power forward : ROCKETS : maurice taylor / kenny thomas SONICS : vin baker / ho grant advantage : PUSH .......................................... small forward : ROCKETS : walt williams / dan langhi SONICS : rashard lewis / ruben patterson advantage: SONICS .......................................... centers : ROCKETS: hakeem olajuwon / kelvin cato SONICS: jelani mccoy / olumide oyedeji advantage : ROCKETS ........................................ shooting guards: ROCKETS : shandon anderson / cuttino mobley SONICS : brent barry / vernon maxwell advantage: ROCKETS .......................................... point guards : ROCKETS : steve francis / moochie norris SONICS : gary payton / shamond williams advantage : 75% push \ 25% SONICS ............................................ coach : ROCKETS : rudy tomjanovich SONICS : paul westphaul advantage: ROCKETS WINNER : ROCKETS NEXT TIME : Minnesota Timberwolves *note Shammond Williams might not play pg but i like him there , and the coaches names might not be right but i dont care. ------------------ johnny "red" kerr:i'm glad the bulls did'nt draft steve francis. dan roan: why!!!!! johnny red kerr:because he would forever be compared to michael jordan.
You value Rashard Lewis higher than his own mother. He had flashes of greatness, and I think he'll become an all-star candidate for years to come if he keeps his pace of progression up. But c'mon, even with Patterson and Langhi in the equation, the Rocks should come out on top or at least tied with the Sonics. Lewis has not played one season as a starter. He put up about 8 points per game last year. I just don't see your point. Put down the pipe, dude. ------------------ Don't anybody ever suggest again that we sign Tracy Murray to a deal.
I would replace Maxwell with Mason but Cat/Shandon still have the edge.I think the PF spot will be a toss up but for now i think the edge would go to the Sonics.Overal the Rockets may very well have a better team but we still have some?????but we will see pretty soon! ------------------
I agree w/ Pass 1st.....Lewis is getting way too much hype for a 20year old who played well in a couple playoff games against an elderly Utah team. And at the same time, the Wiz is getting very little respect all over this bbs. Walt's got above avg. ballhandling, passing, wily veteran getting-to-the-basket moves, can shoot decent from outside (39% in 3's aint that bad), is at least an avg. defender, and most importantly fits very well w/ the other pieces on this team. I say either a push or slight advantage to Rox at SF. It doesn't matter anyways cuz we will at least win the series w/ Seattle 3-1 since we match up so well w/ them. I'm more interested in looking at Minnesota. We didn't match up well w/ them at all last year and if you look at Mo Taylor's stats from last year, he had some of his worst games against KG.... ------------------
If Vin Baker has really got back into shape the advantage could be Sonics. Francis is a talented athlete, but look for Payton to try to get inside head and make it a personal battle. Once Steve learns how to ignore the trash and still dish, he will be on the verge of unstopable. Unfortunately, the first two games against the Sonics are 2nd games of back to backs. With the first game being SAC and the second the Spurs. I think we'll split and get the last two. Although, we could go 3-1 b/c the San Antonio is a Tuesday there and Seattle's is Wednesday here. ------------------ GATER
My take- Center- Rockets, Dream and Cato are too much. PF- Sonics, Baker is back, and he and Grant are one of the best duos in the league. SF- Even, Rashard still has alot to prove. SG- Rockets big. PG- Sonics by a nose. Payton is the best, but not for long. Bench- Rockets Coach- Rockets Weather- Seattle. I hear the temperature is under 100! Overall winner- Rockets. ------------------
Even a fat, depressed Vin Baker showed better than Mo Taylor last year and Grant is better than Kenny. The X-factors are Bakers attitude and Mo Taylor's improvement. I don't think Taylor has reached his peak, but I'm sure Baker has. The question is how much better does he get this year. Either way, Baker has the edge in rebounding. Payton is still better than Francis. Another X-factor is how much does playing for the Dream Team hurt Baker and Payton for next year. Historically, from what I've heard, it's wore on some players not getting that summer of rest with injuries and fatigue. Of course, summer leagues and pickup games seem to abound, so maybe it's just the older players that are bothered by it. I think as the teams stand today, that they are pretty even. Positions: 5 - Rockets 4 - Sonics 3 - Even 2 - Rockets 1 - Sonics ------------------ "There's 1,000 different things we're looking at, but there's not a lot of things there." -- Rudy T., apparently after taking a hit of acid.
Dude, that's the last thing I wanted to hear/read today ------------------ Ugh, Another Rockets off-season....I'm gonna need a keg of Pepto-Bismol.
Not surprising. KG is a phenomenal defensive player. He's got both a speed and a height advantage on Mo T (and pretty much every other PF in the league not named Chris W. or Tim D.). ------------------
