What would be his contributions? do you think at his age and past injury, he could be a positive use to our team? The Rockets knew he could shoot, were certain he could pass, and believed he could flourish in Rick Adelman’s offense. Brent Barry has played in 13 NBA seasons, the past four in the San Antonio Spurs’ spotlight. There is not a scout alive who could miss abilities that obvious. There has, however, been something else the Rockets have either discovered or, if they knew before, likely did not consider quite as carefully as all that shooting and passing stuff. The man can talk, really talk. He can talk a lot and have a lot to say when he does. After five days of training camp, the Rockets have come to appreciate Barry’s dead-ball gift of gab as much as that quick release from 3-point range, as if when they signed him as a free agent, they got an instant leader backed with the credibility of championship rings. more on this link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6040388.html
We got ourselves a club house leader. he and battier makeup for yao and mcgrady's wimpy leadership. the younger guys gotta soake up all the information whilst barry is around them. he is a gem.
Wow, that is great to hear. By adding Artest, we get a guy that in crunch time won't back down from anybody ...and punch them in the neck, if needed. Some welcomed toughness. But with Barry, we get a guy that is telling the team 'how to win'. It's often the small things with 5 minutes left in the game that change the tide. Barry is the guy that understands that and will tell you straight up. That's exciting. I'm even more pumped than before.
At least I can agree with you on this. So true, I don't know how many would welcome his toughness/aggressiveness but it is something definitely needed.
More Brent humor. Just wondering in the back of my mind if at a certain point he starts getting the rep of a know it all. No one likes a know it all.
Can any older Rockets fans shed any light on how Rick Barry was received in Houston during his few years here? He was a big star when he arrived in town, but is the personality/attitude similar?
He was welcomed with open arms. I don't recall as much about the "personality/attitude" though. I'll just say this. He never doubted himself or his abilities, but he's wasn't as outgoing as Jon or Brent. Now after we were forced to give up John Lucus to the Warriors as compensation for "tampering", some of the luster wore off. I seem to remember someone from the Rockets organization (years later) saying that they wouldn't have signed him if they knew Lucus would be the compensation. In other words the Rockets knew they would have to give up a player or future draft pick, they just didn't think it would a starter.
Completely opposite. Rick Barry was one of the most disliked popular players due to his arrogant attitude and prickly demeanor. His own teammates on the Warrriors' championship team couldn't stand him- but they did respect him. By the time he got to the Rockets, though, he was more mellow and Rudy T, among others, said they enjoyed playing with him. The Barry boys are much, much different than their dad- although he is a far better player than both of them combined- an absolutely legitimate Hall of Famer and one of the 50 greatest ever. Love his game.
Veteran leadership is something that is always undervalued here. Glad to hear Brent bringing it to the table. This is why we need Deke back. The volatile half of the team just gets canceled out that way.
Mark my words, Artest is going to be a major player and will get us to close to 60 wins, but come playoff time its gonna be BB nailing the clutch shots and putting us over the top.
Dead on. I'm too young to have seen him play in person but my pops pretty much relayed this to me years ago. It is backed up by anyone who knows Rick personally. Not the most loved guy ever but a hell of a player.
