With just days to go to the NBA trading deadline...

The only way Francis returns to this team is if he is bought out. Since that doesn't appear to be the case, as it probably would of happened already during his recent hiatis from the Knicks. Are they shopping the hell outta him, absolutely, has Carroll returned any phone calls, no way...

Getting Jake for Scott was simply an insurance policy. You can't have too many big men in the West, come playoff time, we may even need the fouls, who knows. With that said, it was a good trade. Scott would have found a role on last years team, but not this one, espescially after drafting his younger counterpart in Novak, who rarely suits up anymore btw...

As far as Alston is concerned, I believe it is his inconsistency that irks us all more than anything. If you honestly look at his numbers across the board, they're not bad at all. His %s are low sure, but he can score when needed, knocks down a few 3s, nabs a few steals, and can run the break and finish in traffic. Assists aren't bad either considering how many T-Mac gets. Can we improve at the PG position, absolutely. Only a few teams out there can't. Is Mike James the answer though, I doubt it... His dropoff in production this year has to be record-breaking!

I just don't see how Bonzi fits this team anymore either. I'd rather give Snyder the minutes just for the sake of becoming more atheletic alone. His explosiveness is so refreshing and will be more needed than Bonzi's post game, especially when Yao comes back. It's obvious his ability/shape has peaked, at least for this year, as injuries and lack of focus have, and will, constantly give him setbacks. With our TE expired and Juwan practically untradable, I believe our assets come down to Sura's contract, Bonzi, Alston, draft picks, and for an extremely good deal, Head.

I'd love to get a true 4 in there for Yao, it would be amazing what a Boozer, Jamison, or even David Lee-type player would do for this team. Hayes is great and all, but he's a rich-man's version of Ryan Bowen when its all said and done with. Juwan off the bench would also be better for everyone IMO, love what he has given us this year though! Atkins sounds good at the back up 2, but there has got to be better options for us, I'd still welcome the instant offense he brings to the table. It should be interesting, we've gotta make a move though, especially since Kidd may end up in LA. Still a piece or two away from winning a series with Dallas or PHX, especially since V-Span and Novak didn't pan out for this season. We'll see...

 

LOL!! I shoulda known someone would say that. If that's the case we should just draft Acie Law. He's projected to be a pick in the mid-20's which is right were we would be.

 

That is a perfect statement.

 

i'd say i've been a pretty die-hard fan since the end of the 92-93 season, and i remember a lot of the trivia regarding the team in the time since, but i never remember talks about trading for KJ or Harper. what exactly happened/didn't happen? i thought KJ was the best PG in the mid-90s, better than Payton, Starks, and anyone else - with the exception of Stockton. Whenever we played Utah, i always feared Stockton more than i feared Malone, and whenever we played Phoenix, i always feared KJ more than i feared Barkley. It's kinda like now, where i fear Nash and Terry much more than i fear Amare or Dirk.
if we had him, we would've been the favorites OVER Jordan and the bulls. what could we have possibly offered to steal away KJ? i have a hard time believing we didn't pull the trigger on a reasonable trade just b/c of arrogance. back then, it seemed like we were making a big trade every year, and a blockbuster trade every other year. please inform.

 

He had retired from the Suns. It would have been via free agent signing and word was that he wanted to sign here. Rudy didn't want him.

As far as Harper, Dallas was insisting on a 1st round draft pick in addition to Brent Price for his services. We balked at the 1st rounder. Consequently, the Jazz ended up in the Finals after John Stockton torched Matt Maloney in the last 7 minutes of Game 6 of the WCF.

Don't let it happen again.

 

that's interesting. i seem to remember that KJ was still playing in 97-98 for the suns until he had season-ending surgery for something.

 

I'm not from Houston, but the rumors I remember from the national media were that Barkley didn't want to play with KJ again. Any truth to that story?

 

What people need to realize is that when you play the top tier teams like Dallas, they take the ball out of McGrady's hands. He can't even initiate or set up the offense because they have two defenders on him at all times, even when he does not have the ball. In those scenarios, jump shots and long range jump shots is exactly what they are wanting the other 4 guys to take. And especially when they can get low percentage shooters like Rafer to take them. Because those top tier teams are athletic enough that they will still be able to jump out and bother the 3 point shooters even though they are essentially playing 3 defenders on 4 players. And what that translates to is a 35% distance shooter like Rafer, shooting even below that, down in the 20s. Not only that, but the defense gets more long rebounds because they are shaded out towards McGrady, so they can pick up those long boards and run it up. That's what the top tier teams are going to do to us.

