Since last training camp I have been repeating my observation that the current crop of Rocket role players assembled by CD and JVG are possibly the league's worst. Throughout the season, they proved it again and again. Yet, posters still write that with a healthy TMac and Ming this team would have made the playoffs. After watching a couple weeks of the playoff teams I am more convinced than ever that the Rockets are in a huge hole so far as the supporting cast is concerned. Most playoff team's bench players are better than three of our starters. The Rockets need TMac and Ming to get well, no doubt, but they need much, much more. With limited funds, limited trade assets, a "so-so" draft class, and a record of poor choices, how is this going to happen? Without a lighting strike of luck, it isn't.
Only huge compared to the top teams where they have 4 and sometimes 5 solid players and a good bench. But we are close to the lower half, like Sacremento, and the Lakers, and the Nuggets. But we have not done a good job of adjusting to the new rules where the guards are not allowed to be touched. We should have 2 guards that can penetrate and shoot the 3 ball, and right now we have ZERO ! DD
Solid I kind of see what your saying, however there are alot of intangibles we need to take into effect before looking at your post as a fact. Our role players were never meant to carry the team for the year, they were meant to be just what they are, role players. They were meant to compliment Yao and T-Mac. They were all playing out of there element when those two went down or when one of them went down and that made them look TERRIBLE. However when playing into the system with T-Mac and Yao, they were playing into their element and fulfilling there role. It think if they were playing into the the system, in the flow of OUR game they would look alot more compitent and like much better role players. However because they were forced to carry the team they looked like chumps.
Didn't help that Sura and Barry were out the whole season. We did manage to get rid of Moochie though. And Reefer is a huge upgrade over Mooch. I think Stromile was a mistake. I wasn't one of them, but the majority of the people on clutchfans seemed very excited about the idea of adding Stromile when it happened. This is one of the few times I'm not going to blame CD for the Rockets problems. If the Rockets were healthy, we would have had a pretty good team this year. Not as good as the Spurs and Pistons, but certainly a playoff team. I think CD did a better job this season than most.
1. Gamble on DA = MISTAKE 2. Gamble on Swift = BIG MISTAKE 3. Release Padgett = BIGGER MISTAKE 4. James for Alston = BIGGEST MISTAKE
I refuse to come down hard on CD or JVG for their moves this past off-season. Why? Because I can suck it up and admit that I thought they had made all the right moves. After the Dallas series it became obvious that are goals for the off-season should be: get as young and athletic as possible. How did we attempt to solve this problem? 1) Swift for the MLE - One of the most athletic players in the league that looked promising and ready to breakout as soon as he was given the opportunity to shine. 2) Derek Anderson for the LLE - A gifted and proven scorer with size, athleticism and experience. Widely considered a huge bargain for only the LLE and optimists thought could become a solid starter in the backcourt. 3) Luther Head in the draft - We needed youth in the backcourt and acquired a solid, athletic player and gifted shooter. Obviously the first two moves have backfired and were unsuccessful. My point though: the line of thinking was correct, we just chose the wrong players. I'm sure 90% of you felt the same way as I did, that we had a GREAT off-season and assembled some strong assets to add to our already promising core of Yao and T-Mac. It's not that we weren't a talented team or CD and JVG have no concept on how to judge talent, it's just more or less the simple fact that we chose the wrong players. Now we can only hope they don't repeat the same mistake this off-season.
If the Rockets were fully healthy all year (with our without Sura, you're call), I'd put them at a 50/50 chance of being in the second round...obviously depending on seeding (past the Nuggets/Suns, falling to Spurs/Mavs in first round). Which kind of echoes what everyone else is saying here. The point still stands. If we want to win a championship, we need to have the Josh Howard type players of the world, with Jerry Stackhouse or Michael Finley coming off the bench. I don't see how we can make it that far anytime soon. On the other hand, 2nd half Yao plus healthy/aggressive T-Mac will be the best 1-2 combo in the league.
well we gutted the team just to get tmac. so we started with tmac and yao...nothing else. i thought last year CD did an awesome job of putting a supporting cast together on the fly. the problem is that those role players all broke down or lost a huge step this season (sura, barry, welsey, deke). we are basically looking at yao, jho, tmac, head, alston, stro, and #8 for next season. that's only 7 players. we are no were close to being a deep team. however, we can put a VERY good team together next year with a few moves.
Right you are! meh...we'll see. In a season of turmoil he played slightly worse than career averages - which is what we paid him for. Had we dished out mucho dinero, than it would have been horrible. hahahahahah!! it hurts! crying because we got rid of Padgett. hilarity! Trust me, NJ would gladly swap him with Stromile. So was not trading for Kobe Bryant, KG and Lebron. Mike James is looking to get paid - likely considerably more than his worth. Alston, on the other hand, is on a cap friendly contract.
No, Mike James contract (currently 0$ for 0years) is considerably more flexible than Alstonbatross. Wait till 2010 when he's making 5m. Yeah that's flexible all right.
Ironically, his current contract (0$ for 0years) is actually worse. Had he been locked up at Rafer's rate, the James-Alston debate would probably swing even more to the James side.
Unforunately the Rockets haven't been great in the draft in the last 6 years (except Yao). Head has a few more years to see how he pans out, but otherwise we don't have much to offer other teams to trade that won't take away our needs as well. This is where picking up low cost veterans worked last year, but that isn't a short term solution. Having Yao and Tmac healthy will help management round out the right players to put beside them. Hopefully they can find the right guys.
Looking at the Rocket's roster makes me glad I'm not the one charged with building a competitive team. Besides our big two we have maybe one or two players that would start for the Spurs or Pistons and that's a big maybe. T-Mac's health is a big concern and could end up being the final nail in the coffin for the Rockets. Maybe the team will get lucky and pick up a Tim Duncan in the lottery if not this year then in the many lotteries of the future.
Chill. You are being overly negative about our prospects next season. We will always be constrained by the salary cap. Get used to it. IMO, that isn't our biggest problem. I think our biggest concerns are the injuries to Tracy and Yao. If they are both healthy next year, we draft a starting player and use the MLE wisely, we will have a dramatic turnaround and field a VERY good team. If we can trade Stro and/or JH, that's another bonus. My focus main focus is on Tracy's back and Yao's foot. After that the draft pick. Thirdly the MLE.
We need to find at least four of the next 8 players for our rotation. With luck we can do this in two years. With luck one or two of the Hayes, Luther, Stro,Goggins will get enough game to become one of them.
Curious... What the hell does Kobe, KG and Lebron have to do with any pt that I was trying to make??? I was not saying that we would have resigned M James. I was saying that he would have helped us alot more THIS year than Alston did. He is tough and can score. We needed both with the injuries. Unless Alston can learn to shoot the ball he will not be worth the price we paid. Period. Also, if you think that Padgett would not have helped us this year more than what we got from SS and at a cheaper price then you are a pure idiot.
solid, I agree with you. I've been optimistic for the last 5 years, and I'm not now. There is hope for the future, but we have to hope for an awful lot.
