TJ FORD declares for draft - Should Houston be interested?

Ford's gonna declare for the draft? hmmmm...

Well he's not what this team needs anyhow, and it's too big a risk to take. Pass on him.

 

Houston trades:

SG Cuttino Mobley (17.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg in 41.7 minutes)
PG Moochie Norris (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg in 16.8 minutes)
PF Eddie Griffin (8.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.1 apg in 24.5 minutes)

Houston receives:

PF Brian Grant (10.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.3 apg in 32.2 minutes)
Miami's #5 pick in the draft.

Change in team outlook: -20.1 ppg, -1.9 rpg, and -5.1 apg.


Miami trades:

PF Brian Grant (10.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.3 apg in 32.2 minutes)
#5 pick in the draft.

Miami receives:
SG Cuttino Mobley (17.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg in 73 games)
PG Moochie Norris (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg in 82 games)
PF Eddie Griffin (8.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.1 apg in 77 games)

Change in team outlook: +20.1 ppg, +1.9 rpg, and +5.1 apg.

TRADE ACCEPTED

 

i went to u.t. and live in austin, but i dont think tj would be a good fit for us (unless we trade francis, God willing ).
tj comming would mean francis at the 2. our backcourt would be easily the shortest in the league. t.j. is the bomb, but at just 5'10', he is not your typical nba sized pg.

i thought he said he was "110% sure" he was comming back. did he change his mind b/c he realized that his stock is as high as it ever will be? another year w/out improving his shooting % and growing a bit might put him into the 2nd round. like the t-mo situation. if he came out junior year he would have gone lotto, but after senior year his stock dipped alot.

sucks for the horns!

 

TJ's advantages over Francis at PG:
1) He can kick the ball out to Francis instead of Mobley.
2) He has a knack for finding center in traffic. Getting the ball to Yao in a position to score would dramatically help rockets.
3) Runs fastbreak better.
4) Gets to FT line better which negates FG% some.
5) Better defender than Francis.

Side Note: Other teams would fear the Rockets short backcourt more than the Rockets fear the tall back courts. Tall backcourts with Tracy McGrady or Kobe Bryant are the only ones I fear and I would fear them less if Kobe and Tracy had to chase around Francis instead of Mobley.

 

so did you just gloss right over the article above that said no way he slips out of the top 10? or all of the other sources that have said he could be top 5 and is assuredly in the lottery? he ain't going in the 2nd round.




and ford does not have tmo potential for a drop off. he isn't going to get slower and he isn't going to lose his court vision. all he could do is prove he still can't shoot, and people are already taking him top 10 w/o the shot. tmo wasn't a dominant player his sophomore season iirc, i.e. dominant scorer or dominant creator like tj, so he had falloff potential by getting lost in the shuffle. tj is the focus, he won't just drop off. he would be just as jock-ridden this year as last. i still don't understand what he has to lose by coming back in terms of draft position (barring injuries). injuries are all i can see hurting his position, but in terms of on court stuff, all he can do is look like a better shooter and win a national title, which help draft position. otherwise, everyone just says ok he's still the same top 10 pick from last year, he'll go in the top 10. DON'T DO IT TJ!!!

 

care to place a wager on that? you name the price and we can make this happen...

 

Do any of you guys that say TJ would not be a good fit ever watch basketball? Because if you did, you would be saying that he is PERFECT for the Rockets.

The difference in TJ and the rest of the penetrators on the Rocks is that TJ uses the penetration to SET UP teamates, whereas Mobley and Francis and Mooch do it to score.

TJ is EXACTLY the Tonic that would fix what ails the Rocks.

DD

 

while it's hard not to be, i'd say that's TBD simply b/c we don't know how he'd handle getting posted by bigger pg's (who isn't?) or how he fights through picks. should be good for jumping the passing lanes though with his speed.

 

for the record, DaDakota, i agree. TJ's court vision is in the upper level of the nba already. if he can develop into a threat (not even consistent, just a threat) from the outside, he'll be an nba allstar level player within 3 years.



also, as the article said, he may be the absolute fastest person in organized basketball. but, naaaah, we couldn't use him on the rockets. that'd make too much sense....

 

TJ Ford will be an incredible PG at the NBA level but not immediately. The type of court vision, savvy and understanding of the game that Ford displays is shown by very few PGs in the NBA. He will help whatever team that drafts him become very good and transition and cool under pressure. The problem is, until his outside shot improves more, TJ may have some difficulty at the pro level b/c he is only 5-10. His shooting touch appeared to improve somewhat this season, but he still has a good ways to go. I think by TJ's third season in the NBA, he'll be considered one of the real up and coming points in the league.

