Some valid points being raised here. I don't think you can ever have a contingency plan for one of your superstars going down. When Yao went down, the Rockets were on a 12 game winning streak and were finally starting to come around. So there is a valid argument that we could be good enough right now (especially given the improvement that our rookies will experience). But, do I think we need more talent? Absolutely. The problem isn't with our bench. The problem is that there's a pretty remarkable drop off from our 2nd best to our 3rd best player that other powerhouse teams don't experience. We have Yao and Tmac as #1 and #2, but our 3rd best player is.... Rafer Alston? Luis Scola? Shane Battier? Lakers' 3rd best player is Lamar freakin Odom or Andrew Bynum. Mavs 3rd best player is either Jason Kidd or Terry. Suns 3rd best player is Shaq or Grant Hill. Spurs 3rd best player is Manu (or hell maybe even Parker) Hornets 3rd best players is Stojakovic Jazz 3rd best player either Kirilenko or Okur. The list just goes on and on. It's readily obvious that we still haven't solved the conundrum of finding the right help for Mac and Yao. This wouldn't really be much of a problem if both Yao and Tmac were playing at superstar levels together. But it seems Tmac is declining quickly and Yao will never be ultra dominant either. We need better 3rd man help for Yao and Tmac and I think counting on some rookies to develop is going prove pretty difficult. I'm putting a lot of stock on BJax's expiring contract next yr. You never know what kind of gems you can find midseason... aka Pau Gasol to the Lakers.
So I guess no one else players or rookie will get better? I guess Julian Wright, Brewer, Kleiza/Smith, Odem/Aldridge,Bynum or any of those guys aren't going to get better? I agree that when one of ur max player goes down, u can't replace him, but when will u learn the lesson? The rox have 2 injury plagued cornerstone players. Yao missed 32 and 30 games the last 2 seasons. To me, this is more than about Artest or Gay. Its about a fundimental flaw that just about every team in the west except the rox have refused to accept. There was a earlier poster talking about the problem being our 3rd best player. That's it in a nutshell. Every team in the west has 3 all star quality starters except the rox. They have those guys to limit minutes and to lighten the burden or the load. The rox for whatever reason don't see it like the rest of the league. Artest would do wonders for this team by simple facts that he allows extended rest offensively for yao and tracy. On a lot of nights, he could be the biggest mismatch the rox would have. When he's on the floor, yao can use his energy for rebounding, blocking shots, and late game post ups. Artest would also alleviate the playmaking burden of tracy on every possession. He could focus on being a good defender more consistently. It doesn't have to be artest, it couldve been gay being backed up by Posey or mo evans. That's my biggest beef. The guy was talking about the number 1 seed which is cool, but it doesn't really matter if the number 8 seed is within 5 games of u. I know a lot of rox fans would rather play denver right than instead of utah, but ur still playing against a team that has more talent than u. That said, yao will be back and it will make it easier on other guys, but Big Z was on pace to be the next good big man before his foot problems. Now he's deemed servicable. He is nowhere close to the up curve he was showing early on. That's something else the rox going to have to deal with.
This has been my beef with this so-called organization for nearly 8 years now. While the other teams in West (Dallas, SA, PHX, NO, Utah) have been steadily working to improve their rosters, the Rockets under the previous regime spent years blowing off the draft, signing marginal players to bad contracts and scouring the NBA dumpsters for cheap players. There has been no idea of what they wanted to do nor has there been any plan in place to get them to the championship. I am a firm believer that you simply cannot outrun your mistakes and sooner or later, they will catch up with you and that's what happened again last season. That's why Morey's first order of business as GM was to start the overhaul of the roster which I'm certain he will be continuing in the upcoming off season. This team has to improve its size and athleticism in order to compete against its competition in the West and that's something that won't happen in one or two offseasons. I look at what Morey has done as a good start no matter how the Utah series turns out. It may not look real good now but at least you no longer have Carroll Dawson in there screwing thing up. You place far more value on AB than do I. I like him a lot but don't feel he's starting PG material mainly due to his lack of size as was evident Saturday when Williams went one-on-one with him. Also remember that AB was not a PG in college but rather an undersized SG so you're asking quite a bit from him as a rookie player. Funny you mention Brewer because he was my choice for the Rockets in that draft. He has size and athleticism that they coveted and is exactly they type of player they should have been looking for in the draft. Now I understand why they went after Battier (smart player, well coached, etc) but that's something that they could have done in the 2001 draft when they had those 3 first round picks. I agree wholeheartedly with you about the height/length problems with this team. Scola plays like a beast at 6-9 but Hayes & Landry are undersized at the 4. Head is OK at 6-2 for the 2 spot but Brooks at 5-8 (or 5-10 in sneakers) is just too small to match up against the Kidd, Williams type of PG they face in the West. Clearly, Morey has quite a bit of work to do in the reshaping of this roster but that will take time. The big question is what happens while that's being done. It will be ugly around here because too many people were initially dismissive of the Jazz. They also overvalued the Rockets collective ability as a team playing without Yao Ming. In the playoffs it is the teams with the most pronounced weaknesses that fall by the wayside. Without Yao, they are a small team and in Utah, the Rockets face an experienced veteran team that is fully capable of exploiting that weakness as evidenced by what Sloan did to them on Saturday night. After all, Utah didn't make it to the WCF last year for nothing so I fail to understand all of the hate toward them for doing things right - the very same things they should have been doing here all along.
