Any way you look at it, this season has been a complete waste of time

You said everything I had to say. I raied both my hands and foot to agree with you. btw, what's your name?

 

didn't we already have what we're looking for(a 3pt shooter) sitting on the bench all year around? did i hear somewhere he made 10 3 pointers in a row to win a little matchup during the practice?

 

I agree with the first post. From another standpoint though, his season is not a complete waste of time. This season exposed the true colors of the Rockets, alerted us not to waste time in the future to wait for this team to become a title contender.

I was being optimistic about this team in the offseason. Like many others, I thought major cogs were in place, was interested in Rudy's new schemes, believed Francis and Mobley's personal ineptitude of involving teammates might be masked by the new system. Guess not.

There is always fans that live in denial. They develop more affinity with a set of players than with team itself. Loving a particualr set of players doesn't equal to loving team itself. The same goes for loving the members of a company doesn't mean one loves the company. Just like there is Yao-only fans and Francis-only fans, I call those kind of fans Set-only fans. Once settled down, they don't wanna change. Not me. The Rockets need to make some major changes or I'm afraid they are gonna get stuck in the loaded West.

I would trade Francis for Elton Brand, but that's not gonna happen. With the salary restriction, Francis is probably gonna stay. Moving him to the 2 isn't a bad idea, but play him as a 2 at the 1 and bring in a 2 to play as a 1 is better. I agree with some other posters, an appropriate substitute in the L is Brent Barry, a solid sg with pg skills. His assists per 48 minutes of the year is more than that of Francis despite touching the ball a lot less and playing less minutes. Barry is avaraging 5 APG while playing 7 minutes less than Francis. With Barry handling the ball, playing defense at the 2, Francis can play like a sg offensively and avoid defending sgs. No one is untouchable to me except for Yao and Francis in case of a trade for Barry. Make some major changes, both in the coaching staff and the roster, or the Rockets would probably be stay in disarray year after year with this set of players and coaches.

 

I don't agree that the season is a waste of time. If you consider that the odds are good that the Rockets won't ever win another championship in this 'new era', then you could call EVERY season a waste of time.

I've seen a lot of talk about youth being an 'excuse'. I take issue when people mention 'excuses'. I could say, 'why didn't Denver win the championship this year', and any reason you gave me, I could call that an 'excuse'. Isn't the fact that Denver didn't have enough talent, and were too young, not an EXCUSE for them not winning the championship? It's like you can't talk objectively about the Rockets' season without someone pulling out the 'excuse' card.

 

i wouldn't exactly call it a waste of time.

watching everyone who dogged yao ming suddenly jump on his bandwagon was a pretty nice feeling.

 

Clutch:

I was being extreme to make a point - apparently you missed it.

16 teams may make the playoffs, but only 8 of those are in the West. Kevin Garnett made the playoffs in his second season - while winning 40 games.

What are your 'excuses' for Denver not making the playoffs?

 

Clutch, what's your opinion about this Rockets season? Was there anything gained? And what do you think has to happen to this team over the summer to improve itself? Roster changes, coaching changes?

 

Actually...it wasn't a total waste of time. It was satisfying to watch Yao Ming grow. Not very entertaining to watch the Rockets lose. Disappointing that they won't make the playoffs. Very sad...a lot of distractions. It was pretty bad to watch Yao Ming never get any calls. But Yao Ming's 3-pointer was wonderful.

 

Assuming Phoenix doesn't melt down in its last 3 games, and we come through with wins, I think the only real use out of this season was exposing the weaknesses in our team, and confirming things that we weren't sure of before.

PS, Clutch- Is that Mobley/Griffin/Clipper/Rudy speculation just your thoughts, or do they have some additional substance behind them?

 

I absolutely agree that Yao needs to be in Houston this summer, thacabbage, and for long stretches of time rather than 2 or 3 weeks when it can be worked into his schedule.

There is no question that Hakeem made a greater impact when he joined the Rockets, using one of your examples, and that he was helped by being in Houston during the summer and getting the crap beat out of him by Moses Malone. And some people who didn't watch him play for U. of H. and when he first came into the NBA, except on ESPN Classic, don't realize just how raw he was.

When is Yao ever going to get the benefit of being in Houston during the offseason? I think it's admirable that he wants to play for his country, but his legion of fans who eagerly anticipate his greatness in the NBA better be prepared for disappointment if his offseason schedule continues as planned, at least as I understand it. He may never be allowed to realize the potential he has.

BTW, Clutch, that was an interesting comment... keep 'em coming!

 

This seasobn was a waste and we need some changes, the more the better.


Kelvin Cato-Played well this year but trade him while he has value.

Jason Collier-bench player I would just cut off the team.

