shaq, they will slip dramatically. If this team is even in close to being out the playoffs, something has gone totally wrong.
What is the big deal? We are talking about the 3rd point guard here. With Lue already on board and Barry set to start, Gaines will be the third PG, right? So, who cares? We're dissecting a player who will be lucky to get on the court for five minutes next year. Any point guard 6'5" or taller deserves at least two years in the league to prove something. If Gaines proves nothing, it is almost irrelevant for the Rockets. If he does prove he has a future, we have a real find.
Yao Ming will continue to improve with better conditioning. He had nothing left in the tank in the last 2 month of last season and the playoffs. He'll get better with more rest this summer. To base his future performance on his last two month of 03-04 season is ridiculous.
My thing is , people says a guy can't play after 1 season on a bad team. I was pretty happy that we got a player like Gaines involved in the deal. Most wanted to talk bad about Morris, but when he played, he played well. No one knew about Prince because he was on the bench the entire season, but when the Pistons were almost eliminated by the Magic, Carisle decided to play him and put him on McGrady. The result was, he got a chance and played good. The current Rockets even from the pg spot don't need gaines or Lue to be Magic with Ming and Mcgrady on the court. The Rockets need a facilitator of the offense. Most of the time the Rockets will pick and roll or dump down. Gaines needs to be able to run pick and roll and make entry passes and defend. If Gaines is the defender he was in college, his length will help alot. If he struggles, i have no problems with Lue running the show. The more pressing thing is just having this team play as a team. Howard is a good player, not great. McGrady is a superstar and Ming is a star. After that, the rockets just need quality ball players, but I'm not giving up on Nachbar nor Gaines. I'm in favor of bringing Griffin back also being the 1st big man off the bench and getting rid of Taylor.
I don't like making inferences that someone's on crack just because they dare to have an opinion that's different from yours. It is not outside the realm of possibility that the Rockets could miss the playoffs this season. The only constant to remember is that in the NBA ANYTHING is possible and quite often does happen. I'd advise against betting the milk money just yet. There were a TON of folks who felt the same way about the Astros before the season and look at how that trainwreck turned out. As the team is CURRENTLY constituted, teams will collapse their defense around Yao, let T-Mac play his game and clamp down on everyone else - in essence do what the Pistons did to the Lakers. Who is there to make them pay for this strategy? Lue? Howard? Taylor? Nashbar? Witherspoon? And heaven forbid Yao or T-Mac goes down with any kind of injury. No, the T-Mac trade was one that made them better and worse at the same time and by itself won't elevate them to contender status. From what I've seen, each year there are 2 teams that will take a step back while 2 teams take a step forward and make the playoffs. Last year, Phoenix & Utah took the steps back while Denver & Houston stepped forward and made the playoffs. Next season it should still be those 4 teams along with Memphis competing for the playoffs so it's a bit premature to pencil them in for 4th to 6th seed just yet.
LA is now a wild card - there's NO telling what will happen there. I have a sneaky suspicion that the Mavs will be OK at the point if they get Avery Johnson and Nellie simplifies his offense for the rookie PG. If anything, both Dallas and Houston now sort of mirror each other - both teams have superstar players at certain positions and big holes at others. Not making the playoffs is unlikely but not a total impossibility.
Everyone is quick to jump on Pistons bandwagon, but had Malone been healthy, would Wallace drop in Shaq's lap every play? If the same strategy happens against the Rockets, can't Howard knock down shots? What about Lue who shoots about 38% from 3pt land? What about McGrady who in my opinion is better than Kobe. Don't be surprised if Detroit doesn't even make it out the east.
(A roar of applause sounds.) Leebigez makes the case for logic, reason and sensibility. (Applause continues.)
Curious - both you and thumbs now seen to be on the same page so I'll pose a question to you both: When SF was here, he was nearly universally panned as the source of the Rockets problems because he was not a true PG. Now after this trade, the Rockets don't have anyone at that position. How can the Rockets now be better off without a PG when their problems last year were linked to their need for a PG? BTW, leebigez's logic flew out the window when he wrote about wanting to bring back EG but that's a topic for another day.
I'm glad you capitalized the word "currently." One could almost write CURRENTLY. I think with the addition of a decent PG (Alston? Snow? Fisher?) and backup center (someone help me out on this one) we'll be fine. CD does have his work cut out for him, but after getting McGrady, the free agents will be calling him.
Although I agree completely with bringing back Eddie Griffin, I did not want to derail the thread. Also in that vein, I agree the "crack pipe" comments are getting old just because a poster disagrees. Your points are well taken. Whereas I enjoyed SF3's performances and continue to wish him well, he was caught in tweener land. His size dictates point guard, but his heart was that of a SG or SF. Who knows what might have been had God granted him three more inches of height. The reason SF3 wasn't the PG solution was his penchant for eating up the clock with dribbling, shucking and jiving; his inability to read the defenses; his mediocre to poor passing (although sometimes he came up with some beauties); his poor clock management; his inability to run the fast break -- in other words, his less than masterful floor generalship. But I take nothing away from his heart and desire to win. That part will be sorely missed. BTW, Kudos on tempering your former "take no prisoners" approach to debating points. We learn nothing when we all agree on everything or refuse to see things from a different hilltop.
