After I saw Barkley's injury I nearly cried not just cause he's my favourtie player and I really wanted to see him win a ring but I also thought how the Rocks were going to fill in his spot. Then out came Carlos Rogers from the bench.......oh did he suprise me. He was averaging around 10 boards and 17 point per game for his first 10 starts I think. He was in the zone then he was injured and Kenny took his place, Kenny didn't make a real good impression to me when I saw him play but then he shot out against the Blazers scoring 22 and grabbing 14 boards. Then his 22 boards against Atlanta, but his shooting is very poor 41% for a power forward. I say we start Carlos but people keep tellin me he ain't got the size of a PF which I agree a little but look at Jermaine O'neal, Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett, Joe Smith etc. What do you think? ------------------ Houston.....we have a problem!!!! Thomas Hamilton seems to be eating the Compaq Center......WE NEED A NEW ARENA GOD DAMN IT!!!!!!
Carlos is best suited for the bench. He is an energy guy that is active on the boards and runs the run well. His D is matadorian and will need work if he ever wants to get starter minutes on a consistent basis. Kenny's size hurts him on D and he too may be best suited for the bench. If the Rocks sign Rashard in the off season, I would not be surprised if they drafted a 4 with size and bulk to give the Rocks a better match up against the larger 4s. ------------------
I keep thinking how nice it would be to have a veteran PF, specifically Kevin Willis. I watched their games vs Cleveland last night and Kevein may not be happy in Canada. Apparently a team meeting was held by the vets (including Willis) who said Vince & McGrady weren't creating for anyone except themselves. Especially since they have Kevin & Oakley I wonder if we could lure one of these two vets over? I know we wouldn't want to give up a lot but I would love to have a bruising PF that would compliment our current offense. Plus as a personal note Kevin was always a favorite of min when he was here. ------------------
Kevin Willis? Remember the 96 playoffs against Utah? Willis shoots! Clank. Willis with the hook shot! Clank. Willis from the post! Clank. Wilis with the short jumper! Clank. Ugh... that was gristly. After watching that, I wouldn't want him back. ------------------
Haven doesn't want Willis because of one off game?! I don't want him back either, but not because he isn't good, just because he's old and would have to be a stop-gap solution. Rogers did a very good job when he was healthy, but I agree he should come off the bench. No Worries is right that he is an energy player, so we need him to come in and change game tempo. I think we definitely need to keep him though. I don't worry about his size at all. I don't want Thomas starting either. Is he "good enough to start for a championship team"? Sure, why not. But I'd still rather have someone better. I think he's probably a good enough rebounder but I'd like someone who could be a better post-up threat and a better defender to start at the PF. I like Thomas and I'd be happy to keep him if nothing better comes up, but I don't like either he nor Rogers starting and I'd rather give up Thomas than Rogers to get what I want. Besides, Thomas is probably worth more in trade anyway. ------------------
Damn guys KT has played 1, let me repeat, 1 season!! Already he has exceeded ALL of our expectations. He's played just as good as, if not better than my man, Othella. Years ago there was a guy, small, but stalky that came into the league to play the PF spot. His name was Charles Barkley...a future Hall-of Famer. Let's give the guy a chance to grow into the position and grow with the team before we delegate him to the bench. Juan, why would you give up Thomas before Rogers? I like Los' game just as much as you do, but he's been injured about as much as he's played. Kenny is younger and has more potential to succeed at this point. Not to mention he still has a few CHEAP years on his contract. Can we say that for Los'? ------------------ The lottery sucks!
