With all the different threads popping up after the aftermath of game 7 I've decided to make a laundry list (sorta) of what the Rockets need to do this offseason. In order of priority: 1. Change of Offensive system - Utilize Yao and Tmac more than just one-on-one. Seriously when I watch the Rockets play, about 85% of the time it's literally either of them going one on one with no real movement or no cutters. There might be ONE cutter but that's it. They're not really cutting anyways, it's more of a decoy to clear up for isolation. We don't have a real halfcourt set, we just have very minimal movements on offense. Even my high school team had better offensive schemes than the Rockets. 2. Draft an athletic, defensive minded, rebound minded, hustling, bruising PF. Basically a taller, more athletic Chuck Hayes. 3. Get a solid PG who can shoot the 3 off a kickout and distribute the ball relatively well. He doesn't have to be great at ditributing the ball. I am a firm believer that when you are playing on a half-court set team (such as the Rockets), you don't really have to have a great distributor. Just need ppl that can play within the offense and shoot the ball. 4. Lift Tmac's spirit up. I believe this will come after a series of chain reaction in whatever the Rockets do. Like everyone said, it was pretty sad seeing him in that post-game interview. Hopefully he'll come back stronger next year physically and mentally. 5. We need someone to tell Tmac to take it to the hoop more and not just settling for jumpers.. Don't know how we're gonna achieve that, but it was painful watching him take jumpers after jumper after jumpers. I don't know about you guys, but whenever he shoots the ball, I clench my buttcheeks as if I'm anticipating something crazy to happen. It's like a heart attack test for me. But when he drives in, I'm more relaxed and more good things actually happen. 6. Get Yao workin with the Dream! Now that he improved his stamina, we need to improve his quickness. Anything else to add? Notice I didn't add anything about JVG because I'm neutral about him staying or leaving, but one thing is clear: No matter who the coach is next year, our offensive system has GOT to CHANGE. Top priority without a doubt!
Love your points...exactly what I was thinking. Hopefully we can trade up and get that PF your asking for but i completely agree. To add one thing, I would add one solid guy coming off the bench. Our bench got murdered in that series.
Get Sean Williams: 6'10" pretty thick. Amazing shotblocker and rebounder great ball defender help defender. Problem is no jump shot past 10ft. get him in second round!!!
<div class="quote_poster">tinyballer Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Get Sean Williams: 6'10" pretty thick. Amazing shotblocker and rebounder great ball defender help defender. Problem is no jump shot past 10ft. get him in second round!!!</div> Eh, this guy has problems. From what I have heard, he has really bad work ethics, and sometimes doesn't seem to be all there. He was even dismissed from Boston. I dunno, after the Eddie Griffin bust, I'm skeptical of trouble makers. Looked him up on NBADraft.net Weaknesses: No evidence of any range on his jump shot, as he rarely shoots from outside 5-8 feet ... Gets into foul trouble too often, but as aggresively as he is defensively blocking shots, it's understandable ... Should be a stronger rebounder considering his size and athleticism, similar to Ratliff. Could be a lot better with crisper fundamentals and working on positioning and boxing out better ... Added body strength would allow him to play the center position on the next level ... Barely touches the ball outside the paint ... Can be passive offensively, just looking to crash the glass. Should work on a few signature offensive moves ... Attitude isn't the best, appears to lack maturity ... Has had off the court issues already in his collegiate career, with two suspensions ... He's a talented player, but he'll need to stay focused to realize his excellent potential ... Weakness: Off the court behavior got him repeatedly suspended and ultimately kicked off the BC team halfway through his junior season ... His work ethic and commitment to basketball are very much in question, and his dismissal surely cost his draft stock consideerably ... Doesn’t always play the game with intensity often it’s not uncommon for him to get out worked by players with lesser talent … Despite having all the physical tools, Williams is not a good out of position rebounder due to his unwillingness to hustle … Suffers from a lack of focus, at times it doesn’t seem like he is interested in playing … Could stand to bulk up and add more upper body strength to his physique … Tends to get pushed away from the basket when posting up because of this … Doesn’t always take care of the ball when executing his moves on offense as he is prone to strips … Still learning the game so his basketball IQ isn’t the best … Has a tendency to pick-up fouls with regularity … Can be a little too aggressive for his on good on defense … Would benefit from continuing to expand his offensive game facing the basket …
<div class="quote_poster">tinyballer Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, but you get something to keep him straight and he will be good.</div> That's what they said about Eddie Griffin, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson (Indiana) as well. Hell, even Paris Hilton. I just don't see the need to take a risk when there's going to be many solid choices other than Williams.
<div class="quote_poster">Locke Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That's what they said about Eddie Griffin, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson (Indiana) as well. Hell, even Paris Hilton.</div> Have you seen Stephen Jackson in the playoffs? He's playin like an allstar. We could've actually used him. Oops I forgot, he's too risky
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Have you seen Stephen Jackson in the playoffs? He's playin like an allstar. We could've actually used him. Oops I forgot, he's too risky</div> You're right, I haven't seen him play ever. Isn't he like a 8-6 guy? My point was that he was a headcase in Indiana and the Pacers stuck with him after the Artest incident. He then gets himself in more trouble off the court and now has a court date waiting. He's playing extremely well with Golden State but who knows how long that'll be until he screws up again? Eddie Griffin looked reborn a few years ago in Minnesota, look where he is now. The risk with these players is that you never know, and I for one would definitely think twice before taking on a potential headcase like him.
