SI.Com-Rox one of five teams that have taken a step backwards this offseason

isn't good the same as average?

I think Howard is below average and arguable ALston is below average too. Can you think of another team where Howard will start?

We only have 3 or at best 4 solid starters

doesn't new york have a lot of flexibilty as well?

 

A ton of flexibility would imply we have a lot of ways to beat other teams, a lot of offensive options on the team that we can run the offense through, and a lot of weapons capable of breaking out for 20-25 points on any given night. We don’t have that. Our only way to beat other teams is for the role players to basically get the ball to Yao and Mcgrady and to get the hell out of the way. That doesn’t sound flexible to me. It sounds one-dimensional. It sounds boring and predictable.

 

We'll just have to agree to disagree here, Dakota. Oh and you are more than welcome to do a big "I told you so" if the Rockets get rolling, but it will be due to the fact that TMac and Yao are healthy and having MVP-like seasons. It definitely won't be due to what the other scrubs, er players on the team are doing. Like someone else said (I think New Jack), their role is to get the ball to TMac and Yao and get the hell out of the way.

 

Is that what Otis Thorpe, Robert Horry, Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Sam Cassell & Mario Elie did?

Basketball is a TEAM game, and you need complimentary teamates.


Sam,

The PER from last year based upon Rocket players is skewed at best, because due to injuries players were asked to do more than they were capable of doing.

A healthy Yao and Tmac is crucial, but surrounding Yao and Tmac with the right type of complimentary players is just as important, IMHO.

And CD has done that this year...FINALLY !!

DD

 

Basically.

Whatever Houston was gonna do this season it would've been off the back breaking work of Mcgrady and Yao. The moves made so far are pretty damn irrelevant. They haven't improved depth. They have haven't filld "any" holes. The only they've done is gotten younger.

I would love for Houston to have 3 players who can create their own shots. But thats a pipe dream at this point.

 

This is simply wrong....if you surrounded Yao and Tmac with players who can not shoot, then the other team can simply ignore them and concentrate on Yao and TMac and thus increase their chances of beating Houston.

Now, when you put players that COMPLIMENT Yao and Tmac on the floor, IE players who can slash and shoot the 3pt shot, you open up the whole floor and create a "pick your poison" style of team.

Which leads to flexibility and more importantly WINS !!


Sam,

Potential starters meant THIS year. Future starters meant in a few years, maybe they could be starters.

DD

 

The Rockets need a lot of help. What we are seeing are patchup moves. Snyder and V-Span are ok additions but despite getting Battier we are way behind the best in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately we don't have the resources to get much better right now. I do hope that we can get some role players who can help in the frontcourt and with our shooting.

 

I dont think Battier and Snyder are known to be good shooters (Battier maybe so during regular season but not the playoffs).. and Novak has not played a single NBA game yet

doesn't all teams have MORE players who can shoot and slash? if you think Houston has a TON of flexibilty what do you think of Dallas? IMO tey have ten times more flexibilty than houston. From 1 to 4 they can shoot and slash. And that does not included their bench yet.

 

I'm not going to debate the merits of PER, but it has a lot more value to agents than it does coaches or GM's. It really is just a combination of the measurables.

Because I don't have access to individual game PER's I can't check this, but I intuitively know it's true. I am almost sure that if you plot Rafer's PER versus his shot attempts, it will be a strong negative correlation, independent of minutes played. In other words, he is a good complimentary player, but when forced to play as a scorer, he doesn't do as well. Rafer is the kind of player that makes a good team better but makes a bad team worse.

 

Man I agree. does Ewing actually do anything? and can anybody tell me what is so special about picking players that fits jeff van gundy's style? whatever his style is, it hasnt got us anywhere. it seems that its vangundy's way or no way. everybody knows that ryan bowen shouldnt be on the team but he's here only because van gundy likes him and for some strange reason van gundy thinks he's giving his all. However, effort only gets you so far. honestly, i think that if yao hadve been six inches shorter, we would have traded him for a more proven veteran center. my point here is that if you and van gundy become good friends, you will get a spot on his team regardless of if you are the best available choice. maybe its a good thing we brought in these guys who were not our first options like hayes, jl3, vspan and snyder. and for those of you all wanting sura to come back, dont worry because if he does retires he will have an assistant coaching job waiting for him because he and van gundy are good friends. let fire jeff and bring in stan!

