I know this is off-topic but I'm super curious, what books do you read and how did you become so well-educated?
thecabbage, well written and thought of as usual. Since my screen is cracked on my pda and I can't touch and highlight items, I will just talk about some points you made. Of course people will call me a hater but i'm going to start at point 1. Trevor Ariza. This is what has really irritated me throughout this building process and its especially frustrating when the rockets couldve had this guy 3 yrs ago. I really like Ariza and have been begging for the rockets to have a guy like this forever. That's where I think the rox really lost out when they traded that lotto pick. Before anyone says i'm talking about Rudy Gay, I always go back to who the arguments were surrounding pre draft, Ronnie Brewer. Brewer is the guy the rox should have drafted 3 yrs ago. He fit every criteria they needed at the time. They needed athleticism, check. They needed size at the wing,check. He could run and defend, check again.Gay only came up in arguments because he was projected to go as high as 3rd and was there at 8. The do over of trying to get that guy has resulted in Ariza, but 3 yrs have passed and the 2 axles are that much older. Another point you made was the scolandry combo. To me, they don't compliment each other nor Yao. Not to mention, they struggle against the same players. Posters like to point at the 48min combined prouction without looking at the production of the opposing bigs when theyrr on the court.
I understand your case but I think there's more to Scolandry than people don't realize about them. They have struggled in the past against players like D. Aldridge, T. Duncan, K. Garnett. But you have to look at it in this perspective. Landry was only a second year player as well as Scola. Granted Scola has been playing professionally for like 12 years but the defense is so different there. I think you'll see more out of Landry in regards to defense. Jack Sikma said it best last year that Landry had to work on not getting faked out on pump fakes and the gambles he took on his blocks. That's why he picked up soo many fouls. I won't say they are the greatest but I will say they are a lot better than most teams can throw out. I look forward for Landry to get better and for Scola to show more offensively what he can do.
I would also say that Morey could use Landry as an asset in a trade as well. I could see him being traded this year...
Great analysis as always, thacabbage. One thing that got me thinking when I read your post was that I was watching the '94 Rockets team and noticed that they didn't really play by positions. Obviously you have a point guard bringing the ball up, but the rest switched around in different places offensively and defensively. For example, there were times when Herrera, Thorpe and Dream were on the court- 2 pfs and a center. One would come out and Horry would come in. Bullard in for Herrera, then Elie in for Maxwell, and so forth. My point is that they were so versatile and could play different spots, so when a player is getting beat defensively the Rockets could switch a better defender but keep the offense going.
This is exactly who I wanted the Rockets to pick up in that draft (behind Roy of course). I remember not being very happy about Utah picking him up.
Thanks to all for the kind words. I agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, the organization is entirely committed to him so no sense viewing through any other prism. The sense I get from Tracy is that he has no problem deferring shots or being a secondary scoring option. I disagree wholeheartedly about taking time to get comfortable passing to Yao - he pretty much willingly fed him right off the bat in '04. It wasn't until mid-way through that season that he loosened up and started looking for his shot. The vibe I get from Tracy is that he is like a Kevin Johnson type of guard. It's not the shot attempts that concern him but rather the touches. He just has to have the basketball in his hands as the primary playmaker. I think it could work, especially with a guy like Aaron Brooks who isn't even comfortable masquerading as a point guard. Tracy isn't going to cut. But what I envision is a system where Brooks brings the ball up-court and hands it off to Tracy (as Rafer did), while Yao establishes positioning inside while setting screens for others. Tracy and Yao then serve as the two stagnant focal points while the other three players continue in motion. Tracy then assumes full responsibility as the decision maker except that where in years past, he was passing to an inept Chuck Hayes and Rafer Alston, and a stagnant Shane Battier, he will now have the options of Scola, Ariza, and Brooks all in motion. We all saw how huge an upgrade Scola was from Hayes during the win streak. The hope is that Aaron Brooks presents a similar upgrade over Alston. He will have the daylight that Alston couldn't capitalize upon. This team was very tough to beat even with a declining McGrady anytime Alston got hot. This led most of us to opine that if the team improved at the point guard position, they could take the next big step. McGrady shouldn't be any worse than his production from 2006-2008 - 41% shooting with 6 assists. If Aaron Brooks can take the next step, this could possibly work. I agree but there aren't really any better alternatives. Even if he is healthy, any team trading for him will only be after the cap relief so the deal will still invariably require additional talent. Does subtracting say McGrady, Brooks, and Landry for Chris Bosh make us a better team? What about a similar package for Kevin Martin? In any event, you get back a good player, but you severely deplete depth, destroy chemistry, and cripple future flexibility in taking back albatross contracts. Because the team is invariably tied to Yao for the long haul, the best bet is to just pray McGrady can come back healthy and that Brooks can become a full fledged shooting guard. You still have the MLE next summer to make one more big acquisition if necessary. In addition to Hayes, I don't think you can find better bang for you buck pruduction than our power forward combination. They're certainly not perfect but I think that position is far and away the least of our worries.
