Well I hate to break it to you, but when I talk to fans of other "contenders" teams I NEVER hear the dollar issue, but every time I talk to a Rocket fans the money cost of the player is almost the #1 thing mentione EVERY time, I wonder how this could be? Anyway I just saw that apparently the Bulls are considering dumping JR Smith. Now that would be great if the Rockets got BOTH of the Hornets twos. Because then I think Snyder could backup T-Mac and Smith and Smith could start, or vice versa. That in addition to Head, maybe Spanoulis, hopefully Sura. etc. Now I would be starting to believe the team can compete seriously. However it would be pure luck to end up with him because he's cheap (requirement #1 for the Rockets) and also he would have not been available unless Chicago for whatever reason dumps him. BUT I will tell you this if Chicago does dump him and the Rockets do not get him I really don't want to see people defending the management and calling out people who question it at that point. If Chicago cuts him then damn the Rockets have to be on it in a hurry. Adding both Snyder and Smith plus Battier would be a major improvement. And really personally Snyder I just don't think is good enough to be the starter if you want to go all the way, but I think JR Smith has that potential to be.
Okay so it's mid-july. wtf do you expect them to do? just keep making big trades? the thing is this. we had injuries last year. and it wasnt just scrubs. it was our two superstars. and they are what they are. you can say tmac is injury prone or whatever, but he's here. and as long as he's here and hes healthy, we're running on all cylinders. we got shane battier. he's not a scrub. we def. didnt get him for cheap. so what if they use some cash on an athletic big guard? its not like the offseason is over, we still have the mle and the TE. so keep being disgusted if you want, but just realize its only mid-july and free agents barely started signing. and no, we're not getting iverson. Geez I mean its the same every freaking year, people expect things to be done when theres still what, like 3 months left till the season starts.
Pretty much EVERY team cares about the money and about staying under the luxury tax limit, contending or not. Miami cares about it, Detroit case about it, San Antonio cares about it, and even Dallas has begun to care about it in recent years. The Rockets are far from a particulary cheap team. Their payroll (after dumping Moochie and DA) was just under the luxury tax limit last season and definitely in the upper half of the league. Your perception is simply an artifact of ignorance of reality. So... getting JR Smith is the difference betwen being cheap and trying to contend? Heh..
The payroll is in the upper half of the league in good part b/c it's been stacked with garbage contracts thanks to management's gross ineptitude. But instead of biting the bullet, owning up to their mistakes, and still doing what's best for the team and it's roster - management instead opts to go on the cheap, in essence letting the fans suffer for their blunders.
EXACTLY Geez I thought I was the only fan that calls it like it is. It's unreal that some fans actually do not think the Rockets have clearly gone into cheap mode.
<table> <tr><td>francis<td>-><td>lue <tr><td>cat<td>-><td>jj <tr><td>jj<td>-><td>mcgrady <tr><td>cato<td>-><td>jho <tr><td>yao<td>-><td>" " </table> cd must've blown his stockpile of pixie dust here turning scrubs into nba players <table> <tr><td>lue<td>-><td>barry <tr><td>jj<td>-><td>wesley <tr><td>gaines<td>-><td>james <tr><td>pike<td>-><td>deke </table> so basically rockets are what they are today because of the the t-mac trade.
Biting the Bullets? Nobody bites teh bullets when it's your money. Cuban didn't just "bite the bullets" and offer Mike James the same contract Minny did. SA didn't "bite the bullets" as they tried to ship off Brent Barry and Rasho for financial reasons for cheaper replacements. DET didn't bite the bullet and offer Ben Wallace the same contract CHI did. DAL didn't even bite the bullet and sign Steve Nash. PHX isn't biting the bullet and offer Tim Thomas the MLE the Clips gave him. SEA and CLE are not biting the bullet on Wilcox and Gooden. MIA has said they are not spending their full MLE this season due to luxury tax consideratons. Responsible financial management is a fact in any business. This "going for the championship, money be damned" mentality is for 12 year olds in special educaton classes. FACT: Rockets only had their MLE to spend for the last 3 sesons, and they have used it... on Sura and Ward one season, on Stro the next, and offered it to Mike James just this season. FACT: The players dumped by the Rockets are mostly overpaid and useless (notable exception is Padgett)... Mo Taylor, Moochie, DA, Spoon are all pretty much crap. Just because management doesn't follow some boneheaded scheme to bring back Steve Francis doesn't mean they won't be winning.
