I saw it on three occassion in the last game. Shandon was on the wing WIDE Open. Steve passed an ill advised pass to Cut or went for a ill advised lay up. I was PISSED! esp after shandon's D led to the break. Rocket River ------------------
Our fastbreak is still not consistently well organized. That play Shandon was ahead of Cuttino on the same wing, so Cuttino tried to cross over to the other side of Francis, and got too close to Francis instead (Stevie or Cuttino might have slowed up a little)...then the pass. I have no idea what Francis was thinking with that pass to a guy one stride next to him running full speed. Shandon looked like he had an alley-oop slam opportunity. I am actually seeing Cuttino making a concerted effort to pass to Shandon on the wing and giving him quick outlets. Not much, but it has happened recently. The deal with Francis I believe is that he is a natural wing runner trying to be the point man on a fast break. He must decide to take it or pass, and pass to whom. That is multiple decisions. Moochie is more comfortable. I've seen Moochie start a fastbreak from the wing with Cuttino in the middle ahead of him, and Moochie instantly pointed Cuttino to the wing and Moochie took over the middle. Cuttino obeyed like a good doggie who wants a bone.
I'm glad someone else publicly pointed this out. When I tried to mention it, I was called a Mobley & Francis basher. And you wonder why Shandon's #s are down, and he's gonna opt out of his contract with Houston. No offense to Houston, but they just can't seem to utilize Shandon's talents. And I'm not upset at all with Shandon for going somewhere else, if in fact he does. He's a much better player than his Houston stats show. I wish him the best and hope he becomes a star ... hopefully in the Eastern Conference though??? ------------------ Founding Father of the Refs Suck Club
I'm in total agreement with you Rocket River. I don't blame any one person but Shandon will not be here next season. Its obvious to see that. A play is never run for him, he's not in the game at the end of the game, he has to score off of rebounds, HIS DEFENSE, and running the court our hustling others(which is not hard with this Rocket's team). Shandon can score(posting up, on the perimeter and slashing to the whole), can rebound better than any of the other guards and SF's, is Houston's best DEFENSIVE PLAYER and yet he's just another player on the team. Even Walt gets a play called for him when he comes off a double screen. We will get to see what he can do when he leaves Houston and sticks it to us. I'm already dreading that day, Shandon shutting down Cat(especially with the defensive zones next season). Shandon putting double-doubles up every night. It will happen....... ------------------
His numbers are better as a Rocket than as a member of the Jazz. Something that the Utah press mentioned a lot right after he chose to come here is his inability to complete layups. I have seen that happen here on many occasions. I don't think he's being left out of the offense. It's just that he doesn't always capitalize on all of his opportunities. ------------------
This thread title is sad. Steve does NOT freeze out Shandon. Of late, he has been looking for him more. The only play I can think of where Steve should have passed to Shandon, is where he went up for the fingerroll. Now for the last play. Francis caught the ball in the middle, and did what he was supposed to, which was reverse the ball to the other side of the court. Any coach will tell you that's the way you are supposed to do it. Many of you may have thought he was trying to start the break, but in reality, Steve was just an outletter in that situation. Cuttino stayed sideline, so Francis didn't fill the wing, but stayed in the middle and recieved the pass. Shandon should NOT have gotten the ball on that play, unless Cuttino had wanted to throw a lob to him. O yea, and Shandon looked really pissed at Francis while he was screaming "woohoo!" after Steve dunked ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited April 19, 2001).]
Can part of the problem be that Stevie & Cat are too tight? Possibly Stevie just wants to help out his buddy or he trusts him too much. Shandon is a nice player. He will never be a 20 ppg player, but he could be effective. I also agree he won't be back, which is a shame. We need his defensive presence.
