So after two pre-season games that stevie has played in, people are convinced he is a failure?. wow. talk about jumping the gun. for the love of god give him sometime to adjust. if anyone actually had payed any attention whatsoever, you would notice stevie has been steadily improving in the last two games. i think by mid-allstar break, alot of the posters here who are ready to throw stevie infront of the buss after two games( yes two games, do you see how stupid that is) will will very weak indeed.
what the heck are you talking about? do you think Adelman tells everyone what they must do every second they're on the court? no, it's the players that decide. Francis simply doesn't know how to cut or move without the ball.
Francis, because he's a better player. This offense does not need its players to be great 3-point shooters, it only requires that you intelligently move without the ball and are able to finish plays. Although some people are already playing the "Francis is a r****d, he'll never get the offense" card, it's way too early, IMO, to make those judgments. My prediction is that he'll find his niche in the offense eventually, and will be a big help to us.
Luther Head why? better spot up shooter doesn't turn the ball over as much as steve doesn't try to force everything
Neither Head or Francis figure to get many minutes at PG, in my opinion. I think both of them will be relegated to strictly backup SG, which means there probably isn't much room for both.
Alright guys here it is. I have never really liked blogs or even felt the need to contribute to them. But with recent post that I have read from you all I feel the need to enlighten you. Yes the Rockets are having very heated practices and players are at each others throats (on the court) but I challenge you to look past what you hear from the media. Rafer Alston is not a starting point guard for a championship basketball team...Point blank...If the Rockets thought he was they would have never made the off-season moves that they did. The main point of this off-season was to fix all of the weak links that the management a.k.a. "highly respected basketball talent evaluators" thought existed. Point guard and power forward (which most people believe the Rockets aren't done searching for) where two glaring wholes that the Rockets saw they had. Keep in mind that yes the system is new and it takes some time getting used to, but the fact that Rafer is looking so good right now is more of a testament to him being "USED TOO" playing with the starting five than his ability to pick up a new offense. Meaning he isn't necessarily better than Steve or Mike. He just looks better because he has the upper hand that he knows the other starters game. With that being said it is with that same familiarity that the Rockets got bounced by Utah exposing the Rockets flaws Rafer Alston and Chuck Hayes. Yes style of play will be different this year, but the game is still about putting the ball in the bucket and playing defense. And this unit couldn't get that done last year. Mainly because the point guard and power forward weren't good. And not just bad in that series (UTAH), but bad as in basketball ability. Now, with that in mind the Rockets would be stupid not to start Rafer because they are currently shopping him! The Rockets coaches would be stupid to not say good things about Rafer because they are currently shopping him! They Rockets would be stupid not to spin the media's perception of him because they are currently shopping him! Why? Because his...lets say... summer of fun would make him less appealing to GM's . Get my drift? And you people are just eating what the media is doing...aiding the Rockets plot... You all probably are the ones that still believe Bush is fighting "TERRORIST" and looking for "WMD's" ....lol...that's rich... The Rockets are still looking for a power forward and wanted to use their glut at guard as a deal maker. Small problem. All GM's know that eventually those players are going to fall of the roster, and the need for a trade doesn't exist right now. They are sitting back waiting to see what the Rockets will do come roster trimming time. And the Rockets are playing spin doctor hyping up Rafer when his ticket out of town was bought months ago (fares are cheaper when you buy tickets in advance of your travel date... that was so deep I don't think most of you will comprehend that statement) It's cute too. They even let him dress up as a Real Rockets Starting point guard. But sorry Rafer... Halloween is on Oct. 31. And the Rockets have a game that day. And you dressed as a Rockets starting point guard will only happen if you are going trick or treating... Who knows maybe for Christmas Santa will give you a starting job with a non-contending basketball team... And then maybe Santa will give Chuck Hayes a new laptop so he can write blogs on Rockets.com, or send you emails from them Rockets bench. It probably read like this: Dear Rafer, Hey dude. Things suck now that you've been traded and the Rockets got a legit starting Power forward. Man can that guy rebound. Which is good because you know I was never quite good at that. Or scoring either for that matter!!!lol It's cool though because now that I'm not starting and the rest of the power forward minutes are giving to Scola. I have found more time to concentrate on my blogging. I'm doing it courtside as I speak. Steve and TMAC are finally getting along and are playing together now. The team has really taken to Steve and his big heart that Yoa spoke so fondly of in television interviews. It seems to me that's what this team was missing. I still love Tracey but we kinda needed a guy with some grit who doesn't fold in the clutch. What's funny is Tracey and I were having a talk on the bus on the way to the game, and he told me he admired Steve's passion for the game. He said he never really owned that type of passion for basketball because he really never wanted to be a basketball player. He was just always freakishly good at it, and people where willing to pay him millions to do it. So he was like screw it. I'll go to the NBA. Who doesn't want a million dollars??? Crazy huh? What was funny is I youtubed and interview he had with espn about his life and progress and he reiterated the same thing...He is still playing lights out this year. But Steve is the guy people rally around, and he even defers to Yao and Tracey now. Steve's play this year makes you think. Was he tanking it in Orlando and New York just to get back to Houston. But what I came to realize that Steve is so passionate about the game that he couldn't play well at these places because he used that passion to fuel his play. And when he left Houston he lost his passion, and eventually his game. But man is the kid hot right now. Well gotta go the game is over and I gotta blog to do. GO KENTUCKEY!!! Your friend and fellow culprit to the Rockets 06 playoff debacle, Chuck Hayes That's exactly how that letter would go. Rockets fans this is going to be an exciting season. We made changes and there are more to come. But please...please... Don't subscribe to the B.S. being pumped out by the media saying that the starting five will be the same, Rafer is John Stockton, Chuck Hayes is Moses Malone. And so forth... It's just the Rockets trying to send the message that in light of recent changes. Things are still the same, because we really didn't need to improve to win......a.k.a We wanna trade but we don't wanna look desperate to do so... That's how you get screwed into making bad moves Good Day, Rockets Fan who is highly logical, and sometimes forgets where the period or comma should go...But his message makes so much sense.
