The more I review last year's games the more I am convinced..

I think we should bring T-Mo back too. If our SF rotation is Rice, Boki and T-Mo, and everyone's given a fair chance, I'm positive T-Mo would win the starting SF position from those 2. Even if he doesn't, he's a great player to have around. Very efficient, very hardworking.

 

DR,

I agree with alot of your assesments except for Posey. Posey is a good defender, but not great IMO. His 3 point shooting did improve, but his history says he is streaky at best and is more likely to shoot 1-6 than he is 3-5. He is just not a $6 MIL per year player and this team can not afford any more overpaid contracts like that. Posey is a mid/bottom tier starting SF in this league.

Your points about EG are right on. People don't realize that he showed quite a few nice low post moves, he just could not stick the shot. If he could ever develop a touch on his shots and be a lil more physical down low, he would be everything we need.

TMO has had his chances. He never played much for a reason. I don't understand why so many people think we need him when he contributed so little the last 2 years.

I am sad to see Posey go, but this will give Boki the chance many think he needs to shine.

Despite what you have always professed, teams don't need to be 10-12 deep to succeed. I am sure we will add some more depth before the season starts.

 

You could also sign T-Mo to a cheap contract and he already has a sense of camaraderie with the Rockets teammates. Big pluses there.

T-Mo is not a world beater but he is long at 6-9/6-10, can block shots, has an improved 18ft jump shot and can run the floor. Defensively he is better than Rice and Boki and he has a height and weight advantage over Hawkins at the SF. I don't see any reason not to bring him back at least to be the 10th,11th or 12th man on the team.

But, perhaps Van Gundy has enough faith in Rice/Nachbar to be able to man the SF position. Perhaps he is seeing something in Nachbar in practice that makes him believe that Nachbar is playing decent enough defense to be able to be effective at the 3.

 

Posey will not be making 6 a year, as Desert Scar pointed out in another thread. It's going to be around 22.6M over 4 years, which is on average 5.5 a year. Do you know what that means? it means he'll only enter 6M territory in the final year of that contract, at which point we can move him as an expiring contract if we're not happy with him.

After watching some Rocks tapes myself, I too feel that no other player can bring the one important thing that Posey brings : easy points. From cutting to the basket and fastbreaking, Posey erally made the game easier on us. Right now, there's no one we can get, and if Posey is a Mario Elie-typ where his shot is improving EVEN at this age, I think he's a keeper for the contract he's getting.

Once again, Posey is 22.6M over 4 year, NOT 6M per season, not even on average.

 

You should watch the tapes where Posey goes 1 for 10 from the field, misses alley-oops, gets burned by Matt Harpring, and fouls Miller at the end of the game for no reason to know why we didn't match his offer. The guy is streaky at best, and played his best ball when he was playing for a contract.

 

Posey is great of running ahead of the pack and gets easy basket for himself. He is also a little better than Hawk and TMo on most everything else too BUT is he worth $4.9 mil?

Pike is paid $2.5 mil.
I think we can get Hawk, TMo and a backup PG for less than $2.4 mil to cover the 1-4.

It means Pike + Hawk + Tmo + PG for Posey.

 

I agree, Posey is the type of role player every team needs unfortunately we are paying Moochies 6 mill per to bring the ball up the court and throw it down to Yao a job a monkey should be able to do. Rice should not even be on this team, we should have just let Shandon walk and who knows what kind of player Mo would have been pre-injury. Carroll Dawson and to some extent Rudy have made some really costly moves by signing these playersto those bad contracts.

 

SSG,

Moochie got a $2m/yr raise???

aaaahhhhhh!!!!

There is always the ability to look at Posey's games and say he is quality. But the fact is, what he does is not really where we are the weakest. Our FG%, playmaking and toughness down low are the 3 things that are our immediate problems.

Watch the games again and tell me where Posey and EG help in any of those departments.

True: Posey helps our fastbreak, and helps our perimeter defense. But, it is a veteran "real* guard who will help our fastbreak the most...and it is EG (or a trade for a real PF) and Yao Ming improving on defense that will help our defense the most.

<b>bottomlines</b>: Posey is just not that great of a fit for the 3 top problems on this team. I like Posey, and he does help, for sure....but his plusses are not our minuses.

 

I like Pose....only I like Hawk better. IMO, Hawk is a better defender, passer, and 3pt shooter. Let me emphasize that I think he is a much better defender (and I don't subscribe to the theory that defense is simply hard work or a skill that can be acquired, but rather a natural talent not unlike that of a pure shooter or Kidd-type passer). However, he doesn't have Posey's size to rebound or handles to lead the break. But then again, he's likely gonna make only the minimum salary. I think if he were to get significant rotation minutes for 30+ games we would see much improvement in his overall game and he'd prove to be a legit NBA level player. I would love for Les to just ignore the Luxury Tax and re-up Posey. But at the same time if Posey going to Memphis means more pt for Hawkins, then I'm fine w/ it.

