I've been wondering all season long how it is that a team with as much talent as the Rockets have are falling in games that they have EVERY opportunity to win. I haven't been able to understand it because I've been asking the wrong questions. I think that it's obvious how talented this team is. One-on-one, Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley can score on ANYONE. Yao Ming might be the most freakishly TALENTED big man that I've ever seen. We've got talented role players like Padgett, Weatherspoon, etc. But I swear that I have never seen a team crumble so much in the final few minutes of games, and NOT due to lack of talent. It would be a lot easier to swallow these games if we were able to execute our offense and our shots just wouldn't fall. But from where I'm standing, I don't see a real offense out there when the game's on the line. Now I know that defenses are obviously picking up their aggresiveness in the final minutes. But I don't think that is any excuse for the way that the Rockets have typically played with few minutes remaining in close games. Steve Francis is a freakishly athletic and supremely talented point guard. That being said, I hope he gets traded in the offseason. I've loved to watch him since he was a Terrapin, and I was the biggest Rockets fan in the world when he was picked. But the guy plays downright stupid with time running down. I don't address this particular problem to any specific game, but rather classify it as his general demeanor in the last few minutes of MANY games. He looks more intent on beating his man than he does on beating the opposing TEAM. I really don't think he's got some kind of secret vendetta to be the star or have all the spotlight. But the fact remains that he doesn't utilize his teammates, or even make an effort to the majority of the time. When the Rockets NEED a basket with less than a minute left, it's NOT okay to settle for a contested 20-footer. It's just not. You have four other guys out there with you--and they all want to win just as badly. I can't imagine that Van Gundy wants him doing this. I can't imagine that any true ROCKETS fan wants him doing this. But he's obviously not learning from it. It's gone on all season. It's too bad because if we DO trade him, we're not going to get the same amount of talent in return. But he is playing like an ass in the final minutes, and I am getting sick of watching it. What is the answer here? I'm worried that if Van Gundy benches Francis for the final minutes, it will so damage Steve's pride that he'll make it even tougher for us to get anything in return for him this offseason, as well as it could be potentially damagaing to Steve's morale in the ensuing games. But seriously--a lot of the time we have twenty seconds to set up a play and he doesn't even stop dribbling until there's about 7 or 8, and by that time you really DON'T have better options than a contested 20-footer. Flame me if you like, but I had to say something. It hurts me much more than it hurts him--but this team is too talented to be doing a lot of these stupid things. I can't help thinking that we could have won a few of these close games and we wouldn't be ****ting our pants now about making the playoffs or being stuck as an eight seed (as the seventh seed is really, IMO, the best shot Houston has of getting past the first round).
ahhhh, we were a bit short on steve bashing threads there for a while. we need mark in there blowing open layups when he's not even on the run and missing every 3 and jump shot ever and getting abused on defense (a mile away fellas). are open 20 footers off pnr's ok?
That 4.00 assist to TO ratio didn't help either, the idiot. Even though Yao had 6 TO's, all 3 of Francis' TOs were directly responsible for the loss. I know I can't prove it, but because I'm claiming it, it must be true. ^<-----[Sarcasm btw]
The team plays dumb....and they don't stick to their game plan when things get tight. Yao needs to play with more passion and Steve needs to play with more brains. This team is SO close to getting it....they are in every single game, they just need a firm game plan and a resolve to stick to that plan. DD
As of lately, I would state that Yao also needs to play with some brains too. SF, well SF.....most obvious thing. DUMP THE TURNOVERS! Geez...he is driving me insane. He is raking up the assists, but his Turnovers are still way too high. This team, when they do get are one of the BEST teams in the league IMHO. Seriously, they are amazing when Yao shows up with some heart, and SF with some brains. Or maybe it should be Yao with courage, SF with brains, and Cato with heart. We need Cato badly. We do suck with out him. We have NO inside presense on D. YAO killed us today with all his misses from up close and 6 turnovers!!!
we may have talent but no brains...a good example is the utah jazz: not much talent but they have brains so they keep on winning.
