Lv06|ROCKETS-2| Officially Closed.

[OrlMagic]

Good game by Yao
Artest , Yao #6

[Clutch]

K. Bentley's Scouting Report - SEATTLE SUPERSONICS

STRENGTHS Jermaine O'Neal and Rashard Lewis make the this team happen; neutralize these two and the rest will follow; Point Guard Earl Watson qualified for 2nd-Team All-Defensive last season; he can be a pest and force turnovers

WEAKNESSES Smaller team in general; we should maintain control of the boards and pace of game; smaller guards can be overpowered if we stay aggressive

TEAM RATING - STARTING LINEUPS HOU (93) - Center Ming (94), PF May (69), SF Artest (89), SG Graham (75), F McGrady (94); SEA (81) - Center O'Neal (88), PF Sandler (71), SF Lewis (85), SG Crowley (70), PG Watson (70)

INJURIES None

___

thx for the comments guys; all entries acceptable

Lamrock, hahah sorry man, no favoritism in Mutombo's house; it's anybody's ball game but so far you're kicking ass keep it up;

newc, would love to land Biedrins but it would be at the price of May and possibly Graham or Webster who are pretty key for my squad; also this is before Andris really 'broke out' as a legit center so his ratings are not so high (70 ovrl if i remember correct); also Biedrins is the Warriors only center aside from Adonyl Foyle; even though i could 'force' the issue 'cause the CPU isn't the brightest, for the sake of trying to be as even as possible and not just snagging a player i like and ripping off the other team, Beidrins is off limits Now, if they happen to draft a high rated Center who starts over Andris (like what happened to Deron Williams in Utah) then that's a whole different senario;

peebo, nice solo 'Jumbo' hit - well done!

chase, yah i just recently found a bunch of old dynasty files which i thought were nuked; i liked that template a lot so if i can track it down, it will make a reappearance;

ETA HOU v SEA... realistically Sunday - a busier week than usual; cast your entries and new players always welcome!

[Clutch]

GAME RECAP

Nov 03, 2008 HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston's Yao Ming was "Mister-Do-It-All" in a convincing 99-86 thumping over the visiting Seattle Supersonics.

Yao, who had been on a scoring tear to open the season, was head-to-head against one of the league's premiere post defenders in Jermaine O'Neal. But instead of taking it upon himself to score, Yao controlled the game in a different manner - with his superior passing and defense. O'Neal and Ming would be near indentical in points and rebounds, with 17 points a piece and 13 to 12 rebounds respectively; but Ming would also tally 5 assists and 3 blocks, given his team the edge.

"He's come a long way and is now the complete package," said O'Neal after the game. "He's fundamentally sound but also bigger, stronger and faster this season. You can't just muscle him around like in the past; if he stays healthy, they'll be tough to beat."

While Yao was quietly having a terrific night, teammate Tracy McGrady was also having a solid night and seemed on a mission to punish the opposition.

The Rockets led 46-42 at the half with Seattle seemingly able to contain the Rockets attack to that point; but after the break it was all Houston, led by an aggressive T-Mac.

"(Earl) Watson picked up his third foul midway through the 2nd quarter," said McGrady. "All they were doin' was reachin', hackin' and foulin'; more than half of 'em weren't even called. I guess that kinda set me off." McGrady would torch the Sonics for a team-high 23-points while adding 3 rebounds and 7 assists.

Rashard Lewis carried Seattle with 26 points, but it took 23 shot attempts to do so under the defensive pressure of Ron Artest. For the second game in a row, Artest was hampered by early foul trouble, forcing coach, Phil Jackson, to tap the bench.

"Ron's picking up a lot of unnecessary fouls early in the game; he'll need to do a better job in that department," said Jackson. Artest still finished with a solid 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist.

Next up, the Rockets play host to last year's Western Conference best-record holder, led by one of the league's most dangerous backcourts as CP3, Michael Redd and the New Orleans Hornets come to town.

BOXSCORES

T-MAC abusing the rim... and Earl Watson
Isolation? ... HUMILIATION!

__

THE 'JUMBO MUTOMBO' CONTEST RESULTS #4
I won't give it away, but someone's ON FIRE!



EDIT: my bad; was in a hurry and forget to add the boxscores earlier

[-PeeBo]

another jumbo number was correct

T-mac, Battier
jumbo nr : 9

[Oskar]

Yao, T-Mac
#5, I'll go with 5 once again ;D


Quite sick lob by Yao, btw.

[Oli]

I like your game recaps Very neat.

Yao, Claxton, 10

[kaiser_kobe]

Damn, Artest was struggling with his fouls...anyways, great effort for Yao!

Gud luck with the next game!

Yao, Artest
No: 8

[Cartar]

McGrady, Battier
7

[betamaxboy]

please join our sim league



http://allstarsimulation.proboards84.com/index.cgi

[weechees]

Nice performance by Yao!

TMac, Sato, 8

[Valor]

Woot!! i am number 1!!!
nice game

Tmac, Yao, 9

[Martti.]

