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NBATV: Mario Elie Interview

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by tinman, Aug 26, 2015.

  1. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u5enIfjB69c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
  2. Spacemoth

    Spacemoth Contributing Member

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    Love the Dennis Scott take. Orlando fans must feel ill for having their dynasty break up early, but Houston fans can commiserate. We had multiple instances where we thought a long stretch of championship contention was headed our way.

    I would rank it:
    1. Rockets in the mid-80's prior to the cocaine scandal;
    2. Astros in the mid-90's prior to losing Finley, Gonzalez, Cammy, Kile, giving away Lofton and Abreu, all because Drayton was a cheapskate; and
    3. Rockets in the mid-00's just after acquiring T-Mac.

    So the fact that just one of our stories turned out magical says to me that we more than deserved it.
     
  3. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    Skip to 3:00 for interview.
     
  4. tmac

    tmac Contributing Member

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    Good memories and nice comments from two guys who had to play against those Rockets teams.
     
  5. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Contributing Member
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    Great stuff. Good to hear Mario and also nice to get the perspective Dennis Scott, and Steve Smith.

    I really liked when Mario gave out the much deserved props to Chucky Brown. Not enough is said about his greatness.
     
  6. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    Mario Elie on 610:

    Part 1
    <iframe src="http://embed.radio.com/clip/60467898?ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhouston.cbslocal.com%2F2016%2F05%2F02%2Ftriple-threat-with-mario-elie-part-one-05-02-2016%2F&station_id=3&rollup_ga_id=UA-2438645-53&ads_ga_page_tracker=UA-20550966-5" width="345px" height="194px" scrolling="no"></iframe>

    Part 2
    <iframe src="http://embed.radio.com/clip/60467901?ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhouston.cbslocal.com%2F2016%2F05%2F02%2Ftriple-threat-with-mario-elie-part-two-05-02-2016%2F&station_id=3&rollup_ga_id=UA-2438645-53&ads_ga_page_tracker=UA-20550966-5" width="345px" height="194px" scrolling="no"></iframe>

    How much of a force to be reckoned with do you still consider Dwight Howard?

    He's very effective. 3rd in rebounding, up there in FG%, still does a decent job protecting the rim. I'm sure a lot of teams will be calling. Hard to find good bigs. He played quite a bit of games this year, which was surprising. I thought he lost some athleticism with all the surgeries but to me, he's still effective. I think a lot of people will be reaching out to him.


    Part 3
    <iframe src="http://embed.radio.com/clip/60467911?ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhouston.cbslocal.com%2F2016%2F05%2F02%2Ftriple-threat-with-mario-elie-part-three-05-02-2016%2F&station_id=3&rollup_ga_id=UA-2438645-53&ads_ga_page_tracker=UA-20550966-5" width="345px" height="194px" scrolling="no"></iframe>

    What did you see from this Rockets team & where do they need to go?

    Chemistry wasn't good. You saw it out there. Talented team. Brewer didn't have the impact he had last year. He had a subpar year. Don't know what happened to Terrence Jones. Coaching change in the middle of the season is always tough. J.B. did the best he could. I saw a broken a team out there. Just a broken team. They didn't look the same. Last year, they dominated. You didn't see the same team. For what reason I don't know. James Harden still had a fantastic year but he got off to a slow start. Dwight was solid. I don't think anyone else besides those two raised their games.

    Hard for players to play offensively...James has the ball in his hands a vast majority of the time. We see with other teams there's more sharing of the ball and guys are more engaged. Is there a difficulty level or certain type of player you need to play with James Harden?

    I don't think so. If they get another solid to very good player, James can adjust. He needs a little help. He does a lot on the floor. He manufactures a lot of points & shots for guys. He manufactures open shots, guys gotta knock them down. Back in our day, it was different. We would go down to Dream, he'd get doubled, he'll count on us out here to make shots to loosen him up. James needs the same thing. He needs guys to knock shots down. Again, I saw a broken team. I didn't see the same fire they had last year. Maybe a couple tweaks here and there but they aren't far. James is a great player. He's a top 3-5 talent in the NBA. Put a couple more pieces around him. Houston's a great place. People want to come here to play. A lot of people I know around the league always rave about Houston. I'm sure some guys want to come down here and play.


    Part 4
    <iframe src="http://embed.radio.com/clip/60467914?ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhouston.cbslocal.com%2F2016%2F05%2F02%2Ftriple-threat-with-mario-elie-part-four-05-02-2016%2F&station_id=3&rollup_ga_id=UA-2438645-53&ads_ga_page_tracker=UA-20550966-5" width="345px" height="194px" scrolling="no"></iframe>
     
  7. Greg M

    Greg M Member

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    I still check this site pretty often for things like this. There will be no team that I will follow as passionately as those early 90's Rockets team. Dream is my sports idol forever. Watching the Rockets now? Pass. Playing for ISO's, playing for the foul, stagnation, and no defense? No thank you!
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. oogie boogie

    oogie boogie Member

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    A true clutch city fan!
     
