I don't know if Tito Maddox is good enough to make the team (or even Brown) but I do see that the coaches are very positive towards Maddox in the Summer Games. When he was playing absolutely horrible turning over the ball in the first game when the Rockets called timeout the coaches when right to him and patted him on the back and butt and smiled in a way their attitude towards Maddox was like it's ok just relax we know you are much more better than this and we believe in you. IMHO I do believe Maddox played great in the second game and showed real true signs of being a true point by getting players set up for shots. I watched at least half of the PG's there at the Summer games so far and only Maddox showed true abilities at getting things set up and going in a hurry(even though it was maybe only 3 or four mins worth none of the other points did that well enough on 3 or 4 back to back plays). Right now Brown does have way more skills in offense (it's not even close) but he's not really setting things up, if it weren't for the pick and rolls with Griffin or the shot clock I seriously doubt his assist numbers would be so high. Of the Rockets two PG's at the Games, Brown and Maddox are just totally different PG's. My personal feelings are that I like Maddox way more than I like Brown although I know the stats on both players aren't even close it's just from seeing them play I would say the difference is that Maddox is like a poor man's A Miller finding open players for shots but can't shoot worth a lick and Brown is like a poor man's S Marbury scoring a ton of points but getting high assist of certain players (Please don't think I'm comparing them overall to these talented players just their style of play). This is totally my opinion though. I just thing Maddox potiential to be a good PG is very high but his overall skills are just not there yet, he's like that little guy from Texas, BJ I think whos just constaintly looking to set up shots for his teamates. Brown is much better at creating his own shot, he is much quicker, has a decent 10-15 ft jumper, might have better handles, gets to the rim better, while Maddox only major advantage over Brown is that he get's shots for others much better. This one skill is so much better that I rather have Maddox becuase I find this skill very rare, yes I believe Maddox is very very talented in this area even though I only seen a very small glymise. Some might disagree with me 100% but I believe Maddox could make the NBA on this one true talent because to me he is very good at this and it is rare. I seen Randy Livingston play here and many said he was a true point but IMHO he's not even close to the talent at finding players that Maddox can be at. Though his overall skills may never get Maddox serious playing time I think some teams would sign him on this talent and his potiential at this, to me it's just very high. He also rebounds very well going very high and plays full court pressure everytime on Defense. With that I'd take Maddox over Brown to back up Moochie. Right now though I honestly believe that neither Maddox or Brown will play any serious mins if any mins this season if any of them make the team and if the team stays healthy, they both are not ready for serious action. Norris is so many levels above them right now IMO. I guess this whole thing I wrote is to say that I may not know anything about how Basketball is to by played as a team but Maddox impressed me a whole lot in creating in 3 or 4 mins of continuous plays in one game that I haven't seen from any of the PG's at the Summer Games IMHO. Yes I know he turned the ball over more than enough times, travel a few times, just lost the ball a few times, played lost and out of control a few times and his shot outside is probably the worst I have seen from any of the players at the Games but I like him and I truely believe he has a great talent at creating and has a high potential whether or not he will ever achieve it or be an NBA PG. Sorry if I wrote too much : )
Sounds realy good to hear all the up to the second news! Nikestrad Griffin dosen't need to put on a lot of weight bur needs to stengthen up! A lot of weight would upset his balance and speed . He is now about 5-8lbs. off his optimum weight for his body type! It sounds that his strength has improved but his stamina needs work.
I'll just reiterate some of the points mentioned: Boylen really seemed ecstatic over Griffin, with him putting on weight. The blocks comment comment confirmed what DoD said-Rockets stat people picked up 6 blocks vs. Memphis, and EIGHT vs. Phoenix. Boylen said he's mainly a 4, that can play some 5, because of the dearth of quality centers. He expects him to play some alongside KT or MoT. They said Rice hasn't been in LA, but is expected to drop by sometime during the summer league. Cato/MoT have both been losing weight. It was mentioned Francis is really working quickly at getting back-hit something like 17 shots in a row in one of the practices. I got a different sort of vibe on the Tito talk. Mentioned they were thrilled to get him at 38, he's a first round talent. Loved his size, toughness, and defense, and that he's about Cuttino's size, maybe a little bigger. He's not exclusively a 1 or a 2, and mentioned that having a 2 who can lead the break is a nice luxury to have (think "with me and Steve running the wings, and Odom leading the break...it's over" courtesy of Cat on BDSSP). The hosts asked him if he's likely to make the roster as part of another question, but Boylen didn't/avoided answering that part. I thought the overall vibe was that the Rockets would love to stash him on the team to develop for a year, but if they don't have a slot, they'll let him develop overseas or something. The fact he didn't mention Tierre Brown at all, considering he's stastically been the 2nd best player is surprising. LA#1-Funny you should compare Tito to Dre Miller. I think Boylen or one of the assistants made that exact comparison right after we drafted him.