<div class="quote_poster">tinyballer Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">yeah but with sean williams the risk is a second round pick.</div> We don't have a second round pick.
<div class="quote_poster">tinyballer Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Its called giving a team cash compensation or a future second.</div> Okay, maybe you should have clarified that. You just came out of nowhere and mentioned a second-round pick. Either way, unless it's a pick in the 50s range, I'd much rather take a guy like Nick Fazekas over Williams, or better yet, just let a new coach try to utilize Novak.
To me, the laundry list is quite a bit longer than that, but I hope they do get the house cleaned up a bit this offseason
<div class="quote_poster">Locke Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You're right, I haven't seen him play ever. Isn't he like a 8-6 guy? My point was that he was a headcase in Indiana and the Pacers stuck with him after the Artest incident. He then gets himself in more trouble off the court and now has a court date waiting. He's playing extremely well with Golden State but who knows how long that'll be until he screws up again? Eddie Griffin looked reborn a few years ago in Minnesota, look where he is now. The risk with these players is that you never know, and I for one would definitely think twice before taking on a potential headcase like him.</div>So you wouldn't want a Stephen Jackson on our team??? You can't be serious. I don't know what ur vision for the team is, but we certainley aren't gonna have a 15-man roster of Shane Battier's. Just imagine where Detroit would be if they never aquired the biggest "head case" in the league, Rasheed Wallace. The Chicago Bulls also had Dennis Rodman, should they have "thought twice" about getting him too?
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">So you wouldn't want a Stephen Jackson on our team??? You can't be serious. I don't know what ur vision for the team is, but we certainley aren't gonna have a 15-man roster of Shane Battier's. Just imagine where Detroit would be if they never aquired the biggest "head case" in the league, Rasheed Wallace. The Chicago Bulls also had Dennis Rodman, should they have "thought twice" about getting him too?</div> Yeah, you've brought up Rasheed Wallace enough times. But don't you think Sacramento wishes they had thought twice before trading for Artest? For every success of such gambles, there's a failure, and I'm talking about where there's a situation where we can get either a headcase or a more stable player, I'd go with the latter every single time. Of course though, if you give me Jackson in exchange for Bob Sura, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but for a guy like Shane Battier? No way. Besides, we're talking about who to pick with a second-round draft choice here, Stephen Jackson is out of the question, I just brought him up as an example. Well, just leave it to you to try to jump down people's throats any chance you get.
<div class="quote_poster">Locke Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, you've brought up Rasheed Wallace enough times. But don't you think Sacramento wishes they had thought twice before trading for Artest? For every success of such gambles, there's a failure, and I'm talking about where there's a situation where we can get either a headcase or a more stable player, I'd go with the latter every single time. Of course though, if you give me Jackson in exchange for Bob Sura, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but for a guy like Shane Battier? No way. Besides, we're talking about who to pick with a second-round draft choice here, Stephen Jackson is out of the question, I just brought him up as an example. Well, just leave it to you to try to jump down people's throats any chance you get.</div> No.......Because you've pretty much labeled anybody with a bad experience on a team a "head case". Everybody that isn't a goodie-goodie in ur eyes shouldn't be on our team. By that logic, we're gonna lose. If I'm not mistaken you even said Damon Stoudamire had attitude problems.
I don't recall ever bringing up Damon's off the court problems. His size was my biggest concern. As for the goody-goody thing, obviously I'm not going to pass up on Artest if we gave up say, Juwan Howard. However, if we have a choice of a "goody goody" and a headcase who are pretty much even talent wise, I'll go with the "goody goody" everytime. So pretty much what you're saying is that you'd rather take on a guy with off-court problems rather than someone who doesn't have as much trouble?
Think about this. We are at a state in our development of a team now where it is basically success or bust. We do not have many tradeable assets. We need to take risks to get to the championship level. We do not have a champ team at the moment. A guy like sean williams protects yao's back rebounds, blocks, great help D, offensive rebound and even great offensive potential based on his explosiveness and athletic ability. But he is a head case as you guys say having done pot a couple of times he did do a 90 day rehab in a drug center though and should not approach more problems. Why not find ways of acquiring a high second rounder or mid to low one to get a guy who could potentially be a key asset in our championship run. If it doesn't workout our loss is not that high. In this case we could end up with two high caliber talents in a draft that we didn't have any high picks in. So why not???
<div class="quote_poster">Locke Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't recall ever bringing up Damon's off the court problems. His size was my biggest concern. As for the goody-goody thing, obviously I'm not going to pass up on Artest if we gave up say, Juwan Howard. However, if we have a choice of a "goody goody" and a headcase who are pretty much even talent wise, I'll go with the "goody goody" everytime. So pretty much what you're saying is that you'd rather take on a guy with off-court problems rather than someone who doesn't have as much trouble?</div> NO!.....I'm sayin our team has TOO MANY nice guys and we're in need of edgy player with some toughness. After watching this season, I don't know why you'd argue that. We could've used a Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest or BONZI WELLS in the playoffs.
If A.McDyess opts out Rockets Have to throw whatever they can at him. I assume the opt out because he'll be making about the MLE for one more yr and the Rockets and others would be stupid to not guarantee him more years. Guarantee him a starting job, passes from TMac, and plenty of min. at PF and C. That would help, and trying to get a good size ball handler in the draft. There are a lot of bigs on the board and the better outside guys could drop....the Rockets should try to move up or get another 1st round pick. HOw many players are really untouchable. I see 3.
