Its a known fact that with this team and every other team that if the ball is shared, defense picks up, players are involved and everyone is happy. Many people will look at previous post and say I was one of the people saying that the Rox might be lotto material. Thats true to a certain extent, but thats just like any other fan/student of the game. Its been a right to passage of hoops that teams that share, win. Thats what Magic and Bird brought to the selfish NBA in the early 80's. It wasn't just they tranformed the nba from a selfish,thuggish,individualistic sport into a team game with showmanship. What the Showtime Lakers and the Hard working Celtics do was show the entire world that the 2 biggest stars, Bird and Magic could also be the most unselfish on a team loaded with good players and make them great.I'm not asking Francis and the guards to make Yeo and the other big men great, but to make them feel like they can enter the homeboy world of him, mobley and norris. Yao will be a really good player anyway because of his sheer physical and mental tutoring he has had since childhood. What is need is getting the constant and consistent production within the team from Posey,Griffin,Taylor,Cato and etc. Tonight , without saying was one of the finest displays this current Rockets team has displayed. They passed,shared,moved helped and ran the tired T-Wolved into the ground. Every night won't be like this and they should expect to, but just for this night, this team played like a team. They didn't resort to the old excuse that we're young so we can't pass or share the ball. They passed it and shared like a true team should. Of course, I'm still disappointed in Francis high turn overs, but the 8 asst can make it a litle better to stand. Going into every game and in front of his locker Francis should have these numbers, 14-4 ! Thats the Rockets record when he throws at least 7 asst. Thats not an unrealistic record like the team is 14-4 when he throw 10+ asst, its just basically 1 more pass, 1 more give than his normal and this team hits the elite level. Its not hard,its not impossible, it just shows what happens when your best player decided to give it up 1 extra time. When we share ,we win,when we try to be on the next AND1 mixtape, we normally play dumb and take a ass whippin' How easier can the choices be even for a young team?
Issues at the start of the season... At first it was offense (lack of passing/motion). Then it was defense (lack of). Then, it was Yao (pass him the ball/rookie-wall). All three of those have improved.... What now? Francis'es turnovers. A lot of his turnovers aren't from assist attempts. They're just knuckle-head unforced turnovers; bad entry passes, dribble off his foot, and one-on-three drives. That's our big problem now.
I was so happy with the victory. I still am. But, when you read things like this, it makes you cry: "Snow had a season-high 21 points. He had zero turnovers for the third straight game and the seventh game overall this season. He finished with six assists. " I'd LOVE to have Eric Snow as the only Guard off the bench. Francis can learn a lot from him, while also playing side-by-side with him. It also MAJORLY reduces boneheaded mistakes and gives us confidence when resting Francis or Mobley. If only there was a 3-way trade out there to help us. Maybe Payton to the Sixers, Snow to the Rockets, Coleman + Houston future First rounder + Philadelphia first rounder ASAP to Seattle. Would you be open for trading Mobley to them for Snow, and then play Posey extensively at the 2, along with Francis on CERTAIN occasions where it's a favourable matchup? Would Philly want Mobley? High scorer to complement Iverson, and he's a Philly native. They'd need a PG though, and Mobes doesn't make enough, so Mobley and Cato for Snow and Coleman? Final deal: Mobley + Cato for Coleman + Snow I don't know though. Cato is PRETTY damn good. Coleman nets us a lot of money next year, and Rice the following year, meaning we would have some flexibility dealing with Posey. I love that deal. Thoughts?
I understand your concern Sane but don't give up Mobley and Cato for Snow and Coleman. Cato is still relatively young at 28 years and Yao needs a good backup for quite sometime yet. I get frustrated with Mobley but he is a good player and we need his scoring.Getting Snow would increase our passing but he is not a good shooter and would put a lot of pressure on Francis to take a number of shots from the 2 guard spot when Yao struggles with stronger frontcourt players. Posey would still be needed as a 3 until Nachbar is ready.
Sane - 1) Doesn't Iverson already play SG? Why would Philly want 2 SG's? 2) The Sixers got rid of Mutombo because they felt Todd MacCulloch could handle the post. How highly do you think they would regard Cato? I think Todd Mac's stats are similar to Cato's but he has more O in his game (doesn't show in ppg because of AI & Van Horn but he can score with post moves). 3) IMO, getting rid of Cato is a bad idea because you are left with a 26mpg tired Yao, Collier, Griffin or MoT at the 5. 4) Cuttino had 6 assists vs MINN. Let's cross our fingers and hope he gets the message! Back on topic - 1) I can deal with a lot of Francis' TO's but the unforced errors and trying to create in mid-air when a simple pass would have worked better drives me up a wall. 2) Right under the "14-4" on Francis' locker should be Calvin's "Stop and Pop"!
When ball are well distributed on the floor, we can edge anyteam in the league. We got players that can be really big night in and night out. I hope the Wink, Cat and Mooch got the message!
Excellent post Leebigez. That whole post should hang in the Rockets locker room. One more pass! I love it! Nice job.
The game left a great feeling in my heart. After I came down from the clouds I worried if the Rox players and Coaches could remember to repeat the formula for success.
FOR EVERY TEAM...PASSING IS THE KEY. But for the Rockets, Yao needs to block at least 3 shots. We are 14-3 when he blocks at least 3 shots. Anyways...yes. Hopefully Friday's game made Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley "GET IT". Hopefully they have realized that passing works. Okay. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ERIC SNOW. But yeah. Why would the 76ers want ANOTHER shooting guard and ballhog? Cuttino would love to return to his home city. Cato...I would love to keep him. He has been doing very good the whole season. But he is making a lot of money...BUT we should keep him. Cuttino...we still need him. Although when we lose, it looks terrible. Cuttino usually is one of the ones who looks horrible. But we still need his scoring and defense. Eric Snow...good player and good point guard. But I'm not sure if he can shoot. Certainly not better than The Cat. Then we would have no shooters!!! If Eric Snow is our point guard, he has no one to pass to! DERRICK COLEMAN. He used to be very good...BUT HE IS KIND OF OLD NOW. I don't know... I am not sure. I need more convincing.
I LOVE THE IDEA OF GETTING ERIC SNOW! The guy is the type of PG we need. 1. He knows his role. Doesnt do anything too flashy and produces results. 2. Good assist person 6.8 per game 3. Good FG% for PG 45% 4. Good FT% 86% But he brings alot of intangibles and he is really steady. He doesnt try to go one on one and will bring some consistancy to our team. He would be the perfect player to start the offense.
This game was much better played than any game the entire season. I complained about all the showboating, lack of passing after the Lakers game and everybody got all over me. Well you won't here me complaining today. If they conitnue to pass like they did last night, there's no limit.
yes...if we played like Friday every game...WOW!!! We would win! I think the Rockets have the potential to do this if all of our players stay together and develop more chemistry. We should reach the Conference Finals within 3 years. If we can find one more role player...shooter or solid power forward...we could be great. Also...Eric Snow has had a lot of experience with superstar guards.
What I really like is the fact that they did not wait until 20 seconds had elapsed off of the shot clock before they decided to get into their offense. They moved the ball up the court and instead of just standing in one spot dribbling they immediately passed the ball into the post or around the horn looking for the open man. As a result, if the intended shooter did not have a good shot he had plenty of time to pass the ball back out or look for a cutter. It was beautiful. I saw plenty of bad passes during the game but the Rockets always had time to re-gather themselves and keep looking for the open man or the high percentage shots. This is team ball and it is the way the game is meant to be played.
