Are we becoming Houston w/ Barkley?

[TitleMaster]

It's beginning to slowly look like it.

Think about it, before Barkley, Houston had an inside-out game, a good crew of outside shooters (Cassell, Smith, Horry) to implement a slasher (Drexler) and killer post (Hakeem) game.

Then, they ditched the shooters for Barkley, whose rough/tumble game went down with nagging injuries, Drexler's legs slowed down so even he had to settle for jumpers, and Hakeem had his first rash of ankle/leg problems. Once the opposition reduced Houston to a jump shooting team, or forced Hakeem to take every other shot, they were done forever.

Granted, we still have a lot of depth and more firepower than any Rockets crew but still, one Hakeem is worth a combo of 'Sheed/KG/Perks.

So the point of this thread is that has our commitment to signing older veterans finally caught up to us?

[Chris]

I'm a little confused by the premise.  What "commitment to signing older veterans"? 

The core of our team is old.  3 of our 4 best players are on the wrong side of 30, and are all on the downside of their prime.  In this way, I think you can absolutely compare us to the Barkley Rockets, who had 3 stars past their primes. 

Is your issue with signing Wallace?  Because I don't think there was a young guy who was anywhere near as good as he is that they could have signed.

I guess I just am not understanding the actual point here.  Yes, the team is old.  But that is because their core is old.  There really was not a better way to get the team to where it is now, without making the team old, because you cannot get younger guys the caliber of KG and Allen with the pieces the C's had to move.

[Fafnir]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

[moiso]

I prefer attacking the rim, but we won a title as a jumpshooting team two years ago.  I don't see much difference now, other than Sheed's 3's.

[Donoghus]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

Weren't a fan of Matt Maloney, huh?

There's a good "where are they now?".

[Chief]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

[Chris]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

I don't know, I think Daniels has a chance to be able to handle them well enough.  And if this team is hitting on all cylinders and healthy, then Johnson and Wade's support cast are not good enough to beat this team.

[Fafnir]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

Wade isn't a huge problem his supporting cast isn't good enough to beat us. They don't have a PG who can handle Rondo or a SF who can deal with Pierce.

The Hawks are a somewhat scary proposition but I'm confident we'd handle them in a 7 game series. But they could beat us, 66% C's win 33 % Hawks is probably the odds.

[Reyquila]

You are right Chris. We ditched our youth movement to win a title; and we did. No question about it. 2 years later, old age has finally caught with our elders statements and injuries were to happen. Yes, our core is older and more injury prone. But if we had not done what we did, I dont think we would have won in 2008. But eventually, a price would have to be paid and we are surely starting to pay it now. I dont see why fans are so surprised. Its all about "ifs" now. If KG had not gotten injured last year nor this year. Wallace is starting to miss games; PP is showing his wear and tear. Allen is winding down; yeas, he has a good game here and there, but he has slowed down. PP has slowed down. We have a brilliant star; Rondo, and he cant make his foul shots, but thats inconsequential in the great scheme. It is the price we knew would have to be paid eventually. When is "eventually"?That is a subjective question that every fan will answer within his own appreciation.

[moiso]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

I kind of think sg is one of our strong points.  TA and Daniels are both excellent.  In reality, nobody can guard Wade, so we're not going to find someone that can.

[moiso]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

I kind of think sg is one of our strong points.  TA and Daniels are both excellent.  In reality, nobody can guard Wade, so we're not going to find someone that can.

Of course Ray will get most of the minutes, so that's a problem.

[Fafnir]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

I kind of think sg is one of our strong points.  TA and Daniels are both excellent.  In reality, nobody can guard Wade, so we're not going to find someone that can.

Of course Ray will get most of the minutes, so that's a problem.

Ray even with his defensive weaknesses is a much better player overall than either Marquis or Tony.

Doc had shown early though that if he felt it was needed he'd leave Marquis in to close games out with the starters.

[Chief]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

Wade isn't a huge problem his supporting cast isn't good enough to beat us. They don't have a PG who can handle Rondo or a SF who can deal with Pierce.

The Hawks are a somewhat scary proposition but I'm confident we'd handle them in a 7 game series. But they could beat us, 66% C's win 33 % Hawks is probably the odds.

I agree. I don't think the Heat can beat us, in 7 games, but Wade could make us play more games than our old legs need.

[Fafnir]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

Wade isn't a huge problem his supporting cast isn't good enough to beat us. They don't have a PG who can handle Rondo or a SF who can deal with Pierce.

The Hawks are a somewhat scary proposition but I'm confident we'd handle them in a 7 game series. But they could beat us, 66% C's win 33 % Hawks is probably the odds.

I agree. I don't think the Heat can beat us, in 7 games, but Wade could make us play more games than our old legs need.

Yeah, but that'd be true if we had Joe Johnson to guard Wade.

He's that good.

[moiso]

We're old like those Rockets, but we didn't ditch the core of a title team to get Barkley.

We ditched a youth movement and won a title, and would have contended for another without KG's knee injury.

People forget that those Rockets could have gotten to the Finals but didn't have a PG who could handle Stockton.

We don't have a sg that can handle Johnson or Wade.

I kind of think sg is one of our strong points.  TA and Daniels are both excellent.  In reality, nobody can guard Wade, so we're not going to find someone that can.

Of course Ray will get most of the minutes, so that's a problem.

Ray even with his defensive weaknesses is a much better player overall than either Marquis or Tony.

Doc had shown early though that if he felt it was needed he'd leave Marquis in to close games out with the starters.

I know.  I meant defensively.  I would still like to see TA take a few of Ray's minutes in the regular season.  Tony has bringing energy all over the court and a little extra rest couldn't hurt Ray.