just one question- why is everyone bent on T-Mac going back to SG? His natural position IS SF...Van Gundy hates playing guys out of position and that's one of the reasons he has T-Mac in the frontcourt and he's ok with it. I personally like T-Mac in the frontcourt and I think he's played better there (even though his overall points were down this year)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't want to see Mobley back at all. This is a guy who needs the ball to be productive. If he doesn't get to attack the basket, I doubt he would like it. If he is willing to be a Wesley-like guy in that he would take open perimeter shots and play defense while not doing much else, then I'd re-consider, but I won't like his reckless drives to the basket and streaky three point shooting. He is also turnover-prone, something we've tried to get away from this season.</div> First off all, I don't know why you're so high on Wesley. He plays good D, and his a streaky shooter. But he's TOO SHORT. He's not athletic enough to finish the break, as you saw when Dirk swatted his shot every time he attempted to lay the ball up on a fast break. I would rather have Mobley back. He does take some stupid shots, but he's a scorer and he's athletic with speed. The Rockets need to get more speed. Also, Cliff Robinson would have been a great pick for the Rockets 10 YEARS AGO, not now. I would look at somebody like Tyson Chandler. If we could pick up Chandler, then I would feel better about Mutumbo leaving.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rockfan06:</div><div class="quote_post">First off all, I don't know why you're so high on Wesley. He plays good D, and his a streaky shooter. But he's TOO SHORT. He's not athletic enough to finish the break, as you saw when Dirk swatted his shot every time he attempted to lay the ball up on a fast break. I would rather have Mobley back. He does take some stupid shots, but he's a scorer and he's athletic with speed. The Rockets need to get more speed. Also, Cliff Robinson would have been a great pick for the Rockets 10 YEARS AGO, not now. I would look at somebody like Tyson Chandler. If we could pick up Chandler, then I would feel better about Mutumbo leaving.</div> Wesley might be undersized, but I have a lot of faith in his ability. He has harassed every opponent to bad performances even when he's giving up 4-6 inches on most nights. That is damn impressive. If size was really much of an issue, then we could have switched the 6-5 Sura to guard the opponent's shooting guard and Wesley to guard their point guard. However, JVG knows that Wesley would do a much better job than Sura, who actually is also a good defender in his own right. On offense, as I said, we don't need any more than long range shooting from our SGs. Chandler would be a dream pickup, but the Bulls look like they are determined to match any offer Chandler gets. Unless we offer him an absurd contract that Chicago would be scared to match, then I doubt we would have a go at Chandler. We're also limited by our cap space which would mean that Atlanta or New Orleans could offer him much more lucrative contracts.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Wesley might be undersized, but I have a lot of faith in his ability. He has harassed every opponent to bad performances even when he's giving up 4-6 inches on most nights. That is damn impressive. If size was really much of an issue, then we could have switched the 6-5 Sura to guard the opponent's shooting guard and Wesley to guard their point guard. However, JVG knows that Wesley would do a much better job than Sura, who actually is also a good defender in his own right. On offense, as I said, we don't need any more than long range shooting from our SGs.</div> Then how come Wesley has been completely abused by the offense everytime I watch him play. One guy just keeps sticking in my mind when I think of Wesley's defense- Stackhouse. There's probably more but I just can't think of any right now. Everytime I watched the Mavericks and Rockets play, Stackhouse just stepped in at the sixth man spot and made Wesley's defense look pitiful. A lot of it has to do with size where Stackhouse would just pop fadeaways over Wesley. Personally, I don't really like Wesley that much. Sure he does great when his shots are falling in, but other than that he really does jack. He's just too streaky and undependable. Trip, you keep praising him about his defense- well there's plenty of guys in the league that can do that and hit threes. Wesley's getting old (in fact he already is) and doesn't exactly have athleticism going for him. I want Houston to start transition into a younger team gradually or else we might be burned out constantly by younger high octane teams like the Suns or Mavericks. By the way, Duhon like you said earlier would be killer player to have on this team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">Then how come Wesley has been completely abused by the offense everytime I watch him play. One guy just keeps sticking in my mind when I think of Wesley's defense- Stackhouse. There's probably more but I just can't think of any right now. Everytime I watched the Mavericks and Rockets play, Stackhouse just stepped in at the sixth man spot and made Wesley's defense look pitiful. A lot of it has to do with size where Stackhouse would just pop fadeaways over Wesley. Personally, I don't really like Wesley that much. Sure he does great when his shots are falling in, but other than that he really does jack. He's just too streaky and undependable. Trip, you keep praising him about his defense- well there's plenty of guys in the league that can do that and hit threes. Wesley's getting old (in fact he already is) and doesn't exactly have athleticism going for him. I want Houston to start transition into a younger team gradually or else we might be burned out constantly by younger high octane teams like the Suns or Mavericks. By the way, Duhon like you said earlier would be killer player to have on this team.</div> Stats might prove otherwise. Actually, one of my everlasting memories of Wesley's defense is actually him against Stackhouse this season. In four games against the Rockets in the regular season, Stackhouse shot 31.3% from the floor, 15/48. In the playoffs, he shot 40.2% on 33/82. Although his 41.4% clip on the season isn't that impressive either, he has shot below average against the Rockets. Notables are 4 for 17 in March, and 4-13, 4-12 and 3-10 in the playoffs. While it hasn't been Wesley guarding Stackhouse all the time, most of the credit here has to go to him. It might seem like Stackhouse gets those baseline fadeaways off easily with Wesley on him, but Wesley is always able to harrass him into making the shot a low percentage one.
I personally think wesley will be the one gone this offseason...he's a nice defender, but his shot is streaky and he doesnt offer much else...it's not in our best interests to have a 6'1" starting 2-guard...I think Mobley has refined his game a lot since his early years in Houston, and I think after a one-year journey through the pits of Orlando and Sacramento, he would be more appreciative of a return to Houston...the fact is that the man averages 17 ppg, 4 rpg and shoots a high percentage (39% or so) on his trey attempts...he can break down defenses with ease, and I was actually quite impressed with his defensive job on Kobe in the Lakers-Rockets playoff series of 2004...so I would think it would be a no-brainer to give up Wes and bring in Mobley if it was possible...
