Dallas-GS deal shocked me a lot today..They will now have a fearsome starting 5 --> Raef,Dirk,Antawn, Finley, Nash... I'm thinking if we can match up with them especially at the SF spot. I'v got a feelin that Jamison will do well for them. What do you think guys? We need a huge impact at the 3 spot..Oh my!
I don't really see the logic there - we weren't in the same league as the Mavs anyway. If this is true, it just means that Golden State got weaker, and likely won't compete with us for the eighth seed.
Hopefully dallas,s.a., l.a.,sac., and minn. will go all out against oneanother so hard that they will be wore out when the rockets play them,plus they probably wont consider houston much of a threat even if we do get into the playoffs so i doubt that they will go all out against the rockets during the regular season, but after that i doesnt look good because all of them will be looking to sweep whoever they play in order to get some time off to rest up. I dont know what the schedule looks like at the end of the season but i hope that some of those teams will be playing each other with alot on the line so maybe they will be heading into the playoffs a little worn out , which should at least give a young team like the rockets a decent chance for an upset. Thats not very realistic but its still possible.
I don't see how Dallas improve with Jamison as much as with Van Excel. I remember, Van Exel was the Kings' killer in most of the situation in the Playoffs. With Jamison, he can't do much against CWEBB and Dallas still don't have a center to go at Divac and plus Jamison from what i heard, can't play D. So my point is...sure it looks great with Jamison, Dirk and Nash and Finley, but there is just one ball to go around. And who's going to back up Nash? Now i see weakness off of Dallas' bench.
We had considered the top 5 locked up anyway, all this trade does is take G.S. out of the race for a playoff spot for sure. Still, we need to make a trade and acquire that superstar. You see what money and desperation can do? Do you see why in certain situations trades are lopsided? NVE for Jamison, Fortson, and Welsch? Tell me you wouldn't have ripped this trade if proposed by anyone here. It's time to call Portland up, it's time to call Atlanta up. I'm not a big fan of Reef, but right now, we need to acquire a 3rd player that is better than any player on our roster. It should be a F. Rasheed, Reef, or Brian Grant. Even though Grant isn't a superstar by any means, his impact would be tremendous. If Dallas can pull this on the Warriors, we can definitely offer one of those teams a better deal for their respectivep layers.
i think with the lakers, wolves, mavs, kings spurs, we should be hitting the 'delay' button, either that or we can trade our team for new jersey, then we could dominate the east.
Rockets.com listed Taylor and Rice as starters for the Rockets. This is going to be a looonnnngggg season.
This helps us in two ways: 1) Golden State is out of the equation. 2) The Texas triangle is stronger. Teams on the road are going to be tired and weak when they are on the road against the Texas teams.
Thats great news if you want to be the Timberwolves for the next 5 years, i.e. not making it out of the first round. JVG said that he came here to win a championship. Dallas, SA, Minnesota, LA (assuming Kobe is not in jail), Sacramento will be good for at least the next 3 years. Rockets management can't be serious if they think the current roster can compete with the top 5 within the next few years.
Why should we panic, this deal just eliminated another playoff contender. Now the #7 and #8 seeds in theory would be fought between the Rockets, Seattle and Phoenix, and Seattle doesn't have a frontline, it's a joke. When your best big men are Rashard Lewis and a 3 pt shooting center (the center who may not even return), then you have SERIOUS problems. Seattle won't make the playoffs, the Rockets and Phoenix have playoff spots to lose now.
<b>Thats great news if you want to be the Timberwolves for the next 5 years, i.e. not making it out of the first round. JVG said that he came here to win a championship.</b> How can you compare us to the T-Wolves? The T-Wolves were a veteran team built around one star that didn't have any help. The Rockets are young, rebuilt team that has at least 3 go-to guys and is trying to get to the playoffs, see what they need, and continue. We have a PG and a center that, after playoff experience can carry us deeper in the playoffs. The T-Wolves were a one man show. <b>Dallas, SA, Minnesota, LA (assuming Kobe is not in jail), Sacramento will be good for at least the next 3 years. Rockets management can't be serious if they think the current roster can compete with the top 5 within the next few years.</b> The current roster can compete with those teams once the current roster gets experience. You're comparing a young, rebuilt team to veteran teams competing for a championship. Those teams are where we were in the mid-90s, no way you would expect this group of Rockets to accomplish what those mid-90s Rockets accomplished in comparison, so why would you expect them to do it NOW.
Rockets.com isn't coaching the team. I'll wait for training camp and see what Jeff Van Gundy decides.
I certainly expect to be competing for the Western Champion crown next season. I consider last season to be our first season in the playoffs, even if we didn't make it. We messed up, and in the rebuilding process, we SHOULD be in our second playoff showing now. I will be VERY dissapointed if we're not a top 4 seed and past the first round NEXT season. Right now though, we need to get the pieces to make those things happen. Shawn Bradley and Lafrentz did the best job I saw of neutralizing Yao Ming, meaning, we have no advantage at ANY position against the MAVS. They will absolutely harrass us. Same goes for the Lakers. San Antonio is debateable, but they will definitely keep a very safe distance from us. Any win against the top 5 teams is a HUGE upset now, because talent-wise, we're not even in the same league. Why not acquire a 3rd star if we can? So they can gel? Then what? No matter how well they gel, they just don't have the talent to be tops, so we might as well get that talent here sooner so that the REAL pieces can gel together.
The Rockets team in the mid-90s had Hakeem and Drexler already in their 30s. Spurs, Wolves, Mavs, Lakers (Kobe) all have their major stars in their mid-20s. The Rockets aren't that young, Steve and Cuttino aren't that young. It might take a few years for the Rockets to get competitive with the top teams in the West, but in a few years, the teams we are trying to catch will also be better as their young stars continue to improve. Just don't see the Rockets being competitive with the top 5 anytime soon.
On the Brian Grant thing, I really like what he would bring to this team, but what about the financial implications? Let's say we do our best deal possible, Moochie + Rice for Grant (and I doubt Miami would do that deal). If we do this deal, then we will be on the luxury tax threshold again next year. That means no MCE player next summer. We are not going to contend for the title this year, anyway. So next year, would you rather have Grant, or Moochie + a MCE player? Look at some of the MCE players signed this summer (Kandi, Payton, etc.) before answering that question. And when the guaranteed portion of Moochie deal expires (when, no one seems to know), we can then cut him and add another MCE player. The point is, keeping Rice's deal the entire year might not be such a bad deal. I'm kind of looking forward to his deal and Maloney's deal coming off the cap July 1, 2004, so we can get a stud MCE player next summer. And by the way, we don't know what our most glaring need will be next summer at this point in time. That depends on whether Boki or Griffin steps up. It could be the 3, it could be the 4.
