I think the rockets are thinking much bigger with their expirings. Francis+Jackson+Novak+(one of our solid rotation players probably Battier) for a Marion or player who can come in and instantly make us more atheletic.
lol!!what??lol!!...talk about a pay cut. I admit Marion probably makes too much money but he's in an option year, and he probably won't opt out of his massive contract because he'll get offers like that. What makes that good is that if he doesn't opt out, we have some major salary to work with the next year because he will be older and cheaper (maybe ready to take the MLE). Again, it doesn't have to be him that we get, i just see us getting a big time player like him out of this.
Oh, I know it won't happen, but at least make the offer. I know you don't opt out to take a pay cut, unless you are at the end of your career and looking to win.... DD
by this i meant the expiring contracts+prospects/rotational players (Brooks, Scola, Landry, Battier, Alston). If we don't get something major out of that we should just sit on those expirings and welcome the cap space for the next season. Getting just a good player like Miller from all of that wouldn't be considered a success IMO.
No consistency? LOL - Sure I do, we need a PG that can penetrate and dish, and can run the PnR effectively. We just disagree about what that means. I would be satisfied with even a slight upgrade........which is my point about Blake. Steve Blake is hardly all world, but he can do the above things, and is an upgrade as a team player over Rafer. I know he is not an athlete, but I don't subscribe to your Greyhounds theory, I subscribe to the "Play the game the right way" theory. Where athleticism is minimized with smart team play..... You see I believe that the sum of a team is greater than it's parts. DD
Sadly, no. I think Francis is done. He's on the other side of the Bell curve now and he'd have to completely rework his game. Again, that's another prospect I would consider to be highly unlikely. Even when healthy, he was a shoot first, shoot second, shoot some more PG who was extremely turnover prone. That is not the type of PG that you are talking about in this thread. Nash, Paul or Parker (with a better jumpshot) is what you really need to properly matchup with the top teams in the West. Here's something else to consider: this team is poised to really jump into the championship discussion but is incomplete. Their key players are entering their prime years. Do you draft a rookie at the end of the first round (which is where they will draft) and hope for the best? Take another flyer on a Euro? Either way, they would need time to acclimate themselves to the NBA game (see Scola, Luis). Are you willing to give them that time and what happens with Yao, Battier & TMac in the meantime? Just how long can they afford to wait for the new PG to come up to speed? OR... Go get a FA? How, given their CAP situation? Make a trade? With whom and for what? A trade would most definitely cost you Battier and then you'd be faced with replacing HIM. This is precisely the type of situation a team will find itself in when it has spent years treating the draft as an inconvenience and not as a tool for acquiring players. You have to make up the difference somewhere and somehow and that's the box the Rockets have placed themselves in even with Yao playing. I can see no easy answers to how they'll fix this which is why I said that Morey is going to need a lot of luck.
I would go after any and all upgrade options at the PG position, particularly ones that can run a decent PnR and attack the basket with a vengence. I don't mind turnovers if they are of the attacking variety and it keeps the defense honest....now not excessive turnovers, but if you are getting 8 assists, and 4 turnovers, I can live with that. And the time it would take a Euro to get up to speed would be vastly decreased based upon the rest of the Rockets team, they would be able to still win while they adjusted. Also, a lot of Euros play the Adelman style of ball which I like..... DD
You don't think Brooks could wind up being the starting PG on this team? I do. I think he actually makes our defense better. Watching him dog the point last night, whether it was Blake or Jack, he was giving them fits DEFENSIVELY with his quickness. And I know he can score the ball. No doubt about it. If I was the GM/Coach, I would be going into this summer looking to work with Brooks on an offseason program and get him good coaching/mentoring all summer so I could hand the job to him next season, then I would look to upgrade our scoring/defense even further with a 3rd man swing option to McGrady and Battier that can play the 2/3, score the basketball and is not a total liability defensively. I would also scour Europe, maybe see if I could reinterest VSpan or maybe see if I could get Pepe, Felipe or some other Euro to come over. I would definitely be looking for a trade for BJax, Head, and Francis and be willing to bring back BJax and Francis if they are bought out. I honestly feel that Brooks is a better defender than Rafer. Once he gets more minutes and learns the different players and their tendancies, then he will have the ability to help out like Rafer does except he is twice as quick. I don't think we will lose anything defensively and frankly I think we will get way more breakouts with Brooks since he is so quick and can pick off passes/create havoc out there. And with him out there instead of Rafer, it seems like the rest of the team turns on the jets when they see him get the ball on the run because it is very clear what his intentions are. My best case scenario is for Brooks to develop. That's why I want to see him get minutes NOW. Because if he develops into that guy then it opens up a lot of options for us with trades and our draft pick.
I think Brooks plays better only with Mutombo/Hayes or one or the other not named Yao on the floor. He has all the abilities that best suits his game and decision making that Alston dont have when those 2 or 1 of each is on the floor. Speed/Range/Shoots Off the Dribble better/Can break down a zone defense/His speed is best suited to start a transition break when Mutombo blocks a shot or Hayes strips the ball. Remember transition starts with great defense.
