Gone are Rudy T, Rice, Collier, Posey, Tito, Hawkins. In their place are Van Gundy, Jackson, Pike, A. Griffin, and Amaechi. The general assessment is that the Rockets have improved with their off season acquisitions. Although one could argue that none of the new players individually is better than Posey and that the slight improvement is not enough to offset the major improvements with the top teams in the conference. And that would be a fair statement, accept for one thing. The emergence of Yao Ming. Forget about Jackson, Pike and Griffin and even Van Gundy. The biggest difference on this team is the improvement of Yao. He is clearly a force and has improved tremendously. Missing half of the preseason and with almost no coaching he came into the first preseason game and showed his dominance. And with each game he has gotten better. He along with Francis gives the Rockets two of the hardest guys to stop in the league. Add that with the additions of Jackson, Pike and the preseason showing of Boki and Cato and the Rockets look to have a bright future. As for the new additions, considering the changes by the other top teams I don’t see any players we acquired as major pluses but what I do see are the Rockets bringing in the type of players that will work better with Yao. So while I still believe Posey is better than any player we acquired I feel Pike and Jackson are both a better fit. The biggest change is more of and addition by subtraction in that moving Rice and Posey opened up playing time for Boki who has shined this off-season. In a way you could consider him a new addition because he is exactly what the Rockets need out of the three, a player who can effectively get it into Yao, can hit the outside shot (the jury is still out but things are looking up) and he hustles on D. Add that with the fact that he has better hops than most white men, boxes out well for inside position and slashes to the hoop almost as good as Posey plus in many ways he is still a rookie and will only get better and I would say next to Yao, Boki is our biggest surprise. Of course I cannot forget about Cato who is playing so fiercely at the 4 that I hardly notice the injury to Mo T and the disappearance of Eddie. On the coaching change: The preseason started rather sluggishly as the Rockets scrambled to understand JVG’s new system. The biggest noticeable difference is on the defensive side. Players are scrambling around and hustling back double teams are more apparent and with Yao and Cato out there it is very difficult to come in the paint. Boki may not be the most athletic player but he hustles on defense as much as anyone and Cato is a force who would start for most teams in the league. Of course there is Yao who is just a force on both sides of the court. On the offensive end there isn’t anything that new in the JVG’s schemes. Work the ball in and out through Yao; no ROCKET science there. But this obvious strategy is more effective than last year and I see two major reasons why. One Yao is stronger and getting better position down low. And two Boki, Jackson, Cato and even Francis (to a much lesser degree) are focusing on getting the ball down low. To JVG’s credit he has put players out there who are looking to pass first. It is so important to look for the open man and most everyone is buying into this although Francis is not completely sold it seems. Also when Cat came on the floor in his first game back he still played his old game. There may be times when Cat’s one on one style may be effective but for the most part the Rockets need team play that works the ball through Yao and that is what JVG is trying to do. So in summation, if JVG can keep the troops focused without mutiny, if the Rockets can get some of the players healed, if Mobley is willing to accept a sixth man roll (which I think he could great at), and if the Rockets can grasp the importance the running the ball through Yao 90% of the time they will be the most improved team in the league. Enough to overtake any of the top echelon, (San Antonio, Dallas, Sacramento, LA, Minnesota) probably not. But the 6th spot is certainly not out of our reach.
I think the inside outside game cant be fully determined w/o Mo in there. Once he is back, it will truely become more efficient. Because it seems like we run this scheme even when Yao is not in the game also, and it aint pretty.....u gotta have at least someone who is an inside threat when Yao is not in the game.
I figured the same thing about Yao. Last year he averaged 13.5 pts a game. If he averages anywhere from 18-21 points per game, the rockets will be a very good team.
Old Man Rock, GREAT SUMMARY - agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. One element painfully missing last year was a dependable spot up shooter. With that in mind, I think Pike is going to prove a huge ++ and have a field day as a Rocket in JVG's system. Again, well done. D R
Wow an entire thread I can completely agree with. I'd better act fast. This can't last long. I think that was a very well worded summary, OMR. Sometimes we get so bogged down in the details that we overlook the fact that (barring a trade which brings in an actual "third star", which is a lot easier to do here on the board than in real life) the biggest improvement on this team over the next three years will come from improved play, individually and collectively, from Steve and Yao. And you're assessment that our "role players" may not be better, but they're a better fit is spot on. As for Boki, I hope you are right. I'm not completely sold on him yet. But I never believed he was a waste of a mid-round draft pick either, as seemed to be the consensus here. I think he has less potential, but is FAR more likely to realize it, than EG. I could easily see him providing exactly we're looking for at the 3 in a couple of years; I could also see him never being more than an interchangeable backup in the league. Time will tell. Dallas Rocket: I hope (and can almost allow myself to believe) that you're right about Pike. If so, we will be VASTLY better this year.
nice post. some good points there. damn long post though.....macbeth seems to be rubbing off on folks around here
One other thing. . Jackson and Piatkowski are not adequate replacements for the Cat. He is much better defensively than Piatkowski and is at this point a better scorer than Jackson. He is just so quick. His outside shooting is underrated and so is his defense. The game with Denver was so much easier with Cat around to give the defense fits. It would be foolish to give Cat away without getting a near star in return. As either a stud 6th man or a starter, we need the Cat. Why put the whole load on Steve and Yao when you don't have to. If God forbid Steve goes down, which he usually does for a few games, then it would be so easy to double team Yao and the game will be so much tougher. Cuttino could step in for Steve and keep things rolling. VAn Gundy's NT teams were a bunch of hardworkers trying to overcome a deficiency of fire power. No need to do that here with the Cat.
You won't get an argument from me. I like the Cat. My only problem is he is such a great one on one player and on this team with Yao and Francis there is just not much room for that. I do think he would be perfect as the first guy off the bench. I think he could be an awesome sixth man giving us instant offense and energy off the bench. The thing is will he be cool with that role. Because if he is, Cat could play a key role in helping us break into the upper echelon of top 5 teams and making it deeper into the playoffs this season. If he chooses not to be and sulks then we will still be okay.