That is why I am in favor of a pick and roll point guard that can run the offense, pass the ball, and finish at the rim. That is why I want to see VSpan developed. Rafer runs away from contact. He throws up tear drop shots, before the contact and then when he does get down on the inside he will throw up the shot while running backwards away from the basket. Rafer seeks to avoid contact altogether, and if he can't avoid it, he seeks to minimize it. Those are all just simply terrible ways to finish. The way to finish is to create the contact, not shy away from it. You anticipate the hit, you take the hit, and you get the shot off, concentrating on trying to make it after the hit. Some of them go down. Some of them don't go down but you get 2 free throws out of it. Still, others go down and you get the And 1. And a few don't go down and you don't get the foul call. But the more aggressive a penetrator is, the more contact situations they are in, and the more calls are made. And then the defense becomes tentative and the penetrator/finisher gets the momentum on their side to finish cleanly without contact as the defense seeks to avoid the foul call. Then the defense sends weak side help. And then a true point guard can find his man for the easy short jumper or the layup/dunk as their defenders leave to help out on the point guard. That is basketball basics, Basketball 101.

Even in HS, the coach will tell you if you are a bad shooter or if your shot is off, you take it to the rack. You set up the 3 point shot with scoring in the paint. When teams know you ain't gonna take it to the hole, they know they can play you for the long range bomb, and then all they have to do is throw your rhythm off. They don't have to block the shot. All they have to do is force you to take it quicker, or slightly off balance, or hurry the release, or simply create a distraction with a hand in the face, etc. etc. etc. and they can knock down the percentage on that shot several points.

This is why a lot of fans here want to see VSpan. If you have played this game, you know the teams that win and win big are teams that get the highest percentage of looks inside the paint area. Teams that run around the 3 point stripe, and throw the ball around the stripe 3 or 4 times, then launch bombs...........don't win the big one.

This is why Rafer will look better when Yao comes back. We will have an interior presence. But this is why VSpan needs to be developing right now. We can run up our record playing the bottom 70% of the league. We're a better team and our defense is so superior that even with pi.. poor offense, we can still walk off from 70% of the teams in this league. But we cannot beat the top teams in this league without Yao and relying on Rafer to shoot the long ball or relying on Luther chasing the ball up the court while TMac is double covered. Luther cannot handle. He literally chases the basketball from one end of the court to the other in what a lot of people perceive as his "dribble". It's like watching a greased pig catching contest.

Our point guard needs to be able to break down the defense, especially in a 4 on 3 situation, GET TO THE RACK AND FINISH OR DISH, not float up "teardrops". We call Rafer's shot a "teardrop", cuz we are all crying after it clangs out. He's not even shooting 40% inside of the 3 point line, and the vast majority of his 2 point shots are from 5 feet in. That's crazy bad. There's no other way to describe it.

VSpan can't shoot from distance. Everybody knows it. VSpan knows it. It's no secret. It is not his game. Here's the difference. VSpan WON'T shoot from distance if the coaching staff doesn't force him to. He will play to his strength. If VSpan plays the point, he won't be launching out there when TMac is doubled. He will be breaking down the defense using his playmaking skills and getting a true shooter a great look, or finishing at the rim. VSpan is a finisher. And he's a foul magnet. He draws almost 3 times the amount of fouls that Rafer draws because of his aggressive attack style, which is what McGrady was screaming for against Dallas.

You want to get in the bonus? You want to push teams back on their heals defensively? You want to see a free throw parade in our team's favor every quarter and put the defense in a nonaggressive posture? You want to compete with the top teams and win? You gotta get aggressive, take the ball to the rack and finish. If they are going to put 40% of their defense towards stopping one man and deny him the ball, then you gotta force it to the rim, not stand around the stripe and launch contested, rushed shots from inferior shooters.

 

I sense it is the sarcasm when I read it, not a real statment.

