Maybe it's just me

i agree, i think it is more fun when you have young people who can get better over time, so we can wonder how good they will become, and so we do not have to wonder when the first player on our team needs to use a walking stick.

that was one of the reasons i didn't like losing Nachbar, ok he didn't play great but he was young and it was fun wondering if he would become a good role player.

 

I don't much want to rebuild again, but I totally identify with your basic premise. Why root for a team of long gone ex-All Stars? But it's worse than that.

What the Rockets have done over the past couple years has been far, far more jarring than rebuilding. They have basically erased the franchise. We're not a rebuilding or rebuilt team; we're an expansion team with some stars on it. If we were just rebuilding, at various points we could have at least got pleasure out of the fact that it gave a shot to an oldtimer like Eddie Johnson or Barkley or Walt Williams or even Jim Jackson who we got to know a little. I live out of state now, so it's even easier for me to lose touch with the team I've followed my whole life, but I wonder how anyone feels connected to it when the coach of so many years plus every single player besides Yao and Mo (neither of whom had a real history in Houston) is gone. It's tough. We're basically down to rooting for the words Houston and Rockets. I wonder how it is for Clutch in Utah, if he's still there.

 

I'm a litte confused about the obsession calling the Rockets an ancient team.

Of course I acknowledge that we have an ancient roster, Dad's army, the living fossils etc - BUT our two core players are very young!

McGrady turns 26 this year, Ming 25 - here's two guys who still have a long career ahead of them, and who are already playing some pretty solid basketball! In fact, you're talking about one of the top 5 players in the league, and one of the top 5 centres in the league! Those guys are young, they are our core, and all we need to do is find the right pieces to surround them!

Now, at the moment those pieces are pretty old pieces - but better to get our stars the chance to get into the playoffs and get some experience fighting for a series or two then letting them grow accustomed to losing and constantly rebuilding....

Now it would be good to dump some of the old contracts we have them - but they won't just vanish into space - and I'd rather not waste a draft pick and the TE to take on another dud contract from a plater with "potential". I'm guessing that we'll be keeping our picks, perhaps looking at Spanoulis in the summer leagues and working out the right young pieces to add, rather than just throwing someone in and hoping it works!

For what it's worth - I think Nachbar had his shot and showed he didn't have what it takes, so why keep a young player who makes mistakes over an older head who plays within his limits?

 

Our two biggest stars are in the toy group of dogs. I think that's the real issue here.

 

I don't mind old role players as long as they fit our two young stars.

Remember, the cornerstone of this franchise is on T-Mac and Yao. You want to bring role players to develop a winning culture NOW. You DO NOT want Yao and T-Mac to lose games in order to develop a young ROLE player! Young role players can be added through free angency/draft.

But I do agree. Strickland does not belong to this league any more. 0-7 bricks? Not a single shot was any where close to the basket. It was embarrasing...

 

Excellent point. The average age of the team is not representative of the average age of the players on the court. Let me give a cheap example. The average age of Mutombo and Yao is ~31.5. But stressing an average doesn't tell you that there's a 25 yo on the court for 32-35 mpg.

Another cheap example is if I had a YMCA league team with five 20 year olds and five 40 year olds. The average age of the team is 30. But if I platooned them to where the 20's played 80% of the minutes, the average age of the team on the floor drops substantially.

It's only an "average" age if everyone plays the same minutes. Which they obviously don't.

Another good point. First off, obtaining McGrady depleted the Rockets of lots of talent. It wasn't necessarily a step backwards, but it surely wasn't a huge immediate leap forwards. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but obtaining TMac made our path more eliptical.

While many moan about the "ancient" players, few praise the Rox for not overpaying for them and/or locking them up long-term. Like you mentioned we're going to get battle-hardened and develop an attitude. Also, the jury is still out on Gaines and Barrett and we have a TE, MLE, 1st round 2005 pick and some expiring 2006 contracts (Spoon & Wesley).

When you're dealing with an "average" age, you can get young really quickly.

 

Or, you could think about neat our fossil collection will be in a few years.

 

So you don't find it fun to watch this team and wonder how good they can become?

Advice from an old fart to all you wippersnappers... Stop and smell the roses. This is an exciting team to watch. Say what you want about JVG-slow-it down-ugly-ball, I have reallye enjoyed watching this team since Sura became a starter. Wesley and Barry have brought an intensity and cohesiveness that we were missing before. We get after it on defense, and it is fun to watch.

 

i also find i great to watch a team and wonder how good it wil become, I just feel that this rockets team is pretty good, but i do not see them competing for the championship. And because our core players are so young i would like it if our role players are also young because then they can get a good chemisty with our stars, and this chemastry can Grow. Too much players on our team will not get better over the years, and i think that is a pitty.
however, i ilke the fact that the rockets start to play better the last couple of weeks
p.s. i like the Barry trade, i always liked barry because of his high energy

 

nice idea... but you would have had to give up a first round pick - so which is it Arroyo (and another June NOT caring about the draft) or a first round pick ?

...

 

It is fun to watch young players learn and become better players. The problem with Nachbar is that it just ain't going to happen. Even with more minutes in NO he hasn't done much.

BTW, GO AJAX!

 

I could, but unfortunately I watch this team and wonder how injured they can become.

 

Did you even watch last nights game. It was the most fun basketball seen in Houston in years. Watching a simple thing like Barry dish under the basket for the slam repeatedly was AWESOME. I can take this kind of dinosaur, throw-back or whatever you want to call it, basketball for about the next 20 years!

All the more satisfying as we got to watch "the Franchise", the man who built Toyota Center, up to his usual dribble festing, off balance shooting, bail-out passing "best".

Surrounding Yao and Mac with savvy vets may not be the long term solution but you need some basketball savvy on the court and even if we were to bring in third NBA star, you will always want to have smart, dedicated role players around them.

 

Exactly. I never enjoyed watching a group of Houston Rockets more than this group. To see Barry, Sura, Wesley, Howard, Strickland, and Mutumbo as Houston Rockets with Yao and Mcgrady has been a great pleasure. Its a unique group and one that has played surpisingly well together. I couldn't be happier with the present team.

 

I think our old guys are hustling their asses off and are very fun to watch and root for.

 

There is always something to complain about. Always.

 

I think we can all agree that this team's role players are older. And most fans would welcome just two more younger journeymen: Lets say, a couple of 24-26 year olds. Not too young. And not too inexperienced.

Example: Carlos Arroyos (26 years old)

Add a few of those mid-level guys, and we've have a nice blend of youth (TMac/Yao, and a couple 24-26 year olds and the rest role players around 28-34).

By the way, Strickland will get his stroke back. He's not going to shoot 0-7 all the time. He just needs to get into shape. His timing is off. Also, by no means is he a mainstay on this team. He's merely insurance for Sura. The last thing we need is for Sura to go down with an injury. So, Stickland is sharing some minutes with him.

 

Strickland, really?

 

If we get young players on our team, and then they don't play well/much, then we get to see cool arguments on how good/bad they are and how we might be misusing them, or they might suck.

Good times.