You said it. There's a lot of idiots out there that think we need 5 tool players at every position. I can't believe that people so easily forget that Deke averaged what seems like almost 20 boards a game when Yao was down. Who cares he's not an offensive player? There are lots of places to go for offense. Can someone link the Real Men of Genius GM wannabe song? That's what this guy needs!
I believe that Coach A's system has always been about maing everyone on the court a possible threat. HE has never intentionally put a dope on the floor when he has a gunner on the bench! Hope to see more Bonzi and less Rafer this season. He played way too much for my taste last season. How many times did you wish Rafer would go sit on the bench, even in winning situations.
oh plenty of times, but then after i wanted him on the bench i quickly came to realize that we could either put in lucas or spanoulis or let head take the point, all of which didnt sound like great ideas and never worked too much when we did try it. Thats when i just got used to the fact that rafer is all we had. No worries now tho, we can sub someone in if needed. Chuck hayes will be resigned and i dont know why anyone would think he isnt since morey has pretty much already said he will be back with a multiyear contract hopefully. Hayes is important to this team seeing that he is a great defensive player and will most definitely be needed. Mutombo is a different story, we don't exactly need him back but if anyone remembers last season, I would think that it would be pretty important to at least have him on the bench in case something not planned happens.
Look, the kid plays hard defense every game. It's not that he doesn't play defense, but his 6'3'' frame allows him to be posted up at will. It's all about matchups.
If we don't resign Chuck and Deke based of your "5 on 5 offense" then who do you propose the Rockets should pick with their unlimited money and cap space?
Basketball is about stopping the over team (we do are very good job of this) and scoring (we do a very poor job of this). Someone brought up the Spurs and why the won, let's take a look. The teams that could beat the Spurs were already knocked out (Dallas and Houston). The third team Phoenix got screwed by a clever hip check by Horry resulting in the suspension of Amare. I don't think the Spurs could have ran the Western Conference going through Houston or Dallas. The next series would have been difficult. Also, the Spurs have much better shooters and a point guard that gives defenses including ours fits. As I've said on many occassions, I like what Chuck brings to the table, however, that is not enough to warrant him a starting position in the NBA when you can't shoot a 15 footer. I think someone on this site dates Chuck based on the responses. Watch the difference this year when Chuck and Rafer are on the bench and teams have to play us 5 on 5. Chuck, Rafer, and Luther (if he's still on the team) will be playing role minutes.
Don't sweat it. Some of us agree with you. Having Rafer and our PF combo of Hayes/Howard in the lineup was similar to the Astros having Everett/Ausmus/Biggio in the lineup at the same time. It puts tremendous pressure on the other players to make up for their offensive deficiencies. Having 5 guys on the court who are all decent on offense is huge. At the same time, there will be situational minutes for Chuck and Deke and Chuck could still end up being the opening day starter until Scola adjusts.
I agree that's why I think the Rockets will go with a Scola/Landry or vice versa rotation early to mid-season.
personally i think chuck and deke are liabilities on the court during offense, they cause the other team to have less focus on them due to there lack of offensive skills, which you then see more doubles on tmac. Now i understand that deke and chuck are good defenders but I think in the end they cost the teams scoring efficiency as its much harder to score on a 4 on 5 situation as they atract no defensive focus. But yeah as good as chuck is defensively I think he is a scrub and shouldnt be in the nba, he is nearly as bad as ryan bowen
biting my tongue... biting my tongue... people with short memories... biting my tongue... Okay I have to respond just a bit... I just have to say this or I will end up with a seared tongue and blood in my mouth. Do you honestly think that the team would have sent him a contract if they felt the way that you all do? If they had plenty of options available to replace what he can do for the team, don't you think they would have said, "Good luck in Free Agency, thank you for your useless and pathetic help last season."???? I think they would. I hope Harris does get a spot on the team and the Rockets can utilize his abilities. I hope that Landry does do well and becomes a contributor. I hope that Butler is better than everyone seems to think he was with the Spurs. I hope that Scola turns out to be the "semi-all star" that Morey said he wanted Chuck to be back up for. But as much as you all say he was a liability on offense... at least he showed up in the playoffs. Would you rather have someone that shoots 60% for the season and then 20% in the playoffs? (slightly exaggerated for emphasis) Or would you rather have someone who blew a couple of layups in November and shot 71% in the playoffs plus took a deciding charge in the final minute of game five against Utah? I thought this was ClutchCity. shew... I responded and didn't yell at anyone I am pretty proud of myself. Oh and if Nicole Anderson is on here reading and posting I hope she emails me. I could use her as a "source" and be an insider too.
I can totally respect your view HayesFan. I love what Chuck Hayes does on the court.I think Hayes should still be a rotation guy and can still contribute a lot. And you're right, without him the Rockets probly wouldn't have had as good of a season. The only problem with that is we didn't even make it out of the first round, so I think there needs to be a change. I think everyone knows that Chuck was important last season but he is an offensive liability and we have guys now that can give more production at that position.
Before the Rox traded for Scola I thought that they shouldn't sign Hayes. I don't like players who can't play on offense. Harris couldn't be any worse and he actually seems to have some offensive potential. Plus he rebounded well during summer league.
I think Tracy McGrady is a scrub and he's nearly as bad as Eddie Griffin. Who's with me? Who's with me, huh?
As I've said Chuck is a contributor, however, he provides the same as Ryan Bowen who we cut when we found Chuck as an upgrade. That's Morey's job to upgrade. Chuck's going to be in dog fight to get minutes during the season, Chris Webber made an allstar living off of hitting the 15 foot jumper and bankshot. FYI, he doesn't hustle at all in comparison to Chuck, yet makes $4mln more, because some team will offer him the mid level exception. Offense wins in todays NBA. HayesFan - The 1st commandment of Rockets Fans is love the team before a player.
Um if offense wins. Why the hell are the Cavs and Spurs in the championships? Why isn't Toronto there? Why aren't the clippers there? Why aren't the Suns there?
The CAV's play in the Least Conference with no scoring what so ever. They would have been the 8th seed in the west. The spurs won due to the toughest opponents Houston and Dallas being dropped in round one. LeBron was playing 4 or 5 and he was the weak link because he couldn't hit a wide open jumper from the free throw line. Check the stats. The Cavs had open looks but couldn't shoot straight. The Spurs hosed Phoenix with an Horry hip check getting Amare out for an important game.
I absolutely understand that. I have said it before that even if Hayes is waived traded I will still be following the Rockets. Since I had no NBA affiliations before, my heart will always root for the Rockets. My point was, what's best for the team at this point, is Chuck, until Morey does make that upgrade and someone else shows that they deserve the minutes in his place. There may be potential for someone else to take that spot with the current acquisitions... but that is true of everyone.. didn't the Rockets eventually trade even Hakeem?.. but until someone proves it, there is no need to say that he's expendable. Besides, we have no idea how any of these players are going to look with a new offensive system. I will tell you what I think. Free throws aside, Chuck has the ability to shoot a jump shot. I have seen him shoot them and make them in the past. The problem was in JVG's system, he wasn't supposed to take a jump shot. Hence the fact that you see his hesitation to shoot anything other than something right under the basket. The only time he did take those shots was with the shot clock winding down. I guess I really just want everyone to wait and see what the new offensive system looks like with the roster that did very well last season before we discount everyone who wasn't an offensive threat last year.
