Stop getting stuck on labels, people!!! Everyone seems so concerned that we have “X” number of small forwards. People, it makes no difference. I think we have to look at the bigger picture. Now, I’m not going to go into all the “cap crap” that everyone else is on. Let’s just look at the game on the court. We have two dominant guards that need the lane to be spread. How do you do that? You have to be able to spread the defense. Does it really matter if Glen Rice is playing the label of SF or PF or C? Not really. The fact is that we don’t have a center (except Crappo) anyways, so we have to play a different ballgame. Rice, in this case, makes much more sense that Shandn Andersn. Rudy is proving exactly what I’ve been trying to tell people on here for so long now: DEFENSE IS OVERRATED! It’s not that you don’t need defense, because you do. But keeping one alleged “defensive player” who couldn’t score if he was in a Vegas whorehouse makes much less sense than an average defender who can put up 15-20. Leave the “defense” to the post players. Your guards need to be able to contain their man, then go outscore him. Of course, all of this goes out the window if you have a DOMINANT post player, but we don’t. I’ve been saying this for all too long now, and no one, but Rudy, seems to be listening.
really, i am. really. like i said, shandn is seriously overvalued around here. i once asked who in the nba would want shandn andersn. now i know: only the same guy who drafted him.
Ouch! I guess if the Rockets are going to tie up some money, might as well not tie it up in someone who doesn't want to be here, and add a big time scoring veteran with likely a shorter contract. Anderson is probably going to get a 4 to 6 year deal, and Rice has only 3 years left on his contract.
very true. and rice will be coming off the books around the same time griff will need to re-up. that said, i still see no reason NOT to do this trade. if we're going to be a playoff team THIS YEAR we need veterans, too. we can't COMPLETELY rely on griff, tmo, langhi (none of which have played much nba ball to this point) or walt (hot and cold like an exwife) or bull (limited offensive capabilities). rice is good enough to be a stop gap until eddie is ready eddie. this move lessens the pressure on eddie griffin to come in an make an instant impact. further, it shows what kind of team we'll have. this year, we will be run and gun, spread and fire. defense will HAVE to be team oriented - not individually. look for some crazy sonic-esque schemes.
Defense is overrated but never underestimate the heart of champion. That is something that Rice will never have. We don't need losers and malcontent. I'd rather have Chucky Brown and Pig Miller rounding out my bench. Sure, let Shandon go, because HIS defense is overrated. But why in the world do we want Rice. Because he can hit a 3? Screw that, sign Bullard and for God's sake play the guys we have and see if they the balls to make it in this league. Dump the crutch of veteran leadership and let the kids play ball!
I object to "no one has been listening." The 4 out 1 flex is the closest name for the system we play. Uh, where have you heard that before. It is meant to flatten defenses by surrounding the perimeter with scorers and opening the lane for one-on-one low post action and driving guards. Shandon does not fit in that offense. Without a dominant center, we aren't going to change our offense when we have these guards. We need shooters. I don't really agree that one-on-one perimeter defense is overrated, just that Shandon's version of it is. While SA, LA and Houston all won titles with defense juggernauts funneling everthing to erasers, Detroit and Chicago also had defensive juggernauts *without erasers*. Perimeter defense with smothering weakside help is far from overrated (especially with zone), but Shandon's defense is overrated....especially on THIS TEAM! imo, the best defense can also be about not allowing second chances. Rebounding can be the best defense. Detroit and Chicago understood that. They wanted to get more second chances than you. They did; they won.
heypee, the "no one has been listening" was an overexaggeration. i know you've been listening, as have many more. however, i'd definitely say that i've been in the minority on this one. the majority of the bbs, IMO, thinks we need defense three times over. i'm of the opinion that we need more offensive weapons for the 4-1 flex that you've appropriately tagged. in addition to that, yes, we definitely need more rebounding. but i won't (or would not, given the position to do so) sacrifice offense and rebounding just to have "defensive" perimeter stoppers. if this deal goes through...and i REALLY hope it does, the events of the next few years are already falling into place. 1) barring a breakout season, say goodbye to bullard after this season. langhi's time is coming; 2) barring a miraculous medical procedure which would strengthen his knees, say goodbye to the wizard after this season; 3) griff holds ALL THE CARDS. he IS the lead domino. should he develop into a 3, rice is gone in 3. should he develop into a 4, motay is gone in 3. should he develop into a 5, lookout NBA finals... 4) we will be looking to add a short term (1-2 year) rebounding big man around the middle of this season in exchange for walt, bullard, KT, collier, picks, etc. addendum on #4: first half of season we go small, second half of season, we start going big.
