Let me ask you a question: For 3 yrs prior, we started Steve and Cat with the "scrubs" at other positions and missed the playoffs. Why are you still talking?!
djunior + above statement = Francis & Mobley Hater Get off these guys!!! Give them a chance with JVG and the new additions and a new system. 3 out of the past 4 years the Rockets have had winning seasons. Would you rather be the Clippers, Bulls, Cavs, and all the bottom feaders of the league??? If you aren't getting Kevin Garnett or Shaq or Kobe or Duncan or Dirk Nowitzki or Tracy Magrady in return then I wouldn't trade Francis. How bout piping down on all these SH*TTY trade proposals that will never happen and enjoy the season and see what happens. It takes time to build a championship nucleous. The motto should be "Be Patient" instead of "Be Big".
Good post Rivaldi. Wow. Balance, people, balance. This team is not going to go very far as only a guard-oriented team. Nor did Moses or Hakeem carry the team to the finals on their back every year. They were most successful when we had a good group of players at the other positions working well together. It doesn't have to be Yao vs. the guards. If it is, we're sunk. The only way we ever get past the first round is with Yao, the guards, and our forwards working together. There's a little more to what JVG said about the number of passes in. He said they did enough -- for last year. The rookie Yao wasn't ready to receive more passes last year than he got. He needs to be ready for more this year, and there needs to be more passing to him this year. But that's not just a one-way passing process. To win, this team has to pass the ball in, back out, from side-to-side, all over the place. This team needs to pass, period, instead of dribbling 20 seconds out of 24. Steve and Cuttino managed to come very close to taking the team to the playoffs 3 years ago without anywhere near the balance this team has the potential to provide. That's an indication of the level of talent there -- they're certainly not the best guard duo in the league, but they're pretty strong offensively. We've had a guard-oriented game for the last few years because we haven't had the same level healthy talent at the other positions. Our best big men have been rookies, 20-year old sophomores, or missing entire seasons with Achilles heels. And we have had almost NO depth at the guard position. Thus, Steve and Cuttino have dominated the ball. How else COULD it have been? In training camp last year, we had no clue how good Yao could be. We certainly couldn't design an offense around his talents, because he wasn't going to show up until the regular season was practically starting. Now we've had a full year of seeing what his capabilities, potential, and current shortcomings are. He's here MUCH earlier, so an offensive scheme (and defensive scheme) can be installed which takes him into account rather than trying to figure out how to fit him in during midseason in what was a rather chaotic process. But he is still several years away from reach his full potential. As is EG. We will need strong guard play, but we will also need much more BALANCE this year. And I believe by adding JJ, Piatkowski, and AG, we have the tools to be greatly improved and much more balanced. I just hope the Rockets guards and big men never come CLOSE to reaching the level of divisiveness that their supporters on this board seem to have reached.
Mobley will never survive on this team. He needs the ball in his hands and slashing to the basket is his best/only asset. I say trade him to Golden State, Utah, Washington, or any other non-playoff contending team. Mobley is at his best being the best player on a crappy team. Some players are like that. As for Francis, he needs to grow up and start playing a cognitive game. Francis has talent but his bone headed plays negate his positives. You don't expect your max contract player to also be one of the most stupid players but unfortunately that seems to be the case. There needs to be more talk about winning championships. Van Gundy seems to be the only guy who has that goal. Expectations have certainly risen and how can a team with this much talent not consider themselves championship contending, especially with a giant in the middle who certainly has shown he can dominate if given the chance. Some players on the team need to do some sole searching and start getting their asses in gear and start believing we can contend for a championship.
"Maybe the problem is Ming.... This is Francis' team, and Ming knows it. I don't think he has a problem with it, only his misguided fanboys do." If the guy stick in the place but fail to lead the company to the performance level shareholders expected for 4 years, should we change something, before losing all hope and filing bankruptcy?