2005-06 DEN 25.8min .410fg% .346-3pt% .874ft% 0.4 1.0 1.4 3.8assist 0.8 0.1 1.4 2.8 73 12.6pts Personally i believe that Brooks with the right mix could be even better than Boykins. I think Brooks can be on par with Terrell Brandon as long as he is in the right mix of players according to his abilities and abilities of others that makes him better.
Eh, I don't really get the point of this discussion... Of course the Rockets need an elite PG...who doesn't? That's like saying every team minus Houston needs an elite 22/10/2/2 center. I think Da, you would would have more of a point if you didn't cite well...Chris Paul and all the other elite WCF guards as examples. I think for the Houston team model, a placemat PG like Rafer will do just fine...even if he makes the "safe passes".
The question of "can Francis come back?"...well yeah he can. Baron Davis has come back from two knee surgeries. Do you guys remember how much of a head case he was. Francis was traded for Trevor Ariza, Davis for Claxton...both young talented players but not Francis and Davis level. Francis has a higher Ft and shooting percentage. Their 3pt shooting percentage is about the same throughout their careers but Davis shoots about 7 a game in the past few seasons (at 32%), Francis (equally bad at 34%) shoots less than 1.5. That means he knows his game. I think Gator makes a great point when he says we put too much emphasis on the 3 point shot without great shooters on the team. We have solid spot up shooters and a potentially good shooter in Novak. We need guys that will attack the basket. Francis can be that guy off the bench no doubt about it. Davis came back and now is a force in this league...his only knack being mental toughness and heart. Francis can...will he, I would rather believe he could. Anyways, as far as crazy trades go (Marion mention and passing point) I wonder if maybe it would be wise to cash in on Landry's potential. He can be something special, but maybe we need something now. Same goes for Brooks. I want a more steady young gun ready to contribute early ala Wade in Heats championship run. Tmac, Snt Landry, Jackson, Brooks, 1st Round pick, Fut pick for Snt Marion, Banks, Parker, 1st round pick. They have Williams and Davis off the books. Jackson comes off the books next year and they unload Parker and Banks. They use their cap space to sign Josh Smith and MLE to sign Diop. They will have lot's of cap space but it is unlikely that they will draw two big fa's in with it. Diop Blount Hou's 1st Pick Haslem Landry Smith Cook Tmac Wright Wade Brooks Jackson This team looks really good. The Tmac Wade combo isn't Jordan and Pippen but Smith and Landry should add some inside firepower to this run and gun team. We sell the future for the present. We get a versatile forward in Marion and and we use the pick for Rose. If we could get Artest for the MLE that would be gold. Yao Woods Scola Marion Hayes Marion Battier Artest Head Rose Alston Francis Passing point guard...relentless defense from Artest Marion Battier and Hayes.
Morey wont ship T-Mac into Atlanta i dont think he is that type of person. If T-Mac goes anywhere it will be to a team that cant give much back and to a potential championship contender. I think if T-Mac goes anywhere it will be San Antonio or Detroit and even Indiana as a possibility.
lol nm, I thought i read Atlanta in there somewhere. I think if T-Mac does go it will be Detroit/L.A/San Antonio/Indiana as front runners just like the same story before he came to Houston. For Indiana the best we would get is Dunleavy and Murphy. I think Larry Bird is high on Tracy. For L.A it would probably be Odom+fillers all depending on if he gets his extention its funny because he has asked for one before proven himself in the playoffs. Kobe+Tracy good friends teamed with Gasol could get scarry. As for Detroit Rip would be in the picture i think Rip+fillers. As for San Antonio who knows depends on a combination of things.
I said it yrs ago that the rox need attack the basket type of players. When u have 2 guys that attract defenses like tracy and yao, there are creases on the closeouts. The problem is the rox have standstill guys. The rox should look at the spurs. The never forced parker to be a 3pt shooter. Why should the rox force brooks to be something he's not? The league has changed the rules to benefit slashing and attacking the hoop. When ming is in the post and he kick out, brooks can get in the paint. Once teams learn to close out under control, he needs to pull up from 12 ft. I do see him, even with his size as a solution player, he needs to get stronger though. As far as everything else, Artest makes too much sense. He makes even more if we don't have to give up shane. Jackson, Head, francis, and that late 1st for artest at 4yrs 45m will do it. Send rafer to the clipps for 2nd rd pick. Sign landry to 3 yr at 3m per. Sign J. Williams or duhon for 3m of mle money. Get yao a backup and roll. The rox just became the most difficult team in the league to cover. Shane backs up tracy and artest for 28mins a night. Williams brings another ballhandler and penetrator behind brooks. Scolandry mans the 4spot with hayes playing situational ball. Kandi or elson takes 16mins from yao. You now have bigger defenders at the 2/3 spot along with 5 players that can get their own shot. There will be times when u can play shane,tracy, and artest @ the 1-3 spots. Artest also brings a toughness level they don't have. Also u have safeguarded the team when tracy misses his 10 games. Get legit and stop half steppin.
You can also play Mac,Artets,Batman at the 2-3-4 spot yea with that group nobody could match up to what Adelman options are accordingly making it virtually impossible to defend.
