61 replies to this topic

[thejohnnygold]

My god those highlights... I don't think you could pay patrick beverly to replicate any of those movements...

 

I know....if you could put Bev and Jennings into one player it would be amazing.  I love the double fakes, the herky-jerky stuff, the give'n'go's....C'mon Morey....make it happen.

[Losthief]

Achilles are scary...wait and see how he does is my opinion...

[rockets best fan]

while I don't really care for Lawson as a player you who is without sin cast the first stone. YES he messed up.......twice. however this man lives in the public spotlight so everything he does will be magnified. does he deserve punishment for what he did? YES, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. Lawson is unhappy in his present situation however before last year he was playing at a very high level. have those skills eroded? NO, not IMO. he let his unhappiness cause him make mistakes.......probably trying to drown his sorrows in the bottle. NEVER JUDGE A MAN TILL YOU HAVE WALKED A MILE IN HIS SHOES. punish him yes crucify him NO. here I am sticking up for the man and I don't even like him

[isaacjunk]

Those Jennings highlights remind me of those old-school martial arts flicks where they artificially speed up the frame rate...till you realize no one else is in hyper-mode. Unreal.  Almost makes me agitated to see his jerkiness.  He seems to make two-three motions for every one that everyone else makes...

Edited by isaacjunk, 15 July 2015 - 12:23 PM.

[thejohnnygold]

while I don't really care for Lawson as a player you who is without sin cast the first stone. YES he messed up.......twice. however this man lives in the public spotlight so everything he does will be magnified. does he deserve punishment for what he did? YES, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. Lawson is unhappy in his present situation however before last year he was playing at a very high level. have those skills eroded? NO, not IMO. he let his unhappiness cause him make mistakes.......probably trying to drown his sorrows in the bottle. NEVER JUDGE A MAN TILL YOU HAVE WALKED A MILE IN HIS SHOES. punish him yes crucify him NO. here I am sticking up for the man and I don't even like him

 

You're right.  My opinion/concern for him is solely in regards to how it could affect the Rockets.  For me, it's a risk I'm not interested in.  He wasn't at the top of my PG wish list and he keeps sliding further down.  From my perspective, if we trade for him (using precious, precious assets) and he isn't the answer then we may have shot ourselves in the foot.  This next move will be as close to an "all in" move as we can get for this next season.  I don't feel good about going "all in" with Lawson right now.

 

Here, have some 2015 Lawson Highlights 

 

 

I have to say, most of his best work comes against the league's worst teams or, if it is a decent team, you might notice he's being guarded by the likes of Hinrich, Blake, Calathes, Barea, et al.  Any time there is a legit defender on him he just jacks a 3 or a long 2.  He does get to the hoop against Bev once...whatever that's worth.

 

After watching those highlights and Jennings I am more confident I'd rather have Jennings on the team....you know...if Morey decides to make that kind of move 

[bboley24]

I agree.  Lawson is tiny enough to get that first step.  He is great at finishing at the rim but ultimately his crossover are nothing unorthodox.  He has great vision on the pass though.

 

Jennings seems to have an arsenal of crossovers and step backs.  We have shot blockers down low.  Not too worried about the defense just as long as it's not harden bad.

[Willk]

Achilles are scary...wait and see how he does is my opinion...

I agree. Achilles might be the worst injury in basketball.

[rockets best fan]

@JG

I agree...........any concerns I have about Lawson are purely from a basketball stand point. I don't like him as a player because he is 5'11". in the playoffs that spells guard postup liability defensively to me. I have no doubt Lawson can handle our team offensively( the man has average nearly double digit assist for years)(can you imagine D-12 getting some of those feeds?) problem is that's only half the game. Lawson isn't capable of stopping my mother from making a layup

[thenit]

@JG

I agree...........any concerns I have about Lawson are purely from a basketball stand point. I don't like him as a player because he is 5'11". in the playoffs that spells guard postup liability defensively to me. I have no doubt Lawson can handle our team offensively( the man has average nearly double digit assist for years)(can you imagine D-12 getting some of those feeds?) problem is that's only half the game. Lawson isn't capable of stopping my mother from making a layup

Agree RBF,

 

It doesn't help that we have Harden on the other guard position. 2 below average defenders spells doom in the playoffs. Harden can make it up with his points on the other side but its just not a good fit having both of them..

[thejohnnygold]

Meanwhile, from the land of sour grapes and future, "I told you so's", here is a video of Jerian Grant being pretty good at basketball. (LINK)

[bernardo]

Josh Smith is gone, to the clippers. My guess is we're re-signing with KJ and see what's available out there. I'm not expecting many changes from the roster as it is now.

