Rox are in no position to just add a stud. West put the Lakes in the position where they had the available space to sign Shaq, while also acquiring Kobe. Rox have missed playoffs for four straight years, and this year looks like they'll play over their heads to reach 6th, or they also fall into the depths of LottoLand, again. West kept the Lakes competitive. Rox have how many of their draft choices on their '03-'04 roster? Lakes drafted guys like Fisher and George late. The Logo has a great insight into his job. The Grizz are likely to go from dregs to playoff challenger in his 2nd year at the helm. Not shabby.
This coming from the same person who halfway through the season said the Astros would finish behind the Reds this year. We all see how that will turn out. Hate to break it to you, but the grizz don't have the pieces to be a playoff team this year. Their lone star is gasol and he is a 2nd star on a good team, the rest of that team is chock full of young role players. As of now memphis is not equipped to be a playoff challenger. Not without some or at least one trade for better players over depth. The Western Conference is too good for that to happen.
I like him. I've been over at the Mavs boards and most of them are a little down over losing him. They keep talking about his great D on Kobe and that he was a great role player who knew when to take it to the hole and finish strong. Good handles too. Solid pickup.
I'll put this in Verse's thread, too. Always appreciated Verse's knowledge and judgement. ------------------------------------------------------- Mav fan here, regarding the AG signing ... The Good ... I've met AG and he's a GREAT guy. Real down to earth - he and Dirk could be seen on the bench chatting together often during the long season - one of Dirk's fav guys. He's got kids and a great wife and he's from Wichita, KS ... which I'm guessing played into AG hooking up with the Rox, seeing how the proximity to his homies a few hours up I-35 from DFW was a big plus to him signing with Dallas - just a few hours more from Houston to Wichita. He's a good ball handler, and can play without needing fga's. He will make an eye opening play or drive occasionally in traffic that you'll appreciate. He was solid against Kobe and Peja occasionally - when the refs allowed. He's got really loooong arms. He glides around the court with his elbows maintaining an obtuse angle, which allows him to occasionally just sneak up to an unsuspecting opponent and tip the ball away for the steal. Probably the best FA signing Mark Cuban ever made - bang for the buck-wise. Mav TV announcer Derek Harper LOVED AG - so did I. The Bad ... For some reason, Nellie could often be seen screaming bloody murder at Griff over some missed assignment or something. AG [along with Najera] was Nellie's punching bag. AG can't jump, sorta moves in a slow glide which can be beat by the greyhounds of the NBA, and he ain't getting any younger. He's a role player, don't expect much more. One worry I have is how AG will cotton to Mobley and Francis' selfish immaturity after playing with gung-ho team-first guys like Nash, Fin and Dirk who are out for W's and not the hi-light package on NBA 2night. I could see AG getting tentative with his game if he deems his new teammates to be ridiculous petty people. The Ugly ... Last summer AG had back surgery. It helped ... but he's still got major back issues. He can miss stretches of games when it 'locks up.' Since the surgery I'm guessing he's put on 15 pounds - I assume it's because the bad back just doesn't allow him to work out as much to reach the fitness he had a coupla seasons ago. He also has just about lost the ability to dunk - but he'll surprise you occasionally on a snowbird. When he's feeling good he's effective. If minutes are dumped on him his back will crumble and he'll visit the IL. JVG will have to ration AG's good days. Raja Bell had simply become a healthier younger spry-er option for Nellie - and Mav draftee Josh Howard meant AG was now a luxury.
very nice post...i actually read an entire post! He sounds slow...but was a very cheap pickup so I'm satisfied.
Griffin was rookie of the month coming straight from the CBA, and some folks were talking about him getting the ROY. Of course he couldn't get it for his offensive woes, but he surprised the league in a way.
THANK YOU!!! I was telling my friends that AG was touted by some to be better than Francis when they were playing their rookie season; told them he was supposed to be in the ROY hunt and all that; and no one believed me! Anyway, it's a great pickup for the Rox. I like verse's report, and I liked reading that Mavs report posted by Franz Kafka (great info from both of you guys, btw). However, if the back problem thing is true, then that means he is definitely not our answer for the starting 3. Which still begs the question, who will start?