 

Actually, if we are going to get boiled down in semantics, you are incorrect also. Its 5.7 a year. On the scale, he makes 4.9 the 1st year, 5.4 the 2nd, 5.9 the 3rd and 6.5 the 4th (if its not 10% please correct me). He will be making a minimum of $5 mil per for the duration. He is not worth that. He is about a $3-$4 mil per year player max (hard to justify anything more for someone that averages 10/5 and shoots 40% and 30% from the 3pt line).

It means hell be $5 mil per year starting out. Not worth it IMO. Posey is not a difference maker and his performance is not going to make or break our season. We were a .500 team with Posey last year.

 

heypee,

The problems you are reffering to can't be solved by ANY SF, right?

I mean, if we were talking about getting an Odom, Rashard lewis, or SAR, then I'd understand. But are these guys options right now?

He will make something like 4.9, then 5.3, then 5.7, then 6.1 I think. Those are EXCELLENT numbers. Look at other player salaries and compare. Those are great numbers EVEN if he were to become our 6th man, which is where I envision him a lot.

 

Its easy to say that money is not a factor when a) Its not your money and b) We have already been burned by giving overblown contracts to players with limited production.

Also, while Boki might not make us a winner, neither will Posey.

I don't disagree that Posey is a very good defensive player, but overall, he is not one of the better SFs in the league.

And how can you say that bloated contracts don't matter??? If they didn't, Mo and Cato would have been gone by now. They are valuable parts to the rotation, but that doesn't mean that you don't place a cap on their value.

And who says Utah would take Mo and Cato for nothing? I find that hard to believe. They are rebuilding starting this year. Cato and Mo's low production/fat contracts are hardly condusive to teams in that situation.

 

Oh My God...I have nothing to say!

These arguments are so good!!! They all have good reasons....

I agree with everyone.

Posey made our team 2 times more exciting...that was when he was on fire...but usually he was inconsistent. But I think he would be good to keep because if he is having a horrible day, now we have Piatkowski to play and we still have Glen Rice and Bostjan Nachbar as well. But too bad!!!! He's gonna be a Grizzlie in 1 week. Today's Wednesday!!!! CD is going to be talking with the coaches...

Terence Morris was a good pure shooter who always chewed gum and could block shots. He was very quiet and passive to me. But when he was inside...you could see his athleticism...he blocked many shots unexpectedly. And he swished a lot of open shots...but never got to play! He was sometimes afraid to shoot too...but he was a good role player. Adios!! We won't miss you!...unless Glen Rice, Eddie Griffin, Maurice Taylor, and Bostjan Nachbar get injured.

 

I completely agree with DearRock about Eddie. He has great defense (what other Rocket could stuff a Rasheed Wallace dunk with one hand?) and, if developed, he could be a huge advantage from 3-point land.

 

Hmm...was that before he was caught???

How about that time when he stuffed T-Mac who was going up for a dunk?!?

 

DR,

Its a dangerous precedent to let Jerry West dictate what moves your team should make. I have no doubts that West is a great GM, but he is hardly beyond reproach. If he thinks Posey is worth 5.7 MIL a year (on average) when he already has 2 other starting caliber swingmen, then more power to him. Just because West signs Posey to that contract, doesn't set the market.

As HP point out (which is something I really didnt think of), whether we kept Posey or not, his place on this team didn't address any of our weaknesses. I would rather save the salary slot/maneuvering room in case a player that does address our needs becomes available.

Also, not sure how you can say Posey is improving. Beyond a slight improvement in his shooting % (which is nothing to get excited about), his #s actually dropped when he came aboard. Again, he is hardly a difference maker and I can understand why the Rockets are hesistant to match, given the fact that overpaying other role players has already handcuffed this team with regards to personnel decisions.

 

It's kind of funny that the Rockets had the self-proclaimed "most exciting backcourt in the league" coupled with quite possibly the worst forwards tandem in the league ... and then you're convinced you want to bring all these forwards back?

I'm not gonna rip too hard on those guys, 'cause they have game and they have a role they can fill, BUT, I can't stand letting some of this slip by. People on this board simply give both EG and James Posey too much credit on defense. Neither of those guys plays what I would consider above average defense. I've said over & over again that EG doesn't play good man-on defense ... his only defensive strength is from the weakside, he's at a loss guarding his own man. Most of this is attributed to him simply being bullied out there by his opponent. He gets pushed around, and too many times his opponent simply works his way to the spot he wants, and EG, though not a matador, doesn't push back enough to deny the offensive man his position.

Posey, in my opinion, is quite the gambler. He'll play the passing lanes vs. playing his man. His steals do NOT come from taking the ball from his opponent, rather he tries to read the pass and get in its way. He gives up defensive positioning in the process. Shoot, compare him to a guy like Hawkins who can get the steals AND draw the charge. That's cause Hawkins keeps his defensive positioning.

DR, I'd like to know why you neglected to mention these guys' defense and what you think is so great about the way they play on the defensive end, 'cause honestly I don't see it. Posey's hustle, though admirable, simply isn't a substitute for actual defense ... perhaps he wouldn't have to hustle so much if he played his man. And EG's weakside blocks aren't a substitute for keeping his man from his spots. That's the way I see them on defense, anyway.