A few thoughts about the Rockets’ draft
June 29th, 2008by John
It has been a couple of days since the NBA draft, and I normally would have commented on it by now, but it has been extremely busy with me at work and in my personal life. But now that it’s the weekend, I’ve found a few minutes to write, as well as had some time to digest what the Rockets did on Thursday night, as I’m sure you have.
First, you gotta love what Rockets GM Daryl Morey did in getting 2 pretty good players for the price of one. Trading Nicolas Batum for Donte Greene and Joey Dorsey look like great moves (click here for photos from their press conference on Friday that Raymond has posted in the forum).
But since Greene isn’t that great of a ballhandler and is known to take some ill-advised shots, I’m not all that excited about him being a formidable scorer off the bench this season when Tracy McGrady needs a rest. Although Greene ranked higher than Chris Douglas-Roberts, I was hoping CDR somehow would have become a Rocket because of how tough he made his Memphis team along with Derrick Rose. I never underestimate big-time experience like that and the value of being a winner.
Speaking of Memphis, even though he’s only 6′ 7″, I like the Joey Dorsey pickup as a backup center. I love how he describes himself as a “Ray Lewis with a basketball.” He along with Yao and Dikembe Mutombo should be tough matchups on defense for the Tim Duncans and Amare Stoudemires in the West. It’s also cool to have a bench player on your team who is known to be one of the best in a certain category: like Aaron Brooks with speed, Steve Novak with 3-point shooting, Mutombo with shot-blocking, Carl Landry with dunks and jumping ability, and now Dorsey with defense and intensity.
The big work ahead for the Rockets is getting a backup shooting guard to take over Luther Head’s spot, who I don’t expect will be with the team this season. The other is getting a legitimate center who can score, because when Yao is taking a rest, the hole in the offense still remains. Something tells me Loren Woods isn’t going to be the answer. But scoring centers are hard to find. It would have been great if the Rockets could have made a trade for one or both of these during the draft, but now look for Morey to work some of his magic the rest of this summer.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Chris Douglas-Roberts has no D, which is why he dropped to the 2nd round. I am not too crazy about Donte Greene either. The fact that he had a very good first half but a terrible second half season doesn’t thrill me because young good prospects usually don’t regress as they get more experience and playing time. A bust is a 50% possibility.
I like Joey Dorsey, who I think is a solid pick. He will surprise a lot of folks with his high productivity in the NBA. The Rox will be fine in the center department as the Celtics have proven that they could win without a scoring center. What the Rox need is another scoring threat from other positions. Other than Yao and TMac, there was no one else last year. This year, Landry and Scola should fulfill the roles of the third and fourth scoring threat.
To-do list for the Rox players:
Yao — minimize TO. make quick decision in the post
Tmac - shoot less(cut down ill-advised shots) and pass more.
Alston and Bobby Jackson - drive to hoop more
Scola and Brooks - play more D
Battier - hit open 3s more consistently
And most important of all, every one stays healthy.
Nice job, Pat!
July 1st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I am not a big fan of either Bobby Jackson. He’s really just an undersized 2 and way past his prime. Fingers crossed that Steve Francis can somehow regain some of his past explosiveness, and can play the backup 2 spot. If that’s the case, I would drop Jackson and Luther Head off the roster.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 am
hey John,
Couple of months ago I said Baron Davis was trying to leave Golden State.
no one could see it…but I called it!
Too bad the Rockets didn’t make a move for him.
At least I can watch him in LA.