I'm as excited about this new brand of basketball as anyone, but will it last through April? Or, dare I say, June? When Dream went out we knew things would be a little more wide open because we had only one low-post player who demands the ball. Steve was allowed to do more iso and running and Anderson, Mobley and Cato are thriving on it. When Steve went down, I was curious to see what Rudy would do. To my surprise, he did not go to Barkley in the post as much as I thought he would. Plays were run for Anderson and he nets a career high. Cato gets some plays called for him, as does Drew ...you get the idea. So when the Dream returns, how do you run the offense? or the rotation? I think we are a better team when Chuck and Dream alternate time on the floor. It would be possible to bring one of them off the bench and allow the other players to get into the flow of the game early. As long as Charles and Dream are on the court during money time, they shouldn't be too concerned with who starts and doesn't start. We have numerous players who are capable of 20 point nights if given the chance, so what do we do? ------------------ Look out, The Kid is about to blow up!
PrimeTime, I think you already knew what to do. Right? Not that we don't know what to do, but that we don't know how to do. If any one of our old stars is willing to be benched, that's the perfect case. But does it seem that easy? The only suggestion is, when Dream comes back, we pretend we haven't had a good game without him. That will make him feel better.
I know what you're saying, but Charles has come off the bench before (1997) and we played well (until he got hurt against Utah). I don't think we're that far away from the top teams in the west, we just need a little time to tweek with the line-up and see what works best. When we find the ideal line-up and rotation, it should not be suppressed because of anyone on the team. We have to make it work and show why we are clutch city.
Oh! I think I've made one more friend here. I'm also among the very few here that believe the Rox are one of the elite teams in the league. Here's to only hope that Charles will do everything that benefits the team, since this is his proclaimed last chance to get a ring.
I think the Rockets are good, but may or may not make the playoffs. They've been competitive in all but two games, and I think that perhaps Popeye was right about the time frame now, even though I disagreed at the time. Francis looks better than Iverson.
I think it will be a tough thing to only play Charles/Dream a combined 48 minutes per game. I do agree (up until the time of Dreams injury that we were better off with only one in the game. Basically both of these guys need to adjust to the offense, and i think from the past couple of games that Charles is making good strides. Hopefully Dream can look from watching. I still foresee Charles and Dream getting 30 minutes a game, each. I think if my math is right that we could have one or the other in the game for 32-33 minutes, but we still have 15-16 minutes where they must play together (if they both get 30 minutes). Especially if we get close to the playoffs their minutes will probably go up, but we need these guys to adjust to the offense. If they can't adjust it will only cost them minutes.
I would love for the Rockets to make the playoffs as much as anybody. Any other year it would seem very possible, But who do they overtake. Is this team good enough to beat out Utah, Minnesota, Phoneix, or Seattle. For the Rockets to make the Playoffs one of these four teams must falter. The west is so stacked this year it just seems like a longshot for Houston...but still possible. This is CLUTCHCITY after all. [This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited December 03, 1999).]
Joe Joe I love Cato's game, but I don't think he will get 40 minutes consistently for a couple reasons: 1. He is prone to foul trouble. He has done a great job since Dream got hurt, but he does have a tendency to pick up quick fouls. 2. I think, especially since this is chuck's farewell that he will get at least 30 minutes a game. 3. Houston is too loyal to not five Dream 30 minutes a game. I would guess more that each may get around 30, with T-mass getting most of any additional minutes that may be left. I also think this is a great reason why Rogers should get most of his future minutes at SF. There may be additional minutes available to all of our big guys for teams with a big SF (like K. Garnett). That could be an opportunity for all 3 to play with Cato guarding KG. Another possibility is when Dream comes back is Chuck may be very tired (from playing extended minutes) and he may need to only 24-30 minutes a game for a stretch. All in all we may have a problem other teams would love to have, two HOFers and a future star all playing 2 positions and fighting for time.
Rocketability: Add BlastOff to that very short list. Thanks. Although I didn't see the game last night I did catch the Suns game. I thought we dominated them most of the game. We simply lacked the killer instinct to put them away early in the fourth. Anyway, for a team that is certainly lottery-bound (well, according to some of us), the Rockets appear ready to rumble with the best of them. Barring injuries or serious personnel changes, I say we come out of the All-Star break (dare I say it) blazing. [This message has been edited by BlastOff (edited December 03, 1999).]
Cato needs to play 40 min a game to stimulate the transition game. He is really good at punishing his man for trying for a block. That leaves 56 minutes. I think Thomas should get about 6 minutes a game(very sporadic though). He can add some fresh legs in spurts and has been rebounding well. 50 left. Hakeem and Barkley can split time at the PF position and play only the begining and the end of the game together.
