I really cannot help laughing when I saw this topic. Talentwise, SF and Mobley are pretty good, but definitely not the best backcourt in the NBA. Intelligencewise, they are way below the average. The Rox will go no where with this backcourt. Period.
I beg to differ on this one. I think its easier to get more explosion than it is to get smarter. A player can go to F.A.S.T. and get quicker and faster, but where can a dumb player go to get smarter. Vertical leap isn't a real indication of how good a player will be playing pg. Is Steve Francis any more gifted atheletically than a young Robert Pack? Or Baron Davis? Or Stephon Marbury? How many pgs have came through and were much better atheletes than John Stocton? How many have and or will accomplish what he did? With the low basketball IQ Francis has, does anyone believe he'll be good once he loses msome of his explosion? Will he be very good at 35yrs old like Payton or will he suck like Tim Hardaway once he had knee problems and lost his explosion. I say he'll wind up like Hardaway, but even so, he's still not the playmaker he was in his younger days. Mobley has been in the league since 98 and he still plays like he did as a rookie. Francis, on the mental side has gotten worse since his rookie yr which is alarming.
no it's not. it may have less potential talent, but it is not less talented. and as far as winning in the east, whoop dee do. the year AI made the finals, steve's rockets went 25-5 against the east. we could have very easily rolled through the east and made the finals. and yet we ended up the 9th seed in the west with the best record to ever not make the playoffs. what a difference a conference makes.
i know. i just went down the list of leading scorers while eliminating the irrelevant PF's and C's. i was showing that they shoot essentially an average percentage for great scorers and thus don't just put up points b/c they take an enormous amount of shots.
I work for a company called Sports Travel Plus. Sports Travel Plus handles the travel arrangements for a little less than half of the NBA teams. My job is as an on site facilitator. This means I go to the hotels before a team arrives and supervise the hotel staff to ensure that everything is absolutely perfect when the team arrives and all of their needs are met. I then meet and greet the staff and players as they arrive and personally hand them their key packets. I always have a contact on the staff that I talk to. Sometimes I get to chat a little with a player or coach (rarely). Sometimes I get to talk to commentators. (my favorite instance of this being the fifteen minutes I got to talk basketball with Walt Frazier.) I can tell you first hand that teams are dreading coming into houston. When I give them the obligatory professional good luck wishes (that you better believe is insincere) they are often met with "We're going to need it." and similiar comments. I hear alot of talk about how tough the trip through Texas is on a whole. Nobody I talk to feels the Rockets are push overs. also, I love my job.
Exactly, that's why I said potential to cause the most havoc. They didn't do it on a consistent basis last year. Let me add that "dangerous" is not necessarily a good thing either. At countless times last year they broke off plays to take on the other team by themselves, or took shots that weren't in the flow of the (simple) offense that disrupted the Rockets' game plan. "Dangerous" doesn't equal "effective". I'd rather have effective. Francis and Mobley could be lights out in a game and the Rockets still could lose because those 2 don't know fully how to get their other teammates involved (especially Yao) yet. This applies to Stevie in particular because the ball flows through him as the PG. A player could have an off game and his team could still win if that player plays effectively and the rest of the team picks up the slack. Francis and Mobley don't play effectively on a consistent basis. I can't remember many games when Francis had an off night and Rockets still won. There may have been a few, but not many. Once the Steve, Cat, and Yao figure out how to evolve from the Francis/Mobley duo + Yao to a team oriented big 3 like the Mavs, it'll be over for the rest of the league.
leebigez, I think the point that farhan007 was trying to make is that Nash has reached his hightest potential on the athletic side. Same with Francis, but his starting point is so much greater than Nash, that he has an advantage. Now, if only Francis can learn the IQ part of the game, he'd be unstoppable. Whether or not if it's possible for Francis to learn the IQ game is another story.
Dont know?? Do any of yall know how smart Francis in reality really is? Did he do good in school(doubt it, with no mother).
Anyways......I think the Rockets have one of the quickest and deadliest backcourts. Jack up too many shots. I think our backcourt plays more minutes than any other backcourt as well. Talking about starting backcourts.... I think this greatest backcourt should be broken up....have Mobley as a 6th man. Get a shooter/defender instead....like Bruce Bowen. Moochie, Mobley, Nachbar, Taylor, and Cato is a pretty good secondary unit to me.
Defence is part of the game, last time I checked any ways. And my point was that all those players get much more double/triple teams than SF and Cat, which is true. How many Celtic fans you know likes to see Antoine jack up 3's; MJ is 40, only reason he still plays can only testify to the Wiz's lack of talent; I'll give you Baron Davis one. However, you contradict yourself. If SF and Cat really are the best backcourt in the NBA then there certainly is no shortage of talent on the Rockets, Dream and Yao or not. Then there is no reason they shouldn't take this team to the playoffs like the other players you listed.
I made this my point because earilier in the thread someone mentioned that Steve only scores a small amount more then Nash. I was pointing out that the same must apply for both statistics!
best backcourt in the NBA is snow/iverson.. They do it all and cause havok... too bad they have complete scrubs on there team
Oy... can't you guys just agree to disagree? No need to question another member's intelligence. Opinion is opinion. I'll offer that Finley and Mobley have similiar games and shooting habits, except that Finley is 3 inches taller, is more athletic, has a post up game, 2 all-star appearances, and 1 national team appearance.
I can back that up with a quote from Magic coach Doc Rivers, on playing and guarding Cat: "Cuttino, he's a <five-letter expletive starting with a b deleted>."
Assuming Gilbert Areanas signs back with GS I have to say that they are the best back court one two combo in the league. Two three years ago I probably would have went with Mobley and Francis, they've lost chemistry if they get it back they definitely can be the best, maybe the new coaching will help.
I ECHO THAT! He is the most UNDER-RATED player in the NBA... He wins 6-man honors next year if he comes off the bench for the Rockets...
If he's gonna win best 6th man honor next year, then he definitely isn't under-rated, at least not by Rockets fans.
