Reading's fundamental. I acknowledged Martin was a legit #2 scorer. But if you roll him out as your 2nd best player, you're probably in trouble. See Scaramento 06-07.

[This message has been edited by ATM9000 (edited 6/26/2011 7:22p).]

Look, I think Kmart's alright and I think he's a very specific and unique type of scorer. He doesn't need the ball to score, but at the same time, he's not great at creating his own shot... and we know he plays no defense. He's a good player, but he doesn't have the all-around talent of a top tier superstar nor that of a top tier scorer. He's a good scorer who can't do much of anything else... that's it. On top 5 or 6 team, he's a 2nd or 3rd scorer.

This is the first year that Martin got through relatively injury free. He is also entering into his prime.

The Rockets have a bucket load of players 24 and under who have yet to have matured. Some of them are not ever going to amount to much. Some will. I just don't know what else Morey could realistically do with his situation.

Still for team of second and third tier players they have done pretty dang good. They are generally competitive night in and night out. I do believe it was the right move to replace Aldelman. Good coach but the wrong fit at this time.

The team was built to feature Yao and McGrady. Thus the Battier trade. At the time it was a good trade. The goal is to win championships and Battier was to be a finishing touch and glue player to get them over the top. It's like saying that the Magic trading for Alston who is now retired was a horrible deal by them. Given the situation at hand it was an understandable deal. We were going for the crown Memphis was rebuilding. You cannot look at things through your own grid.

It was not Morey anyway for you to put that on him is a huge reach. There was a team mandate, get the players around Yao and McGrady and go win a crown.

So tell me what would you REALISTICALLY DUE if you were in Morey's shoes today to bring a super star player to the Rockets when you owner has told you specifically to not tank? Please no hindsite or fantasy stuff. What would you do right now?

Scola is also a really nice player as is Landry. The Rockets have a number of guys that would find 20 to 30 minutes of playing team on the vast majority of NBA teams. If you don't think Martin can't create his own shot I doubt you have watched many Rockets games. Martin is phenomenal off the dribble and shooting the three and is one of the tops in the league at getting to the FT line where he is very proficient. If he couldn't create his own shot how come he gets to the FT line so much? Oh and I would take Martin over Landry ALL DAY LONG! That's another advantage Morey in the trade dept.

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So tell me what would you REALISTICALLY DUE if you were in Morey's shoes today to bring a super star player to the Rockets when you owner has told you specifically to not tank? Please no hindsite or fantasy stuff. What would you do right now?

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There's been player movement all over the place the last 2 seasons. We saw Bosh, Boozer, Williams, Stoudemire, Anthony, James, Gasol, Randolph, Garnett, Allen, etc... list goes on. Player movement has been rampant in the league over the last 4 years of extremely good players. Specific move? Not sure, but the claim that there's 'nothing Morey can do' is tired and completely goes against what's happened since 07 or so. However, right now, I'd be burning up the phones with Atlanta and offerring whatever I could to bring Josh Smith to Houston... that'd be a start.

Specific moves, I know Charlotte basically gave Chandler to Dallas last year. Omer Asik could have been had for Courtney Lee. Lee's a better player, but Asik makes the Rockets a better team.

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Scola is also a really nice player as is Landry.

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Landry was a bench player for one bad and another playoff team this year. Scola's the same for most Western Conference teams. I say that, not because I think Scola or Landry suck, but because they aren't as great as Rockets fans make them to be. The 4 spot is loaded in the NBA right now.

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If you don't think Martin can't create his own shot I doubt you have watched many Rockets games. Martin is phenomenal off the dribble and shooting the three and is one of the tops in the league at getting to the FT line where he is very proficient. If he couldn't create his own shot how come he gets to the FT line so much? Oh and I would take Martin over Landry ALL DAY LONG! That's another advantage Morey in the trade dept.

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Martin's a very intelligent offensive player... that's how he gets to the line so often. Credit to him for doing it. But if YOU think Martin creates his own shot, I doubt you watch much of the Rockets. He lacks the first step to create much of his own shot. I give Morey credit for the Martin trade... in a way, he really took a risk. The Kings had massive financial problems and he was able to pry Martin away at the time for a good discount.

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It was not Morey anyway for you to put that on him is a huge reach.

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Michael Lewis wrote an article about the statistical analysis Battier that disagrees w/ this.

Martin has an incredible first step! He is one of the best triple threat position player in the game. He is intelligent but his first step is outstanding. He attacks the rim very well and that is why he gets fouled so much. If you play off him he shoots the three very quickly and is very smooth, if you tighten down he goes by you and you foul him. THAT'S HIS GAME.

Josh Smith is the ultimate tease...very talented, can be a defensive presence with blocked shots and steals at times, but he's not a great rebounder, tends to wander around on the perimeter too much and shoot 3's (shot 154 last year) and has the rep for not being very coachable. All in all, not the sort of player I'd be going after full bore.

I am not a fan of bringing in Josh Smith I don't think that gets the Rockets any close to where they are. He made as strong a play for Bosh as could of been made. Same can be said for Anthony who wanted to go to New York. Neither Utah or Denver were going to trade Williams or Anthony to West team easily.

James? forget it. I like Lee more then Osik. I don't see how you can claim he makes the Rockets better. You see ultimately we need to make moves that get us closer to being a contender. That is lateral move. Lee still has more upside as well.

I am not one that feels we need to make moves just to make moves. My point about Landry is that he was really good pick of Morey's from the second round that he upgraded to Kevin Martin.

