We got Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest. I think that's a net positive over Donte Green and who else? Overall, a good pick-up.
Major Minority No guts no glory HindSight is 20/20 and honestly If i knew the season would end like it did and . . .did not know how it wuold end in reverse I'd still do the deal Rocket River Last season is NOT the season to regret
Sometimes you gotta crawl before you can walk. I know championship is the final goal, but this team was in a desperate need to get out of the first round. And it did. I'd do the trade 100 / 100 times again.
I hope I don't send him into a shame spiral. he might then launch regular e-pity party threads in the hangout. And then we are all screwed.
Of course he was worth getting. We gave up nothing to get him and we were fresh off of a 55-win season. In theory, this trade could have made us elite. Even if you play the 'worst case scenario game' -- Donte Greene was a late first rounder that did nothing this year and despite Artest's problemmatic history, he was only on a one-year-deal and was being reunited with a coach he had a strong history with. I still maintain that our 2008 early season game against the Mavericks was one of the most CRUEL moments in recent Rockets history. Here we were: our second game of the season and still figuring out how good we were -- on the road against the hated Mavericks. No Battier....didn't matter. We had T-Mac throwing down alley-oops, Artest taking over the game hitting dagger shots, Yao dominating, chemistry looking good, T-Mac on the sideline during the 4th quarter cheering everybody on and pulling a Mark Madsen. At that moment, I thought that this team had ARRIVED. <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z9rPcoFHVCI&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z9rPcoFHVCI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
Well, then I guess drafting Yao Ming wasn't worth it since we have not won a championship with him at Center. No, we didn't win it all. Forget about the fact that Tmac decided to not rehab his knee, took half the season off then self-diagnosed his season ending surgery or that Yao went down in the LA series and we had to play 3 games without him or McGrady against the NBA champions. We would have been much better off with Donte Green, even though he couldn't even get playing time on one of the worst teams in the NBA. The fact that I FINALLY got to see our beloved Rox beat a team in the playoffs this decade and the fact that we ALMOST beat (hell, we sure made it exciting) the best team in the NBA in a 7 game series makes it totally worth it to me...ESPECIALLY considering the flip side is having Donte Green on our roster...
See, you can be funny without the insults! And I suppose that you can talk Rockets without the insults too. But that is just me hoping because you can be a good read, as w/DD, when you're not in a battle with someone. On Topic: Way too many variables to even ask that question. But I surely enjoyed what he brought us last year...even if it was only the intangibles. Opponents had to think about Ron and that was always a "plus" for us.
Silly question to ask I think, of course it was. I still think we could have had a ring last year if Yao could have stayed healthy against the Lakers...
Actually, I don't think it goes 7 games if Yao stays healthy. I think Yao going out changed the dynamic of the series and it caused the Lakers a lot of matchup problems. Akin to the Golden State and Dallas matchup a few years earlier...the Lakers were expecting one type of series, and once Yao went out, got another one entirely.... Just my .02. DD
DD, you have got to consider the importance of breaking the first round exit curse. It is huge for both Tracy and Yao to clear this mental block, which will be crucial in future playoff run.
Normally I would say it was too high at the cost of first round picks for a one-year rental that proved mainly fruitless, but the value of late first rounders is not what it used to be. Morey has acquired very high second rounders the last few years for cash. I don't think the cost was too high. Plus, I think the season with Artest will prove to be one of the more entertaining seasons for Rockets fans ... I think this next year will prove to be more of a downer, though what happens with McGrady is still up in the air.
just a lil side notes, Tmac, Artest, and Battier were all hurt during the time they played together, we really never got a chance to see them all healthy. So to say Artest didnt fit with Tmac is crap. Lets not forget that Yao was playing like he got his power stolen from him in Space Jam. He was outplay by kendrick perkins early in the season. Looking back on this trade, I woulda still make it because lets face it. If you dont have at least 3 stars you are not going to have a chance to win the champ. Tmac, Artest, and Yao makes 3 stars.
To me, us getting Ariza at a fair price makes up just fine for the loss of Artest. Suppose we kept Donte Green and whatever else we traded Artest for. Where are we right now? Would Ariza still be available? In my opinion, Ariza's departure from the Lakers was directly related to them going after Artest. But them going after Artest was, in some part, related to his success with us. Or, suppose we could have traded Artest for Ariza at the deadline, with their current contracts in place. That's getting a nice, young player in return, right? Well, in that scenario, there's a decent chance that Yao does not go down with an injury. But then, we lose our injury exception, and with Yao not getting his foot fixed we're only prolonging the inevitable. So, as I look at it, even in retrospect I'm not sure we put ourselves in a better position right now by not acquiring Artest last summer or by not trading him at the deadline.
Ron's deal is a great one far beyond playoff round 2. Think about it. If Yao were healthy in the playoff, Rockets should be at least equal to Lakers. Adding a healthy or even half TMac (15-5-5), Rockets should dominate the league.
