Rockets

[popanot]

eh.... are getting their asses handed to them.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by popanot

eh.... are getting their asses handed to them.

I am ready to blow up team. Scola, Landry and maybe the rookie point are keepers. Yao and TMac even though I love 'em are injury prone and can still bring some players in a deal. Getting past first round should not be the goal even if it can't be done yet. Some good young players & not necessarily a super star plus a couple of low #1s for our two superstars would excite me. If we had our own #1 + two other good first round selections + two or three good veterans of 3 years or less, it would be fun to watch.

Head, Jackson, Francis and Mike James should be out of here. Battier should bring a decent starter or a top 12 pick. The long win streak was impressive but when Utah makes you look like you are a high school team, it is time for the tv to go off.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by badboy

The long win streak was impressive but when Utah makes you look like you are a high school team, it is time for the tv to go off.

I don't think they have been playing as well as they can, and there have been some times where they did look pretty bad. Even with that the only thing that has kept us from winning is missed free throws. That is just inexcusable. There's no reason these guys shouldn't be better free throw shooters. We have missed 10+ free throws in each game. Hell the Rockets won a championship because Orlando(Shaq) couldn't shoot free throws. I think we all know what happened too Memphis in the last NCAA tournament. I don't know if you blow a team up over free throws, but your damn sure not going to be able to get away with it in the playoffs.

[nero THE zero]

Originally Posted by badboy

I am ready to blow up team. Scola, Landry and maybe the rookie point are keepers. Yao and TMac even though I love 'em are injury prone and can still bring some players in a deal. Getting past first round should not be the goal even if it can't be done yet. Some good young players & not necessarily a super star plus a couple of low #1s for our two superstars would excite me. If we had our own #1 + two other good first round selections + two or three good veterans of 3 years or less, it would be fun to watch.

Head, Jackson, Francis and Mike James should be out of here. Battier should bring a decent starter or a top 12 pick. The long win streak was impressive but when Utah makes you look like you are a high school team, it is time for the tv to go off.

I tend to agree.

LZ was talking about McGrady+Head for NY's 1st and Marbury. I think that's actually pretty intriguing. Plus you have Bobby Jackson's expiring contract in your arsenal. I think T-Mac brings back a 1st of some sort this year and I think you have to move him for it.

I would like to keep Battier because he is a vet that plays good basketball and would be a good influence on young guys.

I also think you move either Scola or Landry. Scola is a bit older than you like for a rookie and Landry has the knee issues, neither should be untouchable and coupled with a contract like T-Mac's, Jackson's, or both could bring in a nice prize.

I think something like McGrady + Landry + Head + Jackson could net you a nice combo or picks and players.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

I tend to agree.

LZ was talking about McGrady+Head for NY's 1st and Marbury. I think that's actually pretty intriguing. Plus you have Bobby Jackson's expiring contract in your arsenal. I think T-Mac brings back a 1st of some sort this year and I think you have to move him for it.

I would like to keep Battier because he is a vet that plays good basketball and would be a good influence on young guys.

I also think you move either Scola or Landry. Scola is a bit older than you like for a rookie and Landry has the knee issues, neither should be untouchable and coupled with a contract like T-Mac's, Jackson's, or both could bring in a nice prize.

I think something like McGrady + Landry + Head + Jackson could net you a nice combo or picks and players.

I would not touch Marbury with any length pole. What has he ever done? Let me answer that... Nothing. He is a malcontent, and overrated.

Scola and Landry are pieces of the future. Why would you move them? I also think you have overvalued them. You are not going to get a kings ransom for McGrady, Heach, Landry and jackson. This team does not have enough good players, and you would not get a package in return that would make you more competetive.

Teams are in the NBA are not going to move a 20M contract for a draft pick, especially a low draft pick. NY is was over the cap, and are not going to add salary to the bloated payroll.

They had a chance to win games 1 and 2, won last night and no Yao. Sorry, Yao is a money making machine and will and cannot be moved. They need to continue to add to the base of Yao, McGrady, Scola, Landry, Battier and Brooks. Heck, the team runs so much better with Rafer in the lineup. Even after winning last night, they are still not going to win the series, but it is not as though they have been an embarassment.

[papabear]

This series is all about free throws. Last night the Jazz were the ones who didn't shoot them well....despite going to the line way more than the Rockets. These two teams aren't that far apart. I would honestly give the edge to the jazz, but not by much. It's really a shame that we couldn't get it done at home because this team is good enough to win this match up....even though it will be extremely difficult now,

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by Mike

I would not touch Mebury with any length pole. What has he ever done? Let me answer that... Nothing. He is a malcontent, and overrated.

Scola and Landry are pieces of the future. Why would you move them? I also think you have overvalued them. You are not going to get a kings ransom for McGrady, Heach, Landry and jackson. This team does not have enough good players, and you would not get a package in return that would make you more competetive.

Teams are in the NBA are not going to move a 20M contract for a draft pick, especially a low draft pick. NY is was over the cap, and are not going to add salary to the bloated payroll.