[Jatman20]

JohnnyGold I have pushed the drafting of Grant for a month and a half. He will be great in this league. The tandem of Harden and Grant would have devastated teams for the next 10 years. But I see where Morey went into the draft going for best SF available to do a SnT with Portland for Aldridge using the contract of Ariza. I went roster to roster looking for a PG.....didn't like D Collison at first, but now see him as an improvement over Beverley.
Where Darren gives us offense, Bev will give us pesky defense. When those two are getting abused by bigger players like Harrison Barnes, Klay, Draymond Green, Livingston.....slide Thorton over to point guard. Two others I feel the Rockets may consider are Calderon ($7.4 mil and coming off of Achillies injury at age 33) may be a risk like Jennings, but his numbers are perfect for complimenting Harden. The other is George Hill via trade. Pacers could probably use T Jones and Papanikoluoa. I don't care for Lawson's contract and don't think Jennings will fit with Harden.....or possibly Josh Smith.

[Mario Peña]

I still like Norris Cole who was 10 and 3 once he joined NOLA last year and more importantly he shot 42 percent on catch and shoot shots. I can only imagine what he could do in McHale's offense with that space.

[Jatman20]

I would rather have Norris Cole over Chalmers. Never been a Chalmers fan.

[TTrainW]

Well Josh Smith is lost. For all his FTs and three point jacking that works wonderfully half the time and horrendously the other half, I feel pretty sad for losing him. Don't really understand when he had a lot of success and decent amount of minutes with this Houston squad, albeit with Motiejunas out injured and T-Jones not playing up to playoff competition. I can't see him getting that many minutes with the Clippers with Griffin as the 4, unless they move him to 5 and go small, which isn't how they really play, and Paul Pierce would be a better option as a 4 in that scenario. Undoubtedly though this move weakens our depth and strengthens a rival, which is what I'm also concerned with. If Josh Smith must bolt, then I wish he'd done so to somewhere like the Kings or Knicks. Of course he goes to a title contender in our conference.

In the wake of DeAndre Jordan's surprise return to the Clippers, everything good seems to be happening to them. The Clippers, Warriors and Spurs are now the teams to beat out west, with perhaps the Grizzlies on a slightly lower tier. I'm waiting on Morey to make a move that fits the final piece of the puzzle to this offseason, be it getting BJ, George Hill, or some other playmaker, though I have reserves for trading Jones, now that Smith is gone. Hopefully Harrell steps up pretty quickly. He's got a nice jumper and a strong motor, though he's not much of a passer. Am missing Josh's playmaking already. 

[rockets best fan]

I know most Rocket fans will be upset about Josh leaving, however I believe this is a good move for the Rockets. I wouldn't worry to much about him being on the Clippers because we can always use the hack-a-Josh strategy in a pinch. fact is.... because of his poor free throw shooting it would never have worked with Josh and D-12 on the floor together. YES he was a nice asset off the bench, but not irreplaceable. now maybe those of you who have been trying to toss dirt on T. Jones as trade bait can settle down now

[Jatman20]

Just my opinion.....it's hard to win a championship with two below 50% FT shooters. When the Clips fouled our subpar FT shooter; we then fouled Jordan. Playing Monday morning QB.....Rockets were fortunate to play an inferior Dallas squad, followed by a team with an equally important cog to the team that shoots poorly at the FT line ( DeAndre Jordan ). The Spurs use the tactic of Hack-A-Player with success. Last years Spurs worst FT shot at least 70% from the FT line. Where I felt the Rockets could still beat the Spurs half the time despite the fouling tactic. I think the Spurs may have improved from last season with the additions of both LMA and David West. The Rockets can't continue to leave points at the free throw line and expect to be successful. Rockets averaged 103 points in the regular season.....but I would venture to say that the Rockets increased their offensive output in the playoffs, despite the Hack-A-Player tactic employed by Dallas and the Clips. The Rockets can further help themselves with better FT shooters......just my opinion.

Edited by Jatman20, 17 July 2015 - 03:40 AM.

[Jatman20]

Yes, just looked it up on BasketballReference.com. Rockets scored 103.8 points/gm in the regular season, and 108.2 /gm in the 17 playoff games.
So the Hack-A-Player tactic meant to decrease the Rockets flow and pace which in turn decrease the offensive output.....may have actually allowed Houston more points per 100 possessions. Could have been more if guys made their FT's.

[TTrainW]

I'd take those stats with a grain of salt... I mean we played the Mavs, Clippers, and Warriors, arguably the three of the fastest paced teams in the playoffs. I'm sure that had something to do with our supposed offensive spike. Though I do agree that we left a lot of points on the board with missed free throws. 

Yes, just looked it up on BasketballReference.com. Rockets scored 103.8 points/gm in the regular season, and 108.2 /gm in the 17 playoff games.
So the Hack-A-Player tactic meant to decrease the Rockets flow and pace which in turn decrease the offensive output.....may have actually allowed Houston more points per 100 possessions. Could have been more if guys made their FT's.

 

[Willk]

I cannot see how this is not a step back. Dwight missed half the season. D-Mo missed 11 games. Tjones played 33 games. Without Smith, the rockets are 1 injury away from the Joey Dorsey experience. yikes! I thought this off-season was about lessening the burden on Harden, not increasing it. Unless Morey has something big up his sleeve, this off season has been a failure. The Clips are now a better team then the Rockets. Right now, the Rockets are the 4th best team in the conference and just slightly better then the Griz.