Stevie the fake "franchise and Cuttino the "cancer"

Yea...someone isn't dumb

 

Agreed.

I think the original post is way too harsh on Stevie and Cuttino, but I do think it has some points. I like Yao, Stevie, and Mobley, but I also think the team has to change their style of play or else get some more role players. Van Gundy said it last night and I agree, it's hard to have 3 scorers on one team.

 

Even though the Rox lost last night, it was still a very encouraging game.

Yao was huge, MTaylor seems to be stepping up nicely in the last few games, Cat is certainly playing less selfishly lately and Rice is back is a decent role player.

Franchise is due a down game like everyone else, especially since he's carried the team so many times. He's not making as many crazy ill-advised shots as the beginning of the season which to me is REAL PROGRESS. Last night, his shots just weren't dropping, but we know that shooting is not a fundamental flaw or weakness of his. His real weakness has been decisionmaking and in that regard, in last night's game he actually did well.

 

Although the youngster can't spell, and is little PO'd right now, you gotta admit, he is making some sense...

Yao is going to be the best player on the team in the next couple of years...

It's hard to admit for the Franchise that Yao is what's making the ROX a household name. W/o Yao, everyone o/s of Houston and w/o DirecTv wouldn't see any Rox games...

Once Franchise realized what the big O was saying and becomes the true playa we want him to be, this team is not going to lose...

As for CAT, I'm not sure who was lackadaisical last night...

That's how you spell big words...

Lackadaisical

 

Learn to spell if you want anyone to take you seriously.

 

MM,

Read the threads... everyone knows this kid can't spell...

But, he makes some good points...

 

Maybe I'm stoned or stupid, but I watched the whole game last night, and it had exactly the opposite effect on my opinions of Francis and Mobley. They worked hard to run the plays through the post. They seldom jacked up ill-advised shots. Mobley's defense was terrific, I thought. What I saw was two guys who had a bad shooting night and, instead of forcing up shots, tried to play smart and pass the ball and set up their teammates for high-percentage plays. If they keep playing like this, I'm for keeping them both.

 

I actually thought Mobley played quite well. He didn't do many things that were really stupid, and his defense was pretty good. He was pretty good on the break a couple of times. I didn't like the iso at the end, but I guess with Yao out the Rockets needed to try something different.

Steve on the other hand- I just thought he was terrible. Not just shooting, but passing and setting up teammates also. He started to panic at the end of the game, throwing up a crazy air ball at one point.

 

Are you reffering to the off-balanced jumper he was forced to shoot as the shot-clock was about to expire, b/c that was the only airball he shot last night?

You must be out of your mind, and seriously need to be placed in a straitjacket. Francis showed a tremendous amount of poise and maturity last night. The shot just wasn't falling for him, it happens. But, he realized this and didn't try to force the issue (as the announcers kept praising him for). He did a good job of getting the ball to Yao and MoT in the post and getting the offense to move the ball around. He plays each game with a tremendous amount of heart and is the LAST person (along with Yao) that ought to be criticized on this team. The only issue that people have EVER been able to have with Francis is that he hasn't always made the best decisions, but there was no such occurence of this last night.

Did you miss the alley-oop passes he threw when his teammates would actually make cuts and move without the ball, instead of standing still and watching like they consistently do. Did you not see that despite a horrendous shooting game, he still kept his poise and made 3 of his 4 FG's for the game late in the 4th and in the OT's, including the big layup down the stretch.

Granted there have been games where Steve deserved crticism, but NO WAY was last night one of them. And for idiots like the moron who started this thread to rip him in such a manner is horrible.

 

I do have one major gripe about Francis last night. I saw plenty of shots by Francis before even one pass down low that ended up 4 point swings (1st and 3rd periods). Later he did start always pounding it in to Yao and Mo--but if he started that early in the 1st and 3rd quarters we probably wear the Lakers down.

 

HEY!!! it also show's who are the Yao only Lovers and Team Haters!

 

What game were u watching?!

Steve spent just about the whole game Passing in to a big man who was posting up, it was either Mo Taylor or Yao Ming. I remember alot of Post ups and passes to him...That is what gave us a chance in this game...

 

Yes, the one where he basically dribbled the whole time and couldn't get himself a good shot. Even Calvin said something like "if you can't create your own shot in 3 seconds, move the ball."