Yao, Mutombo

#8

[Ipsofire]

T-Mac, May

#4

[OrlMagic]

Yao , Webster

#4

[Lamrock]

Yao, May, #6

[Clutch]

Nov 4, 2008.

The 'war' room.

An 'emergency' meeting called by Rockets' owner, Les Alexander.

In attendance are GM, Darrel Morey; assistant coach, Marty Bettman; trainer, Jamey Armatta; Scouting coordinator, Kareem Bentley and myself.

I mentioned before that Les holds out his hands right before he's about to say something big; well, the hands have been flailing about all afternoon as we all try to reach a consensus.

The topic: possible trade options in an attempt to strengthen our rebounding and bench depth; so far there are choices open, but nothing agreed upon; Les wants a decision made tonight.

Alexander sees last year's near trade-deadline moves as a 'mistake' and this season, wants us to lock down our final team roster as early as possible so everyone's on the same page come playoff time.

I admit, his news today is big, but I'm just not convinced such a drastic move is necessary.

"Jackson... you and Armatta are the only holdouts on this; why not give us your stamps of approval and let's get this deal done?" Les says.



"My concern is, we'd lose a solid permimeter defender in (Joey) Graham," Armatta says. "He's really worked on his game and is progressing just fine."

"Yeah, but we've got (Shane) Battier to cover that now," Les answers back quickly. "Also (Garrick) Briggs is coming along nicely; we've got guards covered. We need power - brute force!"

From my days dealing with the Pistons and Knicks back in Chicago, I've learned that 'brute force' isn't necessarily the only way to go.

The facts given to me are: Milwaukee's stacked at the forward position and extremely interested in our budding shooting guard, Joey Graham (75). With Andrew Bogut (81), Charlie Villanueva (80), and Bobby Simmons (76) leading the rotations, Colton Shaffer (76) and Kwasi Minor (69) developing nicely off the bench and this year's drafting of two more rookie forwards, the 5th-overall pick Baha Caswell (70) and 33rd-pick Jeramie Perkins (64) waiting on the wings, the Bucks are indeed knee deep in the Forward department; meanwhile, they've no solid shooting guards, thus Graham's become a hot target for them; they're so confident about their depth, they're willing to break up their 7-footer, 'three-headed-monster' trio of Tyson Chandler, Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villanueva, shipping us the latter rising star.

"Our main concern in any trade we make has to be reinforcing paint; Yao's doing too much by himself down there," says Morey. "Sean's coming along nicely but the addition of Villanueva would be huge; enough to off-set the loss of Graham anyways. Milwaukee's already hinted they'd agree to a 1-to-1 trade but the only thing I'd be concerned about is... money." All ears and eyes are keyed in on Morey, the organization's resident stats wizard.

"Both Graham and Villanueva are in the final year of contracts and no doubt both will ask for heavy contracts next season; but Villanueva will likely demand more, seeing that there's a shortage of talented bigs out there."

The trade sounds tempting, believe me. Charlie's shown the strength and post moves of a 'traditional' big man; yet has the foot speed and quickness of a new breed. He's also still maturing with a ceiling of potential far from being reached.



But the question remains in my head - do we need someone who will no doubt command top dollar and a lengthy contract but will likely come off the bench with the second unit, especially now that we've added Ron Artest's 6-year contract deal at 11.66M per year?

"And Korolev, from the Clippers… what's the word, Bentley?" I ask.



"The numbers just don't add up on him Phil," says Bentley. "We'd have to give up Graham, (Martell) Webster or (Anthony) Sato to get him, if you're willing to do that. And even then, are we convinced Korolev is the key to our winning a championship?" Unfortunately, I'm not.

Sato, while not the best defender, has a great understanding of our offense; he's quick, a solid finisher and excellent passer on top of it. He might not crash the boards as well as we'd like but as role-players come, Sato's worth every penny of the very affordable 4-year, 1.72M per year contract we've just re-signed him at. I'd hate to lose him.

"Okay, Korolev's not an option… anyone else you've checked out? Have we tried for Biedrins again?" I toss out there desperately.



I've had my eyes on that kid since he entered the league 4 seasons ago. Andris Beidrins (70) seemed like a good match for the Lakers - a quick 4/5 position player with good hands and soft touch at the basket as well as capable rebounder and shot blocker. He'd be a great fit running opposite Kobe… or T-Mac.

"Uhhhhhh," Marty Bettman starts, unfortunately with doubt already in his tone, "Golden State absolutely refuses anyone we've got to offer on our roster, short of the 'big 3' of course. Unless we're ready to trade Yao, they're not budging." I'm feeling more and more apathetic about this meeting the longer it drags on, which has been for some hours now.

"But there's another player we've not considered," says Bettman, "by the name of, Linus Kleiza."

I've never heard of him; only the character from the Snoopy cartoon strip.

"Isn't it, 'Linas?' " interjects Bentley.

"Err… I don't know actually, anyway… my point is, this Kleiza kid's got potential; he could really give us something off the bench if we're just looking to strengthen around Sean May."



