doesnt griffin himself think he is a 4? I thought thats what I remember hearing.. all the people arguing the rice vs griffin really should have been arguing the griffin vs taylor in my mind.. so could we run like this: c: cato/collier/taylor in smaller lineup situations pf: taylor/griffin sf: rice/griffin sg:cat pg:franchise ?? also it would appear that they are doing something with walt with this trade..
I like Rice. I want him on this team. Rudy and CD have a plan up there sleeves and they never do disappoint me. I can't wait to see what this team looks like. On to October 30th.
I'm coming around on this trade. For starters, he wasn't utilized correctly in New York, and his injuries there can be attributed to the type of practices Van Gundy has, not on aging old bones. It was all of 2 years ago that he had a solid season for LA, and that's the type of role he would have in Houston. Who was the main beneficiary of our guards penetration and kick outs? The small forwards!!! When we beat the big boys, it had more to do with our 3's offensive production (eg: COLOSSAL ASS WHOOPIN' in Dallas), than it did with anything our "centers" did. With Rudy's easy practices, Rice could be rejuvenated, and perform like the Rice of old, or at least near that level, which makes him valuable! He's not night and day, like Walt, with his shot. Mark my words; having an offensively able, CONSISTENT small forward is more important to this team than having a prototypical center. You can find any 6'10 and up oaf to give you 6 fouls a game.
One note about Hakeem: I've heard this from several places - Hakeem was set on not coming back here. It didn't have anything to do with money. He wanted to leave. Period. As a result, the Rockets dealt him as a way to get SOME kind of compensation. This isn't a Hakeem or Rice thing. It couldn't have been because Olajuwon was ready to roll money or no.
While the Rice deal was certainly surprising, I can see how it'll work out. 1.) Too expensive? Like Crispee said re: cap, use it or loose it. 2.) No defense? With zone coming into play, that isn't a problem. 3.) Not that strong offensively anymore? He doesn't need to be. Cat, Franchise, MoTay. Finding points won't be the hard part. 4.) Overloaded on PF? Bull is probably gone and Wiz will be in 1 year if not sooner. 5.) Impair growth of Griff? He's two years before he can reasonably expect solid performances. Mean time, Rice helps his growth with NBA experience. 6.) Contract too long? Its only 3 years, not 6. That will come at a time when other contracts won't expire so timing is fine. By that time, we can expect real production from Griff. 7.) Doesn't address need @ 5 spot? Everyone agrees there are more deals looming. 8.) Chemistry problem? Rudy T is the master. He has always been high on Rice so he obviously feels comfortable with this. If he likes the chemistry, who are we to question? 9.) SA was important? Not. He was a good role player but SA wasn't happy with his role. So time to move on. 10.) Too old? With Griff coming up, his role will be deminished each year anyway. But we need something solid this season and he does add NBA wisdom to this young team. Later years he'll still be able to contribute from the outside and low post even if he can't run anymore. That pretty much sums up all the arguments against this Rice deal that I've heard. Again, this trade was unexpected but can can see the vision that RudyT/CD had in mind. I support it. It is a risk but you don't get any rewards without risks. And beleive me, if Rockets stood pat, there were not going to be any rewards but a marginal improvement at best. -krosfyah
Oh, and you can kiss our beloved chemistry goodbye when rice's wife start complaining about how her husband, a proven star, is not being properly used in a team full of young pups... mark my words. no good will come of this stupid idea.
Why do some keep saying " We got rid of Dream so that we can sign Rice "? I don't believe we ever had a chance to retain Dream. This decision was made long before the negotiations began and I believe that the orginazation catered to his wishes out of respect. So we will get Rice and his contract. Hey, this is fine by me as long as we don't have Rice and Walt at the same time. Our offense was at it's best when the Wiz was hitting. Problem was, Wiz was to inconsistent. Rice should be an upgrade.
Remember when the Lakers gave up Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell to get Rice? That was like three years ago. I know that's a long time in basketball years, but it just goes to show you that Rice can be quite effective if utilized.
If Pops says the deal is done, then he's right - let's try to understand WHERE we're going from here and let's wait and see what happens. This is the fun part. BTW - exactly how many time did we all say, " BOY SHANDON REALLY STEPPED UP AGAIN TONIGHT AND WON THE GAME FOR US AGAIN!!! ( Even though he WAS scoreles from the field! )" I like Shandon and I feel with that defensive, utility mindset, he'll be great in NY! In this league, you can NEVER score enough points though and I welcome this gunslinger back to a true COWTOWN! The 'City of Angelic Triangles' and the 'YORK of NEW' are no places for a gunslinger!! TEXAS is for shooters and Rudy's the Sheriff in charge' Steve, Cuttino, Glen, Wyatt, and Doc Holliday - what more do we need? I'll miss Shandon, but like Pops said...don't jump off the run and gun wagon. What's today? August 10th?? OH MY GOODNESS!! We only have a couple of more MONTHS to make trade. Whatever shall we do??? BTW - Pops, myself, and Jeff are taking ownership of the group. Clutch and Thanos have been kicked out because they're.....uhh...they're...uhh....disagreers!!!!!!!
