Did you notice that the only teams with less experience than use this year are GS, Utah, Seattle and Denver? Thank you for proving my point.
Yep, and with one more year of experience and perhaps a FA next offseason, we will be right there with them. In addition, we should have at least one playoff series under our belt.
That's what I was thinking too, reading GATER's post. GATER, you were trying to argue that JVG was dealt a worse hand than Rudy, hence if he got them to a better record, that would be proof that he was the better coach. But then you use this year's roster's age and say that we are not that young. So that proves my point that JVG is inheriting a more experienced team than Rudy's.
this is true Yao had 100% of his career last year. Eddie had 50%. Steve had 25%. that's a young team in two senses: inexperience and age, and more importantly, it's the guys who are supposed to be the best in their careers of those on the team. When you have a 1 pick at 22, a 7 pick at 20, and a 2 pick at 25, you have a young, inexperienced team.
Lets see......... Phoenix has a 26yr old pg,a 24yr old 3 and a 20 yr old high schooler. On top of that, they had a veteran recovering from a long injury both last yr and missed 30 games during the season. Did I mention they also had a 21yr old 2nd yr player and a 21yr old rookie in Johnson and Jacobson? When the money was on the , their leaders, Marbury,Marion and Amare stepped up and beat the Spurs and other quality opponets. When the money was on the line, our leaders faultered and blamed it on youth, not having the coach and being on the wrong side of the mississippii. Just make the plays and not excuses.
This continuing debate between excuse/explanation for last year is a crock. First of all, excuse for what, missing out on the playoffs by admittedly realistically 2 or 3 games? There is not one precedent for the influence Yao's presence/non-presence affected this team. Rudy's illness aside, this team might have been a 6th seed if Yao had been out of the picture entirely given the way Cato played last year. It would have still been the Steve and Cat show, but they wouldn't have been half as disoriented as they sometimes were last season. It was a collision of hype vs. reality on a rather large stage. It seems to me most here would have been happier if Yao had played 12 mpg and the Rockets had won 50 games. I don't buy into that thinking at all. With or without Yao we weren't going to near 2nd round of the playoffs anyway. I'm glad Yao got the minutes, I'm glad he has the scars, I'm glad he has an idea of what it's going to take. I'm also glad Steve and Cat absorbed the shock relatively well. The progress we all hoped to see last year didn't happen with Griffin or with Yao after midseason. It's the bottom line. It's possible we'd do better this year with Yao getting 12-15 mins. a game, there's a lot to overcome with his situation. And how many here would think that gets us any closer to a ring? Those who subscribe to "winning is everything now" are in for a rude awakening. The one thing Alexander's wallet can't take is Yao barely playing. Even filling the new arena is a lesser concern than what Yao can do for the value of this franchise. VanGundy's still in his honeymoon phase now - and I like the guy - and he's a good fit for what we need. The trouble is Yao, though likely to improve, is also a hell of a lot more vulnerable to fading in March/April. MoT's going to be better this year, but regardless of what Eddie Griffin may become, his future with the Rockets gets decided this year. No excuses? Cool. But I still think the immediate future of this franchise begins and ends with Yao. And he might be still a year or two away before we can guage where he's heading. Messed up, maybe, but I don't see Steve and Cat significantly getting better until either Yao or Griff take a leap forward or we make a good and or lucky trade.
