I would love to see one of the Florida players like Brewer or Horford on this squad. I don't think Noah has any shot, but is just a banger/takes charges/garbage man. We already have 2 players that can do that - Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier. Is this Taurean Green any good? Who would drop down in the late 20s for us? What do we need on this squad?
There are actually a few decent players who may be available near our pick -- mostly guards: Alando Tucker Acie Law (might need to trade up a bit) Tiago Splitter (mocks have him anywhere from 11 to 25) Marcus Williams Aaron Afflalo (might stay his senior year) Morris Almond Taurean Green Aaron Brooks No superstars, but maybe a decent player or two in that bunch.
I agree with Morris Almond....tall athletic sg/sf and shoots the ball with great accuracy... nbadraft has compared him the Redd and thats not to far off...he might not be able to put up his college numbers but he won't have to here...he can slash as well as kirk and shoot as well as head and his bigger than either of them...decent defender that could only improve with JVG..pretty good rebounder...great size...unless Law drops that low...go with Almond. -V
i've been watching some euroleague. if the rockets need a PF they should consider trading the pick for luis scola's rights.
Right now its too early to tell who might be available but we definitely need a point guard and another swing man who can score when Tmac or Yao aren't in the game.
NBADraft.net doesn't do their mock according to team need, though. It's strictly a ranking of prospects in order.
First of all,the guys from Florida will be long gone when we pick. And Noah will be the first taken out of that group. He has subjogated his game his whole career.The guy's about winning.Sure,if he comes out last year he probably goes 1.Even though JN loses some money,he gets that second title. Anyone that watches him guarded in the Final by Oden who is a center and makes judgements based on that doesn't know hoops. JN is a PF and a VERY good one.Everyone else has more space to work because of this guy and he does whatever it takes. I say he goes 3 behind Oden and Durant. Horford is your prototypical PF.... 7 -12 pick IMO. Brewer looks to be a 4 -6 guy. Green is the guy off that team that we might have a shot at,but we'll probably have to move up to do it. 14 - 17 Almond,to me is an overrated big fish in a small pond at Rice. Now,Afflalo is a guy I'd like to see us pick up.He D's up,drains the J,and is a leader.Again,I see us having to move up for him though.
I think you're 100% wrong about Noah. He'll be a serviceable role player in the NBA. A guy who is definitely worth having on a team, but not one who deserves to go top 3 in the draft. He deserves to be end of lottery/mid first round. He'll be a definite starter, but a 4th banana on any good team. You can't build any kind of team around him. You can't even make him the 2nd fiddle to someone else. Therefore, in this loaded draft, no way he should go so high. Afflalo...is he really 6-5"?? didn't seem it to me.. always seemed a little too small on tv. If he's a legit 6-5, i'd be down for that
Noah is giving up a whopping one inch and 15 pounds in that matchup and you expect me to overlook that simply because Noah is probably a PF on the pro level? I don't think so. When you're being touted as a top 5 pick you should be able to deliver in that scenario NOT get benched and become a non-factor in a game of that magnitude. Not saying he should have won that matchup but he should have at least held his own and proved that the gap between the likely #1 pick and a fellow top 5 pick isn't that large. I know it's only one game but it's also a game that happened on the sport's biggest stage. For that reason it's hard for me to act surprised as you seem whenever people make so much out of that lone game. As for where I think all these guys we'll go? It's still early. To me, Horford and Brewer seem like your typical athletic freaks with high ceilings that will always impress everybody at the draft camps and individual workouts. Every draft has players like that and they seem like they fit that bill. For that reason and the fact that Brewer/Horford have steadily improved throughout their careers while Noah regressed this year are other reasons I could easily see them taken before Noah. But unfortunately, as you said those Florida guys should all be gone by the time we pick. Green doesn't impress me that much. He's a decent shooter and playmaker but he's very small and seemed to have Lee Humphrey syndrome in that offense.
In addition to the position thing,the talent gap IMO between Oden,Durant,and everyone else is big.This isn't a slam on the others.It's just that Oden and Durant are THAT good. On "the regression of Noah",I'm not so sure that isn't more a function of the others growing and Noah doing what's best for the team.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xxABT1q1V4I"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xxABT1q1V4I" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
Noah would be exactly Rockets need -- Chuck Hayes in a real PF body. But the chance that we can him is remote. No one would want to trade down in such a strong draft.
Agreed. There's a reason Florida won two titles in a row. Guys stepped up when they had to. Conversly, guys set up others and gave the ball up when they had to. The best quote by Billy Donovan: "Our most important player is the open man." The starting lineup's individual points avg was around 11-13 for all 5, pretty balanced. These guys were the definition of team and unselfish basketball. I might be total homer on this, but I think the refs were pretty protective of Oden in the finals. Lots of ticky-tack fouls on Horford and Noah while Oden was trying to setup in the post. Seriously, the whole tournament Oden was in foul trouble except in the finals against his toughest competition!?!? Don't forget their earlier matchup in Dec. Yes, Oden was injured. But so was Horford, who still had ankle problems and hadn't practiced for 2 weeks until the day before their matchup. He specifically rushed back to take on Oden. And Oden got into foul trouble with time to spare in that game.
Green will be a little bit of a reach for the Rockets where they pick, but I'd take him. He's a perfect fit at backup PG. He's a reliable ball-handler. He plays passable defense (good enough for the system). He's run an offense with superstars. He can break down the defense occasionally. And perhaps most importantly, he can hit an open three pointer from anywhere.
