Dan G

Team Doom and Gloom strikes again.  It's okay to be excited for our team.  Of course we are going to lose some games.  We're not going 82-0.  Apparently, if you're not talking about our failure of a Summer, all the talent we lost, how all the other West teams are better than us, how dependent we are on Harden, how taxed he is, how much McHale sucks, how bad Bev is on offense, Howard's bad post-ups, our need for a second (third) play-maker, a third star, and whatever else that I can't think of then you are just being an unrealistic homer.  Egads, people!

JG I think you hit the nail on the head with this paragraph. I think alot of people on this forum are a little scared of posting a strictly positive comment about the Rockets for fear of being labeled as a homer. There seems to be caveats to every comment. We won, but [insert negative criticism here]. Being a homer is not a bad thing as long as you are not a delusional homer such as some Laker fans who think they are going to make the playoffs and/or Kobe is going to be MVP.

 

Are the Rockets favored to win the title? At this juncture, no we are not, but we are favored to make the playoffs, and knowing that is half the battle (GI JOE!!). The rest of the battle occurs in the playoffs, and for the foreseeable future, it will be a toss up to see who makes it out of the West from that point. For now, let's just relish in the fact we are winning games despite the flaws we have. It could be much much worse.

I still don get it, when did it happen before? Plus, it is never about give his number up or not. What u said seems irrelevant to the situation...

I agree it is not about whether or not he would give up his number or not. That is not the point I made. My point was I found it ironic that he posted that scripture, which talked about turning the other cheek when someone wrongs you, and then even made a reply tweet saying how much he felt "disrespected."  Why not just read the words, do what they say, and take solace that you answer to a higher power? No, he didn't go that route, he had to post his hurt feelings on twitter. I'm not saying what he did was wrong, but I just found it rather tacky and could see the irony in the situation. He made something out of nothing (just like the media did) when he could have just "turned the other cheek."

The most ironic thing to me about the scripture he used is that he doesn't adhere to the words of the scripture. Instead of saying, "Hey Melo, come to Houston, I'd be happy to give you my number," he gets all butthurt about it. What happened to turning the other cheek and giving a man your shirt when they ask for your cloak? Nooo...you gotta go to twitter and post how "disrespected" you feel. Like many others have said, this sort of thing happens all the time. Sure the Rockets could have handled it differently, but so could've Lin.

I think he knows his time is up in Houston and he is throwing a little pissy fit on his way out whenever given the opportunity. I've tried really hard to like him and I'll never forget Linsanity, but ever since he's been in Houston, he has been quite a disappointment.

Sheesh has Asik's value really diminished so that we are now dumpster diving for players like Marion/Dalembert and Prince? Just because Asik isn't playing much for us right now does not mean his value is worth getting some has beens or never were type guys. I feel we can get a solid 2014 draft pick or a true contributor for Asik; we just have to wait until near the trade deadline when all of last offseason's signings and such become available. Then alot more puzzle pieces become available and I'm sure Morey will find the one that fits.

I think that the Mavericks have had a terrible free agency period thus far.  So far they've spent the bulk of their cap room on two older guards who will help them be average at best next year, with little hope to improve down the road.  I get the sense that Cuban  is hopelessly adrift.  Am I missing something?

 

The Hawks are another interesting case.  They did so well in clearing tons of cap space, but have spent it in a way that makes it more or less impossible to be real contenders.

The Mavericks have had a terrible free agency period two years in a row. All you hear from Dallas fans now is complaining about how Cuban didn't keep his championship team together. I understand exactly why Cuban did it and I actually agree with his strategy. He didn't want to give Barea, Butler and Chandler multi-year contracts when he knew Williams would be a FA last off season and he didn't bring back Terry and Kidd this last season knowing better FAs were available this offseason. So he decided to conserve his cap space, go all in, and hope Nowitzki's stardom could lure one or multiple big fish to Big D. Only problem with that strategy is the big FAs can only choose one place each and there were better fits out there since Nowitzki and his surrounding cast (if you can call it a surrounding cast) is older.

 

I actually think Cuban and the Mavs were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. He would not have won another championship had he held on to Barea, Butler, Chandler and Terry, and it doesn't look like he will be any closer in the foreseeable future. They will bounce back though eventually just like the Lakers will unfortunately.

 

Same basic story with the Hawks give or take a few players. Both the Mavs and Hawks were trying to pull a Miami and strip their team bare and win the FA Superstar Sweepstakes only this time they both came up empty. Atleast Nowitzki was able to win one before he rides off into the sunset.

Talent wise I chose Yao/McGrady. Yao's offensive game was much better than Howard's game and Yao still was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive end although Howard has the nod in that category. Add in Yao's free throw percentage and it is no contest between Howard and Yao.