[/QUOTE]
You must be out of your mind, and seriously need to be placed in a straitjacket. Francis showed a tremendous amount of poise and maturity last night. The shot just wasn't falling for him, it happens. But, he realized this and didn't try to force the issue (as the announcers kept praising him for). He did a good job of getting the ball to Yao and MoT in the post and getting the offense to move the ball around. He plays each game with a tremendous amount of heart and is the LAST person (along with Yao) that ought to be criticized on this team. The only issue that people have EVER been able to have with Francis is that he hasn't always made the best decisions, but there was no such occurence of this last night.[/QUOTE]

You have to be joking, once again Steve looked panicked when it was time to get a shot. I think at the end of one of the periods he was called upon to create a shot and he couldn't. I'm not saying he has to be perfect every time, but it just doesn't seem like he really understands what he's supposed to do. When he makes a mistake, I'm not sure if he's learning.



[/QUOTE]
Did you miss the alley-oop passes he threw when his teammates would actually make cuts and move without the ball, instead of standing still and watching like they consistently do. Did you not see that despite a horrendous shooting game, he still kept his poise and made 3 of his 4 FG's for the game late in the 4th and in the OT's, including the big layup down the stretch.

Granted there have been games where Steve deserved crticism, but NO WAY was last night one of them. And for idiots like the moron who started this thread to rip him in such a manner is horrible. [/QUOTE]

Hey, I'm not saying he didn't do SOME things well. He can still rebound and provide some explosive scoring. When he had that wide open 3 I just knew he would make it. But when he was setting up the offense, I was just expecting something bad to happen.

 

The only good thing about this thread is that is has shown the devisiveness of this board. On the one hand there are a lot of poster's like me who have been here for multiple seasons. In those seasons we lived and died by Steve and Cuttino and so yea we have a bond with those guys. On the other hand there are a lot of people who registered once we got Yao/first pick. Many of these people SEEM to be Pro-Yao and Anti-Steve and Cat. I am not judging anybody, just saying that that is how things appear. I like Yao, I hope he continues to improve but I still got mad love for Steve and Cat too.

 

Will, I saw the same thing as you. Sure there were a few questionable decisions but for the most part of all the nationally televised games I have seen this year with the Rockets this was the one in which the Rockets made the MOST attempts at giving the ball to Ming in the post. Some of the shots Mobley and Francis missed were just straight jumshots that were not wild or anything.

The second overtime was atrocious however. It goes to show what happens when there is no low post presence down low. The offense looked like a chicken with it's head cut off. The guards looked like they were pressing and trying to hard to make things happen. There is no "flow."

Chris

 

Man,

I have been dissappointed in Steve Fancy, and Cutturnover Mobley for 4 years.

I wish they would play smart ball....but I think we have to take our lumps before all the playground crap is out of their system.

Jack Ramsey once said about Francis that he was an amazing talent, but he had a tendency to go Juco (junior college) when things got tough...well guess what...we have 2 of them in our backcourt.

UGH !!

DD

 

Didnt know there is such thing existed.

 

DD, yeah, Francis and Mobley press. In pressure situations they don't always look like they are in control (of themselves and the offense). They look like they are struggling to do whatever they want to do. There isn't any flow in their game. I think it has more to do with not being comfortable enough with the motion offense and the situations. Maybe they just need more time to develop. Maybe they are late bloomers in this regard. I think they are still trying to switch their game/focus from that of a one on one game that was dictated with man on man defenses to a more team motion offense that works better with the zone defenses. The learning curve for them is high it appears. I guess it takes patience. And as a fan it is tough!

Chris

 

I've watched the Rockets since long before Cat and Steve, and they are still pretty stupid basketball players even after a lengthy seasoning in the league. The same dribble into a crowd, wild shot or pass in traffic resulting most of the time in a turnover or hurried shot got old after one year - even with the occasional score. Cat and Steve did this multiple times last night against LA. They did pass inside, but reverted back to their playground basketball style numerous times.

 

I think it's time Steve learned how to properly use a pick. Most of the time when Steve panics on offense, it's because he can't get past his defender. He will dribble around and around in circles until he's able to get past them. It totally disrupts the offense when he does that. Everybody else on offense is running away to give Steve enough room to do this. On the rare instances that he does use a pick, he's uses it terribly, making it so easy for his man to get around the pick. Steve needs to take a look at exactly how Kobe used picks last night.

I wish Steve (and Cat) would realize just how much easier life would be for them if they used their teammates better.