Hillboy- I wanted brewer. I thought he was exactly what the rox needed. I have been past this idea of adding spot up shooters like reddick and such. The rox told us they wanted to get bigger and more atheletic after having a guy fall in their laps like gay or battier. What point of more atheletic, young or explosive didn't those 2 didn't fill? In fact those were the 2 best atheletes coming out. I like Battier, but he will never be worth Swift and a lotto pick. It didn't have to be Gay. Like u said it could have been Brewer backed up by Barnes or posey. He'll Azibuke is better than any backup 2/3 right now. When u have multi skilled guys, then even if they're not shooting the ball, they cab still find ways to make a impact.
BINGO !! You get this idea that the fastest way or best way to extend the window longer for a championship is to trade one of the 2 superstars for a young stud who is a little younger but has shown alot of upside Josh Smith type but aint happening because neither star would want to play in Atlanta. But then it boils down to this Less and Yao ??? T-Mac declining and contract. T-Mac now has declined so bad he is playing to the level of a 3rd option/playmaker basically a large point guard out of position. What to do at this point if Less would understand. Yao is the only piece who could possibly land us a Kobe Bryant. Extend the trade get Bynum and take on Walton hell. This gives us a player with upside and a player still in prime. Send Yao to the Lakers why NOT? China dont watch the Lakers or what? Is this about a championship or is this about putting money in your pocket? again Yao is the only way this team opens its window. Send role players with him Head/Alston/Brooks/Battier because you wont need them either not to be rude but without Yao they dont fit. They would fit with Gasol and Yao and Odom that is your best move. Bring in Bryant and young Bynum with upside and even Walton. Extends your championship window what? 6 years with 1 block buster move. Cant be no worst than it is now. Morey is going to have to make a revamped move to improve or extend its window. Bryant/T-Mac not friends or what? Not work why NOT? Got Scola/Landry window is still open Bynum. Get rid of the fit pieces around 1 guy and revamp the lineup to extend your championship window and compete. This buys Morey 3 years to really bring in alot of upside to this team. Just got to realize we play good during the regular season but you have to throw out the pieces that dont work in the playoffs and bring in young guys with upside and proven competetors for the playoffs.
Your missing an All star center and your starting point guard, what do you expect. Guys are currently playing roles that they wouldn't be playing if this team was fully healthy ie.(Deke and B-Jaxx, Brooks). Yes you have durability issues in Yao and T-Mac, but if both those two guys were playing together right now the rockets would be playing Denver and not Utah. If Tim Duncan was injured right now and not playing for the Spurs everybody would be talking about the lack of talent in San Antonio. The rockets didn't lose for two months during this season and you can't do that with a bunch of scrubs. This team has as much talent or more than most teams. Do they have enough to win a championship when fully healthy. In my humble opinion. Yes.
Do what? Kobe has not declined that much and he is only 29 he could go 6 more years hell. Jordan actually improved in his 30's. Bynum has showed more upside than Alston/Head/Battier/Brooks. Alston has no upside. Head has no upside. Battier has no upside. Brooks has not showed it yet. Those guys you know what you get from them so it makes sence if your Morey. Bynum has improved every year in the league and is a big man. Good enough for me.
still highly doubt kobe has as many as 6 really good years left in my mind. it's not the age, it's rather the mileage. and there's only one mj in history.
You still do the trade because Yao dont have 6 years either. Bynum in his last 5 games. 17.6 points 11.0 rebounds 2.6 assist 1.6 blocks under 30 minutes and over 60% shooting? Yea that is upside.
So much lamenting, weeping and gnashing of teeth in this thread, yet the unspoken is even more depressing. Just imagine the situation if the Rockets wouldn't have been able to do the McGrady trade and they still had Cat, Francis (never traded) and Cato.
Always a fun to read Zboy's: Put Novak in and the entire Jazz team salivates. How about this: Rox earns the playoff spot, entire WC playoff teams salivate?
Ask Denver about having the players. You need a system built around the great players. Just as Hakeem, Michael, Magic, Larry, Shaq, etc.
What kind of draft pick would Rox get if we don't get out of first round? Does it go by record, or is it possible to get first non-lottery pick?
Ehsan, you're delusional. Our rookies were not a God-send miracle answer-to-all-questions pick that landed in our laps. They were good picks, but only because they were late picks. They were good picks considering late 1st rounder/ 2nd rounders, but they WERE NOT lottery picks, and never will be. Do you understand?? They will not push this team OVER the TOP. I love our rookies but you have to be realistic. If you still think our CURRENT team can ever contend for a CHAMPIONSHIP then you don't know NBA basketball, I'm sorry. Our team can WIN this SERIES, but they will need a major event to happen in order to compete for the championship, a la Kwame for Gasol trade for Lakers.
