Found this season preview of the Houston Rockets. What do you guys think? Good analysis ?? Right on the Spot ?? How many wins will we be managed to get ?? Can we break that jinx/curse for being shut down in the 1st hurdle of the playoff??
thx for the read!.. slowly eases the pain of the off season..especially now that team USA isnt dominating anyone anymore
i agree with his starting lineup but i didn't particularly like some of the comments. i always find it funny how someone can list all the things we overcame to win 52 games and not give once ounce of credit to jvg for that. oh well. it also bugs me when writers say yao is playing up to the expectations everyone had when he was drafted. bullsh!t. he played better than 90% of the media's expectations by the time his rookie year was over. heck he's far surpassed just about what anyone thought he'd be now. of course instead of recognition he often gets criticized for what he isn't doing. the number of times i've heard that he SHOULD be averaging 25 and 10 because of his height is maddening.
Everything he said is how it looks on the paper. No telling how this team will play out in real life until mid season right before all-star break. But at least according to our roster we officially have more talent then Dallas and greater speed than Spurs. All we lack is experience.
Then again, you can make the same claim for every season preview article of the Rockets out there. Fact is, our team is STACKED now. There're some questionable personalities, but nonetheless we're totally packed with talent now. It certainly looks good on paper. I'm stoked for the upcoming season.
This artical does not get the point. The biggest change of this ROX is the depth. Last season, we only have Head, Howard, Mutombo and maybe half Wells/Snyder, we have no real bakup PG and No backup C when Yao goes down. Even that, we made 52wins and a very good chemistry(which I thought is more important). This year, we have Fransice, Wells, Hayes, Head, Alston, Mutombo, Snyder, Brooks, even Landry and Butler. And that's the real thing to cheer up. With Yao/T-mac/Battier on the starting lineup, whoelse the hell do we care?
For the Chinese fans, the only difference they have could be Steve Francis should start instead of Mike James....
Well, then, I'm in agreement with Chinese fans, since I believe that Francis will end up starting at PG. I sure do love the depth on this team. I'm still hoping we can get something for the players we need to cut, instead of losing them for nothing.
Thanks for the read. We need more of these season previews to be posted. Agree with his Starting 4, just not James. James looked so horrible with the Wolves last season, I'm actually worried about him taking minutes from Rafer. Sure he may be more motivated this year and happier with the Rockets and I loved him when he was here, but I'll take a lessor Franchise than a James B*tch any day
I like james as a starter. he is alot better suited to play alongside then what francis is. james can punish anyteam that tries to double tracy or yao with primeter shot. something francis or alston cant do. Francis i think is best suited off the bench where he can dominate the ball in the 2nd unit.
Bill Walton was right.... when you have offensive talents like Tmac and Yao....you don't want a grind it out game....get the ball moving. We're going to see such a big difference with the modified Princeton offense of movement rather than that prehistoric one on one isolation. Fans always complained about why can't Yao and Tmac dominate at the same time. Well, they each have to take turns going one on one! How can they domiante together under that type of offense. I don't see how someone can be fragile if some 250 pound guys roll into your leg. Even the biggest offensive lineman get hurt that way...and Shaq was out just for banging his knee against Hayes. I think James will be fine....I just think that Francis will start. Morey and the front office looked at tape, listened tos couts and looked at the stats and determined that Francis reduced production might have been more to do with his odd arrangement with sharing the ball with Marbury, Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson...all ballhoggers. Francis is still the most talented point guard on the team....unless Brooks blows up this year. James would be a tremendous talent at backup point guard. By the way, love that cartoon depiction of Scola. He's clutching that ball like a protective pitbull guarding his bone....and god knows what McGrady is doing to his ball. hahahahaa. Funny cartoons.
I hate that garbage saying that Yao has been unable to play consistantly, if I remember correctly, his first 3 seasons, he rarely missed a game. The past 2 seasons, when he was injured, it was a legit injury, not some freak injury ala Shaq's toe for being so huge and his weight, or other reasons.
James 2 years ago was putting up superstar numbers in toronto. if he brings he's A game, james is just as good as what francis is. if not better. Look at james numbers in toronto. he was putting up 30 plus games with amazing ease and effeciency. 38 points 14-21 6-10 3PT 60% 5 boards 4 assists in 39 minutes 38 points 15-22 68% 9 assists 2 boards in 45 minutes 30 points 10-17 58% 3-6 3pt 50% 8 boards 8 assists on ON US . 36 points 13-28 46% 7 assists 5 boards on the Spurs 31 points 11-19 58% 8 assists 7 boards 30 points 11-21 50% 7 assists 5 boards 38 Points 12-22 54% 7-11 3PT 63% 8 boards 5 assists 31 Points 10-18 55% 3-6 3pt 50% 5 assists 4 boards 36 Points 11-25 44% 4-6 3pt 66% 10 assists 5 boards 34 Points 13-26 50% 3-5 3pt 60% 11 assists 8 boards 36 Points 13-18 72% 7-10 3PT 70% 4 assists 5 boards 32 Points 9-22 40% 3-6 3pt 50% 6 assists 4 boards 39 Points 9-16 56% 3-5 3pt 60%18-18 AT THE FREETHROW LINE 6 assists 5 boards on the Pistons He also had 23 games of where he scored 20 or more points. you cant say that was a fluke. he was doing it all season. not to mention it was only 16 months ago. james is a better scorer and shooter then francis. he's also alot more effecient.
Yes. EVERYONE thought Yao would be this good when he was drafted. Absolutely no one compared him to Shawn Bradley, and certainly no one said that while Yao might be kinda sorta alright, the best he could hope to be is almost as good as Rik Smits. Good job making everyone look so smart, Yao!