Amen Oski. SF had a terrific passing game, 12 assists and only 3 turnovers but couldn't hit jack from the floor. I just wish he could just show up like this more often. Yao has lead the team in turnovers in many games in the last 2 weeks or so. 6 more tonight for the big guy, that is terrible.
I'm sorry but this team is nowhere near getting it. They stay in games despite this because they are so talented. At this point I'm willing to sacrifice talent for players that get it, take that however you want to take it. Their stupidity grows with each game, that is not getting it.
SF3 is not known as a bad shooter. Without Yao, the younger Rockets won 45 games a couple years ago. I'm wondering how many games this team can win without Steve (or Cat), maybe half? Yao's not alter nobody's shot. Time and time again, people pick Yao to shoot over to win the game. The only shot he altered is Steve's.
A couple of years ago. No one played zone defense and Cat and SF3 could ISO all-day. If they tried that this year, they would be lucky to win 30.
HAHAHA! Excellent, Pole. Excellent. That being said, I have never bashed Frances before - but he needs to go while he has value. He's a dummy.
Frances, as in Frances Bean. Courtney needs to get something for her while she has value. That's what I meant ... seriously.
I would have stuck this in the game thread, but it went completly to hell with the back and forth stuff. This thread seems appropriate. Here I will rant and vent about all things Rocket. Steve- I could not believe my eyes when with about a minute left in the game, down by one and coming out of a timeout, Steve dribbles down the court comes off a screen and then jacks up a shot with 18 seconds left on the shot clock. I refuse to believe that, that was how JVG drew it up. And even if he didn't draw it up like that, how can he allow Steve to do that. It was probably one of the dumbest things I've seen Steve do. It was way worse than the layup attempt a little while later, which some people seem to be arguing about. Plain and simple, Steve does not value possessions enough. This whole team doesn't value possessions enough. Everybody on the team will throw stupid behind the back passes (Mo and MJ do it all the time), or make other unconscionable decisions. JJ- Another thing I couldn't believe, was the sequence where Peja schooled JJ on one end, JJ got frustrated and wanted to get back at him. So on the other end, JJ calls for the ball and tries to iso Peja, then misses a tough shot. That was just stupid. JJ's supposed to be a veteran, but he totally let his ego get in the way of the team. I'm beginning to understand why JJ has been branded selfish in the past. MJ- He just can't guard anybody. During the first stretch when he came in, Sac went on a run because he couldn't handle christie at all. First moochie, and now MJ why can't we get a backup PG that is actually an upgrade defensively over SF. Oh and BTW feel free to miss some more layups. Yao- Here's how I would describe Yao on the play where he just tried to let the ball go out of bounds before Bibby tried to save it: LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY LAZY. Also, when you're being guarded by webber and you outweigh him by 70 pounds, you just have to back your ass up and throw it down his throat (Granted Yao wasn't getting the ball enough towards the end of the game when c-Webb was on him. Everytime Yao came out for the pick when Webber was guarding him, I was screaming at JVG to just let him operate in the post). Yao really needs to start making the dunk his default finishing move. He is long enough to make dunks on nearly all of his layups, but he doesn't. It's partly mentality and partly habit. He has to have the mentality that he SHOULD dunk over people because it's the highest percentage play in the game, and then he needs to get into the habit of doing it. I always think back to that dunk on Big Ben last year, and wonder why he doesn't finish like that more often. Oh and Yao really needs to build up his lower body and transfer some weight into his backside, in order to lower his center of gravity. That would help out a lot with his backing guys down and make him less susceptible to guys "pulling the chair out". Refs- This was a joke as usual. Vlade repetedly has a forearm and his other hand in Yao's back, pushing him out of the paint. Also a few of those Yao point blank misses were because of hacks. Webber clearly got Yao on the wrist when he went up for a dunk on one of those plays. And lastly, we must give up more offensive rebounds off of free throws than any other team in the league. CAN WE GET A BOX OUT OVER HERE. Feel free to toss your own rants, it'll make you feel better.
Oski2005: Steve's 4:1 assist to turnover ratio may not have killed us, but his 20% FG percentage sure as hell did. Only one other player on the team shot below .500 BTW. Pass 1st, shoot 2nd
