This is from the Houston Chronicle... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/883623 Rockets' final grades Grades are based on expectations and a player's role Shandon Anderson B- Forced to play out of position by Cuttino Mobley's ascension to go-to starter, Anderson's greatest shortcoming was his lack of consistency. He showed an ability to take the ball to the basket and a toughness to defend forwards. But he didn't have the consistent outside touch to take advantage of the double teams in the backcourt. A force on the break, Anderson would benefit if the Rockets become a better running team. Matt Bullard B - A decade after finding a niche, Bullard remained a valuable part of the mix. A few late runners and hooks aside, Bullard is still a designated gunner. A defensive liability in some matchups, he did a surprisingly good job against some stars, such as Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett, and should love the coming zone defenses. Kelvin Cato D In his fifth NBA season, Cato's shooting touch remained dangerous -- to others. The Rockets can live with that. Teammates grew tired of his mood swings and the lack of intensity they bring. There were moments Cato seemed inspired -- or at least interested. He was a key to the comeback in Atlanta and against Indiana and played well on the last road trip. But those moments only seemed to expose the many nights the Rockets could not wake him. Sean Colson Inc. Showed up at the end of the year. Seemed like a good guy. Rarely played. But the Rockets thought enough of him to keep him around after his 10-day contracts expired. Dan Langhi B A second-round pick, Langhi never escaped his role as 12th man. But as the last player off the bench, at least until Sean Colson came along, he filled the role nicely. He endeared himself to teammates with his work ethic and showed enough potential for the Rockets to invest a season with him riding pine. Steve Francis A Francis led the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. As important, while carrying much of the responsibility for his team's fortunes, he did not lose his enthusiasm or his determination to improve. He showed more willingness to be a vocal leader, but still needs to add a "healthy selfishness" to fill the "Stevie Franchise" role. Jason Collier Inc. Injuries limited Collier to 23 games. But the Rockets believed they saw enough to confirm their expectation he would bring a good shooting touch and some ability to run the floor. Collier proved to be a hard worker and should be ready to play in summer leagues in Los Angeles and Utah. Cuttino Mobley A- Mobley moved into the starting lineup and raised his scoring average by nearly four points per game while slightly bumping up his shooting and 3-point percentages. He took the heat that comes with go-to responsibilities, with mixed results, from out of control to spectacular. But he quietly showed more restraint in the final weeks, with an improved playmaking touch. Moochie Norris A- A Continental Basketball Association pickup last season, Norris so completely found a niche, the Rockets consider bringing him back a free-agency priority. More than merely offering a solid backup for Steve Francis and an outstanding locker room and practice presence, Norris became a fixture down the stretch of games for his steady hand and confident shot. Hakeem Olajuwon A - In a season in which he planned to retire, rescinded his retirement announcement, asked to be released, spoke of playing for Miami, called a radio show to apologize, was declared out for six months and returned in two weeks, the most remarkable turn was on the court. Olajuwon regained his grace and touch, found a niche and keyed the best stretch of the season and its most memorable moments. Carlos Rogers B - Though he spent most of the season keeping Dan Langhi company at the end of the bench, he seemed to produce whenever on the court. Rogers was never comfortable with his limited role, but he played as hard as anyone and showed an ability to do more. Maurice Taylor B After a slow start, Taylor came just as advertised. He was a good scorer able to get his own shots, and a poor rebounder. Overshadowed by Olajuwon in the Rockets' second-half run to playoff contention, Taylor got on a second-half run of his own that seemed to show promise if there is a second season in Houston. Kenny Thomas B- Thomas continued to show more ability than many expected when he was made the Rockets' 1999 first-round pick. He had the shooting range and quickness to be a solid scorer, but had not developed the night-after-night consistency. Walt Williams B - The Rockets pretty much know what they will get from Williams. He has not been a consistent high scorer, but is their most consistent 3-point shooting threat, knocking down nearly 40 percent, the third-best percentage of his nine-year career. He has trouble in some defensive matchups but is solid in others. With the new rules, he becomes more valuable as a shooter who is accurate on anything from finger rolls to baseline treys. ------------------ "I would like to live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were ever supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever." -Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss Universe contest
Did Walt Williams really shoot 40% on his three's this year? It always seemed to me that he was not doing that well... hmmmmmm ------------------ Watch out for gay Limbo Dancers.
