Roster swinging - to the left, and to the right.

Per Gater:

"
The age composition of the team has nothing to do with a change of style. It has everything to do with worshipping at the altar of $Ball.

If they wanted to get young, they'd have kept Gay and Swift over Battier. They got younger via Spanoulis and Snyder because they wouldn't cough up a possible $900K trade kicker to Mike James.

Whatever youth they have wasn't driven by design. It was driven by the melding of the combined focuses of Morey, Dawson and Van Gundy. A Pot Luck Stew of direction.

The negative embedded in all of this that nobody wants to admit is that Van Gundy will pull Spanoulis, Snyder, Head, Jacobsen, JL3 and/or Novak out of the game at the first hint of a missed rotation or a shot taken too quickly in the offense."

Laid out like that-it is deeply saddening to think how much Mike james might have helped this team-we saved a "potential" 900k in the kicker penalty to trade.

OK- my other problem is that the youth we have now are unproven. Is JL3 worthy of the NBA? I do not know about Novak. I realize you have to take chances in business, but at this level with the competition so great, shouldn't the risks be calculated. This seems like outright scattershot management.

Van Gundy will not facilitate these young players. He will not nursemaid them. I am not dogging JVG now, it's just the way it is.

I see serious problems-TMac and Yao are not going to have much help, will be overworked and risk injury.....



__________________

 

What is your problem? I can not believe as a "contributing member," whatever that means....that you would mock Mutombo's age. With as much as he has given his teams, local communities and his humanitarian work in his own country. We all know he is only 51

I like our mix of ages on the team and the critical thing for this season is having Yao and McGrady healthy the whole season inlcuding the playoffs......also no significant injuries to the supporting cast

 

This is exactly my concern, this management team does not have the smarts, the will, or the money to surround our stars with a really good supporting cast. Battier was an exception, but after that, the vast unknown. And the Rocket's "braintrust" even seems capable of overcoming luck. I have few logical reasons for being highly optimistic about this upcoming season. I want to be, but, right now, simply not enough talent. I sincerely hope I am pleasantly surprised.

 

Exactly.

We've acquired some cheap assets which may increase their value through preseason and the first month or two of the regular season. Buy low, sell high.

Wait until some other team runs thin on guards due to injuries, legal trouble, non-performance, etc. and then work a deal when we're holding all the cards.

At this point, we've addressed the risk of the "unproven" youth by adding more of it because it's cheaper to do so.

If Novak is a bust and Jacobsen steps up, terrific.
If Synder melts down, and Head improves, great.
If Spanoulis is out of his league, and Lucas is on fire, awesome.

BUT, if Novak and Jacobsen are lights out, or Spanoulis and Lucas are unstopable, we're in a much better position to deal when an opportunity presents itself.

I'm fine with the youth and rookies we have going into camp and the season. I have a feeling we'll end up with another solid role player because of them.

 

Would a mix of vets and youth be too much to aspire to? Howard, the vet, is passe. Battier is fine.

Nineteen 2's unproven leave me very leery.

 

Don't be so naive, I am sure you know the difference between young players and young talents. Everyone knows Rocket's approach is not getting young and talented players. They are consistent at going CHEAP on role players. The current group of newly acquired role players is cheap but happen to be young.

What Florida Marlins does is going cheap and getting young talents. What Houston Rockets does is going cheap and getting young players. The players they get are mostly late first round or even second round leftovers. There is a huge difference.

I am sad some fans are buying whatever the ball club gives to them.

 

Bottom line, if we'd kept Gay this thread doesn't exist. Just like so many of the threads this offseason.

EDIT: I guess this response is pretty worthless unless I explain myself. It just seems that a lot of fans are letting their anger over the Gay deal color their entire perspective on the team. Last season it was clear that this team needed another quality starter; Swift was not going to be that starter and it's not terribly likely that Gay will develop into a quality starter this season. With Battier we're getting a guy that is for certain a quality NBA starter, and not only that, he can play three positions. I understand that complaint that we gave up "too much," but even if Swift was returning this season, it's likely that Hayes would be outworking him and earning most of Swift's minutes with his defense and rebounding.

