What Do the Rockets Need (Or Not Have) for a Championship

5) Stay healthy
4) Back up center/Shot blocker
3) A physical closer other than Yao (I dont think AB can get the job done)
2) The West to get bad and Kobe to lose his touch(Lakers are just too good)
1) Luck

 

A superstar swingman and dominant center would be nice.

 

Oh boy, like we haven't had one of those....

 

trade Brooks for C.Paul
trade Budinger for Wade
trade Battier for James
trade Landry for Bosh
trade Hayes for Howard
trade Lowry for D.Williams
trade Ariza for Anthony
trade Scola for Stoudemire
fire Adelman and hire Yao as Coach

Then, Rockets may be Championship...

 

what a homer...well, I agree.

 

....we haven't.


or at least not for more than a full season.

 

Atleast not with a supporting cast this good, know that we finally have a deep team where everything isn't all yao and t-mac.

I think it's dumb not to give all of them an oppurtunity to play together first, just letting mac go is taking a step back imo.

Hopefully if we trade mac we get a legit scoring wing back because that's all we need to be contenders when yao gets back.

 

They are missing the best and 2nd best player off a championship team. In other words they are missing Batman AND Robin.

 

If we had a 100% healthy non-selfish Tracy McGrady, we would have been playoff contenders. Maybe, not title contenders...

Basically, we need to build this new team around Brooks and Landry, we're not going anywhere next year, even if Yao comes back decently healthy. We need to build up long term instead of a one and done team next year.

And if we're lucky. Brooks and Landry could develop a special chemistry, much like Paul and Chandler, Williams and Boozer, Stockton and Malone, Nash and Amare.

 

Agreed,even though we technically have had that,tmac wasn't allll that,n yao was not as
Good as he is now...now if we stay healthy,get a better swingman that's better then tracy,
Yao comes back n dominate,we have a real good chance..o n our supportin cast is better
Now,so add all that up,n the possibilities are high IMO

 

after watching that chicago game, the rockets need a shot blocker or rebounder, such as dalambert or a big name in a tmac deal, a player that is a free agent next year, let that guy go and have enough cash to get lebron wade, bosh amare etc

 

This team lacks in the three most important aspects of being a championship team.

1. Talent
2. Talent
3. Talent

We can have this discussion again once we have talent that rivals that of Cleveland/Boston/LA.

 

Dick Bavetta

 

We need another 2 guard, an athletic post player with height that can rebound and block shots and a healthy center.

Small Forward - I think we are set at the Small Forward position once Chase starts with either Battier or Ariza coming off of the bench to back him up.

Shooting Guard - This is where we need the most help IMO. We have no one to come in and play shooting guard on the offensive end of the court. Lowry does it in spurts and to create match up problems but he certainly would not make it as the starter, plus he is too valuable coming off the bench behind Brooks. Ariza just is not cutting it. He needs to be coming off of the bench for defense and spot up threes. He should never ever be asked to facilitate the offense, ever. Iggy would fix this problem.

Center - Although this is a weakness this year I think the Rockets fill that they are set at this position going forward. By that I think they are counting on Yao coming back next year as strong as ever with his newly repaired foot. I think Anderson and Hayes are decent back-ups. One provides offense and shooting that can spread the court while the other provides above average defense. An tall athletic big that can play defense, rebound and block shots would be nice instead of Hayes.

Power Forward - There is nothing wrong with Scolandry as our power forward combo. High percentage scorers that are difference makers when they are in the game. Due to the lack of size and shot blocking in our front court this is a potential target area for an upgrade if we could get someone like Bosh. If Les did not mind going over the Lux Tax then Dalembert would also be a great option to add here as well as a good back up at center. Either way the Rockets are sitting good at Power Forward.

Point Guard - Anytime you have a chance to add someone like C-Paul you do it... period. Having said that, Brooks and Lowry make up the best point guard one two punch in the league IMO. With Brooks ability to score and Lowry's all around game and energy this position as is could help us get a championship. This is probably our strongest position on the team IMO.

In retrospect I would but our needs like this:
1. A great 2 guard
2. An athletic big that can play defense, rebound and block shots

I think there is a very big gap between 1 and 2. Having said that I think Iggy fits our need best of all.

 

Basically what you are saying is that we do not have a LeBron or Kobe. I would take the Rockets talent over Cleveland's every day of the week minus LeBron.

I think the gap is a lot closer with LA since they have Pau as well but I think with out Kobe we are very comparable to LA as far as the amount of talent.

 

Okay - I wish someone could explain this to me - based on objective criteria - like wins vs. losses; conference finals attended; high playoff seeds - something, anything to support this widely held belief that the Rockets have a

1. good GM and
2. a good coach?

The most successful Rockets team in the last - oh I dunno - 10-12 seasons was the 2008 model [does anyone remember 22 in a row - and even with Yao going down having a chance for the top seed in the West until the last day of the season?]. That model was based on the JVG template of Yao and McGrady - we have been destroying that template since and getting worse.

The most alarming thing is that no one can articulate a plan for the Rockets to be championship contenders any time in the near future. Why would a top free agent come here - worried they might get injured and then when they came back be given 6 games at 7 minutes per to show they could be allowed on the team. Whether you love or hate McGrady - this season is a disaster in the making for the future. But it is clever marketing for Morey and Adleman - "look at us - near 500 with a superstar."

It is clear that most Rocket fans want to be deluded into believing that 500 is the lofty goal.

 

We need to acquire another star player, simple as that. Other than that, do as my signature suggests.

 

Simply perfect
or
Perfectly simple

in your assesment. Kudos!

-

 

Three things.

1. RA was the coach that year (2009) so don't give me anything about a JVG template.
2. No play-off series win in 2009.... remember. So if you are parading the JVG template around and claiming that season to be part of it then you failed.
3. Last season is clearly and with out question the best season we have had in years because we actually advanced in the play-offs using the DM/RA template.

Since RA and DM have combined as Coach/GM we have not had a high draft pick, but they have not used that as an excuse for not being successful. We have successfully stocked this team with more talent than we ever had during the JVG days using mostly second round picks. Brooks, Landry and Chase are late 1st round and 2nd round gems. Scola was robbed from San Antonio for a bag of chips and a moon pie.

Say what you want about Von but he was very good for us last year when no other Coach in the NBA or overseas has been able to get anything out of him. Without Yao or TMac look at JVG's record, not good at all. Without Yao or TMac we took LA to seven games in the play-offs and are in contention for a play-off spot.

DM and RA are building a team with youth and talent for tomorrow while still winning today. Thats the sign of a great GM/Coach.