I'm not in favor of blowing it up,we need more talent around Yao but if he or anyone else fails miserably,management could trade anyone or let Yao go at the end of his contract unless he take the team deep into next season's playoffs.
We were on that bus together my friend. Now, our leverage with him has diminished, because at the deadline he was an expiring deal, which means teams that are looking for that type of deal would take him on. Now, all you have to deal with are teams that actually WANT him on their team, in a S&T type of scenario. Are there a lot of teams willing to pay for a wild man who competes hard but has a tendency to do whatever he feels like doing on the court? Not sure....I hope to find out though, and also going to give you 5 stars...I hate it when people rate threads because they don't like the topic or the poster. Very juvinile.
Wait a minute... I want to make sure I'm reading this right... Ron Artest is worth swapping Tracy McGrady for, because Artest wants to win, and he'll do everything up to and including shooting the team out of a chance to win games, and picking on-court fights with Kobe Bryant just to show everybody he's not afraid of Bryant... ...but he's too crazy to depend on long-term? Artest doesn't buy into the team concept? I thought everybody around here was patting themselves on the back pointing out how much Artest didn't let things stop him from doing everything he can (or can't) do to help the Rockets win. The Rockets are tougher with Artest. The Rockets are better with Artest. The Rockets can win with Artest. Addition by subtraction, and all that. I think you even pointed out how much more efficient a player Artest has been in about one season with a deeper roster of talent and health here than McGrady's had in four seasons. Look, DD. You and a couple of other people have mentioned something that the Rockets should have addressed when Carroll Dawson and Jeff Van Gundy were running this team—if Yao Ming is going to be your center in this NBA, than you need a whole heck of a lot more athleticism and size around him if you expect to win against teams who are going to throw junk defenses at him to keep him out of the game. Smart guy, you are. I don't think we can have it both ways. As much of an asset as Ron Artest has proven himself to be (in spite of himself), if the success of the Rockets is going to depend on Yao, then we DO need people who can play within a scheme designed to make the most out of Yao's presence, on both ends of the court. Von Wafer's had a fairy tale season because he's got some talent, but also because he's EXACTLY the type of wing players we've needed on this club since the roster was gutted to get McGrady. You could say the same thing about Carl Landry. If the emphasis is taking advantage of how teams play Yao Ming on defense, whether it's straight up or with some freaky zone, Yao's teammates need to be able to recognize that and take advantage of that. A smarter point guard would help. Yao could even chip in against fronting defenses and hold his position a little better every now and again. For me, this playoff season is the litmus test. If the Rockets manage to advance, then they can start talking seriously about challenging somebody for a title. Because it will mean that there are finally enough guys here who could compete and win in the postseason, where how well you stick to what it is you do well decides how far you advance. Not to mention fitting in a certain flaky piece of cheese called McGrady, who could finally focus on being a more efficient player in an offense designed around Yao Ming, which was supposed to have happened in the first place, before Yao got bit by the injury bug as a matter of course, and before McGrady showed to two coaches and two GMs that he could drag a bunch of rec center castoffs into an ultra-competitive Western Conference postseason and fool everybody into thinking that they were going to do anything other than lose. How about we let this whole Ron Artest experiment play out and see where it takes us. I personally never thought that Vernon Maxwell was just the right kind of crazy needed around here, but that didn't turn out so bad...
I never said trade Tmac for Artest, I never WANTED Artest....not sure where you are getting that from...... I am in favor of treating both Tmac and Artest as Assets and getting players that fit better with Yao. DD
I think there are some questions with Yao... 1) What if he doesn't resign, then what? 2) How into the season next year do you wait if he doesn't sign? Do you take the chance of letting him go for nothing at the end of the year? 3) How long do you sign him for? Now as for Ron.... I clearly blame Aldeman for that; he's the coach and he has to take control. Right now the prisoner is running the prison. Also, do you try and trade T-Mac (better yet, will you be able to) or just wait until his contract is up in 2010? If the Rockets don't make it out of the first round I can see a lot of questions come up about Yao and T-Mac.
I don't mean to say that those were your words exactly, DD. Far be it from me to put words in anybody's mouth. Even though I could spare a few hundred. But that is your sentiment, generally speaking. And there's nothing really wrong with it. It's a moot point, incidentally. McGrady has fit in better with Yao, when the both of them have been healthy, moreso than Artest has fit in with Yao. I'm sure you remember how Jeff Van Gundy had to beg McGrady for about two weeks after he traded for him, and moved a couple other players out and brought another couple in, to be more selfish offensively. Van Gundy wanted to nail down a role for McGrady right from the start, and that was to score whenever he had a chance. Especially since Yao wasn't ready to be the focal point of a high school offense, let alone an NBA one. Injuries to Yao and a joke of a roster forced Van Gundy to give McGrady more hats to wear than his head could hold. But that's old news. It can't be coincidence that the Rockets are better now than at any time in the past three seasons, and Artest gets the lion's share of the credit for that, can it?
I think there will be a big shakeup if we see another 1st round exit. Adelman is safe (he certainly should be), but anyone not named Yao could be moved, including players I would want us to keep, like Scola and/or Landry, Brooks, and even Battier. I would be stunned if they moved Lowry, who's cheap and is proving his worth, but anyone else? It could happen.