Does TMass have absolutely no future with the Rockets? He's a strong defender, grabs his share of boards, and is competent enough on offense. Plus, he's cheap. Maybe he could start or at least complement Kenny T at the position. ------------------
Tmass is history. For whatever reason, Rudy and Carol made a decision early in the season that Tmass would not be part of the Rocket's future. Given the injury problems the Rock's big men have had this year, it is a mystery to me why Tmass did not see aome limited action, even if the Rocks knew that they would not re-sign him at the end of the season. The way the Rocks handled Tmass is a bit of a screw job. Tmass will receive lower bids for his services this offseason, since he did not play at all, through no fault on his own. Tmass may have been better served if the Rocks had released like Maloney et al. ------------------
according to the rockets, massenbug's injury is such that he will not be even able to test it until the middle of the offseason (he reaggravated his groin injury in january) ------------------
I hinted at it before, but here is why I would rather keep Carlos Rogers over Kenny Thomas: (1) Either one we keep, I'd want coming off the bench, not starting. I want a first or second offensive option at the four. (2) Rogers is more of an energy/spark kind of guy. I think he can use hustle to change the flow of the game off the bench. Thomas may well be able to come off the bench and provide a good contribution, but you don't *feel* his energy like you feel Rogers'. (3) If you had to pick a starter between the two, you'd probably take Thomas. Since we'd be looking for a back-up, you take the guy who plays like a back-up. Thomas may not like the fact that, while he can't start for us, he could start for the Hawks. (4) While Rogers impressed in training camp and in a few games especially when Barkley was first injured, I don't think most people will appreciate his skills as much as they would Thomas' -- especially with his age, injuries, etc. Therefore, we can get more in return for Thomas in a trade. Since Rogers would be an adequate back-up, might as well maximize contributions elsewhere. (5) Thomas is really ugly. ****** On TMass, I still don't buy he's healthy. I think he's on the injured list because he's injured. ------------------
JuanValdez: I always had some minor complaints about Kevin Willis-like the fact that he's a blackhole on offense in the post, but I still considered him an excellent backup at the 4&5 until that game. Probably irrational I know, but it was truly horrendous! Scarring! Ended the Rocket's season! ------------------
I don't think there should be any debate, KT should definitely be starting at this point. In the paper today they said that the current starting lineup (Francis, Anderson, Walt, KT, Cato) is 7-2. Aside from that, KT is just better now than anyone else we've got, and will simply get much much better. This guy is going to be tearing it up next year. If Rudy didn't want him shooting 3s, he wouldn't have him setting up outside the 3-pt line. Rudy is usually pretty adamant about guys not passing up open shots. Once he stops taking those shots, his percentage will naturally go up. I expect us to have more frontcourt help next year, but I'm not looking forward to KT getting less playing time. I agree with previous posters, Rogers is strictly a bench player, nothing more (see: Cliff Levingston). KT is a board machine. ------------------
My two cents, I feel the energy when KT is on the court as much as I do for Carlos. Carlos maybe quicker, but he lacks the suave of Kenny. Keep them both. Rogers can play a little 5. ------------------ Moochie hear no evil Moochie speak no evil Moochie see no evil
Juan: How are we going to get a first or second option at PF? I'm curious, because power forwards like that are not that easy to find, let alone get. On KT: The two major questions I have about him being a long term starter are: 1. his defense - I'm no scout, so I'm not the best judge of defensive talent, but the box scores seem to usually show opposing PFs having pretty good nights against him. Moreover, I don't know how much being undersized affects his defense. I don't get all the games either, so what's y'all's verdict on his defense? 