I assume we all love the Rockets...which I suppose means we ultimately love the organization and its history...but do you LIKE the current crop of players. Of course we'd all LIKE them a lot better if they could win...but I remember liking previously disappointing Rockets teams a whole lot better than this one. Maybe it's the NBA as a whole that makes me feel this way. Maybe it's the hype I hear about athletes on this teams, knowing that good athletes are not necessarily good basketball players. I'm just not enamored with the personalities on this team...I don't find them to be very compelling. I suppose I'm not alone throughout NBA fandom. I LOVE the Rockets...I'm just not sure I like this current crop of Rockets, winning percentage aside. That doesn't mean I don't watch and root for them, because I do. I hope like hell they win. I don't know...I can't really put my finger on it real well....but the composition of this team leaves something to be desired.
Whoever becomes a Rocket, I love and get attached to the guy. Don't take that the wrong way, but, say, whenever we trade someone it's depressing for me. I like the new Rocket, but I feel like part of the family is gone when we lose one to another city. So, yeah, I do like the current crop of Rockets. Why? Simply, because they're all Houston Rockets.
Me, personally, I really like the players on this team. It's mainly because of Franchise & Mobley, who probably have more personality than all of the Knicks combined. Both of them have the kind of unabashed exuberance and love for the game that really make you want to root for them. And Griffin is a nice addition to the mix, like the quiet younger brother -- where Steve & Cat are all enthusiasm and flair, Griffin has a sort of mystique about him, like he's still struggling to come to terms with his incredible God-given talents. These three guys alone make me want to watch every Rockets game. Very likable group.
I break down the team this way (any year, not just this one): Players I love: Cuttino Mobley Eddie Griffin Players I like a lot: Steve Francis <FONT SIZE="1">*He just doesn't "do it" for me yet</FONT> Oscar Torres Kevin Willis Players I like a little: 1st Tier: Kenny Thomas <FONT SIZE="1">*Too bad we're stocked at PF</FONT> Tierre Brown Terence Morris 2nd Tier: Dan Langhi Moochie Norris <FONT SIZE="1">*Liked him more when he was affordable</FONT> Players I don't like: 1st Tier: Walt Williams Glen Rice Mo Taylor Jason Collier <FONT SIZE="1">*could change with playing time</FONT> 2nd Tier: Kelvin Cato What's bothered me the most is the organization's many questionable personnel moves over the past few years.
Overall, I like this team a lot! I think they have the personality, the chemistry and the heart it takes to win long-term with a few personnel adjustments. They all seem like good guys too. Granted, Mo got busted, but at least he came clean and appeared genuine in his apology to not only the team and the org, but the fans of Houston! It takes a lot to sit there and say that when he did not have to do it and was not expected too either. Obviously, I think Cato is a sore spot and Moochie made me mad during his little hold out gig which was petty and unfair IMO. but, overall this team is likable....
Using DREAMer's categories (I mostly agree): Players I like a lot: Steve Francis Cuttino Mobley Eddie Griffin Kenny Thomas Oscar Torres Players I like a little: Terence Morris Dan Langhi Moochie Norris <FONT SIZE="1">*I ALSO liked him more when he was affordable</FONT> Mo Taylor Kevin Willis I have to add one more category: Players I don't know enough/can't judge: Jason Collier Tierre Brown Players I don't like: 1st Tier: Walt Williams Glen Rice 99999999999999999999999999999th Tier: Kelvin Cato
Interesating. I started watching the rockets because they drafted my man Cuttino. so i followed the box scores, and sportcenter highlights, bla bla bla I always liked barkley and hakeem I would use to argue that MJ wasnt the best ever. so i have liked players before. I started to like other rockets as time has passed, and the team is more of a thing that just mobley. dont get me wrong. if the leam loses and mobley has a great night i am not really upset. same thing as if he has a bad night and they win. its about a 50-50 now. I have grown attatched to alot of the new rockets. i like Steve, but i am realistic that he is likely the just a top 5 pg, not this holy creature created for houston. i really like Eddy in Seton hall, and was soo psyched draft night. eddy is likely my 2nd favorite rocket. and well kenny has hustled his way into my (tied with steve) spot. after those guys i dont really care about any of them i have interest in what torres does, and mooch was alot of fun with that fro. but all the othre guys are just filling roster spots. nothing wrong with that, every team has its popuar players. over all yes i like this team, i could do without mo, but he is pretty good too. wait, i forgot i like Willis, he is a rockin rebounder, and um... not young too. I shouldnt forget him. love those hustle players. peace
Hilarious thread for me. I hated Mad Max. he did some good for the rockets. He played good defense against Jordan, but he was too volatile for my taste. I loved hte Drexler trade because it brought in a superstar and because I knew Maxwell was gone. Current Rockets Favs Francis Morris Griffin Taylor Moochie Players I like Mobley KT Langhi Rice Brown Collier Torres Willis Walt Cato
Don't get me wrong....I love Francis and I really like Mobley a lot....but there are just a disproportionate number of players on my favorite team that I either don't like or am ambivalent about... maybe i'm just getting older maybe i'm soured on the league as a whole more so than before kenny thomas--could care less rice - could really do without walt - absolutely sick of this guy cato - do i even need to say anything about this guy?? mo taylor - yawn. but i did think he was standup for handing the drug situation the way he did...that helped his cause (oddly) in my book. but i don't think i could say such negative or ambivalent things about such a great number of players (including starters!) on any Rockets roster in previous seasons since 1985, when I really first started watching the Rocks and getting into them.
