No. I'm just trying to say that we actually CAN replace Von if he chooses different team. It is not the end of the world.
I think there were things happening behind the scenes that made the Rockets want to pass on Von. I remember hearing that he had issues with some of his teammates. He apparently had some issues with Rick Adelman. Perhaps he had more outburts than we know about. The Rockets don't like publicizing that stuff.
There were issues that we not as obvious or seen like the Lakers game. He let the success he was having get to him as well. He is/was challenging to coach and had a hard time learning the plays. As said before on this site, teammates called him Radio and knew that when he had the ball, changes were they weren't going to see it the rest of that possession. He let Sasha effect him to easy in games that we lost in the second round. The fact is there that he failed the team when we needed him. His agent demanded the midlevel and got it in Von's head that is what he deserved. Obviously that's not what he is getting... You can score 9.7 points per game but really how much does that help when you are giving up 9-10 on the other end???
The only thing Von has proven is that he can score buckets in the NBA. Nothing more, nothing less. And sometimes, that is all it takes.
Someone get over to DD's house quick. We should all be on suicide watch. Seriously, I wouldn't mind seeing them keep him at the right price, but nothing more than a couple mill at this point. His blowups with the coach are costing him money, his ball handling is costing him money, and his lack of d is costing him a lot more money. I bet he doesn't get half of what he thought in his mind he would get.
Game 2 against LAL Wafer: 9 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 turnover, 3/4 FG (1/1 3P) Battier: 36 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2/4 FG (1/3 3P) Game 3 Wafer: 16 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers, 2/10 FG (1/4 3P) Battier: 42 minutes, 6 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 2/5 FG (2/5 3P) Game 5 Wafer: 13 minutes, 13 points, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 4/9 FG (1/3 3P) Battier: 29 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 turnovers, 2/7 FG (1/4 3P) Game 7 Wafer: 16 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 turnover, 5/11 FG (0/1 3P) Battier: 32 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1/6 FG (0/4 3P) Averages in the 4 games we lost against LAL Wafer: 13.5 minutes, 9.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.3 turnovers, 41.1 FG%, 33.3 3P% Battier: 34.8 minutes, 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.8 turnovers, 31.8 FG%, 25.0 3P% If anybody "failed the team when we needed him" by letting the Lakers defense "effect him to easy in games that we lost in the second round," it wasn't Wafer...
I seriously doubt that is real. I don't think Charles Barkley could write that bad, and Charles is a freakin idiot.
I'm in his area. If I see a mushroom cloud rise up over Slaughter Lane in Circle C, I'll know this news is real.
Another Battier hater obviously. I am sure you have your reasons but Battier is what the Yao/McGrady era needed. I doubt your boy Gay (who wasn't going to be the Rockets' pick) would be as developed as he is now if he were still on this team. We didn't need another ball hog on this team... So obviously you only look at box scores, you don't see what goes on in the game itself... Battier wasn't and never going to be an 15+ points scorer. He has a more important role. His role is defense and small cuts and reads that he provides his teammates. Do you see during dead ball situations that his teammates look to him to get some insight what the other team might do next? I am sure you don't because you are looking at the rim waiting for the next shot... Battier was doing something more important, his focus was on defense with Kobe... And shooting 2 of 10 as a "shooter" is definitely not good which is what Von did in Game 3. Crying like a baby and getting thrown the showers just proves it... So that's two games out of 4... Battier is the glue to the team. He focus was on defense and he will do things that Von will never do that aren't shown in the box score.
If you think trading Gay for Battier made sense because we wanted to "win now", and Gay's nothing but a stat-padding chucker who doesn't help his team win like Battier does, please take a look at this article, then get back to me. Oh, and letting Kobe score 40 points on 16/27 shooting as the "best perimeter defender in the league" is definitely not good, which is what Battier did in Game 2. But I'm sure you're going to tell me Battier actually played great D that night, and that if anybody else in the NBA was guarding him he would have scored 100, even though he only averaged 27 points over the course of the season...
This seems to be the logic used in Garm. This is how much they trust Morey that they think he can just plug every unproven player and it will work out. I don't get it but whatever.
Gay wasn't going to be a Rocket even if we kept the pick... They were going to take Sefolosha. So your argument should be Shane vs. Sefolosha. Also, getting rid of Swift's contract opened up the Rockets ability to get Scola. Does your argument take that into consideration? And according to your logic/argument, Tim Thomas would be a better player than Gay and Rudy would be only slightly better than Marbury if you look at that article... And I don't take stock in adjusted per 40 minutes/ 48 minutes, whatever. Because those are hypothetical numbers. They didn't play those minutes. A guy gets one rebound in 1 minute of action, that calculation would argue he would average 40 rebounds in 40 minutes. I am not going to say Shane played great defense every game against LA. You just can't stop Kobe for 7 consecutive games. Ask Kobe though who guards him best and he'll say Shane. Not Von, not Rudy. Shane was what fit, Rudy was never in the Rockets' plans. Back to Von, Daryl has that set value for Von and obviously Von thinks he is worth more.
Don't you guys worry, if my mancrush leaves, I will get one on the rebound...hey that Chase guy is looking sweet... DD
No -- if TMac leaves I want to get something out of it. With the exception of GreekMac, DD's crushes' departures are usually of the garbage out variety (Langhi, Boki). If Von found some money, good for him.