 

Per Aggie Dentist:

"that's interesting. i seem to remember that KJ was still playing in 97-98 for the suns until he had season-ending surgery for something."

The Suns brought him out of retirement I think. I'll never forget the series between Phoenix and Sacramento. KJ played very well. There was indeed bad blood between KJ and that Ass clown from Auburn...



__________________

 

how about trading sura,bonzo the clown, and billy. for RASHARD LEWIS . the sonics are shopping him

 

Actually, no. Luther "almost" fits the bill. Luther is not a very good ball handler and has problems with closely guarded while bringing up the ball. So he fails in that capacity.

I like Luther. He is almost the perfect type of player for us at PG, but he just doesn't have good enough handles.

 

Beautiful.

And that also applies to Mike James who doesn't have to be "developed" this season.

 

Yes, but. I'd rather get Francis on a short term rental then to commit to James' contract right now. Plus, just don't think it is realistic to bring James back. We'd have to give up Bonzi to go with Sura and that defeats the purpose in my opinion. I have come to the conclusion with the deal for Big Jake that it is in our best interests at this point to stay under the tax and have a shot at adding our first round pick, plus a MLE type player next season. We trade for James, we not only lose Bonzi, but we are committed for next year as well and it would make it difficult for us to stay under the luxury tax threshold.

I would have been a lot more open to James if we could have picked up a vet big man for league minimum and then moved Sura and Padgett's contracts for him.

 

i just hope that if they do trade for a legit backup pg its mike james if possible for obvious skillset and offense/defense system reasons.

also the fact that he is not just a rental but has a contract of 3 more years at a reasonable rate. i am tired of having players come and go here in houston. there seems to be massive roster changes every year here and it stops the team from forming any sort of real cohesiveness.

think about it we only have 4 players on the roster (i am not counting sura) right now that were on the team that took the mavs to game 7 2 seasons ago. One of the guys who didnt even play in that series (howard). So really only 3 players who are playing now that played in on that playoff team. Yao,tmac and deke. Our two superstars and our backup center. All the role players are constantly changing and no real chemistry is being formed between are stars and them. Contrast that with the mavs who still have howard,terry,dirk,harris,stackhouse,dampier from that squad maybe even someone else I am not sure. The spurs have had tim,manu,parker,horry,barry,bowen,uridh on the team for the past 3 seasons.
Phoenix is probably the only elite west team that has done some changes but they have still had the same core basically, nash,marion,barbosa,amare but they replaced richardson and joe johnson with diaw and raja bell...not too bad.

this team has been so hard to identify with since there are different guys each year. I am not sure if there is going to be a trade but i really hope its not going to be someone with an expiring contract or an opt out option we need somebody who will be here next year and possibly the year after to help the team grow.

 

Can't argue about the luxury tax.

Me, I don't know if Bonzi will morph into the playoffs monster he was with Sacramento. MJ can give us plenty at either guard spot, and I like what Snyder brings.

Not to mention how someone recently posted here that an opposing coach decided to run the offense to anyone who Bonzi was guarding.

In any case, Bonzi won't be here next year, so why not use him as a trade chip? (Depending on who we get in return, be it MJames or whomever.)

 

This fact alone makes it worth looking for a trade. Maybe Bonzi could be a factor in the playoffs but then what if he doesn't? Rockets need to to consider the long term gain as well as the short term gain when shopping Bonzi though.

 

He came back again with the Suns and clearly had game left. Further indication that he would have likely gotten us over the top in '97.

 

Dan Dickau or Travis Diener would be much better fits than Mike James ever would.

Atleast they know the meaning of pass and can run a team. Either should be incredibly easy to obtain if we're persuasive enough.

 

Due respects- But to argue that Rafer is a perfect fit to the JVG system is a cop out position.

The PG positions demands that when left open you get a high percentage shot- not necessarily a 3 pointer.

We should seriously look a Luke Ridnour type ( chucky Atkins will do to). That way If Rafer has a horrendous time shooting- we will not look that bad.

Besides shooting- Rafer makes some really critical mistakes in pressure situations- and I am not just talking about the Mavericks game- that are momentum changers ( I would like to use a tennis analogy and call them unforced errors!)