Yeah, I know it's very early in the season and maybe Glen Rice will improve a little as time passes. But I still think his days as a great scorer are LOOOOOONG gone. In fact, I'm not even sure if he could average a dozen ppg any more. He reminds me now of Brent Price when he was a Rocket. A quintessentially mediocre player with a knack for getting hurt. A strain here, a bruise there, a tear over there. The 3 spot is definitely the weakest leak on the team this year. I didn't like what I saw of Rice in L.A. and NY. He looked old, slow, and plain un-athletic. They came to realize what the RT and CD soon will. That Rice doesn't have much left. I don't understand why we cling on to Walt Williams for that matter either. I would sometimes rather have SA even.
Whatever. Rice has played in less than 75 games throughout the season only once in his career. So much for the "knack for getting hurt" theory. Rice didn't really get any time on the court in the preseason and it's obvious in his jump shot that he doesn't have his legs. He averaged 12 points, also known as a dozen points, in New York last year playing behind Latrell Sprewell. There goes another theory. Rice has more potential in his injured foot to help this team than SA could dream of. SA's stats in NY are worse than Rice's are in Houston. Another theory tossed out the window. As for Walt, if you were another GM would you want an overpaid, aging SF that can't play defense and has a very inconsistent offensive game? I think not. That is why Rudy and CD "cling" onto him. Sorry to sound so rude, but it is way too damn early in the season to start bashing anyone on this Rockets team, Wiz excluded.
Rice is awesome he is just rusty, you have to realize he wasnt able to practice and all that good stuff
Unbelieveable how people can predict on how well someone is going to play 3 games into the freaking season! Doesn't anyone have faith in our Rockets other then me? Stevie is shooting 38% maybe his days of being a high percentage shooter are "LOOOOONG gone"....
I knew someone was going to start a thread dogging Rice & blaming him for losing the game, the minute the game was over. There's always someone looking for the negative, instead of the positive. How about a combined 17 points & 23 rebounds from the center position? How about we gave Minnesota all they could handle, even though Garnett almost had a career night? How about Mobley? WOW! This was a great game & an even greater gauge of just where the Rockets are at, even though the starting 5 hasn't played more than 3 games together. We almost beat a solid playoff team with only 2 games together under our belts. A playoff team that has, for the most part, been together for a while. I'd say that's not bad for a team that only has 3 starters (of which 1 is a bench reserve this year) from last years team at this time & only 3 guys from last year's bench. So, quit focusing on the negatives & marvel at the strides this team has made from last year.
I dont know. I keep hearing Rice is rusty and he needs time to work his way back into the game, but hasnt he had enough time to at least show us a little bit of his great shooting? I was all for rice when i heard we got him, but Im starting to doubt him like a lot of people here also...
Only reason I'm doubting Rice right now is because we have TMo and Oscar on the bench. IMO These two guys play better defense. I just think we're better off with thier speed on defense and offense than Rice's shooting (or lack there of? lol 3 games I know).
You guys need to get off of him. If you want to blame him for this game, fine...but youve got to give him credit for contributing in our two wins. He played unselfishly...catching the ball from the corner, driving to the hole and dishing it off to Cato for two monster dunks against Atlanta. He also had a key steal (okay so it was basically handed to him) in the OT victory. He played well against the Clippers as well and was a threat...allowing Franchise and Cuttino to drive and cut to the basket. C'mon, have you seen how many 3's he has shot that have just rimmed out or have basically gone all the way through, only to spin out? Trust me, speaking as a shooter, that comes from just not having your legs under your shot. He has te perfect mechanics and focus, he just needs to find a rhythm. Hes a pure shooter; still one of the best in the league. When he gets hot...he can burn a building down. I would rather him be on a shooting tear later on in the season when we need him most than now when we are still winning and playing exceptional ball. He also understands that when he isnt on, to drive to the basket. Hes a veteran who understands the game. Give the guy a break....he had 2.4 seconds to work with.
How many more games are we going to keep saying this before we can admit he's never gonna help this team. I'll give him another 10-15 games, and if he is still shooting 20% from 3 point and averaging 6.5ppg or however many, then we can all admit Glen Rice does suck!
Calvin said something like give the man a chance. I have given him a chance and I don't like it, but there's really no other option for the Rockets.
I would have given the ball to mobley or griffin in the final 2.4 seconds. They had the hot hand. If Rice has missed just about every 3 pointer he's taken from the preseason up to this point what made Rudy think he was gonna hit that one? I know if Mobley was standing on the left wing and somebody pitched it to him he would have hit the 3. He was hot from that area tonight and he is a clutch shooter.
I did not lose sleep when we lost Shandon to NY, I'm glad we did not pay that much for him, and I was not happy about the Rice trade-I think he takes up too much cap room-8 to 9 mil, but I think we need to give the man a chance. I was at the game-I am so proud of the Rockets for playing with a lot of heart. Garnet was unstoppable as you know, and we kept coming at them. It was a great effort--this young team showed character and guts. I would get the ball again to Rice if we could do it over. I bet he would make the shot. Rice is showing good chemistry with this team. I wanted the the win badly, but it was a good effort.
It's easy to say that Glen Rice will get better as the season goes along because he's simply playing horrendous ball now. Now what I don't understand is why Glen Rice is playing in key defensive moments at the very end of the game. The fact is, one of the main reasons as to why our offense is so terrible is because our small forwards are not doing much of anything in offense. It's funny how we have so much depth, yet so little production. I really want to see Rudy T mix and match if the offense does not improve. If Glen Rice can play half as well as in the past, he could turn the small forward position into a positive instead of a negative, let's hope that is the case (instead of him being wash-ed up and locked-up to his fat contract).
Rice's contribution is also in keeping the opponents defense on Francis and Mobley honest. If TMo or OT were on the court they would rotate off them to help guard Cat and Steve. Steve and Cat get more opportunities when Rice is on the floor and it seems that their offense goes down when Rice is not on the floor. Just an observation, I don't have any hard stats to backup my statements...
This whole thread is a complete joke. Any great shooter in NBA history has had a three game stretch where he struggled. It happens to everyone, deal with it. If he's still doing this a month from now, maybe then you can get concerned. BTW, nice to see shaqkobe banned for the third time.
