So with Ish gone, in my head, the only playmakers left are JHarden and...... (thinking really hard.....).... OK, only Harden. Ish wasnt so good as one anyways, but he's better than anyone still around, I think. JTerry? I dont remember him ever being one. Canaan? He's a SG, I reckon. I see Will Bynum is available... but who would we cut?
I'm talking about the 2012-13 season, when Machado beat out Livingston for the final roster spot, mostly based on his youth and potential. Machado was waived by the Rockets a few months later and now, after bouncing around the D-League, has signed for some Estonian team, while Livingston performed well for the Wizards, Cavs and Nets and has recently landed a 3-year, $15 million contract with Golden State.
Still can't understand Black over Adrien. Black is just a garbage put back player who excelled in pre - freaking season. Just a flash in the pan. Adrien is a solid guy who has excelled in this league albeit in the Eastern Conference for the most part. Ideally it would have been Adrien and Black over Dorsey but Dorsey got those 2 years guaranteed $$$$ so it came down to Adrien vs Black.
Very true. I'd take either Bynum or Mekel over Ish all day everyday. Hate to see Adrien go because he provided toughness, but Black beat him out for that roster spot in the eyes of the coaches and Dorsey's 2 year deal was too much to eat or give up 2nd rounders to trade away in their opinion apparently. Not the end of the world though. If our season is lost because we cut Adrien then we never really had much to look forward to in the first place. Maybe he can be brought back for depth if we ever find a suitable deal for D. Mo or TJ.
releasing jeff adrien was the logical thing to do for the rockets. i know he's easy to root for because he's a hustle guy and gives 100 % every single possession. but the thing is he is what he is. a proven hustle guy who is undersized and has little room to grow potential wise. people here act like we are missing out on the next great power forward. reality is the rockets have kept tarik black. and it was the logical choice. him and adrien are basically the same player. they are both physical but undersized hustle guys. but while jeff adrien is what he is at 28 years of age, tarik black is only 22 years old and there is a very slim chance that his ceiling might be a little higher than adrien's. i'm pretty sure the decision wasn't that hard for daryl morey.
DM should cut Garcia and pickup Will Bynum ASAP if he is fit. We need a backup PG in the worst possible way. Garcia's playing days are done, I am afraid.
after every good move morey is starting to answer with a royce, with a tsquid, with a thabeet, with a casspi, with a dorsey
A. He clearly outplayed Adrien during camp and the preseason (yes I know its the "freaking pre-season, but the competition matters). B. He's going to improve as a rookie in this league. C. Adrien is who he is right now. D. Adrien wouldn't be getting PT this season unless there were major injuries. He can't protect the rim at the 5 spot like a bigger 5 could. E. Black has an excellent team friendly contract that, if he continues his play from the preseason, will be an excellent trade chip if they need to make a deal later on. I feel bad for Adrien right now, but I think he will be picked up, and do ok this season for someone as their backup 4. Right now the Rockets need to focus on getting Jones and D-Mo to take the next step in their career, and they need to get Black and Dorsey ready to play heavy minutes behind Dwight this year. This team, and their front office havr priorities, and Jeff Adrien fell pretty low on that list. Sorry for the Adrien lovers out there, but he wasn't going to get major burn this year anyways unless Jones and D-Mo really stunk it up. I can't understand for the life of me why the Rockets fanbase has all the sudden become infatuated with giving up young talent for guys like this. A couple of Chuck Hayes type guys is great for the team, but having 6 to 10 Chuck Hayes types is just too much. You have to look long term, and keep the focus on improving your roster long term.
I do not see the clearly outplayed part, adrien had some better rebounding games, black had the memphis game and one or two other good games, he had some bad games too
If any of the above avgs more the 5mpg; Adrian, Black or Dorsey, ...then stuff has gone to hell in a hand basket. Seriously, ya'll, it doesn't really matter. The most value that those two roster spots gives us in 12 fouls. If you have higher expectations than that, I'm glad your not GM.
