I agree with the cabbage on this. I said this before, but what we do this season is really going to set the tone for the future. If we make the playoffs with the current roaster, damn that would be great, meaning our younger guys are really developing and becoming significant contributers for our future championship run. So i support tanking in the sense that we should not rely on tmac. Let the young guys play. What ever we can reach with our current roaster, so be it. I would hate for tmac to score 20+ day in and day out in order for us to reach the playoffs only to get knocked out (in reality i really don't think we have any chance of winning it all this year). This is not hating on tmac, it is just that if we rely on him too much, our younger guys are not going to develop and he would leave at the end of the season. Wat we do with tmac is the key to this season. I would love to trade for a joe johnson type player, ie. a second tier all star. Although not nearly as good as a prime tmac but would be good for our future as we would still have money to sign someone else.
The same people who inexplicably didn't give the Rockets a chance this season and are now eating their words are going to get nutty about McGrady coming back and not fitting in and ruining the chemistry. He's going to come back and be a very good player and their chances are better with him than without him. That said, he'll still be an injury risk and it would be nice to trade him for more parts that fit with the nature of this team.
Personally, having seen what our young guys can do, I would deal Battier and Scola for young players/picks/expiring contracts. I'd rather be horrible than barely miss the playoffs. The one wildcard here is the playoffs - I believe getting 8th seed is useful I think playoff experience really shapes players, and our young guys would benefit from that. But if we could deal Battier and Scola for DeAndre Jordan, Marcus Camby and the Clippers pick this summer (and possibly a second rounder as well), I would do it. Screw the Lakers, pick up Jordan and develop him, Camby helps us go for the 8th seeds (and expires in the offseason) and we get a pick in the process. Gives us: Camby/Jordan/Andersen Landry/Hayes/Andersen Ariza/Budinger T-Mac/Taylor Brooks/Lowry We will be in possession of our pick, the Clippers pick AND a ton of cap space this summer, PLUS Yao will be returning. Worst case scenario, we end up in 9th spot. We have two picks in the 20's and a ton of capsapce to add to that team minus T-Mac and Camby. Yao takes Camby's spot and now you have two picks for depth and caproom for a star player. I would still do it. But must admit, I can still see myself being proven wrong over the course of the season.
John wall anyone? Why try to contend when ultimately you will go out losing even though we reach the playoffs? Crappy late 1st round pick again .....
If not tanking means we get to watch this team continue to play the kind of quality b-ball that they've been playing, then I'm fine with it. John Wall be damned, this team deserves to compete in the playoffs.
Daryl Morey himself even admits that this is a superstar league. And you draft superstars with a high lottery pick. Until Morey finds a Derrick Rose or Brandon Roy with a late pick, you can't argue with the tried and true tradition of building perennial contenders through crappy season(s).
...or you trade for superstars or woo them in free agency. More ways to skin a cat. We don't have to be bottom feeders to get a superstar.
i wanted to start a new thread but dont have those privledges yet , but here's one guy who doesn't think we should tank... that is Rich Bucher, i sent him a twitter the other day, heres what it reads: @RicBucher guess you and many of your peers were wrong about the rockets, so much for being experts,but barkley takes the cake, worst team? im assuming he didnt like my tweet,lol as here is his response: it was a direct message RicBucher if you're going to talk smack, know what you're talking about and to whom. i picked the rockets to make the playoffs. so he believes in the rockets, so do i, no reason to tank, last thing we need is a hasheem thabeet on our roster, taking up money and not producing
My position all along has been young player development and getting young assets. Its just that one minute management says they want to get younger and see what the young guys have, then the next they go sign a 30 yr old david andersen. I know he's not playing much, but just like i said in the summer, Frye made more sense because he is younger and a better prospect. I dont have a problem with them competeing either for the 8th, just make sure you're well equipped to do so in the process. I don't think this team is playing well just because they're hot either. I think they have a chance to beat the younger teams because of coaching and they play hard and they will win a few against the so called playoff teams because they play hard all the time. They have some nice things working with brooks,ariza,and landry has shown up to play lately. Scola is scola, shane still play the way he always has and lowry and buddinger brings a spark. I have been most impresssed by chuck and his ability to read the offense and get easy baskets. They will lose alot more than they win against bost ,orlando,sa, and teams like that, but as long as the young guys are trending upwards,thats cool with me.
Yep, pretty much what orlando did when they got hill,tracy, and almost duncan. He got that team to 41-41 and they had capspace and a good young neucleus. Problem with the rox is they wont have cap space.
This team is pretty much developing guys like brooks, landry, lowry, budinger and along the way morey will work he's magic and steals in the draft. thats solid foundation for a future core
I believe tanking should start as soon as a team is eliminated from playoffs. At that point there is no reason to win. If I were the coach at that point, I would play guys like Taylor and Dorsey a lot of minutes. It is hard to tank from a marketing standpoint, though. You would still have to play some good players.
How many championship caliber teams were built through FA/trades? And how many were built upon sucking? I'm not saying Morey can't build contender through sheer genius. But the odds are really stacked against him.
I always thought we'd be competing for the 5th to 8th seed this year, so I did not advocate tanking. But if things looked hopeless, I could completely understand why someone would. What would you rather have, 9th seed or the #1 pick? If you're gonna miss the playoffs you might as well get a high pick out of it. Anyone saying tanking doesn't work obviously doesn't know how San Antonio built their dynasty.
I just don't think tanking is the mentality of a champion. I'm glad the powers that be with the Rockets don't think so either, because I think not accepting that approach makes them more likely to succeed over time. And I'm glad all these folks on here who advocate tanking aren't GMs, because I think they'd have an unsuccessful career. Tanking is for losers.