Nobody needs to feel sorry for Les. He got a sweetheart deal from the taxpayers on the new arena and he's got one of the top 5 NBA franchises in terms of market value. It's not the fans' fault that his management team has done a piss-poor job of managing the payroll for the past 8-10 years. And the product he's put out there on the court during that time has, for the most part, sucked. His teams have not made it out of the first round since '97 and have outright missed the playoffs in several seasons during this time. If you want to boil it all down to this just being business, then by all means he should actually be lowering his ticket prices (which are also near the top compared to other NBA teams) in correlation with the crappy product he's been putting out. If this team does not produce in the first couple months of the season, then fan attendence is poised to plummet. There have just been too many years of garbage basketball and now this atrocious offseason, for fans to not become indifferent. Suffice it to say, this is not the time for management to go into cheap mode. Unless of course Les intends to sell the team imminently....
I dont understand all this "cheap mode" crap. There is this thing called a salary cap in the NBA that prevents teams from signing players when they are over it. The Rockets cannot trade for players if they dont have anything to give up. Another thing is fair salary. Just because a player is making a crap load of money doesnt mean he will be a good addition to a team. Steve Francis is not worth what he is making, Jerome James is not worth what he is making, and neither is Stro Swift. So for all these folks that claim the Rockets are on cheap mode. Would you be happy if the Rockets were to go crazy and start picking up over priced players from the Knicks just so that they would not seems as cheap?
That, and/or pretty compelling evidence that he doesn't have as much voice in player selection as some folks claim.
Not a good sign, the Hornets fans are saying Kirk is inconsistent and doesn't work hard. Still a good trade, but don't hang too much hope on it.
WHAT A MONSTER ADD GOOD JOB CARROLL WAY TO MAKE UP FOR NOT GETTING MIKE JAMES. THIS MOVE IS VERY CONSISTANT WITH OUR HOUSTON FRANCHISES CANT PULL A TRIGGER ON A GOOD DEAL SO WE SETTLE FOR A PROVEN AVERAGE PLAYER. GOOD JOB GUYS CANT WAIT FOR THE SEASON TO START SO I CAN CHEER FOR KIRK FREAKIN SNYDER CANT WAIT FOR THAT JERSEY TO GO ON SALE
How can you call the Rox cheap when they are paying two players the max contract available. It just isnt that easy when two guys take up that much of your cap room. As for owning up to mistakes, what do you think the Rox did by dumping Stro and DA. IF they were both still on the team they would be costing the Rox somewhere around 7.5 million this year. Rox made a mistake with their signings last year and cut their losses. As for bringing Francis back that is crazy. That would have Yao at 12 mil, Francis at 15 mil and Tmac at almost 17 mil this season. That is 44 mil of the 53 million cap. That leaves about 9 million to sign the other 12 players. Then in 08-09 we would owe Yao 14.5 mil, Francis 17 mil and Tmac 21 mil. That is almost 53 million right there. Explain to me how this trade works in our best interest. As for JR smith, rumor is that a deal is already in place for howard eisley and two second round picks. Also how does getting Kirk Snyder clearly show we are cheap and dedicated to losing, yet getting Smith means we are on track to win a title.
I'm one of those guys. The difference is talent between the two and the ticking effect of cheap selling the No.8 pick. I'm not saying that Gay will turn out to be an all star, but a uncommited Derrick Coleman beats a hard working Kirk Snyder. Plus the Jury is out on a 19 year old kid who has yet to play an actual NBA game - people respond differently to money and fame. Some get caught up in it and some see those things as motivation.
Because on profit they know star power sells tickets and on expense they balance out the cost for star power with cheap spare parts.
So I guess that means the Knicks are a better team than the Rockets or Spurs because they have a higher payroll? The worst thing the Rox can do is to start overpaying for players in desperation now, only to undermine our long-term viability.