I really "Like" this team. Like you really "like" that date you don't take home. Steve - Awesome. Great. Fan - tastic. Oscar Torres - I can't decide on a fan club title!?! EG - Stunning. You know what "stunning" means, don't you? Did you ever read John Updike? Cuttino. Heart. Soul. Fire. 3-17. I can forget it, cuz. KT - the guy can fight. I'm warming to.. Willis. Uses all he's got. Really cares. Mooch. Cuz. He's the Mooch. Not against... Mo T. Ok guy. Better than Ok. Really decent. Great Guy. But Ok talent. Only. Tmo. Can he be more than this? Wishful thinking? Good guy..but? Against ... Cato - You know. GRice - Actually, I think HE's probably a great person. I hate his contract and thought it was a bad fit and dumb move. Hard to move on. Collier - Not a better player. Why? Langhi - Cancer. See above. These guys do not belong. No comment : What's his name. T. Brown. Whatever. Does it matter? What's in the CBA, anyway? Does this matter? Not really. But I bet you could market the new stadium and current season tix most efficiently, if you try to turn the negatives, and make them esp. fan friendly. Nothing wrong with that. Btw...Why don't the rox allow move down after 1/2 time? I don't get it. I move down to front row at the ballet or the opera all the time. It's ok there. I think it would be a good thing to announce and promote.
Max: I don't think it has to do with age as much as just your personal taste. I think I like this squad as much or more than just about any team ever. The Olajuwon-era, championship teams were favorites for the teams but not really for the players. I liked Robert Horry and Hakeem, but I wasn't a big fan of many of the rest (except maybe Chucky Brown). Before that, I loved Calvin Murphy, Robert Reid and Rodney McRae (sp?). I even liked Billy Paultz and guys like Mike Newlin and Lewis Lloyd. But, this team I find I am liking fare more players. I really like Francis, Norris, Griffin and Taylor. I like Thomas and Morris as well. Walt seems like a nice guy. I just think this team is much more approachable and cool than teams in the past. I've also read that Rudy has said that this team is more comfortable around each other and fun to be around than any other team he has coached or even played on. I just like the team a lot. But, above all else, I love the Rockets.
I like this team when they are healthy. I admit though, during that 16 game stretch, they were hard for me to watch.
You can probably call me one of the largest bandwagoner Rockets fans there is. I didnt really start to like basketball until I saw Hakeem play against the Magic and school Shaq like crazy. However, I had no idea what that game meant at that time since I was in 7th grade. I didnt really start to love the Rockets until my freshman year in high school. I admit, I liked the Rockets more when they had the Big 3 because they were more classy. However, I really like this team because they are easily one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. With these Rockets, I liked a lot of our players before they arrived. I really liked Eddie Griffin in college and watched him play in the McDonald's All American Game. Kenny Thomas I watched at New Mexico. As far as Cato and Williams are concerned, I live in Oregon. I thought Mooch was really good when he played with the Sonics. And Maurice Taylor I remembered wishing that he played for Houston.
