Has any of those who have been calling for a Steve Francis trade realized that the majority of the time, championship teams, at least the ones that become dynasty, don't make drastic overhauls? They tweek what they have and build on chemistry. Here's a proposal: 1. Since Steve acts like a 2 guard, make him one. Move him to start at the two spot, so all of those out there who think he takes too many shots for a PG will at least stop complaining. This will put him at his natural position and play towards his strength a la AI. 2. Move Jim Jackson to PG. He used to play PG for Ohio State. Now you have a tall PG and a short 2 guard. They can switch off their opponents during defense. For backup? Maybe a Gary Payton or a Brent Barry. 3. Have Cutino come off the bench. 4. Bring in a legitimate small forward. My favorite Rashard Lewis. But, I am sure Turkolu can be had during the off-season for alot cheaper. 5. For the 4 spot, we already have Mo Taylor, but we can pick up a Marcus Fizer or possibly give E. Griffin another shot at redemption. He can be the feel good story. 6. And for center, I think the we have that taken care of with Yao and Cato. Essentially, we keep everyone, but add better supporting cast. And now you have the following roster: 1. Jim Jackson/Gary Payton 2. Steve Francis/Cuttino Mobley 3. Hedo Turkolu/Nachbar 4. Mo Taylor/ E. Griffin 5. Yao Ming/K. Cato I think that's a pretty savvy veteran team that can give alot of teams trouble.
jvg has already said that steve is a point guard. you're right about the rockets wanting to sign a good back-up for him so during the game he can slide over to the 2.
I don't see how that lineup will be any better than the current one. The problem will still be at PF (come on, stop kidding yourself about EG) and the backcourt. While JJ is a great player for the Rox, he is role player and definently not a floor general. Gary Payton would be a good bench addition but I'm not sure he would accept that role especially playing behind SF and JJ. The problem with Turkolu starting with MoT and Yao exposes a weak rebounding frontline, heck JJ and SF are better rebounders collectively than that frontline. The Rox priorities for this offseason should Point Guard, Power Forward, then Small Forward in that order.
Championship teams are obviously not going to make drastic overhauls because they’re already championship teams. Why would they? The Rockets are not a championship team. The are a borderline lottery/playoff team. Maybe one day when the Rockets are title contenders they can rule out the possibility of making a big change. For now, they better look to make some moves that drastically improves the team or else other teams that do make moves to improve themselves are going to pass the Rockets by.
agree... also, i never noticed your sig, but i think it's because monkeys and apes have a selective advantage over humans in the jungle.
So basically, if we just 'call' Steve a 2 then everything will come together? The reason people want to move Steve is that they see that Yao will become the future. There's no reason to bandaid it with Steve. Get in a PG, maybe rebuild a little and then go after it. My great-great grandfather from Germany had a saying. He'd say "Lil Doc (Seeing as how my birthname was Doc Rocket Albrecht.) It's better to rebuild with a Heinrich than remain stagnant with a Wink" ....or maybe he said "it was Better to rebuild a house with a Captain named Kirk than a man named Wink" ...or maybe it was "Luke, I am your father not Steve's!" Can you believe after all these years that I finally understand his cryptic sayings. The one I blew off more than the others was when he said "Get the freaking 7'6" dude from China!!!" Man, my g-g-grandpa knew a thing or two about a thing or two!! Move Wink - reload!
The only area we could not upgrade is center. (unless we could trade for Shaq) We could improve alot at every other position. We need to try for improving at any position we can. Which position is most important? Probably starting 3 and 4 Followed closely by start 1 and 2 I like Cuttino's attitude and defense so he is my #1 keeper behind Yao. I like how Steve played against LA in the playoffs, so he has teased me into maybe keeping him. But the way Steve played during the reg. season would push him up close to the top for who to try and move.
He acts like a street baller playing in the NBA. He all the classics signs of a streetballer. Great handles and athleticism, but poor BBall IQ, poor shooting and poor passing. A ideal 2 guard would be someone like Rip hamilton. Although he is not a good shooter by nature he has a good fg% because he knows how to move without the ball and slash down the lane to get easy buckets and open looks. Unless steve learns how to do that in the offseason he is just goint to be AI, someone who requires the ball to be effective.
moving steve to the two is not the answer, its been expalined many times why he shouldnt be moved to the 2.
all the rockets need is a decent back-up pt gaurd and a PF that can hold his own on both sides of the ball.....easier said than done.
The Lakers traded for Kareem. The Sixers traded for Moses Malone. The Lakers again traded for Kobe and aquired Shaq. I would say those are some pretty drastic overhauls. The Spurs lucked out and got Tim Duncan. I think the only examples of teams following your method recently are the Bulls and Rockets. Unfortunately, Steve Francis is not Jordan, and teams don't generally make plans to win 10 years down the road as Hakeem did. Hell, it even took Jordan 7 years to win his first title. The rest of your post is arguing from this faulty premise, but you had some other problems as well. Steve Francis is a point guard (according to his own coach), just an incompetent one. Mobley is a better shooting guard than Francis. Eddie Griffin will likely never play in the NBA again, and almost certainly not for the Rockets. There is no reason that Gary Payton would want to sign here. Somehow we magically get Turkoglu in your scenario, but that probably won't happen either. Mo has not proven himself to be a starting caliber PF. All in all, you only came up with one thing that I agree with, and that is that Jim Jackson would be an acceptible solution for our starting PG.
This isn't true, also the rockets under the Francis leadership showed a lack of team chemistry and in many instances were in compatible.
Doc, so we getting their #1 also??? Francis (+ salary to make it work) for Heinrich and #2 overall (+salary needed) So JVG (loves him) praised Kirk during the season in Chicago, almost giving him a verbal h-job, and now Doc suggests Kirk is where we're heading. It makes sense to me. I just can't figure out who's playing the role of Leah in the gold bikini....Manny? Would we have what it takes to parlay the #2 overall into Emeka? I don't see Orlando taking anything we have to swap out of the 1.
Thanks to all who replied. I agree with some of the things posted in reply. Yes, Steve is a street baller. But the NBA promotes that kind of stuff. Fundamentally sound players get less hype compared to those who can do acrobatic dunks. But, I digress. Steve is what he is. But, he is a good player who is able to take over a game and hit big shots. JVG needs to incorporate his strengths into the offensive scheme. If we had a Rick Carlise, Rick Adelman, Larry Brown, or Hubie Brown, all the drama we're hearing about would be non-existent. The problem I had with the hiring of JVG was simply he is too one sided of a coach -- unable to make adjustments in his own system with the given players we had. Hence, we see all these former Knicks in Rockets uniform. But one thing people keep forgetting, mediocrity isn't necessarily bad if we're making the playoffs every year. More free agents would actually consider coming to H-town.
Doc's posts are some of the few that manage to make me laugh and then torment me the rest of the night thinking about their ramifications. Thanks as always, Doc. I have to admit, though, I'm still not sold on Heinrich. I like the guy--I think he's a good fit for this team--I just hope we don't have to give up way too much to get him.
doesnt sound that impressive to me, i think we need to think BIG. Lets stop trading for mediocre players and get a real allstar.
QUOTE]doesnt sound that impressive to me, i think we need to think BIG. Lets stop trading for mediocre players and get a real allstar.[/QUOTE] When was the last time the NBA champion had an all-star point guard? Detroit Pistons 14 years ago?
