is this the 2.5 argument again? pffft!!! redick supporter. i want to win now too. all these moves that we made or are getting ready to make could have been done w/o the trade with memphis. anyway... let me quit beyotching now. the trade is over. i'm sure plan v (span) will contribute more than people think.
Im sorry, was this suppose to be clever? yea, Clutchfan returned to the homerfest that it normally is once Houston traded for Snyder. But, I still dont know how Steve Novak and John Lucus III can be looked at as "great" additions to the team.
Not gonna win now with this team... And what makes you assume that Gay would not contribute right away, quit drinking management kool-aid... This was a terrible terrible trade and Houston will have to deal with the ramifications for years and years... It will go down as one of those "remember when the Rockets traded Gay and Swift for Battier" moments and everyone will shake their heads and wonder what could and should have been...
Either your being an hysterical little twit about this off-season, or you have about as much nuance in your perception of basketball as an autistic five year old from Greenland understands global warming. People look at Steve Novak and John Lucas III as useful bench fodder who can help the team at a cheap cost. That's "great" like Cuttino Mobley and Dennis Rodman were "great" when they were starting to emerge. They are second rounders who have the *potential* to contribute. They are not sure things, but nobody is making that claim. If you had any understanding of basketball past the color orange and it's spherical shape you would also understand that Rudy Gay is unsuitable for this Rockets team. Beyond Rudy Gay and Shane Battier, I think your perception of winning basketball is out of wack. Pulling in a bunch of "talent" is useless if their talents are redundant, or come at the expense of winning games. Ask the Knicks. If winning was about collecting the 12 most talented players then the Portland Trailblazers of 2000 would have won the NBA championship and the 1977 Trailblazers would have lost instead of beating the 76'ers. The old Dominique Wilkins era Atlanta Hawks always exuded talent and excitement, but they didn't have enough gritty role players who could make the key defensive stop, or make the right pass when it was needed to take them over the top. Glue players like Battier are much more valuable then you give them credit for. The fact that Memphis had offers on the table for Battier from a couple of other teams says that a lot of NBA GMs value him more than you do. I would only ask you to think about who had a bigger impact on his team- Raja Bell, or Joe Johnson?
first and foremost, you can step the **** back and realize you're not speaking to a child. 2nd, reguading your rant about overly talent teams that didn't mesh or underachieve....that doesn't apply to the Houston Rockets. Houston outside of Yao and McGrady is maginally talented squad. Not once have I stated that I wished Houston would gather as much so-called "talent" as possible with no thought of how they'll actually fit the team. If anything my dislike of the Battier trade has more to do with the wholes it created than the potential of Rudy Gay. 1) Battier's perfered position is the same position Houstons best player plays...Small Foward. For him to start someones gonna be out of position 2) Houston hurt their frontcourt depth by trading away Stro...he was the team primary bigman back. As far as who was more impactful Raja Bell or Joe Johnson i'll give a slight to 04-05 JJ. He was the teams best perimeter defender and 3pt shooter. He was also their secondary ball-handlier and playmaker. Your rant still didn't explain how John Lucus III and Steve Novak are "great" additions. So please enlighten me...
I was gonna attend all Rudy Gay's summer league games. First, they wouldnt let you take any video cameras in...(There's no way to keep out cell phone cams though). Second, he was hurt most the time so I'da went 2-3 times for nothing anways. Third they were always sold out cuz I waited til the last minute. It'da been nice to have gone but oh well now. Regular season we will see how it all turns out. Considering he is swingman, 10 boards with 21 pts is pretty good.... Videos of each Long Beach summer league game can be bought for 30 dollars each.
What's up with all these "What if Gay is the next LeBron" threads? Gay is drafted #8 out of a very weak draft. If Gay is the next LeBron, he sure won't be passed by 7 other teams in the draft.
I am not sure Gay will become the next Lebron but your argument is flawed. Amare was drafted at #9, T-Mac at #9, Nowitzki at #9, Kobe at #13, Ginobili at #1000. Scouts constantly make wrong judgements on young talents. Yao was portrayed the next Shawn Bradley, Kwame Brown the next KG. Being drafted at #8 is certinaly not something to be ashamed of.
For every KG/T-Mac/Kobe, there are 10 Kwamme Brown/Miles/Travis Outlaw/Griffin in the league. Gay has serious motor problem. To me he has a 10% chance to become a Kobe and 90% chance to become Miles. I am glad Rockets didn't take that chance to waste T-Mac/Yao's time in Houston and get Battier. The guy is in the US Olympics team for god's sake.
