The problem is not the T-Mac deal, but the lack of continuity within the organization. Assuming the coaching change had to happen (which, IMHO, is far from a given), they could've still used the skills of some of their past talent. For two examples: instead of letting him twist in the wind, the Rockets should've put John Lucas on the payroll to deal with EG (heck, WE knew there were probable substance abuse issues), and (more directly basketball related) there is no excuse for Mario Elie not getting one of the assistant coach positions.
no, my Rockets include Francis, Mobley, Cato, and Rudy T. /Please understand I was one of the 12 people going to the games during the "Kalvin Cato" era a.k.a. the "millenium" season.
Ok, so the word is that if Rudy were to get the LA job, that he'd try to reunite his former Rocket assistants on his staff. Is that somehow a betrayal of LA? Should he hire Kareem as an assistant instead of Smith? Did you ever notice Tex Winter and Jim Clemons on Phil Jackson's staff? How did they end up there? Sorry, but most every head coach in professional sports is allowed to hand pick their own staff and most of the time, they choose guys that they've worked with and trust.
I root for the uniform, thank you. There's only a few guys that I would object to putting on that uniform and in most cases I could probably learn to adapt.
I think some of you guys are so blinded by getting T-mac that you have tunnel vision regarding the dynamic duo of Yao and Mac. i am very excited about seeing yao and Mac in action in this coming season but we have so many holes to fill, the most obvious is a good quality PG to run the offence at peak efficiency and a great passer to feed our major offensive threats. And what about the back up center that needs to rebound and be a stopper when Yao is out. Major holes. When you realize as well that if we get that PG and Good backup center, to be champion contenders all teams that have won the ultimate prize had to have a solid bench which implies depth which we didn't have at all with Sf3, Cato and Cat and now we have even less losing Cat's tenancious minutes as a defender and the one dimensional but still quality blocker and rebounder Cato. Lets look at this roster again: Reece Gaines- ???????????? a player that deserves being 1st round pick or a bench warmer of bench warmers Juwan Howard- ???? another magic outcast being paid 20 mill a yr for 17 and 8 - member of the notorious magic not renowed for their oncourt offcourt chemistry Jim Jackson- good solid player probably best in terms of $$ value last year but one main problem is endurance can we expect same results again at his age? Mark Jackson- ??????? one foot in the grave of retirement get rid of him and any ex knicks -didn't work last year, won't work this year. Tyronne Lue- ??? another magic cast off (great chemistry with these guys, eh?) T-Mac- (what the trade was done to get, no explanations warranted even if he did take part in Orlando's problems Boki- ?? still too inexperienced showed sparks of the kind of player we expected but 2 playoff games does not mean we have found the diamond in the charcoal. Mo-Taylor- good player that understands his role can make shots in the middle but still can't rebound for his size. Weatherspoon-another ex knickerbocker that dissappeared at the end of the season and playoffs, big fat contract as well. Not a guy that represents any depth for us, get rid of him same as M. Jackson Wilks- ??? bench warmer Yao Ming- why do we keep him again? - just kidding So after all is said and done the number of players we have in their respective positions and bench indubitably indicates the still pressing need of Depth we sorely lack last year and even worst this year after the trade to be even remotely considered as title contenders. Laker teams that won 3 in a row had the dynamic dual but also had solid role players, Fox, Fisher, Horry and Pistons this year not only had depth but tremendous chemistry. In any sports team whether it is the NBA, NHL, Nfl, all champions either won by brute stength (skills) or in the rarer case (tremendous chemistry) ie., not players just getting along, but anticipating, forcasting, what their teamtates will do, where they will be in terms of positioning, motivating each other to climb that extra hill against great odds etc, etc, something intangible and unqualifiable but exist in a team when it exists to propel them to being champions. What I am saying is we may have skills in terms of Yao and T-Mac but we don't at all have the depth to win a championship just by brute strength (overpowering skills than opposing team) and one sure thing I know is with these Magic castoffs we sure as heck don't have the chemistry (like a detroit) to win anything in 2 or 3 years with Lue, Howard, Spoon, gravedigger m. jackson, Pike etc. Look at the bigger picture guys, we still have no depth (and now) let alone no PG and backup C. Forget about chemistry with these new guys. Quite a problem to being championship contenders wouldn't you concur ? the guy was pointing out
...and yet we haven't even begun to sign free agents yet. We have 2 very good tools for signing players: the trade exception, and the MLE. We have 2 glaring holes, and 2 good tools for obtaining players....hmmmmm. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we're not done adding pieces yet.