great post....... if yao comes back, t-mac stays healthy 2011 could be a very good year, because finally our 2 stars will have a very solid supporting cast. and yeah if brooks brooks becomes a better shooter it could really work, imagine the space brooks would have with opposing teams concentrating on yao and t-mac.......not to mention ariza whos a much better offensive threat than battier
Ideally I think they should target Kevin Martin. What's good about them is that they really don't have any long term contracts that you would really have to take on. Nocioni, Garcia, Udrih are the only three long term deals besides Kevin Martin. Now they would be smokin crack if the took Udrih back but Sac doesn't really have any other opinions right now at PG. I do agree that we shouldn't deplete any depth. But I'm telling you folks, there will be teams that are going to want to deal because of the economy. I hope that T-Mac can come back but I just think they should also be looking long term... BTW... awesome post once again...
No doubt a thoughtful analysis of the team; ThaCabbage, I love your posts. May I add a few reflections. First, what I call the "Les Assumption" is somehow floating around in your post, that is, if we can get "our stars" healthy, we now have the best supporting cast in their six year tenure. I agree that this is best supporting cast, but there is no reason to believe that Yao and TMac will be healthy at any point in the future because they never have been. I agree that if a deal for TMac is available it should be pursued. However, the same might be said of Yao. Personally, I think it is past time to move beyond the Yao/TMac experiment. When Magic said it had failed a couple of years ago, he was right. Second, Brooks is key element in the team's success but he has not demonstrated consistency. He had a couple of breakout performances in the playoffs, but I see him as more of a complimentary player than a cornerstone. Same for Scola; I love his hustle, his post moves, and his constant movement, but I don't think you build a team around him. Battier is too little of an offensive threat, Ariza had a great playoffs and? Hayes is likely our best post defender and can't score, Anderson is too thin to bang with the centers in the West. Landry is solid but complimentary. Lowry doesn't excite me and the rest are virtually unknowns. The West is strong and several, likely eight or more teams have greater size and talent than the Rockets. This team is not going to be very good without Yao and TMac and not likely a championship team with them. But we will never know because TMac and Yao will not remain healthy together, if they actually become healthy. Bottomline, this is a rebuilding year, but if it turns out that we are just waiting for Yao and TMac to come back to win Les a championship, I think it will be looked back upon as a lost year and how many of those can the franchise have before rebuilding becomes a very long term goal?
Great post if we consider that there will be no other variables as the season unfolds. There is too much uncertainty in the current set up of the team and it looks more like this is the season of major changes. My feeling is that Cab will have a major reassessment of his excellent analysis when the season unfolds early on, and also at the pre season period after this season. There are too many things that are bound to happen. The great thing about all this is that it seems like DM is pretty competent and he has the strong backing of the owner. It would really be a very interesting season and post season which I could only describe as a period of many surprises.
Great post and thanks for putting all the work into this. I agree adding the tear drop into his arsenal could make AB a much more efficient scorer in the paint. His inferior size doesn't allow him to finish too well in the traffic so it may be smarter to shoot the ball sooner than anticipated. That's one thing I'd like to see from AB next season. One question, did Tony Parker own this particular skill already when he was a rookie or did he develop it throughout the years?
Let me throw out a huge prediction here that will sound wayy out there. McGrady will be here for a few more years because of Les Alexander. Les loves McGrady. There's no reason that he would just get rid of him especially if all we're getting back is samuel dalembert ( ) type players. Prediction number two: this team will show lots of "potential". This is a given because this team can basically do anything and the media will be left to wonder "what if" about the Yao situation. Prediction number three: Because of the high hopes for when Yao comes back (if the situation thacabbage has outlined comes to fruition) and the free agency blitz next year, Tracy McGrady will sign a very cheap contract extension. He will have a good year this year and will want to prove that he's all about winning and will do whatever it takes for our team to win. So he'll come out and say something like "it was never about the money, yo.." and solidify his image in the fan's eyes. Hopefully we can sign a decently good free agent and this roster will become very sturdy.