2. his shooting percentage - I looked at the stats of a lot of quality power forwards in the league for all the years of their careers, and only two have EVER had seasons (including rookie) with FG%s as low as KT's 40% (or even close like like less than 45 or 44%). Those two were Sean Kemp (in this season, which is a really, really low outlier compared to his career stats, I mean just look at how fat he is) and Antoinne Walker (who at least is a main scoring option on his team, gets a lot FTs, and shoots a lot of threes). Now, I know KT shoots a lot of threes, but I would still imagine his two-point FG% is way lower than pretty much all of the PF's too (I don't have time to calc. the 2 pt. %s for comparison). On TMass: I thought this guy was a pretty quality PF. I didn't get to watch the games he was in in the fall except for one or two, because I was away at school, but he came in with a pretty good reputation and a lot of experience. Was he all that bad? Would he just totally not fit in with this team at all? This tanking conspiracy makes no sense. I don't see why the Rocks wouldn't sign him for cheap next year when our frontcourt is definitely the team's weak point. The fact that he's older than our nucleus should not be a big deal. Just look at Toronto. He could at least make KT compete and earn the starting spot instead of having it handed to him. FAs, trades: In looking at the free agents coming out or other players who we could possibly swing a trade for, I don't see a lot of guys that would help the Rockets a lot that they could get without giving up guys considered part of the Rockets' young nucleus. I would really like to get Kurt Thomas. He stands out, because he's only 27, gets his share of rebounds, can hit a jump shot and post up alright, and I believe he's a pretty good defender. Getting him would probably be pretty tough though. I think he would fit in pretty well with this team as the starting power forward for a while. At the very least, Kenny T would have to work hard to take to the job away from him. Even better, it would give us two K. Thomases - that's even better than when Indiana had the Davis boys (not in talent, just in name similarities)! Well, those are just my opinions on what I view as one of the biggest concerns for the Rockets next season and beyond. Sorry for the long post. ------------------ [This message has been edited by oakdogg (edited April 12, 2000).] [This message has been edited by oakdogg (edited April 12, 2000).] [This message has been edited by oakdogg (edited April 12, 2000).]
Oakdoog, I don't know how they get a PF that good, I just want them to do it. As I said, I won't kill myself if Thomas if our starting PF. He's alright, shows promise and whatnot, and is probably good enough to start. You can't have a superstar at every position, but it is occasionally possible to have them at two positions. I would pick PG and PF as my two. Francis has got the PG squared away, but Thomas does not do the same for PF. So all I'm saying is Thomas is a fine starter, but I'm looking for an upgrade. Moreover, if we somehow got an upgrade, Thomas is the one I'd sacrifice over Rogers (for the reasons argued above). ------------------
Juan, no argument here. I'd definitely like the Rockets to get a PF who could be a top scoring option to pair with Francis. Like you, however, I don't know how the Rockets could get a guy like this unless they signed Webber as a free agent or did a sign and trade for Mo Taylor (overpaid, bad defender and rebounder) or A. Mason (old). Well, here's hoping the Rockets pull it off, but even if they don't, I think they'll still be alright. ------------------
Maybe we don't need a strong power forward. There are not that many teams with both a good power forward and a good center, so we put Cato on whichever is stronger and run our three guard line-up. The Bull or Walt or 'los or KT on the weak PF/C Shandon on the SF Cat or Francis on the 2 and Francis or Moochie on the 1. Just a suggestion for circumventing our PF problems. ------------------ Kapaayaaaa!!
I thought bout this and how bout start Moochie at the PF!!!!!!!!! He can grab boards, quick and I love the guy!!!!!!! ------------------ Houston.....we have a problem!!!! Thomas Hamilton seems to be eating the Compaq Center......WE NEED A NEW ARENA GOD DAMN IT!!!!!!
Three guard lineups tend to be good in the regular season, but tend to be eliminated by the real competition. Three guards can work on Portland, but you drop the SF, not the PF. Leave Kenny alone. He is the starter. The rockets draft position is dropping which means the rockets should draft a SF, the deep position. If the SF can add some rebounding and run the court, the weak frontline can be covered. As long as Kenny isn't overpowered I'm okay with him. He needs to bulk up some. If PFs shot over him so be it. A PF jump shot isn't as good as his dunk shot, hookshot, or layin. Besides, the don't go to the line that way. I see the potential for Kenny being able to deny the easy shots. ------------------ Moochie hear no evil Moochie speak no evil Moochie see no evil
If I were Rudy or CD, I would trade KT,Drew,and two #1's for the first pick in this years draft. Getting somebody of Kenyon Martin's caliber would take the rox from being a playoff team to a bona fide championship contender in less than five years!!! ------------------
