_13 Kelvin Cato _3 Steve Francis _33 Eddie Griffin _5 Cuttino Mobley _9 Bostjan Nachbar _12 Moochie Norris _41 Glen Rice _2 Maurice Taylor _11 Yao Ming + Pike 10 players under contract. Since we can have two more on the active roster. Who else are the Rockets going after? We don't even have enough players to start the year with three playters on the IR. Who are the Rockets considering now? I think Hawkins makes the team again but who else? I know you guys will harp on the fact that I started a new thread but it seems very interesting that we don't have enough players to start the year.
Personally from the list you put up there it looks like this team needs to add a backup PG. I am not comfortable with Moochie running the team in the second unit. Perhaps getting a Mark Jackson for the veteran's minimum would be a smart move. Give the team someone that knows how to direct a team, run a pick and roll and a veteran presence on the floor at times. As for Hawkins, I do think he will be added to the team. His versitility is the key there. he can play the 2 or the 3 and can defend 1,2 and 3. Plus you can get him for cheap. Seems like a no brainer there. I like the addition of Pike as that gives us another smart veteran player that can handle the ball in the back court but I still think PG needs to be addressed. Aside from adding one more player to the team I am still not comfortable with our "soft" forwards: Rice, Nachbar, Griffin, Taylor. We need at least 2 of the 4 to break out next year, hopefully that is Griffin and Nachbar. We either need some serious "personal growth" of those players over the summer or else need to look for a trade.
Deuce I agree but there doesn't seem to be many FA's out there. Most have found new dance partners. We are reportedly close to luxury tax land and have only 10 players under contract. Something has to be in the works to unload a bad contract. What that is will be anyone's guess? I think they should sign Badiane to at least fill a roster spot. He could teach Griffin a thing or two about hustle.
since the rockets probably aren't going to spend any money i'm sure they'll just perhaps resign Tito Maddux for a year or someone very cheap, same caliber.
All right. What the heck has happened. Never mind. This is just heartbreaking. Haha. What a nice day.
With the luxury tax looming, I highly doubt we try to open the season with 3 "injured" players. With Piatkowski, Mooch is no longer Cuttino's backup, so he'll only play the 6-10 minutes Steve is on the bench. How much can he hurt us in that instance? I think we need to look at a couple of minimum salary forwards to fill out the roster. Hawkins is a possibility as a 2-3. I don't think much of him, but the coach seems to. I would definately look at Jelani McCoy and Byron Russell. They are NBA vets who should be able to jump in deep in the rotation and help out for limited minutes. j
What about Jason Miskiri, Steve's childhood friend, he sounded solid from what Dr. of Dunk was reporting and I saw him on Francis biograghy. He has good size like a Derek Fisher maybe and he could replace Terence Morris on steve's buddy list. By the way can ya'll believe we gave up a first round pick for Terence Morris and we didn't even pick-up his option. He plyed good this season for the unconsistent and unexpected minutes he recieved this year.
I hear you Lil'ManSlick about Terrence Morris. I just can't understand how they could just let him walk. By the way I believe TMO is leading the Rocky Mountain Revue in blockshots.
But that still leaves us with only 10-11 players under contract. We're short on players if two-three go down with injuries during the season plus the others will be worn out come playoff time assuming we even win enough games to make the playoffs with 10-11 players.
I would like to see Badiane come here (though I hear he's under contract in Europe) as well as Mskiri from the summer leagues. Keep could be worth a look, because we do need big bodies. But we're most likely going to be dipping in the 10day contract level a lot this year...
Doc noted that Badiane was one helluva hustler and more polished than we were led to believe. LMSlick is correct on Miskiri..he sounds like he has possibilities. No Tito...please. I'd rather have Brown back. Wish we could pickup TMo, with more PT he might be a good role player.
Looking at Rockets.com's roster... I gotta wonder how Steve Clifford, 2 years older than Van Gundy, feels in such a position. Seems very awkward. I mean trainer Keith freaking Jones is older than VG!!!
Tierre is a restricted free-agent. Lee Nailon is a free-agent also and he shined when he was with the Hornets and his first couple of games with the Knicks. Then he just faded but he had signed a fresh contract with Charrlotte but Silas released him becuase he refused to be in the back oof the rotation.
Steve Francis 36/Cuttino Mobley 12/Moochie Norris PIN Cuttino Mobley 24/Eric Piatkowski 24/Juaquin Hawkins PIN Glen Rice 24/Eric Piatkowski 12/Bostjan Nachbar 12/Eddie Griffin PIN Eddie Griffin 20/Mo Taylor 28/Glen Rice PIN/Kelvin Cato PIN Yao Ming 36/Kelvin Cato 12 Our team is decent. It's not as good as the Lakers, Kings, Spurs, or Timberwolves, but I think we're better than the Suns and Grizzlies. We are about equal with Seattle though..... Anyways. Since JVG likes 8 or 9 man rotations I believe, hopefully JVG will start the players that will match up well against the opposing team. Francis will always start as point guard. Mobley can also play at the point for a little. Moochie doesn't need to play. He gets to play against Earl Boykins and Speedy Claxton. Mobley plays shooting guard and is backed up by Piatkowski. If we really really need defense then we put in Hawkins instead. Rice or Nachbar or Piatkowski OR GRIFFIN can play at the 3. It depends on matchups...it depends on the size of the other team. Griffin and Taylor can split minutes at the 4...maybe Badiane will be signed and Cato can play at the 4 at certain times when we play big lineups or something... Yao is our main center and Cato backs him up. Our team is very versatile with many different players with different playing styles and different specialties and different roles. Posey would have made it even better... But our team is still great!!!
Why does it matter? That's the real world. I've seen lots of managers who are much younger than their subordinates. It doesn't matter as long as they work well together.