In case you haven't seen it yet: Meet the gang that couldn't shoot straight November 10, 2001 They won five of their first seven games, but perhaps that said more about the competition than the Rockets. They have one of the worst collections of shooters -- at least statistically so far -- in the league, having shot over 40 percent from the floor just twice. They were able to beat Atlanta, the Clippers, Phoenix, Denver and Philadelphia, but lost to Minnesota and Denver, the latter a 108-81 wipeout in which they shot 38 percent. "It caught up with us, and caught up bad," said Rockets forward Walt Williams of the Rockets' lousy shooting. "We weren't shooting the ball. They were. They made some tough shots. It's frustrating any time you go out there and don't play well offensively. "Even when we won, you could see it in the locker room. We were happy to get the wins, but frustrated at not getting into the game offensively. The consolation was the win. But this gives us a double tonight because we lost." Really? This is something that is only now starting to catch up with the Rockets, and you have to wonder why. It's the beginning of a new season, one full of changes, so the Rockets' young legs should be full of bounce. But judging by some of the shooting percentages, that does not seem to be the case. Just look at the shooting percentages for the Rockets top three threats after their Nov. 9 game at Denver: Steve Francis is 42-of-108 from the floor, 38.9 percent. Cuttino Mobley is 47-of-109, 43.1 percent, which makes him the Jerry West of this bunch. Glen Rice is 22-of-61, 36.1 percent. Combined, the top three are shooting 101-of-278, 36.3 percent. But wait, there's more. Or less, in this case. The Rockets' four small forwards -- Rice, Walt Williams (16 of 45, 35.6 percent), rookie Eddie Griffin (9-for-30, 30 percent) and rookie Terence Morris (0-for-5) -- have combined to shoot 33 percent from the floor. And Moochie Norris is barely over 40 percent (10-of-24, 41.7 percent) for the season. This is a team that is built around the scoring of Francis and Mobley. They're not overwhelming on the boards, and while they're a decent defensive team, putting the ball in the basket is what's going to get the Rockets past the bigger teams in the West. The lousier they shoot, the more inclined teams will be to fall back into a zone defense, forcing the Rockets to hoist up perimeter jumpers. POSITIONAL ANALYSIS Point guard: Francis was bothered by migraine headaches at Denver, which partially explains his 1-for-5 shooting in that game. Before that, Francis had been remarkable, averaging 21.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists. You're not going to find better production than that. Grade: A. Shooting guard: Mobley caught the same brick bug that everyone had in Denver, going an abysmal 1-for-10 from the floor. But Mobley has been getting it done, taking the ball to the basket rather than settling for fallaway jumpers. But he got torched by Isaiah Rider, who bombed the Rockets for 28 points. Grade: C. Small forward: Rice isn't Rice. This must be one of those '50s flicks, where aliens put a pod next to his bed and the next morning you have a guy who looks and sounds like Rice, but isn't him. Rice, who is shooting just 36 percent, was 1-for-5 against the Nuggets on Friday. Brutal. Grade: D. Power forward: Kenny Thomas has been a revelation so far, working hard on defense and knocking down his shots -- he's shooting 53.6 percent, and on this team, that stands out -- and is averaging 13.7 points. He's not going to be much more than adequate on the boards (around six per game), but he's doing OK so far. Grade: B. Center: Kelvin Cato has been doing what the coaches are asking of him -- sealing off the middle and at least wrestling a bit with the opposing center. But if they're going to compete in the West, the Rockets are going to need more than the seven points and two boards he had against Denver. Grade: C. Bench: Kevin Willis is killing people on the boards, which is exactly why the Rockets wanted him so badly. He played only 10 minute against Denver (six points and three boards), but he had nine boards against Dikembe Mutombo on Thursday. Norris hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer against Phoenix, but has shot only 2-of-9 from the floor in his last two games. Williams has the same brick-itis that has afflicted everyone else, even though he was 4-of-8 from the floor against Denver, which raised his shooting up to 35.6 percent. Grade: C. Coaching: Rudy Tomjanovich can't shoot for the guys. Grade: B. INJURY REPORT: PF Maurice Taylor: Torn right Achilles' tendon (Oct. 29) Analysis: Taylor tore the tendon during a workout in Michigan, and underwent