I think he makes some good points....i think the Rockets made some horrible free agent signings...like friggin WARD!!! are you kidding me....some of you guys were like we don't really need that good a players anywayz...well i guess now you know we do...Sura is another...he one night shows to play the other night he disappears...i don't care about his toughness....the guy is inconsistent on a nightly basis…though this was the knock on him anyways….plus the rockets age factor….this team maybe in some trouble if changes don’t happen….Wesley/Barry…I don’t know if they cut it as starters in this league.. how many of the rockets would start on the Spurs....TMAC/MING okay the obvious....but the other's won't even cut the secondary lineup of the bench...point is changes need to happen... http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3721516 Houston: C- The Rockets' grade would have been much higher but for their embarrassing floperoo against Dallas in Game 7. Yao Ming was exposed as a slow-footed giant who left too many gaping holes in Houston's defense. T-Mac did a yeoman's job at both ends — but nobody (expect for Michael Jordan) has ever been able to be a team's go-to scorer and play all-out defense at the same time. The Rockets' slo-mo guard play was atrocious. The Younger Van Gundy's lips were too loose. Clarence Weatherspoon didn't see enough burn. But, above all, the Rockets' meek exit indicates that (unless there's a wholesale renovation of their roster) this team will get worse before it gets better.
ward was a horrible sign...but i have no idea what you are talking about with sura. bringing toughness on to the courts might not be a stat, but you can not overlook it. did you not realize how well we have with him? stats isnt everything. he improved our team.
Sura was a great signing. I think the inconsistency you're speaking of was actually a result of the injuries he played through all year. Even still, he was pretty solid for us. Ward didn't pan out, but we didn't break the bank on him. There isn't much lost there.
So, Yao is the gaping hole that allowed opposing guards to consistently get in the paint. Give me a break. Yao has his faults defensively, but that is ridiculous. And, is he suggesting Spoon should have gotten more playing time? He is probably a little better than the "last-resort" PF JVG made him into, but let's not get over board. As is (barring injuries), this team could win about the same amount of games next season but they are being aggressive to add a couple of key pieces to the puzzle this offseason. That said, Yao will only get better and/or more consistent and the Yao/TMac combo will only get more potent. Being worse next season... I don't think so.
Rating Denver a B and Houston a C- Giving Denver and Miami the same score Rating Washington higher than both Miami and Denver Rating Dallas higher than Phoenix These are the strangest team ratings I've ever seen
what a Joke, and Yao is not slow he gets to the spot fast but just picks up the contact fouls because of his size.
the ONLY points he made that weren't a load of pure bullsh!it was that t-mac did a yeoman's job on both ends and the slow guards. that was the absolute worst analysis i've ever read. even more bothersome than the assinine comments about weatherspoon and yao's defense is his little handjob for mike. like f@#king jordan is the only player in history who was a number one on offense and a beast on defense. you're writing about the rockets, hakeem olajuwon ring a bell?
Does anybody care what rosen says? This idiot praised the Rockets acquistion of Zendon Hamilton (who was filler in the Mike James trade, I think, and released within minutes after the trade was finalized), as great move to get a quality young (well, 32 years young) big man to back up Yao Ming. He's also got an axe to grind with Van Gundy, and Phil Jackson, and pretty much every NBA coach (who, by definition, is currenlty more successful than he was at coaching) and rides them constantly, so who cares?
Dammit man, where were you for this thread? There can never be enough people who refuse to prostrate themselves before Jordan without reason... As you say, how 'bout Hakeem... and OSCAR FREAKIN' ROBERTSON! That writer needs to think a little more before he types.
yeah. it goes back to this league worshiping Jordan. in 10 years we are gonna hear made up legends; maybe, how jordan used to fed the orphan, heal the leper, and walk on water after each game.
This guy graded Denver as a B saying they scared the crap out of the Spurs and the spurs won only becuase of their poise and experience... Hello Mr. Rosen, After losing by 6 points in the opening game San Antonio went on to sweep the next 4 games by an average of just over 14 points.
Charlie Ward was actually shooting great last season before his knee gave out. Additionally, he tried so hard to come back after surgery; he tried so hard that he got a blood clot and was placed on blood thinners. THey had a Seton Hall article with Andre Barrett the other day, and he said that the best coach he's had in the NBA has been Charlie Ward.
C- is undeserved. We scared the bejesus out of the Mavs by winning 2 in Dallas and surprised everyone, even had Magic Johnson talking about the Rockets in the Finals after game 2. If we had JH we beat the Mavs and take the Suns to 7 games. He makes a point, this team is not constructed for the long term, we need to get younger and more athletic now. We have too many vets on the wrong side of 30 that are not going to help this team 2-3 years down the road and I am praying they can recapture the magic next season if CD doesn't make some real changes in the roster.
Even though we might disagree with Charley Rosen, he is FAR MORE CREDIBLE than any talking head (see Steven A Smith, Chad, Stein and other "writers")you see on ESPN, FOX, SI etc He has a tendency to exaggerate things a little bit to make his articles more interesting, but 80% of what he says is dead on and a fact. The guy has been a coach forever. He knows everything there is to know about basketball. He tends to criticize more than he praises. Nevertheless, if he praises you, well you know you did something really good. He points out some of the deficiencies. I actually agree with him that if the Rockets keep the same mix, they could potentially have a worse season, because they still have the scars of GAME 7. Wesley and Sura could be burned out by next season. If the ROX infuse some youth and new perspective they could be better without affecting their chemistry.
The only info in that article that was interesting to me was to hear that JVG is younger than his brother. I always thought he was older.
In the Bulls' first three championships, Jordan guarded Magic, Drexler, and Kevin Johnson. Rosen doesn't give Bob Sura enough credit for the toughness he brought to this team. You could see an immediate turn around when he got back to the team after the 6-11 start. But Sura is inconsistent and has been his whole career.
As was discussed ad nauseam in the Greatest Player Ever thread, Jordan only guarded Magic in Game 1 of the 1991 Finals, which the Bulls lost. Then Pippen got switched onto him, and the Bulls won the other 4. Jordan did guard Drexler sometimes, yes, but Pippen covered him at least as much. I have no memory of who guarded KJ. You may be right there. The point is, Pippen had the toughest cover far more often.
I don't know how anyone that watches bb could have seen the Mav's series would have said "Yao was exposed". A lack of a 4 that had to be guarded and a backcourt that had no chance of staying in front of their man was no big deal, but Yao was exposed??? That's just Yao bashing. I hope the ******d enjoyed it.
