somehow after 15 years of following the rockets, i think i'll stick around. btw, shouldn't you have had more exclamation points and cute nicknames in that post?
15 years of following the Rockets, well good for you, you have less than half of the years that I have been following them. You must have liked Francis a lot, and I give you that. However, don't come into my threads and expect me to sugar coat things when we are talking about basketball and the right way to play. It will never happen !!!!!!!!!!!! Now if you differ on opinion, feel free to post an argument refuting mine....that is discourse. If you just want to come in and whine about another poster....well, that is just childish. DD
By the way, if this team is not significantly better this year, then feel free to tell me I was a completely wrong. However, if the team gets a ton better....as I predict, I will remember all you Francis apologists. DD
Ever wonder if you're arguing with the wind? I don't think too many people disagree with you. It's not like youre saying anything that hasn't been beaten to death already. As for your pseudo-bet, I'm more interested in seeing what the over-under is on the number of times you flip between "this team/player sucks!" and "I think this team/player is making strides!" Maybe we should have an Eggo watch for your waffling... that's more fun.
I didn't read anything in this thread that hasn't been repeated by other folks who were fed up with the boneheaded basketball play of Steve and Cat. (At times.) DaDa just appears more erm.. intense? - Enthusiastic, about our future now. No need for some of the flaming I've seen.
DaKota, Take a prozac and relax. You are right. There is alot of emotion these days. Kick the past and let's get behind our new team.
Well, may as well toss in some scents as well, since the scents in here are pretty strong already, and my scents won't stink it up any further. ONE: It's all about winning. We have yet to see the 'new' Rockets team play, much less win or lose, yet. Heck, we still have no idea even WHO our 'new' Rockets are going to be yet. If we win more games, and have more success in the playoffs, then absolutely NO ONE will be lamenting the fact that SF3, Cat, and Cato are gone (except maybe those three guys themselves). But if we do about the same, with about the same levels of inconsistancies, then the torches and pitchforks will be out before the season is half over (with JVG the most likely deserving candidate for a one-way trip to 'Burned At The Stake-ville'). It's all in the W's, baby. TWO: I have to agree with DaDa in some respects. Stevie, as much as he played with his heart out there on his sleeves, simply was not one of those players who struck fear in the hearts of opponents. He is incredibly physically gifted, and could probably dominate any pick-up game, even among pros. But when it came down to 'Winnin' Time', as Magic used to call it, we all knew that we were as likely as not to be deeply disappointed with the results when the ball was in Steve's hands in crunch time. Some players just have 'it', and some don't. Players like Magic, Jordan, Bird, Hakeem, and now Duncan, Bryant, KG.. If you were their opponents, and it came down to a last shot, you could feel the doom closing in on you, and it worked more often than not. It's diaphonous, this 'it'.. but we all know from our own experiences who was the likely candidate to stick that dagger between our shoulder-blades - Stockton had it, GP used to have it, Barkley had it.. Cassel has it, Reggie Miller had it.. All I know is that, up to this point, Steve has never had 'it'.. maybe some day he will get it, but at this point, all those flashes of potential we saw in him as a rookie have never materialized. I don't know if McGrady has 'it' yet either, never really having watched him play much beyond the highlights on sports news. So the notion that this is a gamble is dead-on, because it is. We won't know until the situation presents itself enough times to establish a trend. But, as of right now, there seems to be little question that the Rockets, with SF at the helm, were never going to be champions. Maybe we've just traded one mess for another. Maybe we've caught lightning in a bottle - it remains to be seen. THREE: Cato. Cato Cato Cato.. oh come ON. Look, when you are in a professional basketball game, and everyone on the other team (including the bench) yells' Shoot it!' every time one certain player on our team gets the ball (because they know the ball will never go in the hoop), then that player has no business being on the floor, EVER. I swear, if someone paid me FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS to play a GAME, then BY GOD I WOULD LEARN HOW TO MAKE AT LEAST A DANG SIX FOOT JUMP SHOT!!!!!! Yeah, he could play a little defense, could rebound some, and could back up Yao. But as a starting power forward in the NBA, JVG should be severely spanked for ever subjecting us to that disaster. And this was Cato's BEST YEAR, too. Ugh.. all because Shaq allowed Cato to play well against him in that long-ago PRE-SEASON GAME... ARGH!!! (calm down calm down) I have never seen a player stand there, NOT JUMP, and watch more rebounds fall one foot away into other players' hands more than CATO!! Now he was not all bad, he started to get a little fire under him last year, but GOOD GRIEF! With his stature, and basic skill set, he should have been a heck of a lot better player than he