 

Now McGrady and Harden are a little harder to judge for me. I love Harden's game and I know he plays within the Rockets' system of either layups or 3s but I think McGrady has a better all around game than Harden in that McGrady could get to the rim, hit the three and had a nice mid-range game. Harden may have a mid-range game but we may never get to see it. Another big fear I have about Harden is what happens when his ability to get to the foul line dries up? We all seen what happened to Kevin Martin and I fear the same type of thing could happen to Harden. Granted Harden has now become one of the superstars in the league and that fact right there may help him to continue to get the benefit of the doubt but what happened to Martin will always be in the back of my mind. So with that and Harden's mid-range game in mind, I give the nod to McGrady.

 

Having said all that, Harden/Howard are more than likely to be more successful than Yao/McGrady because they have a better team surrounding them and obviously Yao/McGrady couldn't stay on the floor. As long as Harden/Howard stay healthy the sky is the limit for them and since they are Rockets, I like their chances.

I think people are observing these 30 point games and this sort of stuff because while Hakeem at 37 just wasn't himself anymore, Duncan at 37 is doing this sort of stuff and making the All-NBA 1st team.  It's a testament to his durability and the length of his career. 

 

I'll take Duncan, even though Olajuwon at his height was better.  I'm not too fond of a lot of some of the pro-Hakeem arguments, however, because you could honestly use this stuff to argue that Hakeem was better than say, Kareem, and that's just ridiculous.

First of all I do believe you mean 30 point game and not games (and boy did he fizzle in the second half as I thought for sure he was gonna score atleast 40 and had he done so he would have #5 already), but I see your point; however, you talk about not being too fond of the pro-Hakeem arguments, but the pro-Duncan argument of his durability and length of his career to me doesn't hold much weight.

 

The numbers don't lie Olajuwan had a much better career than Duncan and not just during Hakeem's height.

 

Hakeem's stats:

http://www.basketbal.../olajuha01.html

 

Duncan's stats:

http://www.basketbal.../duncati01.html

 

I definitely give Duncan his props for what he accomplished this year, but I think most forget how pedestrian Duncan's stats were the last two seasons before this one (15.4 PPG and 9 RPG last season and 13.4 PPG and 8.9 RPG the season before). At the same age Olajuwan was putting up 16.4 PPG and 9.8 RPG at age 35 and 23.2 PPG and 9.2 RPG at age 34. Not to mention he was still averaging 2 blocks and 1.5 steals a game during that stretch.

 

Maybe Duncan has been and will be better in the twilight of his career compared to Hakeem but it doesn't negate the fact that Duncan's overall career numbers can't hold a candle compared to The Dream's numbers and the fact that the Dream did so under such duress just adds to it.

Duncan may have more rings but Hakeem is much better defensively and offensively he had to play in the generation of the Center. Hakeem's post moves were a thing of beauty. I'd take the Dream Shake any day of the week over Duncan's masterful ability to go glass.

 

Hell I'm surprised it is 3-1 Duncan over Hakeem  at the moment on a Rockets' blog. Duncan has one 30 point game in the Finals this year and all of a sudden Rocket fans forget how truly dominant The Dream was and he had to play against the likes of The Admiral, Shaq and Ewing all in their prime. I give all the props in the world to what Duncan has accomplished in his career but even Robert Horry who played with both Hakeem and Duncan said Hakeem was the better player.

 

Maybe you youngins need a crash course in Hakeem's greatness:

 

 

Shorter version of the Dream's dominance for those who don't have time to watch that whole clip:

 

The "apron" rule only applies to S&T's for the team receiving the S&T'ed player, not the team sending the player out.  So in this case, the team receiving the S&T'ed player is the Clippers, but they are not within that tax range.  

I'm still quite confused on this rule but I am starting to believe you and 2016 have to be correct on this part of the rule since when I read articles about the potential Lakers/Clippers sign and trade, RBFs and my point of view is NEVER discussed. So I guess when Larry Coon writes:

 

Starting in 2013-14, the team receiving the player cannot be above the
"apron" ($4 million above the tax level) after the trade^{1, 2}.
A team above the apron can receive a player in a sign-and-trade if the
trade reduces the team's payroll and the team finishes the trade below
the apron.

 

Even though in the first sentence Larry refers to the player signed (Dwight Howard) as "THE" player and in the second sentence he says "A" player he still is referring to the player signed (Howard) and not to Griffin. Looking back 2016 even said as much but I guess I didn't believe him.

 

Finally, when I used this Larry Coon question:

 

Jeff

Also can they realistically get under the apron to make a sign and trade?

 

Larry Coon

As for getting under the apron to do a sign-and-trade, right now they’re
at about $79.6 million, and they’d have to FINISH the sign and trade
below the apron (which I’m guessing will be around $77 million). If they
could do a sign-and-trade where they trade away a few million more than
they acquire, it could work.

 

In this answer Larry is not referring to New York signing and trading a player away (hell looking at New York's FAs they have absolutely no one worthy enough to sign and trade away). He is talking about New York receiving a player in a sign and trade.

 

So yeah 2016, my bad for all the grief. I still don't think it is fair in the slightest for teams to be able to sign and trade their FAs when they are over the apron, receive players in return and still be over the apron. RBF's and my point of view makes all the sense in the world, but for now, it seems to not be the CBAs point of view.

