HOUSTON ROCKETS Thread '14/'15 - Offseason - Picks (+ Jason Terry)

[puglife]

Had fun at the game tonight.
Kind of mad I missed out on the Dwight Howard Bobbleheads, though. :\

bro...those were the worst looking bobbleheads I've ever seen

only caught the 1st quarter last night. glad we blew out a team start to finish that we were supposed to blow out. starters got some rest so they should be good to go again tonight against the mavs.

tjones

 

[markangelo]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 “The truth is that I can’t wait to get back to Houston to do more work with Dwight,” said Olajuwon, who left Houston in early October to return to his home in Amman, Jordan and has been keeping track of his pupil on TV. “I wish he was doing a better job.

“Dwight has always been athletic and aggressive and he still is. But when I watch him, what I see are opportunities that he is missing. When he gets the ball, he seems to be taking his time to decide what move to make, where he should go.

“There should not be a delay for Dwight. He must be able to make a faster recognition of the situations and react immediately with a go-to move. You must move right away before the defense has a chance to set up. You must be the one making the first move so that you can force the defender to always be the one reacting.

“I thought we were doing a good job with this when we were working together over the summer and at the start of training camp. But what I see now is that when Dwight gets in competition, he has a tendency to go back to all of his old habits. He’s just doing all of the things that he did before. He needs a reminder.”

Link

 

[daruma]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 “The truth is that I can’t wait to get back to Houston to do more work with Dwight,” said Olajuwon, who left Houston in early October to return to his home in Amman, Jordan and has been keeping track of his pupil on TV. “I wish he was doing a better job.


“Dwight has always been athletic and aggressive and he still is. But when I watch him, what I see are opportunities that he is missing. When he gets the ball, he seems to be taking his time to decide what move to make, where he should go.


“There should not be a delay for Dwight. He must be able to make a faster recognition of the situations and react immediately with a go-to move. You must move right away before the defense has a chance to set up. You must be the one making the first move so that you can force the defender to always be the one reacting.


“I thought we were doing a good job with this when we were working together over the summer and at the start of training camp. But what I see now is that when Dwight gets in competition, he has a tendency to go back to all of his old habits. He’s just doing all of the things that he did before. He needs a reminder.”

Link

hopefully olajuwon can help dwight.. who will help us get another chip.

 

[do work son]

tbh, i'm not a fan of that idea lol. the only thing i want hakeem teaching dwight is:

dropstep to the middle to shoot a hook over either shoulder. and ferociously dunking everything he possibly can

 

[puglife]

dwight needs all the help he can get in the post. he is very ineffective for how much he tries.

got my xmas day jersey in the mail yesterday. ordered it for myself in a size large, but it's too big. luckily the boo tried to surprise me with a medium that should be coming later this week so i'm good regardless.

View media item 662314
View media item 662315

 

[jewbacca]

the Adidas jerseys run huge lol

def need to go down a size from what you normally think you wear.  

 

[markangelo]

Pug that's
I actually don't quite hate them
where did u order em?

 

[puglife]

i got mine off the nba store. rocketsshop.com has them too, but my friend did a "best offer" from an ebay seller and got his for like $90 instead of $115.

i'm not toooo fond of them, but i've been looking forward to these sleeved jerseys too long not to get it. they're only going to be wearing these particular jerseys one time so it's whatever. hopefully we do update our jerseys for next season though.

 

[Peep Game]

Those definitely aren't bad, especially for us fans who are just wearing them to wear them. As full on unis though (like the Warriors), those things look like feet.

 

[do work son]

i'll check if they're in the team store on saturday. that 20% off is real

 

[Humbled]

Not feeling those... Don't know why

TJones

 

[jvthagr8]

Pretty good read...

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/64068/no-more-moreyball-just-basketball

It’s early November of 2012. An unfamiliar buzz flows through Toyota Center; the stands are dotted with makeshift beards. Eyes are fixed upon the oversize HD screen hanging at center court. When the camera focuses on James Harden, who is warming up, the crowd becomes delirious. There is, once again, a star in Houston. 