The original poster referred to the question of chemistry, with the Magic castoffs we got and the ex knicks from last yr do we fullfill that component of a championship contending team? we clealry do not have the skills and depth to kill off our opponents in a long playoff run so we must rely on chemstry. With Magic baggage of these players we got we don't have the legs to stand on regarding that.
But was there any depth last year either? so whats the big deal if there is no depth with t-mac now? can't be any worse than last year.
We loss depth this year when considering the amount of minutes cat played starting, he not only contributed offensively but also was a great defensive force along with cato's rebounding and inside D. J, Howard's numbers were close to Cat last yr but do u expect the same D that Cat put out this year? We not only loss depth but we loss alot of chemistry, nothing was perfect lasy yr regarding players chemistry but now we have the weight of Magic garbage this year let alone the fact that the core players will need alot of time to get to know each other and thier respective games.
Yes, these are my Rockets, because they're going to take the court next season and try to win a championship for the city of Houston. That's good enough for me. If the team had shown steady improvement and developing chemistry in the last 3 or 4 seasons, I could understand trying to keep the "core" players and just add a few role-players. But the simple fact is this: the Rockets of 2003-2004 were not a SIGNIFICANTLY better team than, say, the Rockets of 2000-2001. Given a choice between an owner who wants to do everything he can to win a championship and an owner who hangs on to players unnecessarily for fear of "rocking the boat", I'll take the former any day.
its not like we had that great chemistry before. Dont u remember cat and others yelling in the hudle at the playoffs.
Call me crazy, but I really think Tracy knew that Steve and Cat wouldn't be here if the trade went through. Call it a hunch... What a weird idea for a thread.
Yetti, is that you? You do realize that the Rockets are going to sign a point guard and a backup center this summer don't you? Have you read any of the other threads here? Do you really think the team as it stands now is a finished product? Sorry for the double post but this thread is just really confusing. I'm going to bed. EDIT: Oops, forgot to rate this thread. One star for you. GOOD NIGHT
They are the Houston Rockets, at this present moment. I am a fan of the Houston Rockets, so they are my Houston Rockets.
so? you act as though the pistons team wasn't rebuilt over four years. We have years of rebuilding to do. Your concern would be valid if this was the only year we could possibly contend, but we SHOULD have Yao and McGrady for many many years to come. So we have years for these players to build chemistry, get rid of the players that don't fit and add players who do. I really don't understand the purpose of this thread. Rebuilding was pretty much a must. The team we had was built around Steve and Cat because nobody could have foreseen us having another dominant center to build around. It's evident to me that this team needed to be rebuilt around Yao. You can't expect a team full of players who were signed because they were greating beating people one on one pre-zone defense to be the best fit in a new offense built around Yao in this zone defense era. But if you're going to take this position, you should have at least remembered to mention that they don't even play in the summit anymore!
yep. you're right. these aren't our Rockets. Please, please God, bring back the group of players that have been with us for the past five years. The same group of guys that did not get into the playoffs until last year...when that very same 'together/cohesive' team depended on a 2nd year center and a newly-signed journeyman shooting guard to put them over the top and into the playoffs. Please bring back the same squad that took advantage of Rudy's generosity and willingness to hand over the team to two guys who knew nothing about passing. Please bring back the same core that were always more about promises than results. Please bring back the same team just because our owner deemed them the best team ever assembled even though a person with average intelligence and a moderate knowledge of Houston Rockets basketball would know that that statement was more of a marketing ploy than a statement of any value. AND FINALLY, please bring back the same team of Francis, Mobley, Cato, Mo Taylor...hell bring back Kenny Thomas, Eddie Griffin, Thomas Hamilton, Glen Rice and Tierre Brown as well. Bring them all back because we would then have less asinine threads like these because THAT team is truly OUR rockets. Once they are back, we will have 20 threads per day about how we should trade Francis, Cat, and Cato for a top flight ...no...top 5..shooting guard because we can't stand the way our team is so inconsistent and the fact that the ceiling on that team has already been seen. Please bring that squad back.
I was extremely disappointed when the Rockets released Connor Henry. After he was cut, I felt betrayed and lied to. Where was the loyalty?? You think a few exhibition games meant something. No.... No..... No......
