..the Lament of the Olajuwon Years..

[Nero]

Remember those years when Dream was in his prime.. for so many
years he was THE option on the team, the unstoppable one for
whom the other coach had to try to figure out how to control..

He was a totally dominant player for many years.. then, just when
he had aged to the point of a fine wine, and had not much longer
to go, we FINALLY got over the hump, basically because he was
just playing the best he had ever played..

Remember the biggest gripe, the biggest complaint through all those
years? The number one 'wish list' item in every Rocket fan's letters
to Santa?

A point guard who could play.

For so long we felt the pain of being SO close to the top of the mountain..
for so long we felt the heartache of having the single most unstoppable
player in the league, and suffering because having just that one
player was not quite enough..

We all saw that the true antidote for this pain was a premier PG to
go along with the dominant man in the middle.. a guy who could
both pop it from within the confines of the 'inside-out' game, and
elevate the play of his teammates, so that JUST stopping Hakeem
would not be enough to assure a victory over the Rockets..

So now I am looking at this team of today.. I see a young center
who could very well become just as dominant and revolutionary to
the position as Olajuwon was.. and then I realize that this current
team has far more talent across the board than the Olajuwon teams
ever had.. no, Yao is not as good as Hakeem was (yet), but at the
other positions, especially at the point, this team is more PHYSICALLY
talented.. mentally, obviously, is another story..

So, as much as we all feel an instinctive need to dive deep into
doom and gloom regarding our relative weaknesses at the 3 or the
4 spots, I am beginning to think things may not be so bleak..
Remember, during the successful Hakeem years, we did not sneak
up on anyone with our game plan.. everyone knew exactly what
we were going to do.. it was not a matter of knowing what was
coming, it was a matter of not being able to stop it. As long as this
team plays the same kind of inside-out scheme as was so successful
before, there is no reason to assume it won't work just as well as before.

What I am wondering about, and am curious as to others' thoughts,
is this: Will JVG be able to re-create a similar center-oriented scheme,
and, more importantly, will the current roster of players (not counting
whatever pine-riding scrubs are signed to fill out the remaining
holes on the squad) be capable of playing that way?

To me, Francis has always shown that he is willing to work hard and
try to do the right thing. I honestly think his deficiencies in the past
were due more to a certain coaching style than any unconquerable
limitations on his part.

Yao, we all know he will constantly improve (which is downright scary).

I think Rice will be far more successful this year than most people believe,
and between him and Pike, we will be able to squeeze a lot of teams in the
vise grip of Yao and the 3pt arc..

EG has stated that he wants to lead the league in blocked shots..
as young as he is, and as highly touted as he was, I think optimism
is the best advice with him.. if he comes anywhere close to his defensive
potential, then his offense (or lack thereof) will not be a concern..

And even with Mobley.. I think his last two years should be thrown
out, because of the schizophrenic nature of what he was asked to
do from one year to the next..

I guess the real question is this: based on what we know of JVG,
what we know about our current players, and what we know about
how to win championships featuring a dominant man in the middle,
can this team get itself on the right path this year, begin to
actualize its potential, and show us (and themselves) that they can
become contenders? Or will it all fall apart, and disintegrate
into a mess of selfish play and no chemistry?

I personally am choosing optimism. I don't believe our problems can
be fixed simply by adding pieces.. We have the talent.. we need the
IQ's to improve.

I will say this though - if this team does not show marked improvement
THIS year, then I don't think it ever will. And therefore, the team
would need to be totally dismantled and rebuilt, with Yao being the
ONLY untouchable.

There are some really smart, knowledgeable people on this board.
Their opinions and words on subjects like this are far more interesting
to me than worrying about uniform colors, power dancers, and
ridiculous trade ideas.. just hoping, here, in the middle of the dog
days of summer and NO FREAKING BASKETBALL, that I can get my
serious hoops fix by hearing the serious thoughts of the many
people here who have shown they deserve our respect.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled life.

[AstroRocket]

I don't have much to really comment on the subject right now, but I thought that well written post deserved a reply. I''ll add more later.

[Rasselas]

Excellent post, Nero. It's been a slow news week, and this feels like nourishment, not cotton candy. (Although I think there's nothing wrong with the occasional cotton candy).

I'm glad you brought up the Olajuwon era. This one gets me all the time---can you imagine how this board would treat Kenny Smith? (And forget calling him "The Jet." Did they create that nickname over at TNT? Part of his contract, a perk, like free parking? Anyways.) Every day we would have a new thread that brainstorms some cockamamie scheme for ousting Kenny and acquiring a legitimate point guard.

Now we have one. And it's fashionable to question his intelligence, commitment, and willingness to share the ball.

So I agree with your central hypothesis: the aggregate talent at the 1, 2, 3, and 4 spots is superior to that of the early nineties. You'll find few people who will argue that.

If we assume this, that the rest of the team is superior to our 93-94 squad, then we're left with three variables:

1) The Coach.
2) The League.
3) The Big Man.

1) The coach. Hundreds of threads have already weighed the merits of JVG and his coaching style. I'm not going to rehash all the arguments, save to give my opinion that I'm completely sold on the guy and think he's exactly what our team needs. At least for the next few years.

2) The league. It's much, much, much tougher than back when Guns n' Roses was still together. (Yeah, it was a long time ago, and we're all getting old). The good news, though, is that the Big Dogs (LA, Sac, Dallas, San Antonio) won't be around forever. If we can have some patience, be content with just a taste of the playoffs, we should be ripe for a ring in 05-06. Yes, I see it taking that long.

3) The Big Man. This, to me, is the question that dwarfs all others. The question is of such fundamental importance that I'm not sweating the small stuff, not worrying too much about Posey (another discussion, I know). Here's my disclaimer: I love the big fella. I've been a loyal Rockets fan since long before Yao, but when we got him it was like a gift from the gods. He's my favorite player in a long, long time. The $1 billion question, though, is how much mental and physical toughness will he show over the long haul? We all know that Yao will "continue to develop," but what exactly does that mean? It could mean that he continues to charm us with his personality and eventually become a very servicable 20 / 10 guy. If this happens, and if this is his peak, then we should enjoy a second round playoff loss for the next six years. (This can be thought of as the "Tom Tolbert Theory.") Or. And this is what makes us all giddy, will Yao push himself, challenge himself to become the best player in the game? Will he learn to unleash the monster within? Will throwdowns on Ratliff become not the execption but the norm? I hope so, but I honestly don't know. Part of the reason we all like Yao is his gentle demeanor. But will he learn to keep the nice guy away from the court, away from the Showroom?

This, not the small stuff, is what will determine the team's fate over the next decade.

[Faos]

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[ima_drummer2k]

Thanks Nero. Sometimes it seems like I'm the only Rocket fan who thinks this team AS IS can make some noise in the next few years. Everyone wants to rebuild even though we were 1 game out of the playoffs with a rookie center etc.

The constant barage of "the sky is falling" posts can be annoying, but this would be a pretty boring bbs if everyone agreed on everything.

[cml750]

I agree 100%. Let's give this team a chance with the new coach. There is no way of knowing how the team will respond to Van Gundy. Some coaches have a way of extracting the best out of players. Let,s just Van Gundy is one of these coaches.

BTW- I LOVE your sig.

Have you hugged an idiot democratic presidential candidate today?

That is priceless.