That back surgery think kind of put a damper on the whole situation. 15lbs overweight? That's an issue.
08-08-2003 03:55 AM I like the pick up but I am not making much out of it. I just read the Mavs board and they don`t seem too upset to lose Griffin. One guy said he had good handles and others said that was funny because his handles were only better than Bradley (or were they worse) Anyway they say he was so slow and was totally anemic on offense. They say that he was way more likely to dribble the ball off his foot than he was to make a good pass ( and thats only if you severly limit his minutes so he doesn`t spend the year on the IR). They say all he was any good for was guarding Kobe and to have any worth in that area he will have to steal a car in Colorado or something. Talking about Rocket fans wearing rose colored glasses. There is no way we are better than last year unless Van Gumball can controll these ball hogs ( which I doubt) If we make the playoffs it will only be because of the implosion by other teams (Utah). The only player I like on this team is Yao ( and no I am not Chineese). We need to get rid off everyone else and rebuild around Yao ( or trade Yao for Garnett) . If Francis and Mobes can play as a team I can see mabey keeping one of them. I kinda like the Yao, EG and Cato lineup if they could all play together. May be hard to penetrate on. My dream would to trade every one except Yao for Garnett and Brand and add guys around them. That my friends would be a real Dynasty. I know , I know .......keep dreaming. Wow that would be something Yao in the middle flanked by Brand and Garnett. Thats more than a dream thats a fantasy baby. It wouldn`t matter what any other team like the Fakers did then. __________________
Franz, thanks for your input. It's refreshing to get an objective opinion (or the closest thing to one) around here. Hope you post more often. Yeah, the back problems do dampen my enthusiasm considerably. That puts the two-year contract at the minimum in perspective. Griffin's essentially damaged goods, but he gives us depth and 15, maybe 20 quality mpg.
I know Steve Francis is your god but we all know this is his weak point and one of the main reasons the Rockets don't run. More importantly, I have no idea who our SF is going to be but unless we get another player, the Piatkowski/Rice/Griffin/Nachbar SF combo is just another headache we'll deal with along with our inconsistent PF's.
Yes and? You're crediting this to Francis? I don't want to turn this into a Steve Francis bashing thread because I like Francis, moreso than a lot of other people here. However, we were not an effective running team because Francis could't lead the break which greatly reduced Posey's biggest strength. Having a SF who can run like Posey is a great asset that we failed to capitalize. Good luck having Adrian Griffin fill the lanes.
So Posey never finished on fast breaks. Look I know you are objective about Steve Francis, but I think the fast break deficiency is one of the worst criticisms of him. It has no basis. Especially with the kind of offense the former coach ran. But I don't want to derail this thread. I don't think the Rockets should have signed Posey because he is not worth going over the cap for. Purely economical reasons, instead they got two solid players without having to pay the luxury tax. Griffin is a bit overrated on these threads, but he is going to play defense, and that was Posey's best asset to in relation to the team. I think Posey was a better fit for the team, but its time for the Rockets to stop digging holes for themselves as far as contracts are concerned.
you know, i just got into work. i'm reading over all of the responses (thank you) and i must say that some of you amaze me. xiki: are you telling me you'd rather have james posey at ~5-6 million over pike/AGruff/X? what were our issues last year, again? a) needing a shooter: check. - not signing posey allowed us to pick up pike on the cheap b) needing more tenacity: check. - not signing posey allowed us to pick up mario elie v2.0 on the chep c) needing a backup point guard: soon to be check. - not signing posey, and signing pike/AGruff leaves us with 2 big options. either signing a backup point for the remaining MLE or trading mobley for a starting quality point guard then moving steve to the 2. yet you'd rather have james posey???
Thanks for the recap Verse. Glad to have AG on board. Our defense should be very strong this year. Pike will help with scoring, Yao will be more improved, Steve will continue improvement as well. Could be a good year.