How about some revisions to that list? My problem w/the chronicles list is that they didn't seem to grade people enough on the role they were SUPPOSED to have. Here are my final grades: Shandon Anderson: C+ He had some really great games, and actually strung them together at one point. Which makes all the mediocre games even more annoying. He didn't get along very well with Francis and Mobley, which makes his future with the Rockets uncertain at best. However, Anderson did play great defense, and played as a team guy. That's worth something. Matt Bullard: B+ Besides being hurt, Bullard did what he was asked: he shot and hit a bunch of 3's. He even had a career high this year. Why fault him for NOT being something we knew he wasn't upon signing him? Kelvin Cato: D- This would have been an F before the final week of the season, when Kelvin played just well enough to hopefully convince some soft headed GM's that he's worth traded for. But otherwise... he was useless. Horrible hands, no shot, no defense, few rebounds when he wasn't hurt. Which was rare. Collier: B He was actually playing above expectations when he wasn't injured, but spent too long on the injured list after surgery for us to know if he's a keeper. Regardless, he LOOKED like he could be a legitimate back up center, which seems to be what we drafted him for. If he can improve his D and long range shot slightly, he could be a valuable Rocket for years while stretching the defense and opening up the lane for the guards. Steve Francis: A- Francis had a season that placed him among the elite 5 PG's in the league (Kidd, Payton, Brandon, Marbury). He would get an A, but he sort of choked during the playoff crunch, and his assist-turnover ratio needs to be improved. Dan Langhi: Inc Who knows? Langhi didn't get any time until the end, and even then, not much. Cuttino Mobley: A Mobley developed a great deal this year, becoming less selfish with the ball, somewhat better on defense (still lacking, though), and has shown an amazing ability to get to the bucket. He's one of the best purer scorers out there, and if he could develop a bit longer range, 20ppg isn't out of the question. This guy proved a lot of people wrong, including myself. Moochie Norris: A He runs the team better than Francis, although lacks Stevie's scoring, rebounding abilities. He was a quality back-up, which is what he was supposed to be. Carlos Rogers: Inc I know, he did play some... but he never seemed to play as much as he played well. He did a good job when he got minutes, but seemed to be in the doghouse, inexplicably. Maybe he had nagging injuries? Hakeem: B His grade would be higher if he'd played at the beginning of the year like he did at the end. The whining about his role can't be overlooked, though. That was an unwelcome distraction at a time when it REALLY wasn't necessary. Would the Rockets have won two more games if Hakeem had focused on his game instead of his contract? I find it likely. Still, he played very well after he buckled down. Maurice Taylor: B- Taylor looked great at spots, becoming the post presence that Houston had lacked the year before. He also played decent defense, something that had been a question mark coming into the year. Even better, he can pass pretty well. But... HE DOESN'T REBOUND! Doesn't now, never will. Kenny Thomas: B+ Showed flashes this year of deserving to start over Taylor. Certainly, he possesses more creativity on offense, better footwork, and perhaps a better understanding fo the game. His height, and his tendency to shoot 3's, is suspect however. KT is a terrific passer though, and a guy who definitely has a place in this league. Walt Williams: C He didn't live up to his surge at the end of last season. The Rockets wanted someone who could give them 14ppg and a dangerous shooter. Instead, they got a good 3pt shooter who occasionally got hot. His overall fg % was atrocious. The Rockets already hvae Matt Bullard, the Whiz didn't do anymore. Rudy T: A- For all our talk of this being the Rocket's break-out season, we have to remember that houston's franchise player is 23 years old. The had little size up front, and no shotblocker for most of the season. Yet they still managed to win more than they lost, and looked brilliant at times. I wish Rudy had gotten Anderson more involved... but I can't complain too much with the result. I'm very interested to know what Rudy's offense will look like next year. Colson: Inc ------------------ I would believe only in a God who could dance. - Friedrich Nietzsche Boston College - NCAA Hockey National Champions 2001 [This message has been edited by haven (edited April 20, 2001).]
