Have you ever heard of the message and the messenger? Clutchfans doesn't understand this concept at all basically the message should be the same no matter who the messenger is Person A: Water is Wet Person B: Water is Wet if it was revealed that Person B is Kenny Smith, does that mean that the message: Water is Wet , wrong? no
Wait, First Take is still on with no sports? I’m surprised they get paid when sports are actually happening. How are they getting away with this?
@Reeko @Os Trigonum Non 99ers are their main audience Disrespecting the Clutch City championships is always one of espn’s favorite go to topics
Rudy T consistently benched Kenny for Sam when things got tough. It was his go-to move that helped us get two championships. Sam was a FAR superior defender, and had a far bigger beanbag. Kenny was soft. (Still is) Kenny was so much better than Sam that Sam was stealing 22 MPG in the playoffs AS A ROOKIE... Sam had a higher Playoff PER in both championship runs. He was significantly better than Kenny in our second title run. Go look it up. In our second title run, Sam had a 17.8 PER, while Kenny had a 13.8 PER. He was better at damn near everything. He was even shooting the three at 40 percent. He could get to the line, he could pass, he could defend. Kenny could shoot, but Sam closed that gap too eventually.
Don't get it twisted, Cassell was a solid player and on his way to becoming a better player, but "stealing" 22 mpg doesn't mean he was better than the starting PG who got 29 mpg on a team that won the ring... Montrezl had a 26 PER last year in the playoffs... doesn't mean he was better than Steph Curry. And I like PER. Sam-I-Am also had a 105 ORtg and a 106 Drtg the first year in the playoffs, and a 118, 114 the second, compared to Kenny's 114/108, 120/116. Sam also turned the ball over 5+ times per 100 the firs tyear in the playoffs, compared to Kenny's 2.8 times. And of course as you already noted, Kenny was the much more efficient role scorer at that point. Principally because he was 5% better on his threes, shooting elite level 44%+ on his threes both playoff runs, and at 6-8 attempts per 100. Also Rudy didn't consistently bench Kenny for Sam-I-Am when things got tough. Rudy played the hot hand. Kenny wasn't great early on in the Knicks series, whereas Sam had some big moments. Kenny was really solid in the WCF, though, and by the end of the Knicks series, neither player was amazing, but Kenny played 27 and 30 minutes in Games 6 and 7, to Sam's 21 and 18. Then of course there's the next year, where indeed Sam was catching up, but OBVIOUSLY, Kenny wasn't benched in Game 1 against Orlando where he put in 42 minutes, the game tying 3 at the end of regulation and Sam played 11 basically bad minutes. But not even that game... Kenny was really really solid the first round against the Jazz for example. Sam meanwhile played 12,3,13,19 and 15 minutes each game of that series. On the other hand, a pivotal game 5 in SA against the Spurs, Kenny was horrible and Sam was amazing. In short, Sam was a rookie/second year player, was getting better by the minute, would eventually be a better player then Kenny, but at that point wasn't. Rudy masterfully played the hot hand, to the game situation, etc. Harden didn't play at all in the 4th quarter comeback against Clippers, but that doesn't make Corey Brewer a better player those playoffs. It happens.
Most of us complained about Kenny, but he had his moments for sure. He got bullied by the Knicks, but we had some tough guards and were able to overcome that. Don’t forget the fantastic game 1 in Orlando he had. The comeback would not have happened without him. Sam was young and fearless. He never felt like the moment was too big for him. Was such an important piece for sure. Of course Dream was the catalyst, but those championships were a total team effort where different guys stepped up in crucial moments.
You just compared Sam Cassell to Corey Brewer. You also said “Sam wasn’t anywhere close”. Idiotic statements...
it seems pretty clear you don’t know how comparisons work. I also mentioned Montrezl in that post too. That doesn’t mean I was comparing him to Janes Harden, lol. I stand by my original comment, well supported by, well, history, as laid out.
@dc rock I know some people are butt hurt because of Kenny Smith's TNT stint isn't based on Houston homerism but the fact @RudyTBag don't see that the Rockets Championships are being disrespected by ESPN is quite disturbing What side are you on? Either ESPN or the Rockets championships Kenny's TNT stint has nothing to do with anything here
If people don't see that ESPN is disrespecting the Rockets championships on purpose, they might as well LEAVE CLUTCHFANS @Os Trigonum @RayRay10 Kenny was there . I know these FAKE FANS and NON 99ers can't believe this.
Let me just give the truth about this poster He thinks that Kenny Smith's TNT job has changed or invalidated what Kenny Smith did as a player for the Rockets including the championships. This is a case of people caring too much about what TV Analyst says. He doesn't understand Kenny, Charles and Shaq have a different job. Shaq was dissing Dwight Howard the whole time he was with the Lakers. So what? Barkley has trashed Phoenix too. But none of their fans are acting like they got dumped to the prom. @RayRay10
Many people forgot about the start of the Kenny Smith era. I think some of them are dumb enough to think an over the hill Sleepy Floyd should be our starter. Actually, based on the ass level of Rockets history, they don't even know who Sleepy is! Kenny ran the offense well, shot well, and had minimal turnovers. He has had great playoff games besides the cliff note game 1 of Orlando. Cassell overall is much better than Kenny, but at that time, he wasn't quite ready to start because Dream wants someone who passes the ball to him FIRST, and that wasn't Sam.
I don't think Sam was so much "better" than Kenny just different. Cassell was not played because he was better he was simply brought in when we needed a spark and a change of pace. Cassell was a different kind of player he had a herky-jerky-ness about him that threw you off after guarding a Kenny Smith. If Kenny didn't have it on some nights you could bring in Sam. Rudy basically played his gut on who he thought was playing better that day. Does that mean at that stage Sam was better than Kenny? No. Would he go on to be a better player than Kenny? Sure. But he wasn't there yet but he definitely had a rookie's swagger and no nonsense. He was playing with house money, Nothing to lose. Which allowed him to hit those game winning shots against the Knicks. But note that the next game Kenny is still our starter and on through the next championship.
But Burnshroom, Kenny doesn't predict us to win a championship ever since he was at TNT! He never said we'd win with the Steve Francis era, The Tmac Era, The Yao Era, The Kevin Martin Era, and the current era! He's wrong!!!!! because we're sensitive little birds who can't take half time show criticism! He should have said we are suppose to win 15 championships cause INSECURE CLUTCHFANS ARE SCARED OF KENNY'S JOB! But they watch HIM EVERY TIME so he's more popular than ever! waaaa waaaa cry
