Face it. The Rockets very deservedly have a reputation as a classless organization that no free agent with options will play for. -We completely abused Carl Landry. As a rookie, we lowballed him and wouldn't give him a real deal, and then when that backfired because he was better than expected, Morey spread false rumors about his knee to drive down the market for him and lock him into a longer deal. -Bonzi Wells and Steve Francis both signed on the cheap to play for a contender and the Rockets ruined their careers. Bonzi could still clearly contribute and the Rockets ran him out of the NBA over a personality conflict. Same with Steve. He showed a lot in his limited minutes but the Rockets refused to play him after he picked us over many other teams that wanted him. -We screwed over Mike James, only to later beg him to sign with us. -The rockets REALLY showed how classless they are by how they handled the end of JVG's tenure. -Now Tmac, we're sitting him even though he would make the team better AND he himself desperately needs to play for his livelihood, simply out of pettiness and because the Rockets want to collect insurance money on a perfectly capable player. We could have signed him on the cheap and then been one trade away from being a true contender (something like battier and a young piece for a star/semi-star). Now we're a LONG way away because we could only think about Tmac the contract instead of Tmac the player. For these reasons, no top tier free agent with any brain at all will sign a good contract with us. We will only get mediocre players that we have to overpay like Ariza. The only way to get another star is by trading for him, and we need to make sure he already has a long contract since he wouldn't resign with us willingly. Remember, this is the face of the Rockets:
I dont agree with most of the stuff you said. Any smart free agent would want to come here because playing with Yao can open up such a large revenue stream. Tmac got into the all star game because of Chinese voters mostly without really playing, that shows you how powerful it is to be a Rocket
A couple things I agree with...the fact that we should have NEVER let Hakeem go to Canada is one and the other is the firing of JVG. The rest of what you're saying is definantly up for debate.
The NBA is a business. Deal with it. Yeah, Bonzi and Steve had a lot left in them. They went on to do awe-inspiring things after the Rockets traded them. Did you hear Bonzi made it on the front of the Chinese Sports Illustrated 2 years ago? He's like MJ over there. Yeah, we're really begging Washington for Mike James. I heard that was the deal-breaker. We even went as far as to offer Brooks AND Landry for James, but EG turned us down and went with a classy franchise like the Mavs instead. Yeah, you're right. Last I heard, the Rockets and JVG are on bad terms. Every time that guy is on ESPN, he has only bad things to say about the Rockets organization and players. Can you believe this smug guy actually joked about his tenure with the Rockets for 10 straight minutes at a roast of Yao Ming? What kind of mind games is he playing? His livelihood? Poor TMac. I guess that $100+ million he's made from contracts and endorsements isn't enough to sustain his livelihood. Also, LOL @ mentioning that we were one trade away from a championship and that we should have traded Battier for a star. Guess what? WE TRADED FOR BATTIER TO CONTEND FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP. Yeah, that MLE contract of Ariza's will tie this franchise down for years to come. And good thing you have an ear close to the players or else we wouldn't know that they are saying they will never play for Houston. Wow, there was a lot of sarcasm in that post.
You make some good points for debate.... I am very interested to see how this T-Mac deal is going to finally unfold and what type of effect it will have on the off season... Although some people believe it's nothing at all, I feel other wise especially when you have Barkley speaking about it on TNT and other interviews... T_Man
All these end of the world threads are becoming pretty amusing. Every couple of hours I check back and the last melodramatic teen angsty pronouncement which I thought couldn't be topped has been topped. Sigmund Freud would have a field day with all the splitting going on since yesterday. Frustration about the probable inability to get something done here is fine. I understand that. Every fan experiences it from time to time. I personally appreciate the 'judo-esque' type approach of not trying to force anything, but 15 years ago I'd have been right there flipping out too. That being said, it is really fuzzy headed for people's disappointment about this one very narrow moment in time to spill over and color every aspect of your Rockets experience. This is one brief moment in time. What is happening now will pass. There has never been a GM in the history of the NBA who hits 100% of the time. Never, ever, ever. The best analogy for me is baseball averages. When a very good baseball player comes to bat, he is going to get an out nearly 3 out of every 5 attempts. When A bad NBA GM comes through with a timely trade or drafts the right player or makes an effective free agent signing maybe 40% of the time or less. An average one bats .500. A good GM like Morey and the Rockets is coming through perhaps 60% of the time. The distinction between good and bad balances on a razor's edge. Freaking out now is like calling Willie Mays the worst player in the history of baseball after seeing a single strikeout. It is possible to simultaneously be upset about what is happening now, but still understand how good the Rockets have been for 30 years and have pride in your team. Relax. Get some perspective. You could be a Knicks or Clippers fan.
Keep your cool ... If nothing pans out by the trade deadline, we will go for a big deal in the summer. For the top tier players, how many times have we heard Les and DM say we are willing to go over the luxury tax? It's just that the players coming up for trades at this time do not belong to that category. Wait till summer, if the Rockets do not make a big move, then you can resume your rant. But not just yet.
You lost all credibitlity when you mentioned the TMac situation. I was with you on how they handled some of the situations, but when you brought him into it you lost me. HE is the one with no class.
if we get one by trade or free agency, will you and all your pessimistic friends doubting DM leave the bbs so the genuine Rocket fans can enjoy this site once again?
this thread is just stupid, how can you can you say someone would not want to sign with us, do you have a personal relationship with the top players in the league? god this is just stupid.
This thread is full of fail, zero stars, and B.S. If the Rockets are so classless do us all a HUGE favor and follow hitch you bandwagon up to another team with a classy owner like the Mavericks.
some of you guys are ridiculous or however the hell you spell that word, just because you don't agree with the guy you wanna IBTL him or ban him? I think this is a perfectly fine thread where one can side can make an argument and the other side can ALSO have an argument.