I'm not convinced Morey would ever do anything drastic. The way he goes about things seems to be based on playing it safe.
I'm of the same mindset here - WE JUST NEED TO GET BETTER. I think Morey is just going to be shopping everyone for the best deals avilable. I didn't vote because I think win or lose, there will be some changes. Morey has not had a lot of resources to work with so there are some very obvious shortcomings in the personnel that I'm sure he will try to improve in the offseason. He started with nothing on the bench and now he has rotation players that perform great in certain roles, but are still lacking against the toughest matchups in the league. I personnally think the team is playing to their potential right now, and that we will NOT make the Western Conference Finals. I think we'll win the first round, but I won't pout if we don't. Here is my shortlist of glaring deficiencies that I think he will attempt to fix (win or lose). 1) We lack shotblocking & athleticism and are susceptible to it in the frontcourt. 2) We lack all-around height. 3) Artest is an all-star that can't create his own shot. 4) We lack playmakers. 5) Our best players are fragile.
I just reread the thread title... "what are the implications of this series". Just to restate my point in fewer words: There aren't any implications. We already know that changes should be made. The playoffs will help evaluate the younger talent on the team in a difficult situation, but that's it.
Agreed. I don't see a drastic revamp of the roster, but depending on their performance, Adelman and Morey will naturally reconsider the long-term value of some of the players. It will be interesting how our power forward and point guard tandems do, if collectively they can overcome their individual deficiencies. They've done it in the regular season, but the playoffs is a different animal. As others have pointed out, I don't expect Morey to let Artest to walk away for nothing. He'll be re-signed even if it's just to trade him later on. As for the future of the team, it really depends on the one player who won't be playing. If Morey decides the McGrady era is over, the roster will have to change to complement the star player they do bring in. Depending on the position of the new guy(s), there could be a fairly big overhaul. But that's a question for the off season.
Ron is gone, maybe they try to shop Battier. And no matter what happens in this playoff run they need to upgrade at the point. If they lose in the first round Id like to see Adelman gone. Doubt it would happen, just my opinion.
I agree with everything said here. We have a team that is not completely buit. We have pieces that do not fit together quite right. A team / any team is built around 1, 2 scorers and a playmaker. Once we decide how and who, we build according to those specs and then, more importantly, stick to the game plan and play to our strengths. 1) 1st scorer: If we decide Yao is our primary scorer than build to fully utilize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Which means we need someone to feed him the ball on offense, take advantage of the double team on him and someone to help him on defense. 2) We need a long, athletic four who can defend and shoot an open 15ft shots. On defense, this person helps guard the lane, blocks shots. When Yao is out, he can slide over to center. On offense, he can take advantage of the double team on Yao. I like Scola, Landry and Hayes but none of them fit this bill. 3) We need another top scorer if we can afford one. A healthy TMac is perfect or a primary shooter like Allen (not nessasirily him but the same mold) is great. He can knock down open shots when he plays with Yao. When Yao is out, we can run play for him and get points also. Wafer almost fits this role but his outside shot is un-reliable. We have nobody else. When Yao is out or has a bad game and Wafer's shots do not fall, we resort to one on one, low percentage plays by Artest or Brooks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. A good playmaker who creates shots and control the tempo here would have helped. 4) A playmaker. Brooks is very good at getting shots for himself but he does not create for teammates. He does not know when to take it himself and when to use his teammates. Maybe as he matures, he will get it. Lowry is already very good in this role. Not great, but very good. If we can upgrade, fine, if not we work with what we have. 5) We already have fine complementary players. Artest for his defense and toughness and some score. If he plays under control, he is fine. Scola for his scoring, tenacity, rebounding. Only if he is taller and plays defense better. Same with Landry. Battier is good for his defense, bonus if he can score. Wafer is good for a few points. Barry to a lesser extent. To upgrade we have to spend money or trade some of our good players. We can't trade White and Cook and expect a premier player back. Which means , we as fans, should not whine and cry when our favorite player is traded (Alston, Francis , ...) sometimes we wish someone else is traded instead but what if the other team does not want him? Morey has been doing a good job. I trust him to continue.
I feel like Morey's job for the past 2 years has been to build depth out of nothing. He has just been stockpiling as much talent as possible with only a little regard for the team's long term outlook. Beggars can't be choosers, and Morey hasn't had much to work with in the past. He's been making 2 draft picks out of 1, finding underrated talent like Wafer, and drafting well. Hopefully James White will be the next addition to his talent pool. Maybe we'll have enough depth this coming year that Morey can start to get a little pickier with his aquisitions. I would love to see him package a couple of his previous aquisitions to bring in a serious upgrade. Artest and Scola are perfect examples of his stockpiling mentality - who cares if they work with the team? We're getting talented guys without using a draft pick. They can contribute something while they are here, hopefully increase their stock, then bring in someone better in a trade.
I think the market and Morey's shrewdness will dictate if there is a major change. Morey will always make a move, major or not, if there is a positive gain.
