ESPN Offseason Spotlight: Rockets are a Playoff Team!

I want to know what ESPN's smoking. Shandon Anderson a disappointment? Unbelievable how dumb some of these so called experts are.

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Well, I would love for them to be right, but I don't believe it, not with the current roster.

DaDakota

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they said Shandon was a dissapointment? What? They also say he's our small forward?

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The more lefties on your team, the better.
Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong?
Trade or bench Kenny Thomas.

 

Here you go guys. I copied it and brought it here.

The old and the young can lead the way

By Eric Karabell
ESPN.com

The names are legend: Tony Massenburg, Antoine Carr, Othella Harrington, Brent Price, Don MacLean, Michael Smith, Rodrick Rhodes, Lee Mayberry and Makhtar Ndiaye. That's nine players and three future draft picks all to appease a young man who never wanted to play in Vancouver, but was drafted to do just that anyway.

Francis can dunk, but he also has a well-rounded game that few point guards can match.

So Steve Francis went to Houston and flourished, putting up great numbers for an NBA point guard -- outstanding ones for a rookie -- and sharing the top rookie honors with the player drafted before him, Elton Brand. But injuries to a pair of future Hall of Famers ultimately derailed any chances the Rockets had of winning something. One of those legends will be back.

With that, here is our 10th offseason team spotlight, the Houston Rockets. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also want yours. Let us know your thoughts on the Rockets by filling out the form at the bottom of the page.

Why the Rockets were 34-48: The Rockets had a full stable of stars when they put together a pair of five-game losing streaks before Thanksgiving had even arrived. So to say Francis, Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley were going to the playoffs anyway is probably stating too much. Francis was great from the beginning. Charles and Hakeem looked old from the beginning. By the time the Rockets' first non-playoff season since 1992 and only the second in 15 years was over the team was just happy to see it end.

Barkley blew out his knee in Philly and Hakeem went under the knife for a hernia, then he suffered from a respiratory disorder. They played a combined 66 games. Barkley came back to play six minutes in the season finale and walk off the floor the right way. But these guys certainly weren't the only ones to suffer injuries.

Some said that Rudy Tomjanovich actually did one of his better coaching jobs, getting the Rockets to be competitive with a Pig (Anthony Miller) and a Bull (Matt Bullard) playing big minutes. More or less, after years of going with veterans, the Rockets had to play the kids. Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Kenny Thomas and Kelvin Cato are young guys who should be a big part of the future. The time they got last year will surely help.

With the young guys leading the way, the Rockets closed by winning nine of 13. If they can keep that up in 2000-01, we may have something here. There's no harm in having one bad season every decade or so, especially when you've already rewarded your fans with a pair of championships in their lifetime. (Houston fans say thank you, Michael, by the way.)

Current projected top 6
PG Steve Francis
SG Cuttino Mobley
SF Shandon Anderson
PF Kenny Thomas
C Hakeem Olajuwon
6th Walt Williams

Team MVP: Some rookie point guard. What, you were expecting Moochie Norris? Team LVP: There are no good choices here. Sure, Shandon Anderson was a disappointment. Sure, Kenny Thomas shooting .399 from the field was bad. But neither deserves to be LVP. Surprise! Some people (not us, of course) didn't think Francis would pass much. Granted, 6.6 assists isn't among the leaders, but Houston also had nobody to finish plays off. That assist number will go up. The fact it was that high at all is a surprise. Up and comer: Obviously Francis will get better, but so will Cato, Thomas and rookie Jason Collier, who gets to come in and learn from a once-dominant center and take his time getting into the lineup. Half of this team are actually up-and-comers, if you want to get technical.

What they need: Certainly the Rockets can't win if Olajuwon isn't in the lineup, at least not this year. Francis is going to get better and he will do a good job of getting others involved, but unless Cato takes a big step forward and Collier can play right away, the team will need Olajuwon to perform. Not star, not average 20 and 10, but contribute. He should be able to do that. Cato wasn't bad, as he did have nine double-doubles, did a nice job blocking shots and made the shots he took, but after being a major part of the Scottie Pippen deal, he has higher expectations placed on him.

If Hakeem, Cato, Thomas, Carlos Rogers and Collier are contributors, no problem up front. With Francis and Mobley (who may remain the sixth man, with Walt Williams starting) at guard, things look good. Dan Langhi slipped to the second round but seems a lock to make the team after performing very well in the summer league. Shandon Anderson is your small forward for a few years. And you've got one of the best coaches in the game.

We can't find a whole lot of things wrong with the Rockets that health and maturity won't cure. Francis was like a sieve defensively last season, but if he works on that, we're talking about an impossible-to-cover point guard with all-around skills.

What the plan is: The Rockets, like pretty much every other team, can't afford any big free agents, but they aren't desperate for anyone anyway. Olajuwon says he's feeling good and ready for another season (at $16.5 million, by the way). Of the 16 players on the current roster, and obviously this will change since 12 is the limit, only six have more than four years experience. So the plan, in general, is to develop this young talent. The only key free agent on the team was Mobley, but he was re-signed.