With all the A's and B's that dude dished out, you'd think we were destined to go to the NBA Finals. I wonder how he would grade the Spurs and the 76ers. ------------------ Founding Father of the Refs Suck Club
dream-C+ (often injured) mo-C (played half the year) SA-D (came to play 5/82) cat-B+ (2002=break through year) steve-A (the franchise) mooch-B (av. 3ast per game in 12 minutes) KT-B (a double/double guy, reliable) wiz-C- (on and off) cato-F (?) bull-C- (B+ when he gets hot) langhi-INC (needs more PT) los-D+ (B with more PT) collier-INC (injured) colson-INC ------------------
dream - held back Cato's development mo:A+, I like that one dunk he had SA:C-, All he does is play "D" and shoot cat-A+ Great Shot Selection steve -Too many layups, not enough dunks mooch -See Francis KT:C+ wiz-A+++ Very Consistent cato:A++++ Runs the court well, shoots well, plays good "D" bull:F-, Have you ever seen anyone more grounded langhi:INCE, But I did like that dunk he had in the last game los , Hustled too much, too unlike Cato collier:INC colson:INC ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion [This message has been edited by vj23k (edited April 21, 2001).]
Air Bull- B- Cato- F Sean Colson- Inc. Dan Langhi- C+ Steve Francis- A+ Jason Collier- Inc. Cat- A Mooch- B+ Dream- A, considering all the other centers in the league stink. Los- C, could be better if he played! Mo Taylor- A- Kenny- B Wizard- B Shandon- B ------------------ Sorry Clutch; I had to copy the recap headline "the Mo and Fro Show" into my username cause I loved it!
Thats because the grades were given relative to the expectations placed on a player and team before the year began. Most people had the Rockets finishing much worse than they did, as they surpassed excpectations, they get high scores. Except Cato, he gets an F. ------------------ Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now! The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.
My grades for the rockets are as follows- Steve Francis- A-. Steve had an amazing season, i was especially surprised with his rebounding. The thing that is holding him down from a A is that i havent seen the killer instinct enough out of him in the season. When the game is on the line, the ball has to go to Steve and he has to develop the type of instinct Tim Hardaway has in the clutch or Gary Payton and Stephon Marbury. I also did not see Steve take over games as much as i wanted to. I know he shouldnt be a ball hawk, but for the teams sake he should atleast put up 10-15 shots a night automatically, and many games Francis only got between 10-15. I expect him to average atleast 22 next season and step up to become great. Cuttino Mobley- B plus His game improved greatly, but still the way he plays can be far too erratic at times. He needs to work the ball around more sometimes instead of jackin up shots all the time and he needs to improve defensively. If he keeps improving the way he is, we may see a rocket backcourt in the playoffs for years to come. Shandon Anderson- C Shandon went too many games with less than ten points. He stands around a lot and doesnt even try to be aggressive sometimes. He is not good enough for the team to try to adjust to him, so he should have tried harder to adjust to the team. That means trying to improve his jumper and three pointers on kickouts and crash the boards more. He will probably move to a team more suited to his ability in the offseason. Maurice Taylor: D+ Mo was effective offensively, but far too many times was harassed by some of the leagues better Power Forwards. His defense was very weak and he barely ever crashed the boards. I hope he doesnt get re-signed cuz he was terrible. I would rather have had a guy that can rebound and play defense and has no shot at the Power Forward position, because that type of player would fit the rockets way better than Mo Taylor. I was thinking a guy like Ben Wallace would be perfect in the rockets system. Mo Taylor had 5 double doubles in the season, what a scrub. Center: B It would be an A if hakeem hadnt caused so much confusion in early season by demanding trades and things like that. Had Hakeem played the whole season like he did the 2nd half of the season, the rockets would be in the playoffs right now. Bench: C The rockets have a average bench. Moochie is a very good backup for steve and i really liked his game. Bullard was still his same self. KELVIN CATO GETS AN F. I dont see how you can give him anything else. I would trade him for anything if i was the rockets, try to get rid of him to a team with cap space like the bulls, Cato for Brad Miller? I would like that, Carlos Rogers just was not effective enough, and Walt Williams had by far the worst season in years. Kenny Thomas did waaaaaaaaaaay better Than Mo Taylor. We should have seen KT starting by mid-season. Coach: A I dont even need to explain this one. Offseason outlook: Rockets will make a strong bid toward Chris Webber. If they can sign Webber, expect them to try to use the exception on Hakeem. Will hakeem be back? I think its 40 % he will. Hakeem will get bids from all sorts of teams, i think if the rockets can get close to those bids, he will be back. Will we sign Webber: right now it is up in the air. If webber chooses to leave Sacramento i'm pretty sure its a yes. Dont expect Shandon or Mo to be back. Hopefully Moochie and Bull can be re-signed but i would not want to shell out big bucks on any of the two. Expect the rockets to draft a small forward in the draft and to try to get rid of Cato any way possible. I would trade him for nothing, just to get him off the cap. ------------------ vaids_13