surgery on Sept. 5. He will miss the entire season, and his minutes will go to Thomas and Willis. SF Dan Langhi: Right ankle sprain (Oct. 29) Analysis: Buried in the rotation, Langhi is seeing as much time now as he would be if he were available. Langhi has requested a trade, and the Rockets are doing what they can to accommodate him. C/F Jason Collier: Medial tibial periostitis (Oct. 29) Analysis: Medial tibial periostitis? That's a new one. With the addition of Willis, Collier's minutes shrank considerably. Putting him on the injured list allows Collier to work on his conditioning and his strength. SEE A DIFFERENT GAME You have to wonder how long the Rockets can afford to keep Willis on the bench. You have to recall last year's situation, when Mobley was the Rockets' sixth man. But Mobley was scoring so well that the Rockets had no choice but to move him into the starting lineup. Willis may be the same scenario. He's averaging 8.7 points and 9.4 rebounds so far, and that latter number is only because he played just 10 minutes in Friday's blowout loss at Denver, finishing with only three boards. Willis has been one of their most effective inside players, and actually has more blocked shots than does starting center Cato (six to five). So, how long can they keep that on the bench? Francis and Mobley are going to wear down if the entire offensive burden is falling on their shoulders, especially since Rice has been struggling so much from the field. And his outside shooting will open up the lanes for Mobley, Francis and Norris. http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/rockets/index.html Pretty cut & dry.
It looks like they're shooting 111 out of 278, or 39.9%. Houston doesn't get respect because its ambassadors can't add correctly.
Luckily, Rudy is smart enough to realize that inserting Willis into the starting lineup would be nothing short of a disaster. What is the point? Willis will still get his minutes. For the first time in his career, Cato is motivated and playing hard. While he hasn't been as productive as most of us would like, sending him back to the bench would surely destroy his fragile self-confidence.
I like how they took one game of Cato's, game where the entire team sucked, and said he would have to produce more. That game was an aberration. I haven't seen a Rockets team play that badly in a few years. Did anybody outside of Kenny Thomas realize there was a basketball game against Denver? They praised big Kev's roughly 9 ppg and 9 rpg, and rightfully so, but Cato is averaging 7 ppg and 6 rpg in the same minutes, and is improving. basically we're getting from our center position about 16 ppg and 16 rpg and close to 2 bpg. I'll take that. Willis is 39 years old, and while he is in great shape, I'd rather save him and have a fresh Willis ready to come in and do damage then pile on the minutes on him and risk having him wear down at the end of the season. Especially with Cato playing motivated, inspired, hustling basketball. Cato should continue to improve. I expect Cato to finish the season averaging 10 to 11 ppg and 7 to 8 rpg, and 1 or 2 bpg.
I have said this before, and I will say it again. We shouldn't lend any credence to the articles from The Sporting News on the Rockets because they are just written by Houston Chronicle sportswriter Michael Murphy. It is not the national media.
I don't see the guy slagging out the Rockets - they ARE shooting badly! Who cares where Griffin is playing? The SF's are still not hitting shots, and neither is Eddie (except for his 3's!!) - and it's fair to say that Francis and Mobley need to make their shots to make us a team that can contend. Walt's comments about the locker room and the down atmosphere because of a lack of shot-making seems pertinent - we shoot bad we're gonna lose. I'm just enthused about the D that is being played so far - I guess there could've been some mention of that, but the point stands that something needs to be done offensively!!!
So Mobley starts the season as our most consistent shooter, hits 15-19 3's to start off, and is playing a ton of minutes and doing good and then he has a 1-10 game and he gets a C??? It seems like every evaluation mentioned the damn Denver game like it was the whole season.
I am really looking forward to the Rockets getting the next game over with. 1 game a season does not make...or something like that.
if Mobley gets a C, then Francis does NOT desserve an A. up till the denver game, Mobley was playing as good, if not better, than Francis.
I agree on the shooting part... our three's better start pouring in. Mobley and Franchise are doing great though and I see no reason to giving Cat a C. He'll surprise the league and he'll be one of the elite.
