The Rockets proved to be as adept at tanking late in the season as they were in moving up in this year's draft. ------------------
When your team is losing like the 'Stros, yes. Sometimes joking about it is the only way to deal with it, like we did during the Rockets season, but the season isn't even close to starting so I didn't find it funny. Maybe I am just frustrated by the build up of the draft and having us come away with 2 guys no one in their right mind would have assumed we'd pick. Clutch, my points is I'd rather compete year in and year out, even if we are bounced out of the playoffs in the first or second round rather than suck for a year on the hopes that we are going to make the playoffs 3 years from now. You don't just go into the Finals without serious playoff experience. It took L.A., Indiana, San Antonio, New York, and your very own Houston Rockets years to learn how to win in the post season. The sooner we get back in the playoffs the better this team will be off. ------------------ We need some meat in the post and I don't mean Brian Grant!
NEWSFLASH- Losing is not fun, Joking about about losing is not funny maybe it is funny to the joker who started this post but not to serious fans. I really thought the 98-99 season was the worst with Quitten and Carr but last year was 10 times worst. Save the jokey jokes for other teams not the Rockets because that is just a lack of respect to the franchise. It was really frustrating last year when people came up to me and said "what happened to the Rockets they fell off" all I could say in defense was injuries killed them. If anyone thinks the Rockets are a joke and should be dressed up in bozo outfits then why watch them but then again I question the anyone who starts a post like this. ------------------
Coach! You're a riot as always. Thanks for the laughs. By the way, anyone here want to weigh in on Coach's idea for Bozo outfits? I think most here would find it an improvement.
I thought they were already wearing the BOZO uni's. ------------------ "Stranger things have happened, but none stranger than this" - Commentator after a parachutist landed in the ring of a Holyfield fight
Coach Sampson, I think the majority of us know where you are coming from. Will included. Please do not take offense to the following. But my friend, you have to go about phrasing your posts in a less argumentative stance. The BBS is a community in which we try to respect our fellow posters. Will is a respected poster who is only being sarcastic about tanking. At least I hope he is You have to realize we all want the Rockets to win (NO QUESTION ABOUT IT). I think the results of the draft took us all by surprise. So we all have to blow off steam in our own way. That is the beauty of the BBS. Peace! Can't we all just get along!!! ------------------ Vice President of the Austin Croshere fan club.
Wow, Will, you are a very good writer. Whether I agree with all your positions or not, I always enjoy reading your posts. Glad to see you aren't really espousing "tanking," but I couldn't have stated it better about what it takes to rebuild a team. Long term success over immediate gratification ... Well said. ------------------ the more I know, the more I know I don't know...
For the record: I am not serious about trying to lose games. The tank is just a self-mocking metaphor. There was a long thread last season called "the doctrine of double effect" that pretty much explained where I (and some others) come from. What we want is to think big, time our comeback methodically, peak as a team, and win the whole enchilada again. That may require decisions that pay off three years from now but not next year. For example, instead of picking the best available player at #9 in a relatively weak draft, you trade down to #15 and get an extra pick in next year's deeper draft. This is not a betrayal of your season ticket holders. It is sound long-term planning. Likewise, given a choice this summer between trading for a B player with six years and $30M left on his contract and trading for a B- player with one year and $5M left on his contract, which do you take? The B player is better, but he will cut into your cap room a year from now when you're bidding for A and A- free agents. Same logic goes for signing free agents this summer. None of this means we have to lose games. We should keep building the team and putting pieces into place. I think Collier and Langhi can be two of those pieces. But I won't cry if, by delaying some gratification this year, we end up in August 2001 with a roster of established Rockets, free agents, and 2001 draftees that within two years puts the 1999-2000 Trailblazers to shame.
In terms of a general rebuilding strategy, I think Will is right . . . but I don't see the long-term thinking behind trading down for the #15 pick. The Bucks were a playoff team already, and giving them the #9 pick (especially one who helps with their area of greatest need) makes their pick next year an even lower one. Is next year's draft supposedly so deep that the #20 pick will be better than this year's #9? Somehow, I doubt it. I'm more inclined to buy the theory that the Rockets were trying to trade down for Etan Thomas, but the Mavs messed them up by taking him at #12. With only a few minutes to rethink their strategy before the Bucks were forced to pick, Houston simply dropped to the next name on their list of players they wanted (Collier, whom they may originally have hoped to pick up in the 2nd round). ------------------ [This message has been edited by Swopa (edited July 02, 2000).]
So it would appear jokes and sarcasm are out. Bye all ------------------ Stuff BBS, the Rockets and you guys It's all Clippers these days, come join the bandwagon and visit http://www.ClippersCity.net
Swopa-The Bucks (George Karl) have already stated Pryzbilla will spend his first year learning, and not playing much. So, odds are they won't improve much. And remember, Dallas, and Orlando will be be improving. Worst case scenario, the Bucks pick will be 18th. It could in fact drop into the lottery. They're also not a very deep, and an injury to Allen, Robinson, or Cassell, and they're in trouble. Collier is a roleplayer. He'll be a guy who'll put up some points, and fits the offense very well. The draft next year is very deep. There are (or should be) a ton more "impact players" than there were this year (There could be anywhere from 8-20 next year...this year, as the Rockets said there were about 6). And they're mainly of the Rockets positional needs (SF and PF/C). Look around the draft board, and I have a reply with a list of about 20 seniors and underclassmen who will be eligible. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better. Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong? Trade or bench Kenny Thomas.
