Rockets beat Clippers in OT
- Thread starter Mr. S£im Citrus
- Start date
It is so hard to be a (somewhat) Clipper fan. Up 82-80, 7 seconds to go, Rockets out of timeouts, and you allow TMac to dribble the length of the court and draw a foul? The ensuing free throws forced overtime, where McGrady and Jim Jackson made clutch shots to win the game.
The decision to drop JJax so Wallace could "develop" looks more ridiculous everyday...
The decision to drop JJax so Wallace could "develop" looks more ridiculous everyday...
I still disagree; I think that, within the next three to four years, Wallace will develop into a better player than Jim Jackson ever was, and possibly even a top-15 player in the league.
The decision to drop Jackson so Wallace could develop wasn't ridiculous; however, the decision not to develop Wallace after dropping Jackson was...
The decision to drop Jackson so Wallace could develop wasn't ridiculous; however, the decision not to develop Wallace after dropping Jackson was...
That's great for Wallace if he develops into a great player with the Bobcats. My point is, just imagine having Jimmy Jackson in that series against the Twolves. I know it's far in the past and I should be over it, but I think that if we had given up on Wallace just one year earlier, and had JJax to rely on instead of Rodney Buford and Jabari Smith in that critical game 7 after the Peeler suspension, things would have been much, much different for this franchise.
JJax was once a 30 ppg scorer with the Mavs. You don't just drop someone like that, especially when you are an aging team who is almost good enough to get a ring. And especially not for the sake of someone who may or may not be a great player. I thought it was a stupid decision to let him go then, I think it's still stupid now.
JJax was once a 30 ppg scorer with the Mavs. You don't just drop someone like that, especially when you are an aging team who is almost good enough to get a ring. And especially not for the sake of someone who may or may not be a great player. I thought it was a stupid decision to let him go then, I think it's still stupid now.
Curious, because JJ has been dropped by a LOT of teams in his time without apparent ill effect.
But I agree with Slim -- a large part of the reason why you let JJ go is that he had already screwed up the development of one of your young players (Hedo) and you don't want him around to screw up another (Gerald) and singlehandedly age your team right out of contention and into th old folks home. But to let JJ go, then turn your back on Gerlad while turning to even more decrepit Anthony Peeler made no sense.
P.S. If Gerald ever does turn into a great player -- a 20ppg guy or whatever, we screwed up big time. Maybe even franchise screwing screw up. Top teams just don't get their hands on young 20ppg scorers very often -- most elite teams eventualyl age and die because of their crappy draft position and the big salaries of their stars.
But I agree with Slim -- a large part of the reason why you let JJ go is that he had already screwed up the development of one of your young players (Hedo) and you don't want him around to screw up another (Gerald) and singlehandedly age your team right out of contention and into th old folks home. But to let JJ go, then turn your back on Gerlad while turning to even more decrepit Anthony Peeler made no sense.
P.S. If Gerald ever does turn into a great player -- a 20ppg guy or whatever, we screwed up big time. Maybe even franchise screwing screw up. Top teams just don't get their hands on young 20ppg scorers very often -- most elite teams eventualyl age and die because of their crappy draft position and the big salaries of their stars.
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Singlehandedly age your team right out of contention? What took us out of contention was not having depth on the bench, something we were once known and feared for.
If anyone is to blame for Hedo and Gerald not developing, it's Hedo and Gerald. If they gave RA a reason to give them playing time so that they may develop, then we wouldn't be having this discussion. JJ came in here, did exactly what he needed to do, gave us scoring and physical defense off the bench, and then got canned so we could see what Wallace could do. Which, turned out to be not much.
And turning to Peeler instead of Wallace DID make sense. Peeler was doing exactly what he had to do, just as JJ had done, and Wallace was complaining about phantom calf injuries. The decision to get rid of Wallace came too late, IMHO.
If anyone is to blame for Hedo and Gerald not developing, it's Hedo and Gerald. If they gave RA a reason to give them playing time so that they may develop, then we wouldn't be having this discussion. JJ came in here, did exactly what he needed to do, gave us scoring and physical defense off the bench, and then got canned so we could see what Wallace could do. Which, turned out to be not much.
And turning to Peeler instead of Wallace DID make sense. Peeler was doing exactly what he had to do, just as JJ had done, and Wallace was complaining about phantom calf injuries. The decision to get rid of Wallace came too late, IMHO.
Gerald may be having a more impressive year than JJ THIS YEAR (Gerald = 13pts 6rebs 2ast in 30min, JJ = 12pts 4rebs 4ast in 40min).
And he'll be doing that or better for some team not named the Kings for the next DECADE. Meanwhile JJ is 34 and fading. He'll be done in a couple of years.
Relie on old guys, ignore your youth, then your youth ends up developing for some other team and you get old and head back to lotteryville. A place the Kings know all too well, thank you.
P.S. As an aside, Hedo might be having a better year than both of them (15pts 4rebs 2.5ast in 27min).
And he'll be doing that or better for some team not named the Kings for the next DECADE. Meanwhile JJ is 34 and fading. He'll be done in a couple of years.
Relie on old guys, ignore your youth, then your youth ends up developing for some other team and you get old and head back to lotteryville. A place the Kings know all too well, thank you.
P.S. As an aside, Hedo might be having a better year than both of them (15pts 4rebs 2.5ast in 27min).
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1) Jackson never averaged thirty in his career, and I don't even know where you came up with that from. In fact, he's only averaged better than twenty points once in a thirteen-year career, and has only averaged as many as seventeen four times. I certainly think that Wallace will at least that.
2) We could have used Wallace more than we could of used Jackson... and we had Wallace. He's a better defender, and a better rebounder, and most importantly, he's a much better long-term investment.
Bricklayer has it right; Jackson isn't even going to be playing in five years, and Wallace will be just entering his prime. He has the potential to be a superstar, and even if he's only as good as he is right now, that's still as good as Jackson was for ninety percent of his career. You don't mortgage your future for a chance to win today unless you're damned sure you can get it done, and there's no way anybody's going to convince me that they thought the Kings were a championship team at the start of last season, with our best player on the injured list.
2) We could have used Wallace more than we could of used Jackson... and we had Wallace. He's a better defender, and a better rebounder, and most importantly, he's a much better long-term investment.
Bricklayer has it right; Jackson isn't even going to be playing in five years, and Wallace will be just entering his prime. He has the potential to be a superstar, and even if he's only as good as he is right now, that's still as good as Jackson was for ninety percent of his career. You don't mortgage your future for a chance to win today unless you're damned sure you can get it done, and there's no way anybody's going to convince me that they thought the Kings were a championship team at the start of last season, with our best player on the injured list.
BTW Jaybird -- I would love to have JJ back THIS year. I mean, who wouldn't? But the reason I would is because we've got nothing back there now -- we already pissed away our young wing players with potential. Figure JJs on the way down now, and by the time he was ready to check out, Martin might be ready. But two years ago, the young guys were already here. Already trying to grow. And we squelched them. And then lost them. (more properly we lost Wallace, since Petrie made a great save getting Miller).