 

Battier shot .488 last year overall, and .394 from the 3pt line

Synder shot .453 overall and .357 from the 3pt line

Steve Novak has to prove himself but his college stats are staggering as a shooter

Yes, but NONE of those players have a Yao Ming caliber player down low. Dallas will have MAJOR problems with the Rockets this year, they had their shot, they blew it.

DD

 

Who is that guy who can slash AND shoot the 3?

 

Battier, Synder, Novak, Hayes (who looked great doing it with Yao last year). All of the guards.

Anyone can cut to the basket when Yao is doubled, you just have to have that mentality.

DD

 

michecon is right we don't have a single player apart from T-Mac who can slash AND shoot the 3. DD Cutting to the basket without the ball is not equal to slashing in my opinion. Slashing involves good ball handling,getting to the basket at will. We will have to see how good a slasher V-Span can be but it's going to take time for him to get adjusted to the NBA.

 

OK, if you think all these guys can slash AND shoot the 3, I will vote you GM of the year. Is this also the way CD works?

Battier's decent percentage is more of good shot selection than shooter.

 

For the most part, I agree. Furthermore, I'd like to see these overall statistical "rankings" for Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, and Robert Horry a few years ago... I'm guessing they didn't rank all that highly either. And they were starting players (at least in terms of minutes played) for three consecutive championship teams.

More than any other sport, basketball is one where you don't want too many players creating their own shots. And that's what guys like Kelly miss. Did we overpay for Battier? Maybe, maybe not. But the reality is that for this season, Battier is a better fit for a Rockets team with Yao and Tracy than Rudy Gay. He's a better off the ball player. And, when you have two players like Yao and Tracy, you generally do want your other guys to get the hell out of the way!

If Yao or Tracy get hurt, we'll definitely regret some of these offseason decisions. But, if one of them gets hurt, we're not going to contend anyway, so what's the point? The Rockets are trying to give themselves the best opportunity to contend in the near future, and that involves building around a team that hypothetically has a healthy McGrady and Yao. If it doesn't, well, who cares... we're done in that scenario. Who cares whether we might sneak into the playoffs or win 30 games?

In addition, when you turn a distributor (Alston) into having to become more of a scorer than he should be, his rankings will be skewed. I don't think it's too much to assume that a pass-first PG will become a more effective option when he actually has dynamic players to pass to. I'll concede that Howard is an issue, but I don't think Alston is. I also think Battier will play 4 in many situations, and Hayes will likely take another step forward.

Also, the "can Battier play SG" argument is so irrelevant. For most teams in this league, the 2/3 positions are interchangable. You'll have Battier guard the more efficient scorer of the two. The difference in quickness isn't nearly what people hype it up to be. I could care less what positions 82games.com says Battier played, because the reality is that the positions are nearly identical, and in fact are identical within this particular offense. Whether Battier guards the opposing 2, 3 or 4 will simply depend on the matchup that particular night and what best suits this team. He and McGrady both are flexible defensively - and I think that's one of the things DD was getting at. Flexibility comes in more ways than just scoring.

 

Hayes can shoot the three what was his 3pt fg% and how many did he make last season? I don't think he can slash.. he's only good at put backs and scoring from the post..

 

Huh? It is all about moving without the ball and getting to the open space. Moochie did it with Yao for crying out loud.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone on here actually plays basketball at all....cutting to the basket is so fundemental it is ridiculous, EVERYONE can be the cutter....EVERYONE !!!

Look at how many times Chuck Hayes did it last year, or Stromile......Yao passed the ball on the double team and wallah...basket...Rafer too.....

DD

 

Slashing = Cutting......

Dump it to Yao with a pass from Hayes, when his man leaves him to double Yao, Hayes cuts to the basket.

DD

 

NO NO NO !!!!!!!! Hayes is not a 3pt shooter, but can fill the role of cutter.


All these players do is make us more flexible, some can shoot, some are better cutters, some can do both, it is about matching up with what the other team is trying to do on defense.

I don't know how to answer this, do you mean that a pretty shooter is more important than one who makes it? Tell that to Larry Bird and his sideways spinner.


DD