Also to respond to the Nwanko vs. Collier debate. One very limited offensive center(Cato) is enough. Two(Cato and Nwanko) would be a down right waste of space. At least Collier may be able to hit a jump shot in a game. That is if he is ever able to get the sluggishness out of his game.
Ike was only good for fouling and JC is only good for getting in the way. Neither have game. Neither can play D.
I agree we are thin at the PF and C spot. Walt and Rice combine for 15 Million this year. Walt has value now because teams need shooters like him; 40% 3pt. And we won't be able to resign him next year, get something for him now. I'd like to see us trade Walt and JC/Dan and maybe some drftpks for Outlaw. Orlando wanted to dump his salary and need a shooter to help TMac since Hill is ?ble and Miller is hurt. This would be great for this year as well as for the future. This Year: C Cato, Willis PF KT, Outlaw, EG SF Rice, Morris, small Cat or Torres SG Cat, Torres PG Francis, Norris Bench/IR : Langi, Brown, Taylor Next Year: C Cato, Outlaw PF Taylor, EG/KT SF Rice, Morris SG Cat, Torres PG Francis, Norris This will allow pur big men to play agresively and not worry about fouling out. Also for all you Langi fans, it will give him playing time to see if he is woth it. I'm new here so please be gentle and tell me what you think.
First of all welcome to the board. Second don't panic because of a lack of big men. IMO a 3 man rotation is perfect for the 4, 5 spots. In the 80's we had Dream at the 5 with Sampson at the 4 and Jim Peterson did an exellent job of backing them both up. In the late 80's and early 90's we had Dream at the 5 Thorpe at the 4 and Larry Smith backing both up. In the mid to late 90's we had Dream at the 5 Chuck at the 4 with Willis backing both up. Worked pretty good in all cases. Now we actually have more depth with Cato (I know he is no dream) and Kenny as the starters and Willis and Griffin the back ups. None are all stars...yet (Griffin will be some day) but all should be solid with Cato as a bit of a wild card.
I agree with alley-oop that we need big people. We need Bo Outlaw to try Shaq, and David Robinson, and Tim Duncan, and Alonzo Mourning. Bo Outlaw would be a perfect complement to Cato and Willis. I just don't see the value of a Dan Langhi when what he does can be done by Walt Williams and Cuttino Mobley or Steve Francis.
Outlaw would do no better against Shaq in Houston than he does with Orlando. Francis never plays the 3 spot and the closest Cat ever comes to playing the 3 spot is when the Rockets play a 3 guard set.
With the great win at San Antonio, the season looks good for the Rockets. Even if he is 19 years old, if he can average 4 blocks a game, Eddie Griffin should be given more playing time. Among his six blocks against the Spurs, how many times did he block Tim Duncan? The good games of Griffin and Morris makes Dan Langhi expendable. Makes one also forget Maurice Taylor and Glen Rice. Willis is a solid addition to the Rockets.
Starting 5 PG Steve SG Cat SF Rice PF Kenny C Cato 2nd String PG Moochie SG Oscar SF TMO PF Ed G C Kevin 10 Keepers. Not all Superstars, but CD & Co seem high on them. Okay by me. They will get most, if not all the playing time. Walt and Jason "Garaunteed Money", Dan and Brown "Cheap Insurance", all have some value. A trade of any or all of the last four, would be for a 3rd string player at best. Why bother? As far as cuts go, is Ike a better 3rd string Center than Jason, if you have to pay Jason either way? Same with Walt. 2 of these 4 will ride the pine, the other 2 IR.
In my opinion Rockets have enough players now, especially with Kev Willis. We should sell Williams now and get some draft picks. Williams will probably play only a couple of minutes and his value will drop down.
I wouldn't go so far as to start looking to ship Williams just yet. I'm a huge TMo fan and I Walt's a good insurance policy. The reason I say this is that if Rice goes down with an injury that will keep him out for a couple games, who do you put in? I think Morris is capable of stepping up but I don't believe that he's quite offensively there yet. It's a lot easier for Walt to step into the starting role and be a shooter like rice but playing slightly fewer minutes. Then you let Morris play more in those games off the bench and get comfortable. Later in the season, if Morris has shown that he's rounded out his game enough and that he'd be ready to play starter minutes it'd be a consideration. But right now I don't see that Morris is the second best option we have to start at SF. Although I think he's the best guy to bring off the bench.
