Again, what in the world has Boki shown in any of his chances to merit him being called a possible big part of a championship team? Did the Magic fans freak out when they traded Reece freaking Gaines? Would we? If not, why not? He was the 15th pick the year after Nachbar (also the 15th pick) and has proven just as much in his career.
exactly! i just don't get it. bokis are all over the place...they can be had quite easily. he's extremely average, and that's being generous just based on other's perceptions of his potential. he has done nothing to indicate to me he's going to be a mario elie type contributor to this team. or even a matt bullard type.
I didn't like the amount we gave up in the deal, but I will admit that I am impressed by Wesley, particularly defensively. He is much better than I thought he was going to be on the defensive end. His shot will come around - I'm not concerned with that. We will still need to work out how to handle the combination of a good, athletic two guard/small forward combination, particuarly when they have size, but this was an intersting move. Wesley and Sura have a very interesting chemistry between them already. They look very natural on the floor together.
HaHa. Look at the results of this thread poll compared to the original Clutchfans poll. Everyone called this a bad trade only becuase everyone else did. This is why I hardly post in the GARM. I never thought this was a bad trade, or I was at least going to give it a chance. I think sometimes it just all about chemistry. I also think Wesley will improve and start hitting his shots better. So far, so good...
Boki could be a HUGE part of a championship team at some point in his career. Maybe in Europe or South America. Just not in the NBA.
Maybe we should wait until he's actually played a month or two to decide. I have no idea if it was a good trade yet.
Well I was one of the minority who always thought it was a good trade. Maybe because I wasn't in town to be corrupted by others' opinions. But I've watched Wesley forever, I know what he can do. Less streaky of a shooter than JJ, less bad shots...thoug he gets 3-happy at times also. Better passer. Much better team player in general. The argument about Boki...remember that he wasn't gonna get PT here, and we weren't gonna re-sign him after this year. I mean, he hasn't shown anything...some other team would have given him more $ than we would have after this season. If we had picked up the option I'd at least say he still had more time...but his exit was already basically guaranteed. And he wasn't playing. So not much of a loss in that respect
Well, I never actually stated my opinion on either of the trades, but I've been a fan of Barry and Wesley for quite some time now and would have loved to have gotten them on the cheap ... like 3 years ago. Don't get me wrong, they are nice players, I'm just concerned about the supporting cast around TMac and Yao. The only guy right now that's playing worth a damn that might be around them 2 years from now is Sura. One of MoT or Juwan will probly be an effective bench pf. That leaves us with needing a backup c, starting pf, starting pg(I view Sura as more effective as a wing player, not a pg) and at least one good energy scoring wing player off the bench. We have two seasons at the most(that's two 1st rounders:crapshoot:, two MLE's, and the TE:if they decide to even use it to address these positions or we are back to scrounging up for bottom of the barrell guys like Charlie Ward again to be significant contributors, and I'm not supremely confident the brass can fill those positions with the right players. Now I'm fine and dandy with the TMac trade since that gives us the dominant players to one day take us to the championship, but we have to surround the stars with complimentary talent. If they can reload in 2-3 years and start getting ready to seriously contend, then cool. If it takes 4 years or longer to restock with barely questionable talent because we keep going after old people, then boo. So I see this as a lateral move that really isn't much to get excited about other than for perhaps a short stretch over the next 2 seasons. And it's a lateral move where I think we overpaid, esp considering what the Mavs gave up for Armstrong. The Barry for Lue trade was definitely a good trade though, since I don't think the rox were going to bring Lue back next year anyway.
I was initially miffed by the Wesley trade at first but after reading some of the posts that supported it, I held back on criticism. The early results show the supporters to be right. And its not just because they've won, its because they are much more fluid and they do have better chemistry. Wesley just knows how to play with these guys, I really can't even point to anything in particular. He just fits. I guess, even though JJ played hard, he too often tried to do things outside his role. Wesley so far has played exactly like the Rockets need him to play. Shoot open shots, if the shot isn't there then pass. And he has played good D. But even though he is undersized, you have too remember he has been playing the 2 position for a while. So I'm sure he has learned to get by on D. As far as Barry, the Rockets stole him from Atlanta.
I wasn't familiar with Wesley's game to be able to comment on earlier, but I sured liked that we got rid of JJ. He had been one of the big reasons we played terrible this season. He missed so many wild open shots. He took bad shots. His defense was horrible. It didn't hurt for management to try out something different with our poor play. Now after 3 games after the trade, I am SO glad we made the trade. With Sura/Wesley/Barray, we actually have a backcourt that can compete in the league, can run some fast breaks, and can penalize teams who double-teaming T-Mac and Yao.
When I first heard of this trade, I was content with getting rid of Boki (although I liked him) because he wasn't really contributing anyways for whatever reasons. So what this boiled down to was JJ or Wesley. If given a choice on say an expansion team, I would've wanted the team to choose Wesley. So what I'm basically saying is my head says Wesley is a good choice over JJ but my heart has to go to JJ cause I just feel sorry for the dude. He had finally thought he had found a place and home in which he could eventually retire. He gave us solid years... and I just didn't quite liked how he ended up on the short end of the stick. Anyways, basketball wise I knew Wesley would be a better fit, so I'll kinda reluctantly vote 'yes, I like this trade'
Told ya so! Nya!! JJ was a fave of mine, but the team was really disgusting me and I was quite happy to see the organizations doing their best to shake an ugly team up and put some new faces into the mix. So far, it appears to be working. The 3rd quarter against Utah was bar none the best quarter of basketball the Rockets have played all season. This team started showing signs of life when Sura returned, and the addition of two guards who are SO ready to win in Barry and Wesley has really changed the intensity of this team in the few games they've played. Watching a well-run Rockets fast break was something I didn't think I'd ever see again sometimes. I'm sure the love Wesley's getting will turn RIGHT back into hate the second he screws up, but for now, 3-0 is tough to argue with. It's going to be fun to watch him find his shot. Oh, and Boki? Yeah, he had a lot of potential. To be a third-string, Scott Padgett-type player. Good luck to him, but I'm not shedding tears.
I'm very pleased with Sura, Barry, and Wesley. They're moving the ball a lot faster than the old stagnant grind-it-out, shot-clock-violating, difficult-to-watch offense we were seeing. I'd still like to see some minutes for Andre Barrett. All those old knees might need some rest before the playoffs.
Why has everyone been so surprised about Wesley's defense? I have always considered him good. I remember there was one point in his career where they were saying he was one of the strongest guys in the league - his chest is rock solid. He is quick so can deal with the smaller guys (for the most part) and his strength allows him to handle the bigger guys. I was confused by the trade at first, but liked it after about an hour.
The way I see it the best thing the trade has done is free up TMac from chasing the other teams 2 all over the court and through screens and allowed him to concentrate on being an offensive threat.
