Its been a long time, I dont really remember, but i wanted to know how Mobley, Francis, and olajuwon played together. Was francis a better point guard when he had olajuwon. Did he pass him the ball. Did mobley do the same. Its not like Steve has never had a true center to pass the ball to. He had olajuwon, and even barkley.
It's not like Hakeem was the same player he once was. Yao is the first center Francis ever played with who was at 100% (or as close as Yao can get to 100%...)
Francis and Mobley played VERY well Hakeem's last year here. They adjusted to the inside game well, but I think that Francis and Mobley this year are much better players this year for 2 reasons. 1.)Passing the ball MUCH better, 2.)Experience.
They played well their half season together, but I would say Hakeem made the biggest adjustment...the Rockets were playing a more outside oriented game, so Hakeem hung around the weak side or the free throwline while Mooch, Steve, and Cat did their thing. Steve and Cat are much better this year, but they had trouble passing to the post on time....on time is the key. They would make a few fake passes, telegraph what they are about to do and sometimes it wouldn't go inside... often times Hakeem would be compelled to relenquish the post and set a pick. I think at one point he said Rudy T. doesn't know how to coach post players in frustration....it wouldn't have been said at the time if the guards were feeding their big man.... We saw some of these problems with Yao last year, but Yao doesn't seal his man off as well as Hakeem. Also a gifted passer can lob the ball above a fronting defender, but we don't see much of this in the Rockets offense. I hope they work on it since we need a counter move against the fronting defense....