Steve Francis-never like his attitude and will never be able to lead a team, trade him if we get some good in return.

Eddie Griffin-big let down, had high hopes for him, now he's just high. Trade him if we can.

Juaquin Hawkins-like him, good role player can stay on the team

Tito Maddox-have not seen him play enough, maybe use him as trade filler, otherwise keep him.

Cuttino Mobley-Geez, what can I say other than he should be the first to be traded.

Terence Morris-maybe could be a role player

Bostjan Nachbar-should be a role player but have not seen him play much.

Moochie Norris-after we trade Mobley, Moochies butt is next.

James Posey-re-sign him if he is cheap, otherwise try to get Rip Hamilton
Glen Rice-Contract is allmost over, keep him unless we could trade him.

Maurice Taylor-Same as before trade him if we can

Yao Ming-should keep him, one of the few Rockets who play smart.

Rudy T-fire his butt

 

Clutch,

Interesting comments! You are right it will only get tougher in the West when New Orleans comes over.

I agree that there doesn't seem to be that much player improvment this year which is a real shame. At least we could have hung our hat on that this year if we did not make the playoffs but other than Yao's play is there anything positive that happened this year? Is there anyone "over achieving" on this team? Seems like we have a lot more under achievers on the team! I was most disappointed in Nachbar not being part of the rotation and Griffin not displaying an inside game or a driving game.

As for your thoughts on the roster I am most interested in your Griffin comments as from everything I have read the Rockets seem high on him / high on his potential. But how long can they wait? I wonder if Griffin's play this year is enough for them to move him? I wonder if they regret not moving on that Rashard Lewis rumored trade offer? That might have been a good move for this team and then fill the PF void later on....but that is water under the bridge now.
Have you personally heard anything in the Rockets organization that makes you believe that they will start to look to move Griffin?

As for Mobley, he seems to be as good as gone from this team unless he takes a 6th man role. He just does not seem to mesh well with Francis in the backcourt on this team.

Early on I thought that Posey might been re-signed but I am not so sure now because they probably could get the same type of performance from Hawkins or Terence Morris at a much more reduced salary. If they do sign Posey I am sure it will be at a cap friendly amount. I don't see them overpaying like the mistake they did with Moochie.

One last thing. You mention we should watch the Clippers in the offseason. It appears that they will lose Kandi. From everything I have read Brand is not going to accept any FA offers as he fears that the Clips will match and then trap him there. He seems resigned to the fact that he will do what Kandi did and take the one year tender offer. Perhaps Odom will do the same (unless some team WAY overpays him and gives him the Max which I doubt some team will do but if they did I am sure the Clippers would not match it).

I assume in your post you mention we should watch the Clippers to mostly watch Odom and Brand. Which player do you think would best fit on the Rockets. Can the Rockets realisticlly trade for either play? Perhaps our best bet is for those players agents to put serious heat on the Clippers saying they are leaving no matter what and might as well make a trade to get something for them.

 

Clutch, quit making excuses for Denver.

'As talented as Houston's'? What talent do the Rockets have? Their 'veteran leader' is Cuttino Mobley. You know, the 2nd-round draft choice that is everyone's favorite scapegoat. That's the VETERAN of the starting lineup. Our best player is on the same level as Marbury, but with 3 less years of experience. Let's look at the frontline -- the 'power forward' is 20, and can't bang. The center is a rookie, from another country, who hasn't even mastered the language yet, never played in the US before, who EVERYONE wants to show up every night. The small forward can't shoot, and just joined the team during the year.

Now, I ask, why should this team be a playoff lock? If I say that everyone predicted this team to be a bubble playoff team, is that an 'excuse'? If I say that the best players on EVERY team above the Rockets ALL have more experience than the best players on the Rockets, is that an 'excuse'? If I say that their coach has missed a good number of games, is that an 'excuse'? Could Steve Francis not be as good as everyone thought? Is that possible? What teams ahead of the Rockets in the West feature a smallish young guard as their best player?

 

Whether this team was expected to be a bubble playoff team, or a lock to make the playoffs is not the whole point. Not making the playoffs wouldn't have been that big of a deal had the team shown some signs of improvement as the season progressed, like the Warriors and Suns did. But they didn't, they got worse.

What aspects on the court have the players made big strides?

What big improvements has the team made?

Is the chemistry between players that much better now than at the beginning of the season?

 

New Jack, exactly the points I was trying to make in my post. I didn't see any improvements this year from the Rockets. Last year it was the injuries that did us in. This year we haven't had any significant injuries. There hasn't been much improvement. The two teams you used as examples, the Warriors and Suns, CLEARLY improved this year in many areas. If you are fans of those teams you have to be happy about that.

The Rockets on the other hand just coasted. Not good enough!