Rocketsauce, Rice is a champion and thusly he has the heart of a champion. You can say he doesn't have killer extinct, desire, or whatever, but he does know what it takes.
SA, I agree with Shandon being overrated. However, we have enough shooters with Langhi, Bullard, and Walt to spread the court with. If we get Glen Rice, I assume that Walt goes on IR and we let Bull sign with Charlotte. However, $28 mil over 3 years (ouch, ouch, slip trip and fall). In addition, Maurice Taylor shoots more jumpers than Reggie Miller. Glen Rice is not a spring chicken at 33 (I think) and his defense is worse than Walt or Bullards (that's bad). I would prefer Charlie Ward and give Moochie the boot. I think Ward's attitude (besides the ill fated comments) is what we need. He hustles and plays defense as guard, which would take pressure off Steve when plays the 2 spot.
If we need veteran leadership why get Rice for 3 years at 9 mil/ year instead of offering Hakeem that. I thought it was because we didn't want old, often injured players with large contracts. Add in the fact that we have so many forwards and I see plenty of reasons not to do this trade based on the Rockets previous moves.
really, we didn't have enough. langhi has yet to prove diddly squat (although i think he will at some point in the 2nd half of the season). bull is COMPLETELY one dimensional. and walt is on-again-off-again like an AA member. glen is able to shoot just as well as they are, but he brings the ability to post up (which many people are overlooking) and some serious playoff experience. mo does shoot a lot of jumpers, but those are mid-range jumpers. that's great, but we also need consistency and more than one dimension from our long range bomber(s). rice addresses that need. and rice's defense is NOWHERE NEAR AS BAD AS WALT & BULL'S. i can't count the # of times i saw matt not even give an effort on defense last year. walt's a little better - at least he'll pitty pat your freakin hand as you blow by him for a 3 point play
Hindsight is 20/20. We talked to no one else out of respect. We had no idea who would really be available. The proposition is sign Dream to Rice/Robinson pay or go shopping with an extra $9m. That is the choice. The choice was not Dream or Rice. There is no name to the "shopping." You don't know. Choosing Rice for Shandon is only a $3.5m difference, anyhow. You were not going to get Dream and Shandon by your numbers.
Verse http://www.rawbw.com/~deano/articles/aa082197.htm Just a little something that I think you might like.
Rocket Sauce- I agree that we do not need Rice-he is not a winner. His contract is too expensive. For the money - why not Marc Jackson. Also - let Shandon Anderson go-he does not like it here. In games last season he appeared tentative and hesitant-almost scared. I do not buy the argument we have to help create offense for him- like Scotty Pippen whined for. I would love to have Pig Miller back. Other roster moves-sign Moochie, trade Walt Williams -and if possible use the trade exception from Toronto to sweeten the deal. Also dump Langhi and Collier. Keep Cato for now until his game improves enough to trade.
thanks for the article. i'll be sure and save that one. i'll tell ya, people tend to forget where the lakers were ranked offensively last year....
Crispee - While I agree with your point about hindsight and this not being a dream or rice situation I still feel my previous comments apply. Lets say the Rockets had so much respect for Hakeem that they didn't talk to anyone else to see what was available. By the last couple of days of negotiations, they had to know it was looking pretty good that Hakeem would be gone. At that point, I'm sure they started looking at who else was out there. If they are willing to lose Shandon (which it appears they are) why not throw 9 mil at Hakeem. If it was all about respect, etc, Hakeem might have left anyway, but why not make the effort? Not willing to do this indicates to me at that point the Rockets fealt signing Shandon and Moochie was more important to the future of the team (I'd probably agree from a basketball standpoint, keeping Hakeem around is not good for $9mil). The free agent pool hasn't changed that much since last week, and if we don't want to lose Shandan for Dream, why lose him for Rice?
Joe Joe, Just because he was on a team that won a championship, doesn't mean that he is a winner and has the heart of a champion. I think we all recognize the difference. It's not to say that the Laker's won a championship despite Rice, I'm just saying that they would of won without him as they did this year.