"He plays Forward, but can get up and down the court with near guard-like speed and quickness. Right now Kleiza (65) is buried on Miami's bench behind Udonis Haslem (74), Antoine Walker (78), James Posey (74) and Wayne Simien (65); we might be able to pull him at the price of our two rookies, without losing Sato..." I nod contemplating this potentially wiser, more conservative move.

"Korolev? Beidrins? Kleiza?" Les exclaims impatiently. "I'm sorry... but do ANY of these guys bring us the title? I want to win - NOW damn it! I say, Charlie V for Graham; we go big, beefy and strong! We'll worry about contracts another day."

"And end up in the SHITS, like the Knicks?" Morey throws in with a snap. Alexander glares back as tensions rise and things get testy.

"Charlie's a lock, Morey! What can't you see about that? We've got Mutombo on the way out next season anyway; we re-sign Villaneuva - BAM! we're golden for years to come!" Les insists.

"Les, you fail to take into account both Webster and May are also serving out their last years of contracts… "

"Umm... excuse me..." Bentley says lightly but Morey continues ignoring him, "do we just let them walk because of Villaneuva's HUGE contract - which he will definitely ask for - and take our chances with a fresh crop of rooks?" Morey fires back defiantly.

"Excuse me," Bentley cuts in again, pretty ballsy too, considering it's his first season.

"What is it, Bentley?" says Les as all eyes turn toward the young scout.

"Ahem.. well, there is another option we've not considered," Bentley says quietly. "True, the Warriors aren't interested in any of our expendables…" he says nervously, "but maybe we could work out a deal that would send Graham to the Bucks, Villanueva to Golden State, and bring Biedrins here." Our collective silence allows him to continue.

"Charlie V's a 23-year old, legit 7'-footer, right? No doubt a quickly rising talent and future star of the league in only his 4th season. Biedrins, on the other hand, at 22-years of age, while developing nicely and into his 5th season, is still more a 'project' with potential than bonafide super star."

Still no interjections Bentley continues, "Our concern seems to be about future contracts and re-signings... I'm sure Biedrins will command less of a contract than Villanueva and I'm betting the Warriors would likely jump all over the deal to secure a legit 7-footer who can run the floor and fit their offense just as well, if not better than Biedrins, especially with as much potential as Charlie V's showing. At the same time, Biedrins, under the training of our big man specialist, Marty Bettman here, and training with and learning from Yao, would definitely thrive and prosper; maybe not to the level of Villanueva, but who knows? he'd at least fill the exact roll we'd need and at less cost. And if all doesn't work out? We just don't resign him next season and hope for the draft." Interesting, I think to myself; I'm liking this kid Bentley already.

"And all the numbers would work out on that?" asks Armatta.

"Actually...almost... to the penny," says Morey, already busy with his calculator, pen and scratch pad of paper the moment Bentley mentioned the key components.

"DAMN IT! So many options… will SOMEONE please just come to a decision here?" Les says crossing his arms, frustrated.

"Jackson," he stares at me, pleading. "You're the 'zen-master' voice of reason here... what do you think?"

___

Just some behind the scenes goings on at Rockets central; for fun, gimme you're best "Phil Jackson" response if you feel like it; maybe I'll work it in somehow

ETA Rockets v. Hornets... midweek; wednesday-ish...

[nba_baller]

Battier, Artest
Number: 4

[kaiser_kobe]

Well...seems to be a good debate made for possible trade options...for me, i think the three team trade will be the best out of the options youve discussed...however, i think that trade will not favor to us in terms of ratings...how bout trading Graham for Villanueva, then lets find for some player that will be tradable for Charlie...thats only my opinion...hope you find the best trade out of ur players.

[newc]

mmm... of course i like the 3 team deal better, because you would have Biedrins then, but Kleiza could be an interesting addition too.

Contest:

Artest, Yao #8

[Chaser7]

Nice storyline, personally I'd like Villanueva, but I guess that's not an option probably not only because he will want a longer contract since he's rated about a 79 overall, but you don't want to be too stacked huh?

Artest, Yao, 10

[OrlMagic]

Nice Story
I'd like Villanueva or Kleiza.

[XpLosibo]

i think u need more height, besides yao.. villanueva (6'10) would be great off the bench, but he plays PF try to scout for a true center

[TheMC5]

Clutch, as always, superb job.

I just read up on what I missed and...well, it's bad ass.

As for the trade options, just trade Graham for Villanueva. Hold on to Charlie and re-sign him, then see what you can add in terms of bench depth in the off-season and go from there. Are Webster and May really worth keeping over Charlie V? If it doesn't work out, just trade one of your 4 stars for depth an youth. So theoretically in the offseason you could have a roster of:

C - Yao
PF - Charlie V
SF - Artest, Battier
SG - McGrady, Briggs
PG - Claxton

Plus those Sato and Galland guys (I don't know what position they play). If you can manage to sign a decent PG to the MLE in the off-season and pick up some front court depth in the draft you'll be golden.

[Lamrock]

You gotta do the Graham/Villanueva trade. PF is a major weakness. Do it! do it!

[weechees]

Go for the Graham-Villaneuva trade! May isn't good enough to match up with some of the league's PFs!

McGrady, Sato, 7