rocketlaunch's script: the worst-written post ever! ...or the best one in that it making me feel that my English is not that bad. All in all, thank you all guys. I think I am officially a Houston fan now (not only a Ming fan as I came as). Go, Houston. E Griffen, is he the next KG? Do we have $25 m to offer him in two years??
Think 20 year old Rasheed Wallace with great natural shotblocking instincts also- we have him under contract for 3 more years
Thats my bad I have better english then that. It's just a little hard to type and listen at the same time.
WTF?! Has not affected them my a$$! Anyone that watched the Rockets play last season knows that when someone asks how the zone has affected the Rockets, they are talking about how the opposing team's zone has affected the Rocket's dribble...dribble...dribble...3 on the shot clock...2...1...jack-up-a-wild-shot offense, not how the zone rules have affected the Rockets' defense. Did he dodge this question?
Well Tito is a point guard. For some reason, just because he's 6'4 the Rockets staff (particularly Jim Boylen) has several times said publicly they like Tito because he can play both guard positions. I don't know how much they've seen him play in college or how closely (according to reports) they've been watching the SPL because he can't play SG as of yet. If he developed a jumpshot and more versatile scoring methods like Tierre than he might be considered a possible SG because of his height. This is possible, but how many times have we heard that. Oh, if he just got NBA 3pt range, or oh if he got a mid-range J over the summer, his shot will improve...blah blah blah Why not just admit he's a PG? IF you want a SG than get one that IS, not one that possibly COULD be. Buckner or Bowen would be nice if affordable. Tito's offensive game is basically floaters and charging through the lane for lay-ups, etc. Yes he can make a jumper occasionally, but it obviously not consistent. Just go look at his percentages from college or just watch him play if you can and you'll see why. If the Rockets want to keep him as a 3rd string PG over Tierre, I'd be disappointed but it's likely. But if they keep him because they think he can play 2 positions, then that's BS because he almost definitely won't do so with any success.
That is what I thought at first also about the zone, but I think we just sucked so bad that Francis and Mobley just had to create shots all year long and they could easily get into the lane, but from there it was iffy. I really don't think too many teams, played to much zone against us, because of the Rockets one on one players could make a mismatch. Basically Mobley and Francis could exploit it, but that is maybe all we had last year with was not enough obviously.
Eh, Carlito? I'd always assumed that's what zones were good at negating, good one-on-one ability. And I attributed the Rockets slide last year at least partly to that. Good jump shooting and off-ball movement seems the best way to break a zone. You disagree?
I agree with you on that. I just don't remember seeing to much of it. I may be wrong, the season ended so long ago. The zone to me, is to stop the the penetration also, but I think that Mobley and Francis we able to come into the lane fairly easily, but the rest of the Rockets team sucked. I think other teams played a 3 player zone the sf/pf/c only. I think other teams were not playing a strong zone against us, just playing the their best defenders against Francis and Mobley, and the rest of the opposing team just helped, which was easy. If Mobley or Francis passed it off, it would be a good defensive play for the opposition, because the Rockets could not score at that point. This is why I am so excited, with the addition of a tuned up Griffin, MoT, Ming , and hopefully the slashing Nachbar. Now with this team, a strong zone may have to be played against them, and they just have to hope the Rockets just miss the open shot. If man on man is played, Rudy can get major mismatches or wide open shots. The Rockets are very versatile with Griffin and Ming!! The opposition can not gamble anymore, last year if they gambled, they had a 30% chance that Cato's dumbass would miss the dunk, or miss the FT after the foul anyways. Or Moochie would dribble the clock out.
I thought the zone rules were part of the difference between the Rockets' 45 win season two years ago and last year's debacle. The zone helped to nullify the iso plays that helped the Rox two seasons ago, did it not? Moochie, Cat, Steve, whoever, didn't have as much open space to operate; from what I remember it was often the case that when they ran an iso, there was an extra defender floating/sagging off on that side of the floor, cutting off Moochie/Steve/Cat's driving lane. Am I wrong?
