C D has managed to assemble the softest team in the NBA .My first question is why did we cut Braggs for Ford.Ford and Padgett together can't even carry Braggs gym bag to games.Maybe he couldn't shoot 3's like Padgett (who never shoots 3s anyway unless its when the shot clocks about to run out)but he could rebound , play solid D against the quick power forwards,plus he looked like he had some abilty to score in the paint ,skined his knees hustling on the floor for loose balls,was tough enough to be an enforcer and as a bonus always played with a lot of energy.Question #2 Alex Scales out played every guard in camp, except Mobley.But you cut him and held on to Wilkes.And Scales was the one guard we had who knew if his jumper wasn't falling to drive to the hoop and finish and draw contact for a "an one".Really could have helped to stop some of these 10-0 and 12-0 runs opposing teams seem run on us all the time, not because of bad defence, because we can't score after we stop the other teams offence 5 and 6 possesions. One other thing C D why would you sign Wilkes and not Kenny Anderson or Rod Strickland after the year Moochie had last year. Just answer these questions and I want even mention the 3 for 1 Eddie Bomb thing.
I don't like the fascination Rudy T and CD had with combo guards. They tried putting Bryce Drew in as a combo guard. That experiment did not work. Cuttino played point guard back when Pippen was here. I can't remember the last time they drafted a solid passing point guard in the 1st round. That's one of the most important positions on the floor if there is no beast in the middle like Shaq and Hakeem. Look at the Jazz. They drafted Arroyo in the 1st round. They drafted Raul Lopez in the 1st round. San Antonio Spurs drafted Tony Parker in the 1st round. Why can't the Rockets see the obvious?
I would love to hang C.D and Les Alex up if I could. Those 2 boneheads are the reason the rockets are in this financial standpoint. How could the rockets sign Moochie, Mo Tay, Steve, And Cato to those lucrative long term deals. Do your guys realize that Moochie Norris makes 22,700,000 over 6 years. Cato makes about 42 million over 6 years. Mo Tay makes 46 million in 6 years and Steve just got his 86 million over 6 years as well. Wow. The rcokets management are the stupidest people on earth. And don't make me throw up about that Charles Barkley deal. Giving up Sammy Cassel and Robert Horry were the rockets biggest mistakes for a guy that never won a ring in his entire nba career. Charles is all talk. He can't back anything up. The only good thing that C.D and Les Alex did was make that trade for Clyde Drexler. I agree that I really like Alex Scales a lot. I wish we did not cut him. He kinda looked like Steve Francis out there on the court with some of his moves. He had confidence written all over his forehead. The rockets should have taken Amare Stoudamire with that 1st pick of the draft. Look how good guys that go straight from high school to pro are: Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Rashard Lewis, T-mac, Jermaine O'neal, just to name a few. Instead of taking Rashard Lewis, the rockets decide to take players like Eddie Griffin. What a waste. FANS I ENOURAGE YOU GUYS NOT TO GO TO ANY ROCKETS GAMES UNTIL THERE IS SOME SERIOUS PERSONNEL CHANGES FROM MANAGEMENT TO THE PLAYERS. I SURE AS HELL WON'T WASTE AWAY MY HARD EARNED MONEY TO WATCH A MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAM TRY TO PLAY IN THE PROS.
it's too bad the owner has to be this stupid. Looks like we'll just have to get used to this or find another team to root for.
Blaming Les Alexander for personnel mistakes is like blaming Bob McNair for Charlie Casserly for signing a bad player. Les Alexander is not a hands-on owner. He lets the management deal with it.
Ultimately it's HIS money. You better believe Les has ultimate say so when it comes to contract negotiations. So yes, he is to be blamed for paying long-term, top dollar for mid-level talent.
Yeah, but Les doesn't decide who to start negotiations with, he just trusts what CD and the coach tell him.
I think its time for the Rockets to look for someone to replace CD. In the past the Rockets have pulled off some bold moves that worked. However in the last few years the team isnt so much making moves...as making mistakes. Look at our drafts. Sure we have managed to get some huge steals.....but we have also let some great players go undrafted and wasted picks. There have been time where if we had made the expected draft pick, we would have ended up with a really great player. We have huge salaries for average players. cato, Moochie, Mo Taylor. If I knew Mo Taylor was a soft power forward when he was with the Clippers, how could the Rockets not know it. All good things must come to an end. CD has done some BRILLIANT things for this club. But I think now it time to move forward. Thats just my opinion anyway.
