Supposedly Rockets Are Interested In Big Sofo

[JVGs World]

From radio reports in Greece, Daryl Morey and Rossas were said to have been to Athens in person to scout Sofoklis Schortsanitis. They are supposedly interested in signing him to backup Yao Ming for 15-20 minutes next season if they could trade for his rights. Sofo is going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, so I would not totally dismiss this. And since I did some checking and it seems in fact Morey and Rossas were in Athens at Olympiacos' arena so.................

That's why I'm giving the heads up to Rockets fans here. Just so you know, in my personal opinion, he is way better than Chuck Hayes and David Andersen.

Anyway, here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrs4rGBMlbw&fmtl=35

[M4P]

Still looks too big for NBA level play. Doesn't look like he'll be able to hold up for 82 games, but he'll definitely be a great spark plug for 10 - 15 mins.

[Joseph17]

I always thought Sofo deserved to be in the NBA. He's definitely an upgrade from Hayes. I remember when he outplayed Bosh and Elton Brand.

[Joseph17]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_x9obHeOg

[grond]

He's got the bulk/height to be a great backup for us If we can get him on the cheap for sure.

but a lot of the equation for big-euro-guys-adjusting-to-nba seems to depend on their intrinsic hoops savvy. have no idea about that, but was similarly impressed with his play at international level.

[bubba]

loos like a slightly faster danny fortson

[tisbee]

If he's going to be an unrestricted FA,there are no rights to trade for.

This sounds more like a negotiating ploy. We've been down this road before where Houston supposedly has interest in some big-name Euro player who is looking for a new contract. It used to be the Spurs,now since Hou beefed up it's European operations,Houston is the mythical team players use to get a better deal.

[Fred Williamson]

he's like the fat version of Anderson Varejao

[Moreyball]

Rockets need more than just an upgrade of Chuck Hayes.

We don't know how well Yao will be coming back or if he comes back at all and history has shown he's not capable of playing an entire season.

Still on the 'let's make a deal for Gortat' boat

Point being we're probably still a championship contending team with Gortat if Yao went down, not so with Sofo.

[YaoZaii]

But Gortat would be expensive. I believe that Gortat is on a full MLE contract from last offseason. The rockets will have to give up some bigger assets to accomodate his contract. In other words, if we get Gortat, we can forget about people like Bosh and Johnson. Alexander has shown that he is willing to go over the lux. tax mark but many times it seems like he instructed Morey to bring back under. Gortat would be a nice trade for the rockets but it would probably hurt us when trying to balance the book.
Just my take.

Sofo is i must still unknown. no one probably know how well he will turn out in the NBA. I would say that i prefer neither at this point. I rather have Bosh and/or Camby sharing time at C. I feel more at ease with this arrangement. Gortat or Sofo would be Plan B for me. Furthermore, from what i have read about Sofo's situation from previous threads regarding him, i feel that although he wants to play in the NBA, he also wants to get paid reasonably decent. That could be a stumbling block. however, from what i see, if we can get Anderson to move, i don't mind having Sofo to replace him.

[fabio]

excuse me, but do any of you know something about him? He's big, specially for european standards. He's also fat, slow, can't score, can't rebound, can't do ANYTHING at all but... looking big. I can't even start to imagine why Morey would want him when he could get better euro centers for around the same money, why would he want the ultimate crap? And even more, an always injured fat crap?

The guy averages 6.8 / 2.2 / 0.6 in Euroleague. That counting the start against weak teams. Against real teams (playoffs) averaged 3.5 / 1.5 / 0 on 25% FG. btw, although he usually starts, he's replaced fast and usually ends playing garbage time. Usually between 10-15 minutes per game (even if he wanted, he can't play more than that)

please tell me why anyone would want this, because it beats me

[nbaolajuwon34]

Hell no! He is a bluff. Andersen is way better than Sofo. Dont waste a roster spot with him.
I still want to see Andersen playing PF with YAO

[AntiSuperstar]

Lol at people saying this guy is better than Hayes. Give me a break.

[TMU]

Lol at people saying this guy is better than Hayes. Give me a break.

Agreed. I don't know much about this player, but I refuse to believe that he's better than Truck Hayes.

[fabio]

Lol at people saying this guy is better than Hayes. Give me a break.

seriously? who? Both Hayes and Andersen have better stats in the NBA than this fatty in Europe. Plus, they both can play an entire game. I'd be really surprised to see someone saying he's better than Hayes, Andersen or any C getting more than 5 minutes of PT in the NBA. going by production, where Hayes is 37th and Andersen 43rd between all centers, I'd say this guy would rank in the lower bottom 10. And go home in less than 3 months after his 100th injury.

Do you really think Clippers are so loaded they didn't show any interest in him when good centers are the most difficult position to fill, even as backups?

[HtownPA]

The Clippers drafted him, several years ago. Clippers have to trade him to Morey, before any deal can be signed.