ever was for us. Whatever innner demons have always troubled him, he needs an exorcism quick. Maybe the change to the East Coast will be good for him, who knows. I admit, I will miss the occasional 'Steve-to-Cato Alley Oops'.. as a backup center, he will be missed, simply because Yao can't play 48 minutes a night.. but as a starting 4, it's addition by subtraction. FOUR: Cat. Well, like everyone else is saying, Cat seems to have been the most professional of the three (funny how he was by FAR the lowest-paid of the three, hmmm..?), the most willing to adapt, the most willing to learn and grow, the most willing to understand that in order to be great, he would have to allow himself the option to change and grow in his game. It's a shame we had to lose him, because he was a very likeable guy. Not perfect, of course, bt I think, of the three, Cat has the highest possibility of being a solid contributor to a championship team, whever he eventually winds up. I just hope, for his sake, he doesn't wind up stuck in DC, or Clipland, or Atlanta, or some place like that. Look. We got over on Orlando BIG TIME, and everyone knows it. That trade is a trade we do 100 times out of 100, no questions asked. If someone had suggested a trade like that in Steve's 2nd year or so, before we had seen all the glitter worn off, then no way, because in our minds he would have been as untouchable then as Yao is now. But face it. TMac may never lead us all the way to glory, but without a doubt, we just don't know yet. But we all knew, deep down, that is was absolutely never going to happen with Steve running the show. As far as saying 'Good Riddance'? Well, no. Ideally, SF would have matured as a player, learned to take advantage of his superior physical talent, and truly taken to heart all the advice he had received over the years. Frankly, as good as TMac may eventually be, it's more satisfying to win it all with players who feel at LEAST somewhat 'homegrown' such as the utter sweetness of the Clyde/Hakeem championship.. In reality, what we have done is traded a dead-end for the possibility of open roads ahead, nothing more. To Steve, Cat, and Cato: Good Bye, and Good Luck. (not good riddance)
He's improved defensively each year. But yeah, you're right. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a 6'11" center miss so many 2ft LAYUPS in my life, not just 6ft jumpers. Heh...
DD- most Rocket fans know this was a great trade. For basketball reasons I am so glad. Good ridance? Bitter. Want to rub it in. Steve is taking the high road, could have went off on the Rockets. None of them did that. Let's just celebrate- TMac Who would have thought it. We are a team of destiny.
Francis HAD TO BE the most aggravating/frustrating player to watch ever, AND I MEAN EVER! His game drove me crazy. There is not a word to describe how absolutely thrilled I am to see him gone. He always was able to turn the easy into the difficult, all in an effort to SHOW OFF! He was Mr. Unforced Turnover. A wannabe super star that never was nor ever will be. His drooling groupies on this board were utterly devoid of any logic, reason, or reality. To trade the most overrated player in the league for perhaps the BEST all-round player in the league is maybe the most one sided trade in NBA history. Good Riddance, Indeed!
Yes and now we have: 1. No good point guard, AT ALL! Which is the hardest freaking position to play in the NBA. 2. A guard who may be able to run the fast break but will he pass the ball up? 3. No backup center whatsoever in a Conference dominated by big men 4. Our former point guard did no worse than Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, and countless other PGs in the league. 5. A SG who probably won't pass on the pick and roll but will just shoot it himself. 6. Another overpaid PF but just OLDER! 7. Team basketball IQ knocked down a bit by removing two exceptional players and gaining one. 8. A 7'6" guy who would rather stand on the perimeter and shoot jumpers than being under the basket dominating like he could.. 9. Again, no point guard. 10. A team that's going to fire up random shots before the shot clock gets started. I'm happy for the trade but I'm going to bash people who bash good players that played for the Rockets and wanted to continue to play for them.
A 7'6" guy who would rather stand on the perimeter and shoot jumpers than being under the basket dominating like he could.. I just do not know what are you talking about.
Half your post is about us not having a starting PG. Ok fine....we're trying to get Barry, Arroyo, or Snow. Same with a backup center. Bascially, the Rockets know about this. They are working on it. As far as "Team basketball IQ knocked down a bit by removing two exceptional players and gaining one." Incredible.... Let me ask you this. Do you think that "Team basketball IQ" just requires warm bodies? Do you even know what "team basketball IQ" is? Our "team IQ" just went up by subtracting at least 150 turnovers per year. Hmmm lets see, #2 and #5. You do know that McGrady has 5.5 apg and only 2.7 TOPG? Yes, he PASSES! And he's a shooting guard! He's not even a PG, who's supposed to pass! About #4. Kidd averges 9.2 APG! And lowered his turnovers to 3.19 per game. I'd say that's better than "our former PG" save Kidd's shooting average (crap). But at least he can pass. Iverson is a shooting guard that averages 26ppg. And #10? Not sure what point you are trying to make there.