Another thing the Rockets have to think about is where not only their future lies on the court, but where the court will be. Will the Rockets have enough support to stick around, or will an NBA-wannabe town like New Orleans or Louisville, Ky., steal them away. Houston voters spoke up and the news wasn't good for staying. But there's still time to keep them around. Don't worry, Steve, they won't be moving to British Columbia.

Direction heading: With apparent depth, a Hall of Famer in the middle and some very nice young players, the Rockets couldn't possibly lose 48 games again unless something goes terribly wrong. This is a playoff team. But watch Hakeem's health.

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I thought Shanndon was great last year.
He averaged 12pts a game last year which is good with Francis and Mobley on your team.
You can't expect Anderson to average 20 when
Francis takes 18shots and Mobley takes 16shots a game.

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"(Houston fans say thank you, Michael, by the way.)"

Houston fans say "get off his dick, ESPN," by the way.

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WE WILL WATCH THEM FALL... Next year

 

Call me mad, but I recall Michael was playing in the NBA when Houston won it's second title....

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<sarcasm start>But Michael only came back in the playoffs, he was still rusty<sarcasm end>

Never mind the fact he dumped 55 points on the Knicks in one game, he was still rusty.

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"He fouled me every single time I was over the rim ... I'm going to lift weights tomorrow and get my legs stronger so next time I play him I'll put it on his head five times." - Steve Franchise

 

Love this Line

Olajuwon says he's feeling good and ready for another season (at $16.5 million, by the way).

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Michael was back WAY before the playoffs. It was about a month if I remember correctly. In the playoffs, he just didn't get it done vs. the Magic. And when the Magic played us, we swept them. We don't owe Michael anything. He was back, and he just got beat pure and simple. It's sad so many media outlets feel they have to kiss up to MJ like that.

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[This message has been edited by The Cat (edited August 02, 2000).]

 

no it's not sad that the media feel they have to kiss up which ain't what they are doing, the really scary part is that it is spoken and accepted as if fact. Mj was back and they lost but just like always, excuses excuses excuses

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i'm on your case i'm in your face put you and your father back in place step off sucker understand don't you know that I'm The Man

 

actually if i'm not mistaken i remember it to be march 19th 1995 when mj came back...the rockets swept the magic on june 14th, 1995....nearly three months after he came back and i'm sure he was practicing long before then..heck we sure know he wasn't getting it done in baseball so i'm sure he was in basketball condition..people forget the bulls had no pf in 1995 because horace was on the magic..and even if mj had stayed he would have probably left the bulls i'm guessing he wasn't a big fan of management.....the fact is the rockets won the title and i'm tired of people saying no mj...the rockets had the bulls in the 90s and were better then the bulls when against each other...the bulls just could not stop hakeem.....

also i'm tired of hearing that mj was so brave to try baseball..well the fact is him playing baseball simply was kind of classless...he was not good enough for AA baseball but yet he took a spot on the team knowing he was only on it because he was mj....some other young talent was held off the team and away from his dream because mj was able to play just because of who he was...total classless move to play on a team just because you're mj knowing your not good enough and that you're helping ruin some other players dream.....anyways back to rockets

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Shane
"Save Our Rockets"
"Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"

[This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited August 02, 2000).]

 

i get ticked to,every time someone says we should think mike for the championships.And even if jordan never left we still would of won.If you recall hakeem in the playoffs those years killing all other dominate centers.Chicago could not of handled him!

Even in are losing or subpar seasons we always seemed to beat mike & the bulls.We just had there number plain and simple!

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Just take ESPN with a grain of salt.

Look at 2 of their employee's
Peter Gammons
David Aldridge

'nuff said

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"Your not a real member of CC.net unless you have 1000 posts"

 

damn..that all makes me so mad..those two championships will always have astericks by them for everyone in the media..we should have made the finals that year when stockton hit that shot, we could have beaten them then too. we'll never hear the end of this. right after their 6th bob costas in his closing comments said that if it wasnt for jordan playing baseball the bulls would have definately won eight in a row. i remember him saying that. theres nothing we can do to ever change any of it. its all tainted. F**K YOU ESPN, NBC !!!!!!!!!!!

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"Win the game, baby!"
-Rudy T in the fourth
quarter of game 4 of
the 1995 NBA Finals

 

That stockton shot - I seem to recall it came from an ILLEGAL MALONE SCREEN.. I'm still mad about that!! Poor Drex had no chance of covering stockton when Malone just kept pushing him towards the basket...

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Also, I guess the last Bulls championship should be marked with an asterisk... Hakeem only managed to play half the season that year, so without having him play for the full season there's NO WAY that an honest Bulls fan could claim that they were deserving champions that year..........

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I think if hakeem has a 14pt 7rb season and plays in 65 or more games, we will be in the playoffs, but if he goes for another extended stay it'll be lottery time.

Francis is going to go nuts this year.

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Actually we probably don't need much scoring from Hakeem this season. I think around 14 would be the most we should expect!! But on the rebounding front I'd like to see him clock up 7-9 a night and pull out a couple of blocks/steals/assists! It's important for him to bring all his skills to the table for this season if we're going to make the playoffs - just his scoring won't need to be massive because I don't see him being the primary or secondary option!

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