It’s October 2013. Dwight Howard  stands at the corner locker in Houston’s expensively renovated locker room. An LCD monitor hangs above him -- there’s one above every locker -- detailing some unconventional stats. The big man seems content, quietly joking with reporters nearby. About an hour has passed since Howard pulled down a career high-tying 26 rebounds in his Rockets regular-season debut. Like the billboards with his image that can be seen on the drive into the arena, Howard at this moment stands taller than his listed 6-foot-10. He is the fruit of an almost two-year-long pursuit. 

 

---

Long after Yao Ming’s body could take no more and Tracy McGrady had already been shipped away, the quest for a fresh foundation had begun. With the two forlorn superstars off the books, everything in Houston revolved around finding the franchise’s next centerpieces. Management took gambles on lottery busts and let several free agents walk for nothing. It traded Kyle Lowry  and amnestied Luis Scola  in the name of flexibility. 

The mission in Houston was “asset arbitrage,” creating value where it didn’t exist. The goal was not so much to fill a lineup but rather to short on players while value continuously accrued, waiting for the moment to completely cash in on one prized stock; in some ways, that revolving door of acquired lottery busts represented Daryl Morey’s idea of diversifying his odds. 

---

Some decried the constant, seemingly directionless dealing. Morey didn’t understand basketball, they said. He didn’t value chemistry and longevity, bedrock elements in sports success. “You can’t manage a roster like a stock portfolio. How will a team ever grow?” 

But now, with Harden and Howard in tow and Morey’s methods validated, for the first time in years on 1510 Polk St., the rumblings are not about cap space and asset accumulation. The debate does not center upon the high-end free agency market but rather defensive rotations. For the first time during the Morey era, basketball matters most. 

The transition began last year, when Morey applied his ideology to the game action, designing a system that pushed the pace and eschewed midrange jump shots. The strategy led to a playoff berth and precious experience for foundational pieces like Harden,Chandler Parsons  and Jeremy Lin  -- experience that can be seen as more valuable than the acquisition of yet another low lottery pick. In the following months, still distraught from the bitter defeat, players approached offseason regimens with added emphasis. That extra attention has paid off for Lin and Parsons in particular. 

Yet for all of the individual progress, for the sum of the parts, the results have been mixed. Anointed by many as contenders, the Rockets have underperformed by most people’s expectations, entering Wednesday’s matchup with Dallas at 8-4 and in fifth place in the Western Conference. On Nov. 7, the Los Angeles Lakers  torched Houston with a 3-point barrage, a few nights after the Clippers had carved up its perimeter defense. Those L.A. affairs raised concerns about the team’s ability and willingness to defend, things serious observers wouldn’t have cared about even a year before. Blown leads in consecutive games against the Clippers, Raptors and Sixers raised other red flags about focus and late-game strategy, which again would have been ancillary matters in the past. 
 

---

Before an early-November home game, Omer Asik  peeks out from the corridor -- near the showers where press is not allowed -- into the Rockets locker room. Seeing a few reporters awaiting pre-game availability, he retreats back into safety around the wall. A week earlier, already clad in blue jeans and a green sweater, Asik is stopped by Rockets staffers on behalf of the media as he attempts to dart toward the exit elevators. This was the same night that Howard was introduced over the PA as the starter at power forward for the first time since 2004. “This is the only time we’ve gotten to speak to him in two years,” someone quips of the shy big man. Asik is asked his thoughts on starting next to Howard, an experiment to which the Rockets -- at the time -- were committed. He responds in expected generalities. 

But any hope for that frontcourt marriage has ended. With the thinking being that Asik was too valuable to just give up, Kevin McHale  tried in vain to pair his two centers together for 12 minutes per game. The results were disastrous and the plug has been pulled. Now Asik has yet again asked out and will inevitably be dealt. 

But while that matter is of a transactional nature, the on-court implications are of paramount concern. In previous years, the focus in these situations was placed upon greatest value return (or whatever star was available, for that matter). Now the key words now are “stretch 4” and “rim protection.” The Rockets have a set manner in which they play and a set foundation, and whomever they acquire for Asik must fit neatly into that master scheme. We care now about floor spacing and the interior defense when Howard is not on the court; we’re no longer only counting dollars under the cap. 
 