Other than the coach, what would you change then? Do you think keeping Jeff Adrien and Ish Smith over Capela, Black, and Johnson is keeping this team from "running in circles". This team as currently constructed has plenty of Chuck Hayes types already. You can't have a team that throws away young talent to have a roster chalked full of players that aren't going to improve and most probably wont even play regardless. The Spurs took a chance on Kawhi Leonard instead of keeping George Hill & Richard Jefferson. The 90's era Bulls took a chance on Toni Kukoc instead of staying with Vets like Rodney McCray. And McCray and Jefferson were much better than any of the vets we are all crying over losing like Adrien and Ish Smith. The team has two superstars. You can't just swap those out for other superstars so what else do you really want other than a new coach? Ersan Ilyasova, or an aging Kevin Garnett? Jarrett Jack? What's the answer here than I'm missing that solves all the problems for the Rockets? IMO the one thing that will get the Rockets over that hurddle of being a decent playoff team (much like the Yao/T-Mac days) is going to be not making the same mistake that was made by going with burnt out vets like Vin Baker and Juwan Howard, and actually trying to take a gamble here and there on someone that could be that next Kawhi Leonard, or Toni Kukoc. Maybe that's Clint Capela, or Nick Johnson, or maybe its not. However I don't know why people are so angry at Morey for trying instead of settling for a team that has a more stable chance at being a 50 win team vs. a team that is projected to win 49 games, but has the upside chance of being a 55 win team if a young guy bursts onto the scene. I just don't understand what the big problem is other than the coaching (which even then is arguable).
Well then why was McHale clearly playing Black over Adrien and Dorsey? We don't see the practices and scrimmages. Black obviously beat these guys out for minutes there unless McHale had a personal vendetta which doesn't seem likely since the guy openly hates having to play young guys (even though he's had to do it before with Parsons and Jones). Black beat those guys out fair and square for minutes. I don't know how you can see anything otherwise unless you just didn't watch the games.
It looks like Black is the primary backup C. One of Dorsey or Black will likely start the year averaging over 5 mpg, I just hope to god it's Black.
We had better all hope that Dorsey is the backup center over Black because: 1. Black is going to get chewed up by vet bigs in this league. He's a raw rookie. 2. If Dorsey can't beat out Black for reserve minutes behind Dwight then he's dead weight and the whole league will know it making it impossible to get him out of here without attaching an asset to him.
Depending on what happens in July 2015, Dorsey the player can be traded if they really desperately need to make extra space for a key pickup in free agency (hopefully they find a good deal before then, but I'm fulling expecting an active July for Morey). Dorsey, the waived contract from October of 2014 cannot be moved. The Rockets might not have to move Dorsey this year or this Summer, and probably shouldn't move him if they have to expend an asset (even a small one). However they at least have the OPTION to move him if they get stuck in a bind, and that million dollars on their 2015/16 salary becomes a sticking point to sign someone of value. Right now, I really don't care about Dorsey's trade value. I'm needing his depth at backup 5 along with Black (much like the Rockets have needed 3 PG's in previous years with injuries and questions about depth). Since those two are so equal in what they do, their size, and raw talent, I think it was a good idea to keep both because I'm a firm believer that competition brings better higher results. Whoever of the two (Black or Dorsey) puts the effort and time to work on their game this season and bust their butt on the glass is going to ultimately get the nod, and will make this team better because of it. A Dorsey trade value thread/convo can be saved for next May or June when its relevant. We at least know one team in the league who is always down to take a contract off a teams hands for a 2nd round pick.
Ankle issues were reported Black was hungrier but I guess guys do not want a locker room guy for PFs and think he is good enough.... Young guys playing preseason means nothing (Casspi has been beasting, Donte Greene has been beasting in Summer League (Pre Preseason so to speak) Turns out McHale one of the greatest PF in history is not the greatest PF coordinator otherwise Jones and DMo would have already broken out (at least they would be further in development) And no spot would be wasted on Capela if we had a backup C and a good consistent PF. Morey believers should take the good with the bad. He never viewed PF as one of the most important positions although he should have. A dose of reality. And for your Info I rewatched 5 games out of 8 and all highlights except the Orlando game In addition I watched Adrien when he was here 2011/12 (he already had games with 11 boards) and followed him when he was in Charlotte and Milwaukee Adrien averaged 11 points and 7.8 boards in 25 limited minutes (28 games-those are more than your 8 preseason games)
Adrien's stats were getting better and better the last three years. Is he a borderline allstar? Nope. But he is more than a 12th man. He is the guy that can solidify a position when the young guys are going through slumps.