how can Cat have a A minus....most of the time he would jus drive in and screw up the play.... i mean we always had people open in the wings and he wouldnt see them... ------------------ Proud President of the Whitey Deluxe (LANGHI) Fan Club
How can you give Steve an A when he barely improved over his rookie year?? he played smarter, but Steve has the ability tio do SOO much more. now Im sure he will continue to improve. He may make the allstar gsame next year, but he DEFFINATELY disapointed me this year. so to Steve I give B+. Cat gets An A- because he played better than we expected.(not better than I knew he could, but he lived up to his ability) As a starter Cat was the best scorer the rockets have had since the healthy Dream days. Cat also made much better shot selectionand growth was evident. Moochie A+ I Am not a Mochie fan club member but this guy deserves the ONLY A+ on the team. he played WELL above his ability he was Clutch he won games for us and we expected NOTHING from him. MO C+ expected alot got nothing... than all of a sudden we got something. Inconcistant, not rebounding. maybe the C+ is harsh, but we all expected Mo to be a Star PF we all talked about giving him the max this off season(untill he proved that he wasnt worth it) SA- F totally played under his ability. we know what he can do, whay didnt he do it. and DONT BLAME some other player for not passing it to him. he had the ball plenty, and DID NOTHING Walt D he kinda dissapoints in alot of games, but he adapted to his role as spot up 3 shooter. I give him credit for that. Cato F isnt it obvious. no effort, expected alot out of him this year Dream A i actually gavre up on the big guy. he proved that he still has it. deffinately suprised even his biggest fans. KT B every time he played minuts he played well. this guy could be great if he had more minutes. he is a real glass cleaner. should do some more layup drills, or go to dunking school. Bullard B- he neither suprised nor dissapointed. another fine year frombull Langi looks like he has some use in the NBA Colier has NONE well at least not now, or not yet oops I forgot Los. I still love this guy he deserves a B- but he never gets the minutes. he plays so hard, what does he have to do to get some time?? ------------------ Hanta-Force Paintball www.hanta-force.com [This message has been edited by The Voice of Reason (edited April 22, 2001).]
How can anyone get an A when we didn't even make the playoffs? No one deserves an A when we can't make it to the dance. Stevie had a nice year and definetely improved his TOs. But I'm still not sure how much he progressed as a PG. Showed good leadership skills. Needs work on his defensive skills & defensive intensity. B+ Mobley improved hios offensive game. Became a goto player on offense. Needs lot of work on defense and to become a better team player in the future. B+ Cato had one a handful of decent games this year. Good news is one more year of his contract is gone. Bad news is he sucks. D- KT showed he is a legitimate back-up NBA PF. He plays hard even though he doesn't have great skills. B Dream showed flashes of his prime at points (including the season finale). You can't control his injuries but towards the end played great. B+ Shandon is playing out of position. Good defensive intensity but gets lost on offense. B- Bullard is Bullard. Always plays hard and shoots well. C+ Collier surprised me. I though he would be a scrub but he showed he can be a NBA backup. Good range for a center. B- Moochie had a great year. Solid NBA backup and a true PG. Guy always puts up numbers in his minutes on the court. B+ Los seems to have great games and then disappear or get buried on the bench. Ha spotential to be a legitimate NBA backup but not consistent enough. C+ Mo would be better suited in the East. Good range for a PF, but tough time matching up vs great forwards in the West. Hoorible rebounder and surprisingly wasn't too horrible on defense. B Walt played better on D. Not a stopper by any means but did show more effort at least. Great shooter. C+ Langhi was only used sparingly. He needs more time to develop, I think. Grade on performance s/b a B- or C+, but probably will get an incomplete. Team grade is a C. No playoffs again. Lot of individual progress but still not sure how much they progressed as a team, especially if Dream, Anderson & Mo all leave, team could be starting over next year, again.
