I agree on one point...We did screw up in not taking a 2 based soley on "not hurting Cats feelings"...You mention that it was this loyalty factor that got us Shandon, I disagree, I believe it was his desire to play ouside of Utah (seems like no FA are in hurry to get to Salt Lake), and be a starter that got us Shandon...Where are the other players that this loyalty issue has brought us?? If Cat goes to Canada, where was his loyalty? To the money thats where! If Cat goes than you can add this incident to all the other "questionable" calls by Rudy and CD, i.e Rashard, Cato, Maloney, etc...You say this works out in the Rockets favor more often that not...I dont see it. ------------------
Man this whole thing bothers me....I know the mantra is "In Rudy we trust" but as of late my trust is starting to be shaken a bit..First, we go into the draft, resolute in our determination NOT to draft a 2 when there was one available with more upside than cat (Alexander) and a raw product that I think has enourmous potential (Deshawn S)..All this because we dont want to hurt Cats feelings....More of the Rudy "loyalty" factor, the same loayalty that has us still signing paychecks to Maloney. I like Cuttino, but say he does come back, is he worth the big money he is going to expect to come his way eventually?? IMO, he is not. Alexander would have been a nice insurance police against losing your top gunner off the bench..I know Rudy has a rep of being a genius when evaluating talent, but why must the Rockets always try to do something clever? Yeah I know, Cassell at 24, Cat in the 2nd etc, but let us look at the whole picture...Rodrick Rhodes, passing on Rashard, giving Cato big money, Matt Maloney, drafting Drew while Maloney and Price are still here, etc...I think you draft for need or take the best athelete. The Rockets did neither. They drafted the best big man available at their position and gave him away to save a few bucks, and left the best athletes on the board to trade down and get this Collier scrub (and make no mistake about it, scrub he shall be, though I dont have a problem with Langhi). Maybe this is all a mute point, Cat comes home and we all breathe a sigh of relief. I hope so. ------------------
YOu cant have your cake and eat it too. We got Shandon Anderson through the loyalty factor...we may lose Cuttino Mobley and have missed a good SG in the draft because of the loyalty factor too. The door siwngs both ways. In general, though, the door swings in the Rockets favor. We can attract FA and more often than not retain people beacause most NBA players love the coaching staff and the organization. SOmetimes, especially when money is a big issue, this can kick you in the butt, but just wait and see before you make any judgememnts. ------------------ When I die I want to go peacefully like my grandfather. Not screaming like the passengers in the back seat!
Okay so it is obvious you don't have any faith in Rudy and perhaps never did. So don't pretend otherwise. Rudy has a good track record, it's not perfect but it is better than most. Everyone bashes the signing of Cato but I thought then and still think now it was a good deal for the Rockets. Cato is a rare commodity. Athletic big man are hard to come by. You may argue his talent but I can assure you if we hadn't signed Cato early we would be paying more for his services trying to match other teams offers. Or risk losing him w/o any compenstion. Look at Tim Thomas, he is being offered 7 mil and Cat 5-6 mil. Surly Cato would have commnded this much. We got him for below market vlue and he is a tradeable commodity that other teams covet. As for Rashard 30 other teams passed on him and the Rockets have a history of not selecting young players. Drfting kids out of H.S. is a risk, more times than not they don't cut it in the league. Even with that being said Rudy was quoted saying Rashard would have been their next pick if Cat wasn't avilable. As far as Maloney goes I think that was a mistake. And I think Rudy would hve done it differently in retrospect. But Matt was Fa coming off a good season. He was out playing Price. Some other teams were interested in acquireing his services. And on a team that was dominated by front court players he was probably the best 3pt shooting PG they were going to get to fit their inside outside attack. The problem is he never played up to that form again. And the Rockets offense outgrew him last year. Also they didn't trade Pryzbilla away to save bucks after Miller and Johson were picked up the Rockets didn't think anyone else would fit this team besides Collier. And by the way Pryzbilla can rebound but he hasn't showed any scoring abillity in the