On what do u base that Yao will never be a dominant player. From what i have seen he has all the tools needed to be dominant. MAYBE U SHOULD ASK will Francis ever be a great point guard . The man has not even tasted being in the playoffs. I am not bashing on Francis , but at times he does not seem like a team player.We all know Yao is a team player. It just seems like some people on this board secretly or sub-consciencely want Yao to fail. Yao is one of the players we have seen that shows heart and love for the team . Anyone remember a few games last season when the Rox blew a huge lead and lost? Yao was clearly upset , while some of the guards acted like they did not give a damn. The fact is we need both Yao and Steve, but Steve act like sometimes he wants to hog the ball and go back to his streetball/And 1 tactics. Yao Ming is a Rocket and so is Steve and I know they will win us many championships.
/rant mode invoked man...this Yao vs Steve stuff has got to stop. We wont win **** with just one or the other.. neither one is good enough to take us to the Finals by themselves..it will take both of them working toward a common goal. They play the two hardest positions to fill on a team, and they both have the talent to play it well.. You guys need to get it thru your heads...we cant get a better center than Yao, and we wont get a better point than Steve..so calm your asses down and cheer for both of them to play well and achieve what we all hope they will. btw...your supposition that SF doesnt care about losing is patently false. Both him and Mobley hate to lose...all you have to do is watch their post game interviews after a loss to see that. It is almost time for the real season to start..and we all need to get behind our team and support them, not spend all day tearing them down. /rant over I know half of you wont care to do as I suggest..but at least think about it for a few minutes. Do you, or do you not want the Rockets to succeed? Forget trades..if we could trade for better talent, we would have done it already...we havent...get over it and pray that VG can get them on the same page.
Yeah, this thread sucks!!!!! And in Philadelphia with Iverson is the same, he is the only that shoots he scores a lot of points but he fails a lot of shots.
You are basing this on his rookie year that was complicated by adjusting to a new culture, new playing style, new surroundings. after watching the rookie seasons of kobe, dirk, peja, Tmac, etc, did you also think that they would never be dominant? and they didnt even have those complications in their first year. Have you seen the clips of yao at the asian championships? ok sure that was against weak competition, but it showed that he DOES havr the "mental make up", as for talent, i guess you dont think hes good enough, all your judgments seem to be based on just one year of playing, and discounting any future improvments. Hes never going to get any better?? if you think he can improve... then maybe one day he wont cosistently be pushed 12 to 15 feet away from the basket when he starts his posts moves. Maybe then he will have the explosion so shorter players wont be able to challenge and or block his shots. Maybe then he will have the stamina so he isnt tired late in the games that he resorts to that weak fade away jumper that clangs more often than not. just maybe...possibly.....he still has room to improve...ya think?? maybe then he can be dominant, right?
Analysis of Players and their games is not hating.If you are a true fan and are interested in the develpoment of the Team, you will analyse the Players,the Coach and the Game, this goes for EVERY player.It depends what your motives are , if you are looking for healthy development of the Team, with the focus of a Championship, it should be considered positive. Conflict comes about because different fans have different favourite players and some like the Guard Oriented Game and others like Basketball as a Big Mans Game. Even with the differences all love the Houston Rox. codell:- At this time I would like to clarify about what I mean when I say 'Mobley or Francis hardly ever pass into Yao Ming', I am refering to assists , not passes in general.
As of last season Yao Ming showed that he has a long way to go to master the NBA Game. He was lacking in Stength , Upper Body Power, Stamina, Lack of Experience in the NBA Game, Lack of Agressivenes, Lack of our Culture,Lack of our language. There is hope for Yao Ming to develop into a Great Center in the future as he is intelligent , has great fundamentals of the Game , plays the Team Game, wants to learn and get better. Loves Houston and the Rockets.
Nice backtrack; maybe if Yao wouldn't have started missing so many shots at the end of the season, they would have had more assists.
Team basketball, not Yao basketball. We need to keep the ball away from Yao as much as possible, and put it in the hands of our two best offensive players: Steve and Cuttino. Yao needs to be used as a rebounding and defensive presence primarily.
What in the hell are you talking about? Were you watching with your head in your ass or What? Nice Exaggeration You Dip!!!!
