I was one of the biggest homers on the board. I've loved almost every player that ever put on a rockets jersey except for Posey. I've had high hopes for them every season since 1981 and watched through thick and thin. I believed. As of today, I no longer believe. I can not get behind this team because this team has no character. Francis is not a leader. Yao is not ready to be a leader. Cat doesn't have the brains to be the leader. JJ and MoT aren't good enough to be the leader. You thought A-train and ZRB were bad, you haven't seen anything yet.
Yao can be a leader if Steve is no longer on this team. Steve is inhibiting Yao from becoming the potentially great because he can't and/or won't give him the ball at the right times. If we can get a pass first FG with a DECENT outside shot, Yao would avg 20 PPG easily right now! For example... How would Karl Malone fare if Steve was running the point instead of Stockton?
I'm sure you're just frustrated but we share the sentiment. We just need more depth to cover for the occasional Steve/Cato suckfest. Yao is fine, JJ is solid, Cat needs a little work on his decision making and Cato is here until we find a better solution. We just can't execute our offense consistently over 48 mins. We played a good game but completely fell apart when it mattered. It's the Kings fer cryin out loud so its not like we lost to the Heat or anything..... Crap.
What is the going market for a SF and Cato package this days? Maybe an Elton Brand with a rookie point. Whatever the price is, we need to make a change with our point position or else this is the kind of BB we will see for the rest of the season. . My GOD, I hope not.
I agree with HAYJON02. We need better role players. Boki, Padgett, Piatkowski, etc are not cutting the mustard.
I would do that in a heart beat. Brand is a double double guy who plays D. You can't put a price on that. I think they would rather have Cato of Cat since they already have Maggette.
Don't just blame SF, Yao is playing bad, at least twice in the 4th quarter, Yao passed instead of shooting the ball when he was guarded one on one. He was not aggressive at all. I do not understand why he liked to pass the ball so much Now I understand, the guy (Yao) does not want to take responsibility. The guy always feels that he has done enough. So bad.
Like I said, Yao isn't ready to lead yet. He still doesn't know how to handle a double team. He doesn't make his move fast enough and tries for home runs with his passes. If he would simple just pass it out, it would be alot better.
I hate to say it, because I hate his guts, but Malone would be fine. I don't know how many games they would have won, but Malone was a beast. The problem you'd have is getting him out of jail after he tried to throttle Francis. I wish we had a PF anywhere near as good, as long as it wasn't Karla. I don't know what's wrong with Francis's shooting. You would think that he'd have that, even if the turnovers and decision making were a continuing problem. Van Gundy needs to figure out how to get Francis back into form, scoring wise. He ain't going anywhere, at least not until the off-season. Not in my opinion.
Francis + Cato + Pike + Boki for Booth, Shard, Barry + Murray I think Seattle would want Cato at Center to give up Shard and Murray. Seattle still has Ridnour as backup to Francis. Booth is a decent back up at PF and C. Both teams would benefit from this trade. Rocket after the trade: Barry/Murray/MJ Mobs/JJ/AG Shard/JJ/AG MO/Booth/Padgett Yao/Booth
Remember how excited we were about having Mark Jackson because of his excellent passing skills and how he makes certain players better through wide open looks? Well Karl Malone had that for a decade and a half plus. Then again, Francis drafted in 84 would've wrecked based on his athleticism alone and the old man to man rules which go with his strengths. Hate to say it but the zone has simply DESTROYED Francis' impact on an NBA game. He isn't a factor anymore. He either has to get used to it and contribute nightly in some way, or..... keep.... doing this? Yikes.
I agree that the zone has hurt his game badly, but good players adjust. I don't think he would have done as well in the early-mid '80's as you might think, though. Players back then knew basketball fundamentals. He sure as hell wouldn't have made it as a point. No way.
Does not want to take responsibility? I guess the second Knicks game when he scored 29 pts and the Orlando game in which he pulled down 37 were won all by themselves. He carrried the team those two games. He also played a large part in our recent wins over Minnesota, the Pacers, the Celtics, etc. Steve is going into his 5th year in the NBA and he continues to break down mentally the moment things don't swing our way. At this point, I'm afraid Steve will never become a great leader.
He'd still be without a ring like he was with Stockton. Anyway, what is up with you people? The Rockets just ran with the Kings and gave them hell for about 3.5 quarters and you're giving up the ghost? Sure Francis had a horrific game - and we still nearly won. A few months ago this team would've been utterly destroyed by this team. Since the loss to Detroit, the only bad game we've really had was against the Heat and that was on the back end of a back-to-back. We beat the crap out of the TWolves and beat the Pacers in Indiana. We played the Kings tight. That's 3 of the best teams in the NBA. I'm kind of happy with this team because I'm seeing improvement. This was just a loss - not some major setback. It's so odd to see people who are so anti-iso and anti-individual and all about the "team" start disecting players apart and then piss all over the team because of those individual players' deficiencies. Vernon Maxwell jacked up stupid shots and got fouls and techs at the worst possible times. Kenny Smith couldn't make a layup and couldn't play d to save his life. Otis Thorpe couldn't hit buckets outside of 8 feet consistently. Matt Bullard was one dimensional. Should I go on or just conclude with "...but they all came together, played as a team and won some championships"? I agree we still make boneheaded plays, but I'm seeing improvement in this team. Whereas we would have boneheaded play game-long in the past, we're only seeing lapses of intelligence now. I'll wait to reserve judgement...
Mentally, he does not want to score that 37. He was pushed by his teammates to shoot it in the 3rd quarter. He wanted to set screens for the guards but the guards just told him to shoot it. The guy does not want to be the MAN.