  9. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    You speak with heart and the ultimate standard for the Rockets my brother.

    These newbs , you can't explain to them and youtube videos don't do justice to Clutch City. It's impossible to create that bond between the Rockets and the city of Houston.

    We were one.
     
  10. tycoonchip

    tycoonchip Member
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    Damn it Les . Why is this man not working for this organization. He loves this city and town. Bring Elie and Cassell right on the coaches seat. No matter what big man we get if we can't get some snipers we are screwed.
     
  11. saleem

    saleem Contributing Member

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    Mario Elie is a Houston Rockets NBA Champion. He still loves Houston and wants to see us win again. He should be brought back as an assistant coach. He can command respect from James Harden.
     
  12. No Chance

    No Chance Contributing Member

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    Thank you very much JR !;)
     
  13. T_Man

    T_Man Contributing Member

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    Or beat the crap out of him....

    Bring the JunkYard Dog home...

    [​IMG]

    T_Man
     
  14. oakdogg

    oakdogg Contributing Member

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    I find it surprising you loved the Clutch Rockets and now you complain about iso's?

    What is the difference between:

    Players standing on the 3 point line watching Hakeem go one-on-one

    and

    Players standing on the 3 point line watching Harden go one-on-one

    ????

    Plenty of people - and I mean PLENTY of people - complained about the lack of movement in the 90's......until we started winning championships. Both offenses prioritized spacing over movement. Only difference was one player drawing the double teams was in the post and the other player drawing the double teams is on the perimeter.
     
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  15. albuster

    albuster Member

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    As the NFL commentators often say "C'mon man!", there is a chasm wider than the Grand Canyon between Dream and Harden. One 'nuff said difference is that Dream used to swat shots like little flies and Harden... you fill in the blank. Dream is Dream, a hall of famer and one of the 50 greatest players ever. I don't want to go on, it makes me sick just to think of it.
     
  16. oakdogg

    oakdogg Contributing Member

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    Are you in the same conversation? Did anyone liken Harden to Hakeem on defense? Did anyone even liken Harden to Hakeem on offense??? I'm talking about the offense - this offense gets complained about for the same reasons ppl complained about the Rudy T offense pre-championships - lack of movement and sharing the ball. There were not as many complaints post-championship.
     
  17. albuster

    albuster Member

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    Just curious, is Mario Elie being considered for any position with the Rockets' FA? His answers were perfect ones for if he is going to get an interview. My unsolicited advice to Elie is to just stay put where he is and not consider any job with the Rockets until Les has sorted this mess out. Our memory of Elie with the Rockets is so awesome that I would not want it tainted by what is going on with the team today.
     
  18. albuster

    albuster Member

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    I fully grasped what you were getting into in your previous post about the offensive system which you tried to compare. However, you may want to choose another comparison because mentioning Dream and Harden in the same sentence is really quite repulsive. I immediately pointed the defensive difference between the two just to emphasize the incredibly wide difference between the two as players.

    Anyway, taking the two widely disparate names out of the equation, the championship Rockets had a well defined system and roles for all their players both offensively and defensively. Like most successful offensive systems in the history of the game, the entry pass to the post was almost always the start of offensive sets and that was what the Rockets did (low or high post) and you may notice it with the past and current Spurs, the Warriors and the triangle offense of the Jordan Bulls and Kobe Lakers.

    The Rockets' offense did not always end up with Dream taking the shots but he was used more to disrupt the offensive schemes of the opponents due to his myriad offensive moves and skills in the post. The Rockets' three point shooters were not necessarily pure shooters but the offensive system created open shots from on-time and on-target passes which made the shooters shoot in rhythm. It was totally unlike the offense now where Harden's team mates don't know when, where, and how Harden will pass them the ball or whether he will pass it to them at all in any given offensive set. So there.
     
  19. oakdogg

    oakdogg Contributing Member

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    First of all, shut up with the posturing as the biggest Hakeem fan. Anybody who watched the Rockets in the 90's idolized Hakeem, and that includes me. Surprise! Surprise! It's offensive to have you talking to me like I just heard about this Hakeem guy.

    And you're wrong in your analysis. THE point I was making is that the same complaints about lack of movement and sharing the ball used to b*ch about this 7th ranked offense are the EXACT ones I heard tons of people make about Rudy T's offense.........until they won the championships. Even after, I heard it come up when Pippen was relatively unproductive.

    The basic premise of both offenses = give it to your best offensive player. If single coverage, he scores. If double covered, kick it to an open man. I grew up watching the offense and saw it win a couple of championships, so I am one of the few who actually likes it.
     
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  20. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    A great quote from Mario. I thought I'd quote you, J.R., in the hope that some around here might actually read this comment from Mr. Elie. Consider the source, people!
     

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