You gotta get the fries either animal style or well-done. Anything else is just meh. Can't believe I'm making my first post as one that talks about in-n-out lol... But I'm also a guy who was born in Houston, lived there 18 years, Austin for 4, and now live in SD for the past 2 years. It's definitely an amazing place. I will absolutely never move back to Houston but will possibly move back to Austin once I'm older (10+ years from now).
Considering most star caliber players don't want to be apart of a rebuilding process not much. Unless Houston is where you want to be (Marcus Camby) there is probably not a lot to like about the team as constructed. Reasons someone might choose Houston though would be that Houston can offer max contracts. Maybe a superstar would see Houston as a possible destination that could potentially offer max contracts to him and at least one if not two more superstars. A young up and coming player might see Houston as a place where he has a sure starting spot and a chance to to be a leader and take the next step as a starter. This was basically why Trevor Ariza signed with us, he wanted the chance to take the next step and Houston offered it to him. This is probably the single misconception floating around this bbs, "the Rockets treat its players like assets while other NBA teams treat its players like family." Understand one thing, the word "assets" has absolutely nothing to do with a star wanting to sign in Houston or preventing agents from dealing with Daryl Morey. Every team (not just one or two but allof them) trade players and treat them like assets. Name me exactly one team that does not trade it's players or treat them like assets, just one..... you can't. Furthermore Houston is not even the worst, Dallas got rid of Steve Nash, Memphis Pau Gasol etc... Those are star players, there are other players that were key components of winning teams that were treated like assets just this past off season, Tyson Chandler, Lamar Odom for just a couple Joe Johnson this season, Gerald Wallace at the trade deadline. Phoenix treated Goran Dragic like an asset and Goran signed them in Free Agency. That is a tiny sample size and I could go on and on and on. Last year Mark Cuban was so much worse than Daryl Morey has ever been percieved. He would not even give that team a chance to defend its title. McHale is young in terms of his coaching experience but his staff is considered top shelf. Bickerstaff and Sampson were both well respected head coaching candidates. McHale is also known for developing big men, see Garnett and Jefferson and Love as examples. McHales issues have been with players who were loyal to Rick Adelman, mainly Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry. I do not see Kevin as someone that drives away all star free agents. At this point I don't see Houston as a free agent destination for a Superstar unless DM and McHale can sale him on a plan to surround him with other all star players. Big big long shot IMO. If Houston maintains cap flexibility then I don't Think they will have any issues attracting more up and coming talent, see Lin and Asik. At the end of the day this is a rebuilding teams and superstars don't want to rebuild. DMs only good chance to right the ship IMO is by trade, draft or developing existing talent.
Bullshi!! Hakeem made us an attractive destination. Rudy didn't have jack to do with it. He never won a title without dream. Phil has zero titles without Kobe/Shaq or MJ. The players made it an attractive destination.....period!!!!
Clyde wanted to come here. Tmac wanted to come here. Barkley wanted to come here. Pippen wanted to come here. Of course no one wants to come here now, we don't have a good team.
California might be a wonderful place to live...but people are not able to afford living in California any more...sure great weather and hot women...but life really isnt about all that...its about being able to save in this $hitty economy...and California doesnt provide that...
How about the cap space to sign any superstar to a multi-year maximum contract and support him with youthful, talented players that possess enough upside to ensure a dynasty, with the right mesh of course. The difference between our mediocre team the last 3 years and our mediocre team now, is youth and money. Probably the latter more than anything. No wonder why were on Bynum's target list next year.
Houston is the best city in the nation Little traffic (nothing compare to Ny, Chicago, LA), lots of jobs opportunities, cheap houses, everything's affordable, night life is good, p***y from all over the world, lots of **** to do everywhere. People might think its "boring" cause of the Southern style to chill n lean back, but if u get out there's plenty of **** to do, from downtown, to kemah, from kemah to the woodlands, from woodlands to katy, n from katy to baytown booty rockin everywhere.
Good post crash5179! I'm just afraid that the culture and organization that we currently have is not one that will be able to attract any star talent without an incumbent star to play with. We just don't have much of an edge on other teams to make the Rockets a great place to play. Sure all teams move players, but I think the point many of us make is that there is a difference between treating players as pure assets vs. highly valued employees. What is our history? It is a history of parting with players in a bad way. Other teams have managed to trade players but still keep a positive relationship, but this is where the Rockets have fallen short. It's a common denominator that our former players have very little loyalty and fondness of the organization. If Dwight (or any star thinking of coming to Houston) were to pick up the phone and call any of our current of former players, how confident would you be that those conversations would be positive ones for the Rockets? I'm not so sure they would be, and that is the difference here. This is not an argument on how great a city Houston is or is not, this is about the current state and appeal of the Rockets organization. Are we fooling ourselves thinking that these stars should want to come here? What can we offer that other teams cannot? What makes us stand out in front of other teams in the hunt that players should want to come here?
(to answer the original question) Great City Strong Fan Base Storied Championship Past Teams and Players No State Income Tax = More Money Overall Nice Weather
Man getting off topic now...but really? Life is about saving money? Sure everyone's opinion is different but to me (and mostly everyone I know), life is about having a good time and enjoying the present as much as you can. "Great weather and hot women" are two things (among many) that enable that for me. Sure, be smart about the future, but don't live for it. Before you know it, you'll be too old to enjoy the things that you could have while you were young. Of course...you can pretty much get anything at in-n-out however you want it. Good stuff.
or sometimes a fusion of hispanic and asian.. those bulgogi taco's are the bomb. back to the OT... I think if someone figured that out... we'd have a pretty good team.
Nothing is appealing playing for the Rockets. Its tough to play at a team where they always treat you like an asset and is going to trade you in a large package anyway.
Nobody says that about the Celtics, and they traded half their team away to make way for the Big 3. Hell, they shipped Kendrick Perkins out LAST YEAR. It's a business.
Have fun in California, cost of living over there is ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that the actual rush hour is bumper to bumper. Over here we just have slight delays compared to their traffic. Yeah it's more humid over here and the beaches are more dirty but.. really a hick town with no culture? Please do us all a favor and move somewhere else. Oh and have fun defending yourself as well with the 10 round limitations. I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates the way Texas interprets the 2nd amendment.
