I love it man! I really do and we need some nastiness on this team of choir boys. We had nobody last year that would step up and do the Robert Horry and put somebody on their ass which is why SA won number 4! Who do you think (from last year's team) would have put Nash on his fanny??? I'll give you 5 minutes and you will not come up with an answer. That's right nobody would have and nobody put D. Williams on his cookie during the first round. I told my wife during the playoffs and we attended many games last year including the 3 (playoff games) at the Toy Box...but I told her this team is too damn soft to make any noise. I love the attitude that James, Francis, and Bonzi brings. I hope J. Butler can be nasty for a few minutes or we get that grizzly veteran @ the 4 spot to add to the power of this team. Yao takes a beating night in and night out and nobody is afraid of retaliation when they play us. Bring on the swagger...hell to pay when you play us. Reminds me of that Bulls team that won 70 games...that had finesse...that had power...they had cockiness...they had the best player on the planet...and that's how we should come together this year. Nobody can touch Yao at the 5 spot, same with TMac when he's on his A-game. This should be a fun year!
we were turning into the Astros...i team full of goodie goodies....we need somebody to talk trash....
I like MJ's response but let's not put too much into this "swagger" deal. Charles Barkely (entertainer by talk) gave the Rockets swagger but it was Hakeem and Clyde (leaders by action) who gave us the Championship. You could pretty much say the same thing about Tim Duncan.
true, but the Rockets had role players that did their dirty work back in the day just like this years Spurs team and last years Heat team
Remember before signing with minny, James said he was going to win 2 championships in the next 3 years. He gave the first year a mulligan for it being a transition year. Minny certainly was a transition year for him, so now if his prediction is true, the rockets will now win the next 2 championships.
the reason why that sun's team, loaded with so many scorers, works so well is because the offense is orchestrated by STEVE NASH...who was rewarded consecutives MVP trophies for distributing the scoring so well among all the talent.... mike james is no steve nash
I like the addition of a little fire on our team also, but overt swagger and an enforcer mentality are not required. Robert Horry was never known as an enforcer before the one hit on Steve Nash, so I don't buy this stuff about how they won because of his cheap shot (although they may have indirectly). And the Suns didn't go on to lose because they were shivering in their pants after that hit. Instead, Amare & Diaw got suspended, and they couldn't stop the Spurs in Game 7 to pull it off. The Spurs are the most unassuming team led by the most unassuming superstar in the league, and they have won 4 championships because they have talent, chemistry, and grit. They don't yap, they just play. I think we can benefit most from the upgrade in talent this off-season. But the swagger that James, Francis, and Wells are gonna bring can help us as long as they don't go overboard and start causing problems. Now that we have contender-level talent, we're gonna need that chemistry and grit to beat the Spurs and the rest of the contenders.
who knows, if mutombo played all 48 minutes, every 7 games, he could have possibly killed williams. TMAC and the King all bowed down in front of mutombo. not to mention williams and nash are smaller than tracy and lebron. , but seriously i agree with you posts. i don't expect james, francis, and bonzi to be leaders, but i seriously think those 3 are going to bring life in the games, which will make the 2 main leaders (tmac and yao) true leaders. Thats going to help yao in the long term. all we got to do is have some chemistry.
Agreed. We need more fiery players on this team, it makes all the reserved quiet guys all the more intense.
swagger is exactly what we need for the rockets...and now maybe there will be even more exictment on the courts with all the talent. depth is kool.
And we do have Yao and T-Mac now... However, those Rockets teams would not have won without Mario Ellie, Vernon Maxwell and Sam and his big mouth... that's fsure
If you remember well enough, you will recall that we were on our way to another one with Chucky if not for the arm muscle injury Antoine Carr "helped" him to sustain. When Chucky went down, the rest of the lads just to bed and did not put up a fight against Utah the rest of the way. We got Chucky because of Utah and Utah had no answer for him - injury was their savior. Just to be fair to Chucky. And please do not sell Hakeem shot - he is fiery one. People often mislabel him as a quite and goodie goodie guy. Hakeem takes not prisoners - just do not cross him the wrong way.
D**Mit Deuce, I'm LOL all day off of this. We need some gansters on the squad to knock a couple of dudes out. Where is artest when u need him
My apologies, this is the quote I'm talking about. B this is off the meat rack funny. I cant wait for the season to start. I might use some of my bonus money to join the rowdies.
I don't mean to be a wet blanket here, but this is not about talent. In case no one noticed, if you are good enough to land on an *NBA Roster*, then you have talent. Some more than others, obviously, but every team has 'talent'. This is about chemistry, teamwork, and keeping egos in check for the greater good of the team overall. I don't think anyone has ever legitimately complained that their team had 'too much talent'. There is no question, however, that there have been plenty of circumstances come up where certain 'talent' on teams believed they should be getting more touches, more scoring opportunities, have a greater role, more pt, be starting instead of subbing, you name it. And then, regardless of the team's 'talent', if these players were not able to be mature enough to keep these feelings from boiling over, problems arise, chemistry and morale crumbles, teams can implode. I am not saying I think this is going to happen with the Rockets, nor do I even think it is likely. I am just saying that we have three guys who have shown in the past that they have had difficulty keeping those types of feelings from becoming problems. Now Steve, I am not so worried about - we should take him at his word about his newfound maturity level and commitment to winning above all else. Until he shows otherwise. MJ - well, I am uneasy, frankly. Last year he put himself on display as the NBA version of the psycho ex-girlfriend, and as long as a person like that is happy with his situation, everything will probably be cool. But who knows exactly what will make Mike happy anyway? Has he come out and said he will be perfectly happy playing 15-20 minutes a game off the bench? Is he going to freak whenever Brooks gets on the floor, and shines? Let me put it this way: 'If Mike ain't happy, ain't NOBODY gonna be happy!' I want MJ to do well, I want it to work out for the team and for him. But I'll be honest - he scares me a bit. We'll see. As for Bonzi... man.. until he gets his hands on a time machine and can go back in time and sign that 36 million dollar contract, I don't think Bonzi is ever going to do or be anything but crazy and freaked-out/depressed. Heck, I would be like that too, if I were him. Maybe he'll find some joy in seriously competing again, in just playing ball. Maybe some rewards will come his way. But he is never going to be a 'big star' on this team, so as long as he's here, we're liable to not get much from him. I guess all I am saying is, it seems a bit naive to just say things like 'there is nothing wrong with adding talent' or 'you can't have too much talent' without taking into consideration who the individuals are, and what the potential problems might be. I sincerely hope that there are NO problems from these three, or anyone else for that matter, but pretending that these guys don't bring some baggage, and just assuming that everything is going to be perfect, well, that just seems like whistling past the graveyard, and that leaves you unprepared when something unfortunate DOES happen.