They had a chance to win games 1 and 2, won last night and no Yao. Sorry, Yao is a money making machine and will and cannot be moved. They need to continue to add to the base of Yao, McGrady, Scola, Landry, Battier and Brooks. Heck, the team runs so much better with Rafer in the lineup. Even after winning last night, they are still not going to win the series, but it is not as though they have been an embarassment.

true mike and I fixed it for ya

[Wolf]

well down 3-1 now .. freethrows

[Froback]

Originally Posted by Wolf

well down 3-1 now .. freethrows

While true, I wonder two things about this series.

Is Utah better because Yao is missing?
Why is Hayes getting more minutes than Landry? (I have to admit I have not been following details, so I might be unaware if there was a reason for it)

The Rockets are playing really well considering they are without the best (or 2nd best) player depending on how you look at it.

Would Utah even have a prayer if they lost Williams or Boozer?

Just some thoughts... not they matter much in the end. But Tracy is NOT the problem in this or any other playoff series. You cannot even argue it is his style of play either. It has been 100% about the support he (and previously he and Yao) have received. Alston has done a great job at filling Yao's void, but that means someone else has to fill Alston's role as 3rd option on offense. Scola was supposed to be that, but he has been terrible this series, both on offense and on defense.

Game 4 was lost because both McGrady and Alston had bad shooting nights... and Adelman forgot to put someone better than a Point Guard to box out on the 2nd FT attempt by Williams at the end of the game.

But with Yao out and Alston missing games 1 and 2, I thought it was a long shot for Houston to move past Utah, but I don't think Utah a better team then Houston, just more healthy. It is a shame, because it looks like the Hornets would have been the next team to face and Houston has owned them this year, with or without Yao.

[lebowski]

I think the Rockets are too good when healthy to blow the team up. I can't imagine why Hayes nearly always gets more minutes than Landry except the fact that Landry is a rookie. He's also foul prone. But,so are Hayes and Scola.

Landy only signed a one year contract, correct? Hopefully, we'll be able to bring him back next year. It would be a big loss if we weren't able to bring him back.

[papabear]

Hayes get the minutes because he is great defender, even though he's undersized. Landry is still young and gets caught out of position often. Don't get me wrong I love Landry and hope he's around Houston for a long time. The knee has to be a concern though. One reason he slipped in under the radar was because he was coming back from a knee injury. A knee is what cost him some playing time down the stretch that has also probably limited his time in the playoffs somewhat and hurt his explosiveness.

[lebowski]

I agree that Landry's knee is a concern for the future, but I've watched almost every Rockets game this season, and the Rockets are a much better team with Landry on the floor than Hayes. Hayes gets some nice, easy baskets because teams lose track of him because they're helping guard someone else, but I think Landry is a much better over all player. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate Landry's offense about an 8 and his defense a 5 or 6. I'd rate Chuck's offense about a 3 (being generous) and his defense a 7 or 8. I don't mind Chuck getting minutes, but the Rockets have major problems when they have Chuck and Dikembe in the game at the same time.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by lebowski

but the Rockets have major problems when they have Chuck and Dikembe in the game at the same time.

I agree. It's the basketball version of having Everett and Ausmus in the lineup together. Either one on his own isn't terrible, but both of them puts too much pressure on the rest of the guys to score runs.

Before the Yao injury I liked the idea of having Scola come off the bench because he could give you some offense from the front court with Yao on the bench. Now, Scola has definitely earned starter minutes. the problem is now you have three young power forwards who all deserve some minutes. When teams go small this isn't a bad thing, but against teams with some size down low (San Antonio, Phoenix,...) you still need a real back-up center. Landry is probably best suited for that role, post Deke (his deal with the Devil has to expire eventually). So it will be hard to keep that threesome together.

I think Scola is locked in. That leaves Landry and Hayes. I think we signed Hayes to a longish term deal, but nothing that shouldn't be movable. Landry is on a one year deal(?), but I would suspect they will do try to keep him. The problem is that long term Landry probably has more value in a trade. He might also intrigue someone enough that he gets offered a crapload to be their starter. Hayes is a valuable guy to have around, but not someone that is going to bring much in a trade or a big offer in free agent land....so as much as I hate it, I could see Hayes sticking around with Landry leaving. They might try to keep those three, but I think after their rookie years it's going to be hard to keep Landry and Scola off the court in favor of Hayes. Hayes seems like the kind of guy who might have no problem with a reduced role and everyone is just a big happy family though.

[Mike]

Carl Landry is a FA after this year. He only signed a one year deal as a rookie second round pick last year. The Rockets are going to have to pony up some of the mid-level exception $ to sign him, and they should.

[lebowski]

Good news for Rockets Fans. Though not a done deal, both sides make it sound like Landry will be back.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...v=st&type=lgns

[KJ3]

i'm glad to hear of landry's willingness to return. he did an autograph signing 2 seconds from my house and i had to miss it to get to a dinner on-time. so hopefully i get another shot at him...

yao won't be traded because of a) his international status and b) makes les alexander millions on millions. yao may be a lifetime rocket. i wouldn't mind.

tracy won't be traded because his contract is like 21 and 23 million and he's not worth that.

i think the best we can hope for these rockets is that by the end of tracy's contract a) the three rookies landry, scola, brooks progress into great players b) tracy and yao reduce minutes or whatever it takes to keep them both healthy especially for a playoff run and c) we win the championship. #3 would be awesome, and i believe totally within reach but i don't see a houston rockets blow-up until tracy's contract is done.