I'm sure many of you have heard of Beno Udrih by now. If you haven't, he's the 6'3 Slovenian rookie PG for the San Antonio Spurs. [drafter 1st round -28th pick] What's so great about Udrih? Pretty much everything. A great passer, shooter, and defender. His basketball IQ is Ginobli-esque. The Spurs, along with the Mavs, have a lot invested in scouting. By "a lot" I don't just mean # of scouts, I am talking about quality of scouts who have connections and know who/what they are dealing with. The Rockets aren't going anywhere for the next few years, which has poor drafting and scouting for the past several years to blame [excluding Yao Ming]. Gone are the years of drafting jewels such like Horry, Mobley, Cassell. For the Rockets to improve, they must draw from the great scouting and great draft years. Beno Udrih comes off the bench for the Spurs, but had the Rockets scouted him, they could have traded up to get him. And maybe today Udrih would have been starting at PG for the Rockets.
I must agree that the Rockets scouts just have been doing a horrible job. Its like they got 73 year old blind men scouting for them.
Yea but is this really news...Hell this has been going on since oh I don't know...LIKE FOREVER!! I guess Les thinks since he walked in to the ownership and won a couple of championships he doesn't have to put out any more effort! I wonder how many scouts we even have!
There was an article in the chronicle by Feigen before the draft that the Rockets could have moved into the late 1st round basically just giving up cash and maybe a 2nd round pick. The argument was that 2nd round picks are just as valuable as late 1st rounders because after the first 15, it's a crapshoot and a 2nd round contract is not guaranteed. So rather than making the move, the "organization" decided there were not any worthy players for them to make the move.
thanks. . u right that does suck that sounds like something to save $$ cannot win being cheap Honestly CD's *ss should be on the hot seat During the championship runs we got CBAers to play like champs [maybe rudy scouted them or rudy got the most out of them but they were great] Other than Cat we have found no GEMS KT was a gem . .but we traded him for a rental player [HOW FRICKING SMART WAS THAT .. trade a player for 3 months] Rocket River
Yeah that's the kind of mentality that keeps us down in the gutters. From my perspective this organization needs a new identity from the ground up. Perhaps a new owner [if Les would let go of his death grip], new GM, and last but not least new coach. If things continue at their current state...The Rockets will lose fans, Yao, and possibly McGrady [via a trade demand].
I don't think Les is a bad owner. His biggest mistake was firing Steve Patterson. In my opinion, Steve Patterson was the best GM this organization ever had (ironically, he was hired after his father Ray, ran the Rockets into the ground). Patterson was probably hired because of nepotism but ex post facto, he was fantastic. Thorpe, Smith, Maxwell were acquired for almost nothing. He challenged Hakeem, defended the Robert Horry pick and revitalized the franchise in a very short time. Patterson was smart, tough, and decisive. Les fired Patterson because as good as he was making trades and signing players, he sucked at marketing. Back then, even as the Rockets were winning, they ran 2 for 1 coupons in the Chronicle everyday. Les admitted later (after the Rockets won the championship with the players Patterson acquired) that he shouldnt have fired Steve. CD was a very good assistant and he is much more suited for that type of position. He is way too much of a nice guy to make tough decisions. As GM, he basically rubber stamped all of Rudy's moves and yet here he is, no backbone and still running the organization. Why?
Riet, HEAR HEAR !! I met Steve at an Arrows game a few years ago, and told him that the championships that the Rockets won were a reflection on him, and he was genuinely happy that someone told him that. We had several beers in the lounge under the seats, it was pretty cool, not even sure whether the Arrows won or not. We got good seats and got invited down to the executive lounge because my wife and I were sitting behind the owners parents, and we struck up a conversation. That was a neat night. DD
Can you guys even name 3 of the Rocket scouts without looking them up??? Oh, brother. When we start blaming the scouting staff...well...nevermind.
Scouts! The Rockets don't need scouts, they need a GM, for CD is terrible. Have u taken a look at the Rocket roster lately, beside T Mac and Yao this roster is garbage. Take the two best players off of any other team and the remaining roster would be better than the Rockets without our two best players. CD never played NBA ball, so what would he know about talent. The best NBA GM are former players themselves like Jerry West and Joe Dumars. Until the Rocket do likewise, we will have trouble putting together a talented roster.
I 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th ... Besides good luck with the pingpong balls, the Rox really haven't done a good job in scouting, trades or free agency. This team is loaded with bad contracts, while some good teams keep plucking diamonds out of sand. I can list many players who were rejects but now excel on some really good teams, like Wolves, Spurs, and Mavs.
I have to agree. This team would be so much better off if we would be able to unearth some of these late round gems. Guys like Bobby Simmons, Tony Parker, Josh Howard etc. We need to find more Cuttino Mobley's and Sam Cassell's in the draft. Those type of talented players later in the draft. Another thing we haven't done well in a while is scour the NBDL (CBA back in the day) for some hidden gem role players. Rudy always used to do that with some success. The Rockets need to invest HEAVILY in scouting to make their draft picks and FA moves better. And yes, CD does have blame. Like it is said above, he basically rubber stamps whatever Rudy/JVG wants. I dont think CD goes out and makes a bunch of calls. He just does the paperwork. Would Jerry West or Larry Bird be sitting around right about now as the team is crumbling? Or would they be making some moves?
Oh yes, im sure as soon as we get new scouts were goin to pick up a parker, ginobli, and a mobley next year.
Scouting is our problem? Please. We have T-Mac and Yao and lost to the Hawks and Knicks. That is not a scouting problem.
Scouts?!? You've got to be kidding! When you trade away most of your picks, what do you need scouts for?