Interesting question. First, I will always be a Rockets fan and a serious one. My participation in this forum alone indicates that. I really liked the Elvin Hayes teams, the Moses Malone teams, but the Hakeem teams most of all. Hakeem at his peak provided some of the most exciting basketball Houston may ever see. The championship years were a supreme payoff for all long-suffering Houston sports fans. The current team strikes me as extremely immature. I don't care much for the dribble-dribble one on one isolations, but the backing in, backing in post-ups were not always thrilling either.(What happened to the run and gun style we were promised?) I really like the potential of Francis, Mobley, Griffin, Thomas and Torres although I wish they were further along. Francis and Mobley are very exciting and at times look All-Pro, but continue to make many freshman-like mistakes. Willis was a great move, but his time is limited. Brown and Morris are possibles. Norris is overpaid. Rice, Collier, Langi, Williams and Cato should not be here. Answer: No, I don't like this team; I really like some of the players, but I want a new and different mix of personnel. The current group of players will never go far in the playoffs.
I like our PLAYERS; they are a great group with a lot of potential. I do not like this TEAM, and I don't like the way they are playing. A culture of selfishness is creeping in and it can become a cancer. Witness our assists/game- the worst in the league I believe. Look around and see how other teams move the ball. I love to watch Sacramento and Dallas because they always make the extra pass. I know, I know.....we've had injuries and no consistent rotations, but it's pretty ugly and pretty selfish right now.
I haven't learned anything from my hiatus. Cuttino has delusions of grandeur, Francis rebounds to much, Rudy's ethos is misguided (EG.getSkill() > KT.getSkill(); OT.getSkill() > WW.getSkill(); Rudy.getCommonSense() == null; ), Moochie Norris is still a fraud, Kelvin Cato is still a teammate comment away from moping for 3 mos., and Glen Rice will now prove once again our mgmt. hasn't the foggiest. What a tragic, tragic season. We took great strides these past three years just to see the franchise go to hell these past two mos. The Chicago Bulls are now a better team than the Houston Rockets. Not only are they in the East, but they have a big man coach and a ton of cap space. They're a crapneck retirement away from being a destination franchise for FAs. I just can't take it. serenity now. p.s. I like Eddie. KT is a decent back up man. Oscar needs some minutes. Everyone else is fodder, imo, but it's probably easier to just promote Larry Smith.
It's kinda like the Enron debacle. Everything looked peachy and rosy with the front office and beat writers saying all the right things all the while. Now we find out the offense is outdated and zone-killed, 1/2 the roster should be retired or in the NBDL, the salary allocation is a joke w/ the bench making more than the starters and the IR making more than the active, and to top it off the players are greedy smurf selfish on offense - sloth uncle fester lazy on defense. This team is sadly a house of cards.
pippendagimp -- great way of putting it...a house of cards!! i like that!! that says it perfectly to me. i think i don't like them for the same reasons i didn't like the mavs/warriors/suns, etc when they were running this style of play, built primarily around perimeter players. i listened to them tell us all how boring our team was..while our team punked them year after year with a strong frontcourt. i look across the NBA today and except for dallas see the strongest teams as ones with real quality frontcourts. the meat and potatoes of basketball is to be able to have big men score easily on a consistent basis...this team doesn't have that. it's all flash with very little substance. and i find myself a bit concerned that the only player i really like on this team (francis) might not be here much longer. if that's the case, and he goes in free agency before he's traded, the playoffs are a very long way away.
I like this tam, but maybe not with the same taste as others. Do I think this is a championship team? No. Is it a playoff team when fully healthy ? Boarderline. I really liked the 94 -95 squad and the first yr Barkely squad, but I think the best team in the history of the Rockets was the 86 team. They were big, fast , and atheletic. Jim Peterson who was the first big man off the bench was better than most centers in the league now. They could play big Robert Reid- Lew Lloyd or small with Mitch Wiggins-Allen Levell. McCray was solid and Ralph and Dream were awesome. If "if was a fifth we'd all be drunk." is a street term, but if that team wouldn't have had the drug problems and injuries they could have been a dynasty. After they had to release John Lucas, he went to SA and avg 9 asst per and this guy was suspended also. That was a team for the ages. With all that said and done, with a few moves, this team can be not only a scary playoff team, but a contending team also.