Im still not sure that there is not more to come from Budd either. It really does take about 4 years to mature into your fulness as a player in the NBA unless you are a freak out the gate. I ma not so sure that Patterson is not a star type on the making. There were multiple flashes of brilliance.

We wanted Chandler went for Chandler, Dallas was in a better position. I don't think Chandler would of been that good in Houston as he was in Dallas a veteran squad that was a good fit for him that was in the run for a ring.

Basically Morey is making the Rockets over with younger guys that may or may not have peaked out. Lowry is a + player as is Scola. Are they stars no, but Lowry is still young and may not have peaked yet. No one questions his toughness and his leadership. His shooting is getting better and he is proving to be pretty clutch. The Rockets need and an athletic big that can score and not be a defensive liability or they need a tough interior defender.

Still they are a middle of the pack team with mostly a bunch of young players that may or may not develop into plus guys. It is very difficult to upgrade in that situation through trades. Teams want to grab your plus young guys and give you huge contracts for a guy that is not a real difference maker or else they wouldn't be looking to trade them. IE Josh Smith.

The problem isn't that Martin is our best player. It's that Scola, or maybe Lowry, is our #2. Scola needs to be #3 or #4 on a top team. We need someone to contend with K-Mart as our #1. He needs at least a 1b to his 1a, although getting a true super star would obviously be the most ideal situation. At the very least we need someone to take Scola's spot as the #2 player on the team.

Patterson could end up as a very fine PF, but don't think he'll ever be a truly dominant PF. He definitely has top 10 PF ability IMO, which is saying something because PF is a stacked position at this time. Donatas could be a very fine PF in this league. If he puts on good weight, his upside is incredible.

I need to see Morris play the 3 before I buy it. I'm not sold on his quickness or outside shooting. If he can do it, he could be just what we need there. A strong defender and scorer, and most importantly a mismatch.

A mismatch is what I think we're missing the most of all. K-Mart is a phenomenal scorer, top 5 in the league, but he's not a true mismatch out there. Scola, Lowry, and whoever we have at 5 are not mismatches. Patterson, as good as he may end up, is not really a mismatch. A lot of this issue (lacking a mismatch) has to do with our lack of size down low. Morris and Donatas could be that mismatch because of their skills and size. They're not ready yet though.

Therefore, the first step needs to be getting a legitimately sized center. There are quite a few out there that would help. The center doesn't need to be a prolific scorer. He just needs to defend the paint (because Scola sure as heck can't). Beyond that, I don't see a whole lot we can do for this up coming season, aside from trades. We need Budinger, Patterson, and Lowry to really progress. If Patterson could surpass Scola, that'd be huge because he can score, defend, and rebound.

I think SF is the obvious position to target in a trade, assuming we can get a good defensive center. Dream scenario for me would be to get Danny Granger. I think he's incredibly underrated and would fit perfectly: he's a mismatch, he can score and shoot, and he's a very good defender. Add Granger and a defensive center, and I think we're a legit contender. Otherwise I just don't think we'll be able to progress quickly enough.

i have no issues with kevin martin on offense. i think he's a very talented scorer and he's obviously very efficient at doing so.

the problem is that just as easily as he gets you buckets on the offensive end of the court, the opposing team can get buckets just as easily because he is an absolutely terrible defender.

You guys are crazy to think the Rockets are geting DeAndre, Josh Smith, or any of these guys. No way the Clipeprs and Hawks are letting them go.

Biedrins is just another player and not what the Rockets need. Their smartest play would be to trade all their talent RIGHT NOW for any first rounders they can get in next years draft. Next years draft is the deepest in history. Kyrie Irving would be going about 10th next year and the kid from Arizona would fall in the 15-18 range. John Henson is projected in the 15-18 range and he would have been top 3 this year. Anyone who doubts that just doesn't get basketball.

Scola for a first rounder next year, K Mart for a first rounder, Lowrie and whatever else you want for a first rounder. Give away anything that fits in the cap that anyone wants for an extra first rounder or two.

2012 is really that deep.

I love how JJ created his account in May..Just in time for the title run uh?? snicker..

Let me guess MFFL???

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5/6/2011 1:03:12 AM

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Scola for a first rounder next year, K Mart for a first rounder, Lowrie and whatever else you want for a first rounder. Give away anything that fits in the cap that anyone wants for an extra first rounder or two.

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[This message has been edited by CFTXAG10 (edited 6/27/2011 6:20p).]

Xtra Large, I used to have this same handle name about 2 years ago then changed the name on that account and eventually forgot the password. I've been a Mavs fan since I was a kid and been posting on this board since 2008. Congrats on your 42-40 record next year bud. I'd like to know the next time a Houston team will go to the playoffs.

JJ thats cool..but you same to smack talk Houston a ton??? Yes the rockets have been mediocre for awhile. Though to be fair they lost two of the their stars in Yao in Mcgrady...

You gotta give Morey credit for keeping them respectably during this time....

Oh and congrats on the Mavs title...

Morey needs to get a superstar in there somehow. If he does it soon and somehow manages to keep Kevin Martin then we could see the Rockets having a similar run to the 2011 Mavs or the 1994 Rockets with one superstar and a collection of other good, quality players.

Once Morey gets a superstar in there then I'll subsribe to his greatness. Obviously he's gotta make a trade within the next year or order Mchale to tank the season to get high in the lottery. I'm not sure if it'll matter though as I see the Thunder and Hear dominating the NBA for the next 5 years. At least you wont have to hear from the Mavs or Spurs anymore as both will be screwed by 2013.

Rockets are turning into the golden state warriors..... Depressing