Prior to yet another Houston home affair, Chandler Parsons walks into the Houston locker room following warm-ups, sweating lightly but hair still immaculately sculpted. With a smile and a wink, Parsons pushes the rap music sounding overhead to deafening levels before sprinting away, rendering Patrick Beverley  -- speaking to the media about his replacement of Lin in the starting lineup -- barely audible. Parsons is in some ways the team’s leader, its longest tenured member. And the upcoming decision regarding his status might perhaps be the greatest sign of an evolving ethos in Houston. The club can either make the swingman a restricted free agent in 2014 or allow him to become unrestricted the following year. Either way, judging by the dollars commanded by comparable players such as Nicolas Batum, Parsons is due a hefty payday. 

The Morey Model that we've come to know would point toward an obvious route: selling high on Parsons and plugging in a cheaper replacement. That familiar paradigm would likely say that Parsons, not a true star, probably wasn’t worth what he’ll command on the market. But these are different days in Houston, when the games are played on the court rather than strictly on spreadsheets. 

We've reached that point where “cashing out” is no longer an option. Cutting ties with Parsons would mean relinquishing the longest tenured Rocket, the team’s “glue guy.” It would disrupt the chemistry and stability. And as some have said, these things matter. And with Howard and Harden now in the fold, the Rockets are in position to take heed, to embrace the intangibles that quantitative analysis might miss. 

We've reached the point where Morey no longer has to -- or needs to -- play Moreyball.

 

[Peep Game]

That is a very good read. Morey, #PopIt4Parsons

 

[do work son]

Tough loss. McHale has gotta go a better job of keeping this team from going hero ball late in games. Parsons was being a facilitator early and he stopped getting touches. I know Lin struggled, but Beverly shouldn't play that much more than him. Also would like Beverly to just pass, get the hell out of the way, catch and shoot, and defend. DASSIT. Dwight was awesome tonight. Couple of times late he was surrounded 4 Mavericks and didn't get any calls.

 

[puglife]

i felt like tjones and parsons disappeared after the first quarter.

felt like we were playing not to lose in the 4th quarter instead of staying aggressive...and this is exactly how that always turns out. defense is also terrible. that pretty much sums it up.

 

[Peep Game]

Definitely played not to lose in the 4th. It was too much grab the ball and wait 20 seconds for a play to develop. Some bs started happening with home cooking non-calls, but you avoid they by holding onto leads. There was basically no defense from either tea, as the score showed. Just a little defense will have the Rockets blowing teams out. Early on it was looking flawless, and bout from the middle of the third to the end, the team reverted back to crappy hero ball. Should've really got this win, I hate the Mavs, especially now that Dirk's ring made his ***** show in full view.

 

[markangelo]

WTF!! I fell asleep after the third thinking that we're coming out with the W, woke up at 4 to check the score and

 

[do work son]

Offense got stagnant late. A lot of holding the ball with no movement. I have no idea why Parsons and Howard didn't get as many touches late in the game.

 

[do work son]

Oh, and the mavs were hitting everything

 

[markangelo]

Hero ball

We need a defensive wing really bad. Shumpert would be nice

 

[do work son]

Hero ball

We need a defensive wing really bad. Shumpert would be nice

i looked at shump, but i don't know what we'd realistically give them. if we gave them asik, more players would have to be added.

d-mo for shump

notsrs

 

[markangelo]

What about Afflalo

 

[puglife]

Asik played 12 minutes, but I wonder if we're hurting his trade value at this point. dmo might have been more effective for those 12 min.

 

[polosanddunks]

Asik played 12 minutes, but I wonder if we're hurting his trade value at this point. dmo might have been more effective for those 12 min.

Asik gotta go asap. DMo needs to be in

 

[Peep Game]

At this point, that Asik for Shumpert and Kris Humphries looks pretty good right now I know there was a third team involved, and an additional Rockets player, and being that the other Rockets player was probably Jones or DMo, meh, it's a no go.