Reports have Rudy Gay figuring to closer to a Pippen type. And all around versatile guy with many potential skills that can become a superstar. I dont think any draft reports had him to be Lebron good. Marvin Williams, Dwight Howard and Bogut were high picks and even they hardly get any next Tim Duncan or next Hakeem or anything. So yeah, not sure why Rudy Gay's getting lumped into megastar territory. It's getting considered a potential blow if he turns into just a Joe Johnson or something...that's bad enough how it is. No need to add to it.
I'd wager most children over 8 years old can read better than you can, junior. Nobody has said that John Lucas III, or Steve Novak are great additions. They are positive additions for the cost and risk. Is this really so difficult for you to understand, son? If you want to suck your thumb and whine about *Stromile Swift* (how lame are you again? Jesus.... ). Why am I speaking to you like a child? Your whining about Rudy Gay is the kind of thing that children do on an adult BBS. Your basketball analysis is flawed, but that's not the point. It's your whiny "the sky is falling" attitude that makes you the proverbial fart in the elevator.
Rudy Gay's best position is also SF, so he overlaps with Tracy just like Battier. The difference is Battier has played SG & PF in the NBA, unlike Rudy Gay who hasn't done anything in the NBA. You have a point about depth because we lost Stro for nothing, but sometimes addition by subtraction works. JL3 & Novak COULD be great additions to the team. If JL3 can hit shots, he WILL be a great addition. In his short stint last season, that was his main flaw. Having a speedy PG off the bench that can hit shots would be very helpful. Novak is TBD. Just like Gay, it's hard to say right now how he will perform in actual NBA games based on Summer League. Based on college, I think it will take Gay a couple of years to be any sort of impact player. Shane will impact us from day one. I'm on the fence about the trade. How people can blast it without knowing how good Gay will be is just amazing. He could be just another soft body on the Grizzlies roster. Seems like that's the kind of player Logo likes on that team.
yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada yada ......
I'm on the fence as well even though I really like Battier as a player. Gay shows potential, but I think some teams weigh potential too high (Yeah..I'm looking at you Chicago Bulls for trading away Brand). I don't understand the bashing of JLIII and Novak for Summer League play as not being significant, but lauding Gay's performance as being better than what Battier has done in the NBA. JLIII and Novak are low cost players that are not expected to contribute much for at least a season. Gay was a medium cost at the 8th pick that the pro-Gay people expect to run circles around a solid NBA player. Gay is expected to do what he's doing for his price.
Certainly there are more Kwame-caliber player than KG-caliber players in this league. I am not going to argue with you about that. I am just trying to say your "7-team-passed-on-Gay-so-he-is-no-good" argument is flawed. Nobody knows what kind of player will Gay become until he steps on the floor. I am happy to have Battier in Houston, but I also think that giving up Gay AND Swift is a bit too much.
some of you guys are major league jerks. rudy gay will be a topic for the next 10 years, especially if he's good and the trade fails for us. so endure it or don't open the threads.
IMO, Summer League doesn't prove much. He did well but so what? If he did bad it wouldn't prove he was a bust because most people don't expect him to hit stride for a couple of years anyway. To me, the endless chatter is a little annoying but the rush to judgement, either way, is worse. Even after this coming season, unless he has some kind of huge breakout rookie year, it will be too early to tell. Nobody was more hurt than me when the trade was leaked out. I had Rudy Gay as my #1 pick if we had won the lottery. Here is one of my personal measuring sticks: His improvement from rookie to his 2nd year will show what he's all about. After a year of the 82 game grind and knowing exactly what he needs to improve and with no contract coming up, you can often read an NBA player's heart during his 2nd year. Unless Gay sets the league on fire as a rookie, I'm waiting for his 2nd season to make solid judgement.
IMO, even Rudy Gay becomes a bust in 2, 3 years it is still a bad deal. He is a young player with the potential to be a top 3 pick. He fell all the way to No. 8. A lot of people at that time thought Rox were damn lucky to have him. His trade value was certainly higher than one freaking Shane Battier. Rox management sure can trade him if they think he is not the right fit. But they sell that potential thing way to cheap. They always under-estimate their own assets and sell them way to cheap. That is why they end up poorer and poorer. On the other hand, Mark Cuban certainly knows how to make deals.