If I am the Rockets, I would have to stay away from Ford. If the Rockets deal the likes of Mobley/Griffin to get Ford, they would likely be costing themselves a playoff spot again while Ford is getting adjusted to the league. This is not someone that is going to come in and become ROY imo. Also, a 5-10 PG with Francis at SG may not be the best mix. The other names discussed ie Andre Miller, Jamaal Tinsley, Tony Parker, Alvin Williams, etc all have 3 plus inches on Ford.

 

for those who say tj cant hit a jump shot. jason kidd had no jump shot when he came into the league. kidd developed his shot.

its tru we want to win now and we're tired of getting young players, but the way i see it, yao is still 3-4 yrs from blowing up. im sure thats more than enough time for tj to develope a effective jumper. plus, no one will win a championship until shaq retires (except for maybe the kings...)

other reasons for drafting tj:
tito maddox is a cancer to the team, tj is a total team player
moochie may be cut, we need a pg

 

We already have a 1st round draft pick this year -- Boki.

 

It's a mute point. The Rockets have no chance at Ford since he will be selected in the first round.

 

not according to x_trepidation_x.

he'll be in the second round. and i'll be a few bucks richer if he'll take my bet......

 

The media says that he will be a top ten pick for sure. I believe them, not x_trepidation_x.

 

TJ IS OUR ANSWER!!!

 

The bottom line is the kid is a play maker..........We don't need another superstar who wants to shoot all the time as you guys always complain about this team.......We need a playmaker who thinks pass first and TJ is that

Sure he's 5' 10 , but this kid is a pure basketball player that is gonna shock people at the next level, he plays big and his defense is actually pretty good because the kid is greased lightning in a bottle on the b ball court.

The jumper thing can be fixed trust me, this kid is a gym rat who will kill himself all summer to fix that problem,his character is great and he loves the game of basketball. Not like your average young superstar who is in every club across america drinking and partying all summer. He is a THROWBACK PLAYER. There is another guy in the draft that they say doesn't have a great jumper either............some highschool kid out of OHIO

Last but not least let me comment on the "steve francis and TJ as a backcourt is gonna get killed defensively" comments
Look, Some old wise basketball guru once told me..... the best way to defend better player is to be hell on offense, make a offensive superstar work on the defensive end as well as the offensive end and he'll wear himself out by the end of the third quarter. And you can't tell me a TJ Steve back court wouldn't give 20 out of 28 teams in this league ulcers. That is the quickest backcourt the world has ever seen. Nobody alive could contain TJ's penetration and Steve's Crossover for 48 minutes.
Come on guys, we don't play Sac and the lakers for 82 games.
Some teams will be able to handle us sometimes, but most won't.
For every lakers team theres a clippers team, for every Sac, there's a Denver, get my drift. We don't play T-mac and Kobe every night, we would win our share of battles. Give us a durable, reliable PF and here we go again guys.........

It seems true to me, take shaq, you can't stop him, nobody in the league can, and he has no one to challenge him on the defensive end, just think about 5 or 6 years ago, was shaq winning rings, HELL NO, he had Pat ewing one night, Alonzo another, THE DREAM the next, you get the picture.
We all know Dream in his prime today and the lakers wouldn't have those rings. Shaq is benefitting from no quality centers in the league, thats why if we can get YAO up to speed and he can attack shaq consistently on the offensive end, we might definately have a chance. Yao will never be able to stop shaq, but he will be able to attack him offensively, which is just as good. Dream used to have Shaq for lunch and he's nowhere near shaq's size.

Bottom line to me is TJ has more Pros than Cons, I could be wrong, but.............

 

not really. this was his ninth season, and the first when anyone said his jump shot seemed to be much better. then he sucked in the 2nd half shooting-wise and it ended up back at 41.4% shooting which is pretty much right around his career mediocre percentage, though higher than the 38.5-39% he was shooting early on in his career.


oh and if x_trepidation_x takes you up on that bet verse, i want in too.

 

No sir, I do not bet

He probably will go first round but I'm considering him a bust in the NBA. He has all the credentials for a bust. If he is a top 10 pick then I think that GM should be fired. Cause for real TJ is not or should be a top 10 pick.

1. Undersized
2. Not a true shooters touch
3. Not that fast compared to other guards in the NBA
4. Passing isn't bad but not spectacular. He doesn't have great court vision partly because of his height.

You guys can love TJ all you want but this guy would not bring anything we already don't have with Mobley/Francis.