^wow that was quite a lot roxinsider, but you're only setting yourself up for dissapointment if you honestly believe we're praising rafer only to higher his value. i bet you also think 9/11 was a hoax. Rafer is our starting point guard.
Actually if I told you the source of the information you'd probably go ape sh#t. Watch as the power or the media unfolds... FOR SOME ITS A WAY TO GET NEWS. FOR OTHERS ITS A TOOL TO MAKE NEWS. ALSO F.Y.I To believe a 3 time starting all-star point guard can loose it in one year without MAJOR (although there were some small injuries) Career threatening injury is preposterous. To believe that a 3 Time starting all-star point guard can loose his skills at 28 29 30 years old and fall to the ranks of a Rafer Alston is preposterous. It's not like he went all Rick Ankiel on us. He was with two organizations in shambles (Orlando New York). Battling little knick-knack injuries with very little motivation to get back on the Court. Hell at that time those teams could have turned Jordan into Bruce Bowen the way they were molding (on rather not molding) players careers. Some say think before to talk. I say think before you think. DAMN IM GOOD
^hahaha if you are trying to be funny then you are good at it. i hope you honestly dont take yourself seriously
uh oh, looks like steve and head are the odd man out (or get the least minutes) while alston/james/bonzi should get the majority. http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5231976.html noticed how adelman put steve as one of the guys he's going to talk to about this: "Steve is one of the guys we're talking about," Adelman said of the competition for playing time. "As far as where he is as far as fitting into the offense, he has probably struggled more than some of the other guys in that area."
you guys are jumping to conclusion that because james got more minutes the last 2 games, SF will be having a very small role in the squad. Does that meant going by todays game agaisnt seatle, SF is now in the main rotation? With the current system, all the PG need to do is, play defense and bring the ball up, then its all running and reading the defense, hence i think the so call 3-headed PG will play according to match-ups and player combos. Thats why i'm comparing skill set and not minutes played.
Steve has shown he can alter his game when necessary to fit an offense (see: JVG '04); I have no doubt he'll eventually catch on to Adelman's offense...whether or not he'll keep his mouth shut that long is another story. But I'd rather see Francis get the minutes and Head get moved.
I don't agree. Adelman isn't going to be changing up the rotation like that. Like most coaches, he'll have a main rotation, and he'll stick to it. Mike has played much better than Steve so far (and apparently that's been the case in the practice sessions as well). Mike is superior to Francis in pretty much every "point guard" skill. He's takes better care of the ball, he reads the defense better, he makes decisions with the ball faster, and he matches up better against quick PGs. If Steve wants any significant playing time, he needs to prove that he's a better option that Luther Head at backup SG. Luther has some big holes in his game (based on last season), so that's not an impossible task for Steve. But opening day, I'm betting that Adelman goes with Head.
If anything would give SF the minutes, it's probably going to be one of the following right now: 1. Injury to one fo the other small guards (or to one of the SF/SG, Bonzi, Tracy, and Shane); 2. Trade of one of the other guys; 3. Luther Head struggling on D (he fits in Adelman's offense great, but he's still 6'3'' and weights 180 or so--F has more meat to bang with the big boys) 4. Adelman thinking Steve just needs time to fit in, and will be more useful than Luther (or Mike, or Rafer) come playoff time if he learns the system; 5. Les Alexaner, who seems very fond of SF and his ticket selling appeal;