I agree but I'm not sure Jerry West could clean up this mess - and in case you all missed this - Rockets Extend Contract Of GM Dawson October 15, 2003 - The Houston Rockets have signed general manager Carroll Dawson to a contract extension, Rockets owner Leslie Alexander announced today. “CD has meant so much to the Rockets and the NBA,” Alexander said. “He has such a great way of dealing with people and producing results. Over the past few years, he has transformed an older team into one with great promise. He has shown so much loyalty to this city and this franchise. We have been fortunate to have Carroll here for so many years, and I’m looking forward to working with him to bring another championship to Houston.”
Geez.... I think we're very lucky to have a team owner like Leslie Alexander. He isnt afraid to pay big money if it could make the team better. But the mistakes the club has made are just killing me and many other fans. I look at other NBA clubs....most of which are below average....and I see signs of progress. With the Rockets, we always seems to have a bits and peices team. We have players that can do one thing well, but over all they are not great players. We have a power forward that can score points, but who cant rebound, play defence and out and beat up the other team in the low post on offence or defence. Its like we dont have a TEAM, we just have a jumble of players. What was the plan when CD put this team togeather. What was the vision?
CD is guilty as anyone. Of course Rudy too; but I have JVG in that same mix. So far he is proving to have no better way of utilizing that talent and is being stubborn about it. He is now relying on books about good and great and before you know it he will be relying on "black magic and obeah." It seems alot easier for him to give up his urgent quest to make Ming a dominant low post threat. Ming can score 20 per night just on jumpshots from pick and rolls, put backs, and FTs. How smart is it to have Cato getting jumpshots in the pick and rolls? Talking about having a donkey in a horse race. Geez!
DearRock, Are you ever going to once blame the players for not being good enough instead of the coach???
After seeing how Jerry West works for the improvement of Memphis Grizzlis and how they got a bunch of "really" talent, I believe CD is a much below average GM in the league.
Codell, when the time comes for me to blame the players I will. It is so easy to blame the coach, I do not even have to go out of my way. I do not want to oversimplify things but I have to be brief. JVG said he looked at all the games last year....he said all he needs is shooters to go with a dominant Ming and penetrating guards.....well his vision and method of making Ming dominant is a major problem right now....SF says it is his worst year....the team cannot score 70 pts when we know SF and Mobes have averaged 40 pts before.....it was JVG who decided to start Cato and clearly has misread what Cato can deliver letting Cato be the one to set pick and get a jumpshot - how many games are you going to win like that... it was JVG who decided to limit his rotation to 8 and it was JVG who contributed to letting Posey go while we cannot score a fast break basket; forget the fact that the persons who wanted Posey was Hubie Brown and Jerry West, who continue to stockpile talent on a team that is more and more winning big games....while JVG openly welcome a bunch of scrubs....It is the same JVG who remains non-chalant about how much a difference EG will make on this team. You see Codell, it is very easy to call out stubborn JVG. I can then easily jump over to CD long before I start on the players. The only players I can jump on are the ones that CD have shackled the team with.
West took over in Memphis in April 2002. * Pau Gasol was drafted before West. * Stromile Swift was drafted before West. * Shane Battier was drafted before West. * Jayson Williams was traded for before West and was "tamed" by Hubie. * Drew Gooden was selected by West with the 4th overall pick of the 2002 draft. Gooden was eventually traded for Mike Miller. Players picked after Gooden include: Nene, Amare Stoudamire and Caron Butler. * With the #13 pick (from Houston) in the 2003 draft, West picked PG Marcus Banks. Players picked after Banks include: Luke Ridnour, Reece Gaines, David West, Boris Diaw and Josh Howard (all playing NBA minutes). Marcus Banks was traded to the Celtics and is their backup PG at 15 mpg. The Grizz received Dahntay Jones who plays 9 mpg and averages 1.8 ppg and Troy Bell who has played 5 total minutes in backing up Watson who is backing up Jason Williams. * Even though the Grizz had Mike Miller and Shane Battier at SF, West signed James Posey. And to add to that logjam, he acquired Bonzi Wells. * West's big attempt to ugrade Lo Wright at center was Jake Tsakalidis. Jake has played 145 minutes in Memphis's 24 games. IMO, Jerry West stopped walking on water long ago and most (dare I say all) of Memphis's core players (Pau, Lo, JWill) preceeded West. And I won't even get into how much of an impact Hubie has made.
