Skimming through the posts I keep running across people who want us to pack it in this season. That would be a terrible mistake for the following reasons: 1. The Rockets are not out of the playoffs yet regardless of whether they have a realistic shot at making it or not. So by tanking they would learn to just give up and not fight tooth and nail while there is still a chance. Who would want to support a team like that? 2. Teams that lose a lot develop a loser’s mentality. Why would we want to risk that? 3. We do not need next year's top pick to become a championship team. We already have one all-star in Francis. A future all-star in Griffith. Three decent players in Thomas, Mobley and Taylor. A capable back-up in Norris. A potentially decent (or better) player in Torres. A potentially capable backup in Morris. As you may remember the Rockets first championship team only had one all star in Hakeem and rest of the team was filled with support players. If we do not have a high pick all that means is that the Rockets staff will have to work harder to identify a player that can come in and contribute. The Rockets staff has proven that quite often they can find the late round gems. Also, very few top picks have an immediate impact on their team. Barkley said it right when he proclaimed that teams that draft high schoolers are telling their fans that the team will suck for 3 years because that is how long it takes for them to get adjusted to the NBA. 4. If we end the season on an up note (making or coming close to making the playoffs) then free agents will be more amenable to any offers proffered by the Rockets. Really how many free agents want to go to a losing team without any future? 5. As a fan I want to see them play their hearts out. Who wants to see a game where the outcome is a foregone conclusion?
if i could put one tenth of carlos' heart into some of you posters the world would be a better place...RUDY RUDY RUDY!!!
I agree. We need to trade our pick this year for someone further developed at the 5, to match Francis, Mobely and Griffin's development. Even if we have to trade anyone but Francis, Mobely, or Griffin, and preferably not Morris, we need a solid center besides Cato. Of course it would be awesome to get Lewis, but I really believe Morris will be our future 3. You can only have so many stars on a team, and you need that defensive stopper. We have our 2 superstars now, they just need to develop. I agree with Nugzfan that we aren't going to get McDyess unless we let go of Francis or Griffin, which I don't see happening, at least not this year. I don't agree with him about LaFrentz. It seems like the Rockets are showcasing Thomas and Norris. It wouldn't surprise me to see them traded, along with some draft picks, and maybe the Wiz for someone's need of cap room. As much as its tempting, thinking we'd get the final piece we need from the draft, I agree, tanking is not what you do when you want to develop a team's heart of a champion. A Championship team is not just a collection of talent, although you need the talent to get there. I do think we ought to get Morris and Torres in the game, though, so they develop sooner, rather than later. Give Mobely's ankles a rest, and be sure Rice is totally healthy to get back to his former greatness, even for a couple years.
I would not "Tank" per se, but I would play the young guys over the veterans to get them some seasoning. If this means we lose more this year, so be it. DD
I think Cato is a pretty decent backup center. When you get down to it, what teams have a backup center that is really that much better. Of course they don't pay as much,.
There is no need to "tank" when you can get players like Steve Francis and Eddie Griffin through smart maneuvering anyway. Why should we become Chicago? We'd probably only get the 4th pick anyway. To get two special players like Eddie Griffin and Steve Francis without losing 50-60 games a year is pretty impressive, in my opinion.
I'm with DaDakota. I don't think the Rockets should try to lose... but even if Walt Williams is a tiny bit more productive than Terrance Morris or Oscar Torres... I'd still rather see them get the minutes since the season looks pretty doomed right now. Even if we did make the playoffs, I couldn't imagine much success. Don't get me wrong, though... I'd rather make the playoffs than have the #9 pick again. And I don't think this team is nearly bad enough to contend for the #1. PS. Clutch, when do we get Tank-a-thon 2k2?
My reason for this thread is that I could not believe that fans were asking for the Rocks to tank. Personally I think if we started Oscar over Walt that we would win more games. The same goes for giving the Blockmaster more minutes. I think if we start seeing Langhi in games that the Rocks are tanking. Heck if he could not earn more minutes than Morris (a rookie) then he needs to find another line of work. As for giving Morris more minutes, I say wait until next season after he spends the entire summer working on his shot.
I somewhat agree with DaDakota and haven. Get EG his minutes no matter what. I am not sold on Morris yet. I still think that we need to find that optimum lineup, too. That will take some more fiddling around, and it might cost a few games to do it (although, hopefully the "experimentation" works like it did tonight). I don't think that Rudy could get Steve, Eddie, and Cuttino to tank even if he wanted to - and I seriously doubt that he'd want to. Just look at his face when we're losing, he is the poster-boy for mental anguish. No way we can tank this season. But Eddie needs his minutes, and we need to settle into a lineup. I suspect that might get more wins this season doing that, even if it is meant to help us win in the future...