If we'd gotten Mike James, I think a lot more of you would be more chilled out about this coming season. Fact is, he (or his agent) pulled an inexcusable negotiating tactic and the Rockets didn't reward him for it. If they'd granted James what he wanted, they'd be hit up for last second trade kickers from EVERY free agent they tried to sign for the forseeable future, so it was decided to move on. Bummer sure, but we aren't nearly as dead in the water as a lot of you seem to believe. We have some young, unproven players, sure, but if Juwan starts again this year we'll have proven veterans at every position. If Battier starts at the four, then we've got plenty of young players eager for the opportunity to show what they can do at the 2.

Sure we don't know exactly what Snyder, Span et al will bring, but it's not necessarily a nightmare scenario. We aren't counting on these guys to carry us on their backs, just pitch in. And if they can't, we've got guys waiting in the wings to give it a shot.

Sure it hasn't been a miracle offseason, but the anger over the Gay deal and the James burn is making a lot of you see the glass as being 1/3 full when it isn't really as bad as all that.

 

actually i think we have a very nice mix of youth and age.

there are still a few question marks as far as which players will work out. (hopefully more than last year)

the supporting cast is still weak and unproven. one thing is for sure tho, tmac will not be worn out thanks to the addition of shane.

 

BOTTOM LINE there are alot of doubts, like will Shaq break down, will Kobes wrist break when he finally passes....yada,yada.yada.....

The only thing I don't doubt is that if the rockets begin winning that all the DOUBTERS will find something else to doubt and that opinions will change and the doubters will never admit they were wrong or ever had reservations in the first place.

For the record I think Battier has 10 times more heart for the game than Gay and Swift and is 10 times a smarter basketball player.

I also think VSpAn has more heart than Gay and Swift as well.

I ALSO BELIEVE MILLIONAIRES SHOULD GET THEIR ASSES PULLED WHEN THEY MISS ASSIGNMENTS SO THEY DON'T DO IT AGAIN and me and JVG both don't lose our frickin minds. If I wanted to watch lazy basketball I would watch playgound basketball...its BS.

I LIKE THE MIXTURE OF ATHLETICISM and any of the new athletes here that don't play hard and smart will be gone by ALL STAR or next season...thank God we don't have a coach that puts winning before potential. They may not turn out to be the right players but I like the principles.

 

People need to give management and ownership a break. When your two best players are both signed to max deals, what option do you have but to find cheaper role players. Case in point being a player like Nene. Could we use a rebounding PF? Of course, but if we paid him 60 million over 6 years that would cripple us. Thats why getting Battier, Vspan, and JL3 for less then what Nene was paid is the way management went. Yes i know the rox were never seriously after Nene, but it is an example.

If the Rox were really cheap, they would not have given Yao his extension that early, or quickly traded Tmac away at the first sign of trouble. Last season sucked, but it was clearly due to injuries. give the team a break and see what happens this year.

As for the blend of youth and age, I also like what we have. We clearly added, defense (battier and snyder), shooting (battier and novak), and toughness (vspan). Plus the offseason isnt over yet and we still have some options.

As for mike james, the trade kicker meant a lot more then 900K. Like it was pointed out you cant let a player, especially a non superstar player, start dictating how you negotiate and having an ability to prevent future trades. All things being equal he had a chance to come play for the Rox like he wanted, and he chose otherwise. we will be fine without him.

 

I think young PG's and SG's are fine..just like we are right now. Only as long as they know their role. I'm not too fond with the vets running the floor unless they are in the 3,4, or 5. Since we have to keep up with the Suns, Clippers, Hornets .. etc.. Not saying we have to change our game plan, just saying its good to have young players running the floor. BTW,Are we still the worst fast-breaking team in the league?

 

Talk doesn't win games, bravado doesn't win games, spin doesn't win games, TALENT wins games, and there is clearly reason to doubt that the Rockets have enough. Roll out the balls, and we will find out. My aspiration is for contender status, I am really not interested in first round exits. I do not believe this team at present is a contender. We are asking too much of a very marginal (at best) supporting cast. Healthy stars should be enough for the playoffs (and in my mind, even that is a close call). Better role players will be necessary for a run at the ring. Yes, I am disappointed at the Gay trade, the Rockets got the short end of the stick, they should have an extra draft pick at least. Yes, I believe we "needed" James or a player of his skills. I like Battier, but guard by committee worries me. Over ten years of "fumble and bumble" is grounds to question the management. Two first round exits in ten years. And with all those lotteries what do we have to show for it? Essentially, Yao Ming. He and TMac can not do it alone.