I disagree wholeheartedly w/ most here. No matter what spin you try to put in this Rice acquisition, I do not see how it is a good deal for us. And forget abt the glaringly obvious cap implications. Glen Rice cannot play D worth crap. His slashing, rebounding, and post-up game are underrated - I'll give him that. But he couldn't guard Shawn Bradley out on the perimeter. I see all this talk abt how the new rules make everything different now - perimeter D is not such a big deal, we will be running all the time anyways, no half-court worries, nobody can stop Shaq anyways. That sounds like all the dot.com BS w/ all this "New Economy" "it's all different this time" crap!!! It's not any different, bball is still bball and at the end of games nobody is going to want Rice on the floor b/c he is a flat out liability on D.
it sure worked wonders for LA last year. LA was the 3rd leading scoring team in the NBA...1.1 pt less that the kings. LA also gave up 1.3 points more than the kings. Milwaukee was #2 in scoring and made it to the conference finals and if they weren't robbed, would have been in the finals. as a matter of fact, out of the top 10 scoring teams in the nba, only 1 didn't make the playoffs...houston (#9). and we JUST missed in the toughest conferest in recent memory. same goes for field goal %. #s,#s,#s, what does this mean...nothing. so please stop it with the "outscoring your opponent" stuff not working. THE GAME IS PLAYED ON THE COURT. AND YOU CAN WIN BY OUTRUNNING, OUTREBOUNDING & OUTSCORING YOUR OPPONENT. SEE: SHOWTIME LA LAKERS... and, if i remember, rice was b****ing about not getting any playing time. and also about kobe's ball hogging. funny that shaq b****ed about the same thing. maybe there was something to it???
That was one of the worst and most lopsided trades in recent memory, if not EVER! Who in his right mind would do that trade today? Rice performed BELOW expectations in LA, you are blinding yourselves to the truth just because we got him! ANYONE who followed the lakers that year KNOWS that Rice complained a thousand times over about the lack of screens he got in the Lakers offense. We are paying 9 million per year to a guy who needs screens to be effective and can't create his own shot? This is not the past MVP of the all-star game we're getting. We are getting a player WAY past his prime, a veteran that NEVER displayed ANY leadership qualities WHATSOEVER, and that happens to b**** and complain and end up being unwelcome to EVERY freakin team he went to ! NONSENSE!
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME SHANDN ANDERSN OUTPLAYED A STAR PLAYER??? who gives you a better chance to outplay a star player??? anderson or rice? and, since when did one "guard-defender" mean crap without the team playing D? shandn's defense WILL NOT BE MISSED. if we are to win, we will play D as a team. shandn's D WILL NOT BE MISSED if we learn to freakn rotate! however, we WILL appreciate rice's shooting! remember the games walt was en fuego? get ready, we just added more of those! and if i remember, we were stomping the crap out of teams when walt worked his wizardry! and we didn't even have to give up a shooter! we just added one!
Sorry Clutch. I am siding with the tweakers on this one. Excuse me fellas, is there space for the Chucky Brown Fan Club on the Glen Rice bandwagon? Run and gun and run and gun CBFC
Ok verse. Will you kindly EXPLAIN to me, HOW THE HECK are we going to outrebound a team of CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRLS with a frontline of Rice, Cato and MO? And that's just ONE of your points. You argument has more holes than a swiss cheese!
Rice will get open jumpers in our offense. He will hit them. I don't see how anyone can argue that. Our offense is significantly better when Walt drains them. Rice is better. If you get Rice, your only need is a 6-9' big guy with a 15'er. The notion that we need a team of 24 yr olds for the longterm is unrealistic. The Antoine Carr bruiser type to prevent Mo from having to play center can be a revolving door position. It's like you can't have everything....this is NOT a sim league. You have to make decisions. If Rudy and CD can't get Dream or another center, what do you do? Waste a year sitting on your Jerry Krause ass expecting to land a big free agent center!! Or do you work that big extreme you have.....the extreme is <b>shooters galore</b>. With Rice and even a boring Tony Massenburg or Antoine Carr type and Chucky Brown , we are a viscious offensive powerhouse. There will be open looks all over the place. Just get someone 6-9 with some strength and a 15er....not hard to do. Teams will take Walt's last year contract straight up for their boring PF/C. Spend ALL YOUR CAP if you are going for Rice. phew....got that off my chest for the second time today. Guys, you can't really look at this trade without considering spending ALL your capspace this summer. Rudy and CD will NOT stop at Rice. There has got to be insurance against Mo' playing center as well. Surely, they know that.