vj23k: Hakeem gets a D- for holding back KELVIN CATO's PROGRESS? This had to be the single worst thought I've heard this year, Jim165 not withstanding. Cato was HURT nearly the entire year. How could Hakeem have been impeding his mythical progress when the whiny little twirp wasn't even PLAYING, or healthy enough to play? Secondly, WHAT makes you think Cato has any potential to fulfill? He was mediocre IN COLLEGE for God's sake... and had one good game in the Sweet 16 to get all the press, and which point people said "gee, what a body! what athleticism, must be good..." and drafted him far too high. Cato has made no progress since his days in Portland. Think there's a reason they dealt him to us, instead of Jermaine O'Neal? Cato has had his chances. He's been in the league for 4 years now. His hands are still horrible, he still can't shoot, he can't pass, he can't avoid fouling out, and he can't time his blocks. There isn't any "progress" to make here. He has no talent. Never has, never will. Conversely, when healthy, Hakeem was a legitimate quality NBA center. Don't fault him for being 2,394,872,098,743 times better than Cato, even in his days of decline. ------------------ I would believe only in a God who could dance. - Friedrich Nietzsche Boston College - NCAA Hockey National Champions 2001
I don't think you quite caught the tone of his post haven, you might want to give it another read. ------------------ "Of course, thats just my opinion, I could be wrong" -- Dennis Miller
I completely agree with haven. I hate it when fake rockets fans who dont keep up try to voice there opinion cuz they dont know enough to have one. vj23k gave hakeem a D- for holding cato's progress back in upper part of page. VJ23K might be the single dumbest damn rockets fan in history. Stupid crap he wrote is sooo idiotic, just look at them. The voice of reason entry is also stupid. He first notes that no one deserves an A on the rockets because they did not make the playoffs. Then he goes on to give Cuttino Mobley a A-, moochie a A+, and Dream a A; and then he gives Francis a B+? Stupid. Steve doesnt have a turnover problem In Hakeems championship years he averaged close to 3.5 turnovers a game as a center; This season Steve averaged 3.3 turnovers a game as a point guard. Some of you idiots just believe whatever any stupid crappy writer or comentator says. ------------------ vaids_13
Humor, sarcasm, do you guys understand any of these words? ------------------ Well that's it, the season's over. Protrolls.com! I've got message boards up and running, feel free to Troll them.
Hey buddy, I was KIDDING With all that sarcasm, I was hoping i wouldn't get any responses like this. Vaids, go reread the post, and edit your own. Haven, I was just kidding. C'mon Walt-Williams-consistent? Cato-Runs the floor well? ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion
This was the problem, not a clear smiley. Well, the smiley wasn't clear in the post above. Smiley's are imperative so that people will understand the sarcasm. Though you people really should have seen it for what it was, it was very obvious that post was in jest. ------------------ Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now! The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe. [This message has been edited by Puedlfor (edited April 23, 2001).]
DUDE!! what crawled up your a$$?? as it was already stated, the sarcasm was obvious, bur in your comments on my, you must be stupid. first of all, DONT MISQUOTE ME. I never said "He first notes that no one deserves an A on the rockets because they did not make the playoffs. Then he goes on to give Cuttino Mobley a A-, moochie a A+, and Dream a A " I just gave out honest grades. grades based on what players are/were expected to do. not on how much I want to suck St---s DI--. if you honestly belive that Steve playes to the FULL extent of his ability than YOU give him an A, I think that when Steve plays up to what I expect of him he will be getting league MVP votes. as it is now, he is barely in the top 5 guards in the west. before you freak out i will list them. Payton, Kidd, Kobe, Finley. for number 5 you could put nash, Bibby, Brandon, Van exel, and others. hell most all of them are really yung, if you are gonna give a guy an A bvecause of his potential, I will add Hughes too. and that Anderson guy in San antone. the point is, that realisticly Steve is the #5 guard in the west. he is not a SUPER star. he did not improve his game nearly as much as i would have liked this year. If he really is something special than how come he didnt do what VC did last year, or Dirk did, or Marion, or even Cuttino did in their sophmore years. I personally expected more. his grade was not based on what he ment to the team, but how he played this year. damn, and BTW, I gave dream an A-, but that was only to avoid ignorant responces like i already got, so honestly he deserved something more like a B, B+ all that I quit, no I dont stuff kinda bothered me, and also that he didnt try early on, but once he decided to stay he played well. it just seemed unprofessional. but he did play better than I thought he would. so since I was called stupid. stupid for what I said, I hope that you have the balls to come out and admit to being "stupid" for misquoting me. I belive this is where I insert some high and mighty "Damn Newbies" line which takes away any weight to what I just already wrote sleepy PEACE ------------------ Hanta-Force Paintball www.hanta-force.com