summer leagues. Also I watched Moiso last night on espn (who many people on this site wanted the Rockets to pick up) and the guy is clearly tall and athletic but he has no fire... Everytime he went right he had problems and he has weak hands, it wasn't difficult to slap the ball out his hands. . On a team where he was clearly supposed to be the real talent, he didnot impress me. But I think we will find that Jason Collier will impress, even more than KT did last year. You know Rudy took over this team when we were struggling. And many people will say that he just rode Hakeems coattails. And there is some truth to that. But give him credit for being smart enough to see that Hakeem could take us to the promise land, because Rockets management wanted to trade him. So he inherited Hakeem but with that he also inherited an inability to make many changes due to salary restrictions. And yet he managed to bring in enough CBA'ers to win. And he still got Drexler and he got us Barkley and he made the trade for Pippen who at the time we all loved. He did what he could with all the limitations. And now he is shaping a team who when after Hakeem leaves I will call Rudy's team. Give him a couple of years and watch and see what happens. Rudy will lead us to the promise land again. ------------------
I'm still confused as to why everyone thinks we should've drafted a 2 if Mobley leaves. WE ALREADY HAVE SHANDON FREAKIN' ANDERSON!!!! He is already a very good starter at the shooting guard. His play the last two months of the season puts him in the top 10, IMO. We didn't need a SG before the draft, and if we lose Mobley (which I don't think he will), we will need a backup, but not a lottery pick backup. I'll take Hubert Davis. ------------------ Going for the Rolls Royce! visit www.swirve.com
Old man rock... I am curious as to why it seems to be heresy to question any thing that Rudy does..Did Rudy benefit from having Dream here...Absolutely! Is he an above average coach? Yes. I think the truth lies somewhere between. Regarding Cato, perhaps you dont have a problem paying an underacheiving scrub like him "the going rate" but I do. It was a knee jerk reaction plan and simple, if he had ANY trade value to speak of I believe he would already be an ex-rocket. Pryzbilla may have no offensive skills, but he will contribute more via defense and intimidation to the Bucs than Collier will contribute offensively to this team. What do you think the Rockets need more of? And what is this about the Rockets not wanting to gamble on "young" players? Weren't they salivating about the potential of Miles this year? Seems odd that when someone does not blindly agree with every move Rudy makes that they have no "faith in the organization". ------------------
stringthing, I think you are taking peoples responses a little wrong here, this is my personal opinion but I think Mobley is a great talent and he is worth 4 or 5 million, and thats about what we can offer him, or so they say, also, when you say, "If Cat goes to Canada, where was his loyalty? To the money thats where!" Well, to be honest, I think the most they can offer him is like 6 or maybe 7 million, and I am sure you have heard about the tax there, almost 40%, somewhere close to that, if I am wrong, then forgive me, but otherwise, I think you can do the math and see he would obviously get more money here, so that argument is mute. I personally like Rudy, alot, and think we would have been the Clippers last year without Rudy, yeah we piss and moan and want Rudy's head, but 90% of the time I think he does what is right, we traded Pryz, and I dont think we were ever gonna keep him, I think that trade was made well before the draft, but we got another pick, I agree with you I like Langhi, and think he will be good, I disagree with you when you say Cato is a scrub, the guy can run with our team, can block shots, give him time, and I think he will score and rebound the way you want him to, but I understand why you question Rudy, I think we all do, Hell I was the main one booing Robert Horry at the Summit Draft Party, I am not saying everything he touches turns to gold, but I would wait this one out, We got a ton of players, someones gonna go via trade I think, but personally, I am gonna wait and see ------------------
Point taken...I tend to disagree on Cato, though. I have seen this type of player far too many times, serious upside, never realized. I think 3 seasons from now we will still be talking about Cato's "potential", though I hope we will be talking about his achievements. With regards to Rudy, you gotta love a guy that bleds Rocket red like him, we shall see where the road leads.. ------------------