I bet I know why he never comes up with anything tangible: If he publicly mentions what tangible things he needs and the Rockets show they are accommodating those things, White would not have a leg to stand on. He would then either have to shut up and do his job or admit he has been doing all of this as some sort of crusade against corporations and big business. I'm always hearing too much of what is not being done for him (protocol, recognition, respect etc.) and nothing of what HE is doing to actually do his job. Maybe if he would go into more detail on some of the concessions he has made in this deal I would be more likely to side with him again. Until then, he is just whining to whine.

Ughh..after watching that CNN clip I'm ready to wash my hands of this guy. Speaking of the clip, is it me or with each new video that surfaces of him, he is starting to look and talk more and more like a pompous douche?

 

Anyway, I'm getting so tired of him doing nothing but talking smack about how businesses and corporations are out there only to make money and don't care about its employees (which can be true at times but not always) and that he is not being treated fairly when it comes to mental illness but whenever anyone asks him on how he is being treated unfairly or what else needs to be done to accommodate his needs, he basically dodges the question and goes to his same old talking points of "recognition of mental illness." He is like a one trick pony with his talking points. Come up with something new please (poop or get off the pot). Also, what is the big secret of what the Rockets are "not doing" to accommodate him? It's like he is holding the Rockets hostage but can't make up his mind on what his demands should be when talking to the negotiator. It is my opinion Royce White doesn't even know now what needs to be done if anything, wants to soak up all this media exposure and hopes everyone will ignore the fact he is sucking on the court.

 

My only solace now is that he has burned so many bridges and he is sucking so bad, a year from now he will more than likely be out of the NBA and will be a distant memory of just another washed up draft pick. It just sucks he was our draft pick.

 

I apologize if I'm being too cruel and I am usually not like this, but as a physically disabled person myself, it sounds like he is trying to abuse the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to get his every wish, and I take offense to that because it could wind up hurting those of us who want to use the ADA to help us integrate into society instead of having society coddle or reject us due to our disability.

Sigh I wish I was getting to watch them at all. I got to see the national televised games but I gave up watching them on the computer using firstrow and others like it. Too many ads and too poor quality. It's a shame because I am missing the best season the Rockets have had in quite some time, but thankfully it looks like this is just the beginning of something great.

I only got to see the fourth quarter but the play that upset me the most was not getting the rebound after Wade missed both free throws. It would be easy to blame Patterson for not getting that rebound, but I blame Sampson. On the biggest rebound of the game to get, Sampson did not have Asik in the game until after Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled. In my opinion he should have had Asik, Patterson and Jones in the game to ensure we got that rebound, but he still had his small lineup that featured Patterson as our center. That was the biggest play of the game that ultimately led to Harden dribbling down the clock and jacking up a three.

Amac,

My guess is he just wanted to give people who are on the bubble like Forbes, Smith and a Machado a view extra minutes in tonight's game since it was the last preseason game. Patterson hasn't played in two games and I would imagine he will be starting Halloween night, so I wouldn't be too worried about Lamb.

The worrying will start if Mchale decides to give more minutes to Delfino over Lamb once the regular season starts because that just sounds like something Mchale would do. People speculate Mchale will play the veterans more time over the rookies to have a better chance to win and keep his job but in my opinion he should lose his job IF he doesn't play the rookies a fair amount this season as we are not going to win very many games with or without veterans and our team will only get better if some of these rookies pan out.

I never really was a fan of Stephen A. Smith but after Dolan and Smith's beloved Knicks decided not to match Houston's offer sheet to Jeremy Lin, Smith has had nothing but bad things to say about both the Rockets and Lin. It really is starting to piss me off that ESPN.com can only show clips of Smith and Bayless arguing or Jalen Rose giving his two cents (though at least Rose will give Lin some props) about Lin and the situation with the Rockets. I know if I don't like it I shouldn't watch it but I can't help it since those really are the only clips that are posted on ESPN and they are even posted on the right side of Red94.

But back to Smith: All that punk can do is put down Lin for not playing in the playoffs and how the Knicks don't need him. Then he rants how Houston is going no where and the Knicks will only have to worry about playing the Rockets twice since the Rockets aren't contenders. Now don't get me wrong, if the Rockets don't get Howard or Bynum, that is correct the Rockets will suck extremely bad next year, but that doesn't mean Houston's future is headed in the wrong direction.

And if we get Howard or Bynum, we still may not be title contenders but we will be better than the Knicks. Speaking of the Knicks, it is not like they are going to be contenders. They will be lucky to get the 4th or 5th seed in the East and that is with teams like Orlando and Atlanta doomed to fall in the standings. The Knicks more than likely will be lucky to get past the first round and they will only suck more as time goes since Kidd, Melo, Stoudemire aren't going to get any better and Felton probably isn't going to get any skinnier.

I bet had the Rockets stuck with their original offer sheet and the Knicks matched, Smith would be so far up Lin's a$$ he could give Lin an early colonoscopy report, but since that didn't happen, all I want to do is hire Sagat so that he can do his patented move.