Peter Vecsey: Rockets Are a Wreck

I don't get why people are complaining about Wesley making more money than JJ. NEWSFLASH: We're not gonna be under the cap any time soon. Both players come off the cap in the same year. The money is irrelevant.

Also, why are people expecting Wesley to average 20 a game on a horrible team? He's a shooter. That's why we got him. The Hornets had no one who could create shots, so shooters don't get good looks. JJ is gonna have a helluva time down there getting his "consistent" 14 points per game in that situation. It's gonna be ugly unless Bdiddy comes back fully.

The Damon Jones signing was so obvious to everyone I guess I just assumed that he chose Miami over us for similar money. If we really dropped the ball on that one then that is a pretty crippling mistake.

The Ward signing is similar to West's Cardinal signing. Who the hell were we bidding against? No one.

Since when is Wesley known as such a notorious jerk/gunner around the league? Vecsey is dogging him for earning 4.8 million bucks, as if that is a huge ripoff in this day and age.

 

So why pay someone who is essentially the same player (except 5" shorter) almost twice as much while also losing another player in the process? With the exception of a slight edge in speed and ball handling it seems to me that all we did was agree to pay more for what we already had, plus lose another (admittedly not all that valuable) trading piece. Not to mention we will miss a few boards by losing JJ.

 

Get a real PF then lets talk ... Right now we are closer to a train wreck than a contender

 

Fair enough.

But what's the opportunity cost? Not much as far as I can tell.

Sh-tty move yes, true, but ultimately, not that damaging.

 

I don't have a clue as to why you selected the Fart conversation as your signature.

 

I see very little basketball analysis in this article, but a lot of stuff that could fit on The Real World or Laguna Beach.

The fact is David Wesley is a better fit, as he is a guy who can better guard 2's and handle the ball better than Jim Jackson. He is also a better catch-and-shoot guy rather than just a spot up shooter.

It sucks we lose JJ's lockerrom presence but he was out of position at the 2. We might lose some rebounding but we gain a bit of quickness.

 

The money does not hurt us when making future moves. In all, Les is paying about an extra 2.5 million dollars. That's not too large a price to pay to try to improve the team. Getting PJ Brown without getting rid of Mo or Howard would have been a more crippling move money wise, not to mention us having to give up a pick. It definately would have helped us more on the court though. My point is, if you don't think the trade helps us, fine. I just think the money is not an issue worth complaining about.

 

Pete's article is pretty good. But with the following, he clearly does not follow the Rockets on a day-to-day basis.

A deadlier shooter?? How many times are people like Vescey and, perhaps even some on this site, going to believe shooting is a strength of Jimmy Jackson?

I have to consider JJ an overrated shooter at this point because there have been many many instances where JJ has bricked wide open shots with no defenders near him. And these continued misses really frustrated me as a fan. JJ had his share of 4-18 nights and it was because he was too inconsistent from the perimeter.

 

DD, with all due respect, KT does not belong on this list.

KT is not an offensive finisher. Misses too many perimeter shots. with the Rockets KT was a nightmare, mistake-filled player down the stretch of games.

KT is indeed the biggest of black holes.

 

Fair enough, but hasn't 2.5 million been enough to keep us form signing or re-signing in past negotiations? I really hope Wesley shines here, but looking at their stats over the years I just don't see how he is worth that much more. They are pretty much a wash as far as I can tell.

 

Shandon and Eisley were mentioned in the article.

 

If you compare their stats for the last several years, JJ is definitely better in FG%, 3pt% and FT%. Also, JJ was shooting better than Wesley before he was with T-mac and Yao. That said, I hope Wesley does well with the open looks. You can't really argue that he has ever been a better shooter, though.

 

Probably preferred Miami. Contrary to what previous posters have said about the T-Mac trade, players don't come to teams because they have superstar players, they come to teams because they might win championships. I don't think that will be the case for Houston until some of these bad contracts expire and we clear cap space. Nobody in the league seems to want to relieve us of these contracts.

 

Stats don't tell the whole story. All I know is JJ missed a lot of ridiculously wide open shots, so I'm going to be optimstic at this point in time that Wesley will make more of those because he'll have more wide open looks with T-Mac and Yao.

JJ and Wesley are pretty on the same level shooting wise with JJ having a small numbers advantage, but my point is basically "JJ" and "deadlier shooter" should not be in the same sentence. Deadlier is too strong a word.

Steve Kerr was a deadly shooter. Mark Price was a deadly shooter. I dont see anyone mixing up JJ with these guys.

 

JJ is not a deadly shooter and Wesley can pass the ball but he is a shoot first pass second guard. He might be able to fit with Yao and T-Mac. He will have to do a good job as a PG to fit in.
I have hardly ever agreed with Vecey but we are a wreck right now.

 

I agree.

Just want to add that Vescey is bias and his claim that JJ is a deady shooter puts the end to any credibilty to his so-called analysis.

A comment to whoever that said "not trading big for small".
That is meant to say you don't trade a C, PF for a G. (Although people do that sometimes if the guard is good). Trading the other 3 positions happens day in and day out in the NBA.

 

So Damon Jones, a guy whose played for like 9 teams in 7 years, would be the answer to all the Rockets problems right now? Damn. Yep, CD's an idiot, along with those other 8 guys as well. I don't understand everyone's fascination with bit players.

The Rockets didn't trade 'big for small'. Jim Jackson is many things, but big isn't one of them, in the context of NBA basketball. And when did your second 'rule' come onto the scene? Robert Horry for Cedric Ceballos? What do you call that? Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre? Man, I'm sure there are tons more examples.

 

I don't understand it either. So why does Van Gundy keep changing all the bit players?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

As a die hard ROX fan, its time to do something about this crap. Remember the "keep Carlos Beltran Petetion" online??? We need to start a "FIRE Carol Dawson" petition and send it to Les Alexander... and if Van Gundy refuses to change his style of coaching for the players he has today, then he needs to be gone tommorow!!

 

Well - possibly going after someone else. Playing time for Barrett - find out exactly what we have, and help develop him. It's not the worst decision in the world but the Ward signing may be a symptom of a larger problem - I mean, the signing made absolutely no sense.

Not the player. Not the money. Not the years. None of it. It makes you ask the same question I am asking of this trade - Why? What are you trying to build? What is the overriding goal? Is there one? What the hell is going on? Why are a bunch of muppets like the Bucks wiping us out?