Nothing can replace experience. And experince comes from playing and making mistakes and learning from these mistakes. Ironically, a young and possbily the most talented team in the league like Rockets will have difficulty in distributing playing time effectively so every player can have opportunity to grow and enhance his strength. However, generally speaking, winning games is everything. But I certainly believe Rudy's vision is a long term one. And it would be very interesting to see how Rudy to maintain the balance of winning as many games as possible and making sure the needed growth as a team.
jlaw, your moniker scares me for some reason, but welcome to board. The thing I like to add to this discussion is that growth as an NBA team is largely irrelevant until it includes playoff games. Francis, Kenny, Maurice and Mobley still have a lot of growth left in them, but they cannot maximize that growth and experience without being in March/April battles for seeding and in playoff series. We cannot worry about "every player's experience" at the expense of the whole team experiencing the playoffs. We have to know what it is like to fail in the playoffs. Failing in the regular season is not worth getting quality playing time for all individuals.
Valid point, Mr. Heycarpenter! But maybe the use of the word "every" caused a little confusion. I'm talking about the players that are young and talented and yet don't have whole lot playoff experience. Many teams in the league now are in the rebuilding process with their new draft picks. On the other hand, meanwhile, there are also other teams losing their competitive edge because of aging players. I'll confidently conclude that the team that will emerge as a true championship team will be the one that is capable of managing this transitional time, capitalizing the young talents, and giving them the opportunities to maximize their skills and strength. A good example would be the Spurs. Yes, undoubtedly, Rockets will make to playoff this year. But to be a true competitor in the league nowadays and to have the ability to make a title run, it takes more than a few good players. And the competition just keeps intensifying year by year in the west with 5 or more teams capable of pulling 50+ games in the regular season. So in order for to be where Rockets want to be at in the next several years, the time needed to invest in this growth process seems inevitable, given the young talents they have right now. And this investment not only takes time but also patience from fans and the whole organization. But the gain from this investment will benefit Rockets exponentially.
