I'm calling it now. It seems like this entire board is against him, but really I think it's just the win-now fans who bitch and cry all season that are the most vocal. I suspect there's a lot of us who are so fucking sick of refuting and repeating the same concepts over and over, there's just no point anymore. Let this be my one post of the year to do so. Call it a gut feeling or whatever, but I don't think Outlaw will or should be traded. My gut was right with Randolph, Jack, Outlaw and Webster a few years ago...(Webster maybe still WIP)...and I have the same feeling now. KP seems to think the same way. It's not about winning now, it's about building for the long haul. Travis is so close to the reality of being an excellent backup. He's come so far, there's really not much more he needs to improve. It's true what Roy said...he hasn't had the big game experience some of the others on the team have had. It's not fair to judge the guy based off one playoff series. Don't get me wrong, I was screaming at the TV because of him during this series just like the rest of you. But I am confident he will learn from this. If I was a GM in this league, Travis is a guy I want on my team. It's as simple as that. Bitch and moan all you want, he's not going anywhere. Blake is the one we need to get rid of. P.S. Let me just say, Houston is possibly the best defensive team in the league at the wings...top 3 overall easily.
I've been defending Outlaw all year, but there is a limit. After 6 seasons, he no longer gets to hide behind the "young player" excuse. He has shown that he *can* play defense, but he rarely actually does it. He is a poor playmaker, and his rebounding is disappointing for a guy with his hops. I agree with you that Houston is a high quality defensive team - but when the only thing a player really brings to the table is his scoring, he has to be able to bring that *every* night, not just against the easy teams.
If we expect to get to the next level you need players like Outlaw, that contribute almost 30 minutes per game, to be more than inconsistent scorers. He's poor rebounder and below average defender even with 6 seasons under his belt. There's not a lot of positive intangibles to his game. His performance would be fine if he only played 10 minutes per game, but I don't think he'll even accept such a diminished role at this point in his career. I'm a fan of renouncing his team option and then using the saving int he FA market, but I have a feeling he'll only be moved in a trade.
Travis did not improve this season, he has actually regressed a little bit since last year, his numbers reflect that. To say Outlaw doesn't need to improve on much is so ridiculous is almost not even worth discussing, he needs to improve at EVERYTHING. He's been a one trick pony from the beginning of his career. That trick being, that he can elevate above almost anyone to get his jumper off. But he's had that since is sophomore year, where he shot nearly 50% from the field! The only area Travis has improved on is his 3pt shooting. He has 6 seasons under his belt, and I'm sure that if KP doesn't trade him, we'll still have Travis defenders 5 years down the road when he's an 11 year NBA Vet, still waiting for him to "finally get it".
I'm not against outlaw, though I'm not against trading him either. I would agree that he is more likely to be on the roster than not.
I'm not one of those win now overly vocal people... and I want him gone.. The point of not making moves at the deadline was to go to war with what we had and see what would happen.. now we have seen who will be able to step up and who adds almost nothing when we need it most. A weeding out if you will. Now as long as Travis is here I will root for him to succeed.. but at this point I have seen enough of him to understand that he is what he is.. and he wont improve or add much to this team when he isnt scoring. I love Outlaw and think he is a great guy.. and a good locker room guy.. but in the end this is about winning.. and Outlaw isnt adding to that.
Well C Note, what do we do at the SF position next year then? With Webster's return, we have three quality SFs all capable of being starters, and I doubt Nate will find much playing time for all three. Instead, one is going to get benched every game and only play during garbage time (ala Bayless most of this season). There's no way Outlaw or Webster would be willing to do that, and Batum has WAY too much upside and is too good already to never play again. At least one of these three has to go in my mind, and if Martell makes a solid return from his injury (which I fully suspect he will), then Outlaw is just the weakest link. We also have a similar situation is going on at PG imo, and I really hope we find some PT for Bayless or trade him. He's another guy with a lot of potential. It's unfortunate and I like Outlaw as much as the next guy, but Batum's emergence has changed things dramatically.
I don't want Outlaw gone, but I suspect either him or Webster will be gone before next season because the logjam at the SF spot.
I don't know who is going and who is staying, but carrying 3 young small forwards in Batum, Webster and Trout seems a little unlikely. They all can't play and you're wasting money on the ones who end up with DNPs. The only way you can carry this many players at a single position is if their ages are spaced out such as: 1st or second year guy, a player in his prime and a 30+ year old -- this way young guys who are buried on the bench see a light at the end of the tunnel as the hoary vet rides off into the sunset.
Batum is staying..bottom line..I don't think I'll get any arguments from that one..hell KP turned down every deal involving him Martell can play the 2 or 3..could stay if we trade Rudy while his value is high Travis can play the 3 or 4..most likely will stay as he is more valuable to us than others
i also am not a "win now" guy and i think trout should be traded, but i don't know if he will be traded. i agree that he is in his 6th year and isn't going to change much. he's good at elevating over his defender but he still doesn't rebound or play defense and he's at a position where the other two players have more "upside". i think that we also saw in the playoffs that another PF that is willing to do the little things is important and if we bring in that guy that means the travis at PF experiment will be over.
BTW, I love how some people use "win now fan" as an insult. How is being a "lose now" fan anything to boast about? Damn straight I am a "win now" fan - and proud of it. There is no "next year" to wait till....just ask NO.
Outlaw has to play very well on offense to make up for his very bad defense and we all know that. If we had Prince, Artest or Wallace I'd think those easy baskets to the rim against us would go wayyyyy down!
We won 54 games and lost 28. We won now, we just didn't beat a great Houston team in the playoffs. It's not that people are coming across as "win now", it's more that they think unless we win it all, the season is a failure.
The season is far far from a failure, but there are glaring issues that must be addressed if we expect to ever get out of the first round. Defensive IQ players, and a PG that can feed ODEN and often are on top of the list! The good teams in the NBA that we will see next year same time, and same channel understand our defense sucks and we can't get the ball into our big men and ROY and LA are the whole team. Not fixing these problems for the hope that Travis is finally going to get it makes zilch sense. Having another year of watching Sergio not play defense and Blake not be able to find Oden doesn't get us to the next level, it just idles the boat another year.