 

The current roster is far more promising than last season's.

Sura was over the hill and couldn't get his surgery or rehabilitation done in time.

Jon Barry's injury was freakish, but a younger version of him would have been more likely to recuperate in much short time.

The transaction involving a talentless DA was as bad as a GM could come up with.

I was excited about the acquisition of Stro and Skip. Unfortunately Stro's athleticism was never appreciated and fully utilized under JVG, who seemed to be more than happy to expose Stro's weakness. Skip showed flashes of flare, but he had to bear the brunt of unrealistic expectation of a ball handler-floor general-scorer combo when the absence of TMac and Yao all but brought the Rockets team to the brink of total humiliation.

Head as a rookie was probably too much to be asked for more contribution and leadership.

Juwan and Wesley were over the hill, just like Barry and Sura. I don't even want to touch on Keith Bogans and Ryan Bowen.

If TMac's back can hold up, with Yao's continuing dominance, this Rockets team ought to get deep into the playoffs.

Even if TMac is not 100% himself, we should still at least be able to make it to the playoffs.

JVG's arse is on the line -- there should be no question about this.

 

The Rockets did great bringing over Vspan. He will be a great addition. A healthy and dominate Yao is the key to success. TMac will then have his wish of playing with the dominate big. He will have the freedom to NOT face double team all the time and use his skills to shot/drive/pass the Rockets into the playoffs and beyond.

I believe this year they will get pass the first round. That in fact will have homecourt for the 1st round.

Meanwhile, Yao will be in serious contention for MVP. Don't believe, check back at the end of the season. He will have a great year because he is the man and he knows it.

As for the PG position. 2 superstars will make Alston look like a superstar with double digit assists and good 3 point percentage because shooting open 3s will be the norm.

SG is going to be a battle and I think one of VSpan, Snyder and Head will emerge as the starter.

Battier will play as a forward and TMAC is the other forward. No distintion between PF or SF. This is how the Rockets will play.

 

call me doom and gloom but I dont see the team even making the playoffs.

with the acceleration of improvement in the Hornets and Warrior camps - and considering no other playoff team from last season has significantly fallen off in the West (MAYBE the Kings) - who are we honestly going to displace?

Battier will ok, but he's not a star. Unless Ming and McGrady stay 100% healthy the whole season and the supporting cast plays out of their minds, (which I think is too much to ask) we are lottery bound yet again fellas.

I punctuate this post with a DAMN, I hope i'm very, VERY wrong.

 

If Tmac/yao play around 70 games together, we are playoff bound, simple as that. Two of them, with a bunch of crappy role players, had very good winning percentage last season. The way we were beating teams in Feburary and early March, I don't think some improvement of other teams will matter that much. We stay healthy, we win plenty of games.

 

Who's Ming?

 

october seems so far away..

 

With the recent Bonzi news, it seems like Rockets management would like another likely impact vet, too. It's just that they don't want to overpay for one. It's well-known that the later a player signs, the lower his price gets generally due to deperation. Thus, they've held off getting any vets after the Mike James plan failed.

I'm guessing they are trying to hook Bonzi up if they can. If Bonzi signs elsewhere, though, I'm not sure whether they offer the 2.1 mil remaining to some lesser FA (Cato?) right away or they just wait until middle of preseason to make another move.

Looking back at the moves, I kinda wished they gave Mike James the kicker he wanted... though VSpan might prove me wrong (remember Mike James signing= No Vspan).

Most of all, though, I wish they had at least gone after Jarron Collins or Francisco Elson, two vet bigs who ended up signing for really cheap. Rockets do need a smart big man to play bench minutes at C and PF, especially if either Yao or Mutombo gets injured. Maybe Dennis Lindsey has the same boner for Haryasz that he had for Chuck Hayes and really wants minutes for another one of his undrafted gems...