Yeah I agree. He has to be one of the worst dribbling Small Forwards in the West. ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
4chuckie nailed it. In the scenario Rocket River posed, Francis will ALWAYS pass to Mobley. I would be surprised to see a time when he didn't. Hopefully Francis will mature a little in this area and not always pass to his "lover". ------------------ "It's like saying there isn't enough offense in football, so let's go to three downs." --Rudy T on zone defenses in the NBA
If you were Steve Francis, and were leading the fast break, and had a choice between Shandon Anderson, Cuttino Mobley, or finishing it yourself - what would you do? I'd give it to Cuttino or finish it myself, because the odds of that being succesful are greater than the odds of Shandon being succesful. Oh, and Tiburon, Shandon will never average a double-double and Cuttino would massacre Shandon one-on-one. ------------------ Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now! The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.
I don't see how a discussion of fastbreaks turns into "we don't use Shandon's talents". People call Shandon a slasher. There are plenty of slashing and backdoor opportunities. What we don't give Shandon is low-post isolations, which he does not deserve unless Del Negro or Hersey Hawkins are guarding him. We are all sorry that Francis can't run a fastbreak as efficiently as Stockton, but that does not mean we don't have a system to fully utilize Shandon, once our transition gets better. The argument that Rudy is only using Shandon as a spot up 3 point shooter, is just not what we are seeing on the court at all. From my seats, this team is evolving in a manner that is expanding the system. Couldn't Shandon's recent comments about uptempo be calculated by Fegan to give a reason for a down season on stats while they enter the free agent market.
I wonder will Francis freeze out Battier ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
I could not begin to count the number of times I've seen Shandon lose the ball for no good reason on a break.
If I were Steve Francis and I were leading the fast break with Shandon & Mobley on both wings, I'd give the ball to whoever has the clearest path to the basket. Often, that's Shandon, although rarely does he get to touch the ball. ------------------ Founding Father of the Refs Suck Club
A good PG gets all his teammates involved and rewards whoever gets down the floor the fastest (or rewards a big man who busts his tail getting down the court whne he deserves the ball). Stevie has got to realize it's not a 2 man game, althoug he and Cat are the best players on the team. Give the other guys a bone once in a while to keep them happy.
One thing is for sure, if Francis is indeed consciously freezing out Shandon on the break and not giving him quick-strike low-posts rather deciding when-in-doubt to take it himself, give it to Cat, or slow it up, that is probably the best proof we have that in practice Shandon is just not impressing his point guard (ie OUR franchise). Is it the system; is the PG wrong/stupid; or is the PG partially correct. I have to say our PG is better on the wing than the leading the fastbreak (which means our fastbreak is unorganized, often), and I also have to believe the PG is partially right. I don't need to imagine what Francis thinks of Shandon's offensive performance in practice; I can see it on the court. Shandon is a bench-quality offensive player, and can do well against bench players. And that is what he did at Utah. He faced the bench players mostly, as Hornachek got the minutes. He got short-lived defensive assignments that Horny couldn't handle, and he exploited mismatches of the Western Conferences notoriously weak Shooting Guard players. From my seats, Shandon cannot score in the 1st quarter and 4th quarter at a consistent rate against other starters. Not at Utah, and not now. He requires fast breaks, and superstars to expose seams for him. In time, the Rockets can do that as well as any team, because those are the primary goals of Rudy's offense. Toast, I just don't see what Shandon delivers offensively beyond good hustle, great endurance, and leaping ability. It really seems to me that a few major mismatches in the playoffs and having the luxury of Stockton running the fastbreak have made Shandon a low post threat in the media's memory. I wish that were true, but it is not. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited April 20, 2001).]
SA is a role player...PERIOD !!!! He is not even as good as Mario Elie was. SA can not dribble, is a below par shooter, and has marginal passing skills. He has not developed...ONE IOTA, since he got here. Sayanara SA, DaDakota ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.
ah yes... i have another believer. shandon anderson is a non-shooting mario elie. a stacey augmon without the length.
Defensively, no one questions Shandon's ability. Offensively, yeah he leaves something to be desired. But on the break, he sees the floor better than Mobley & Francis. He knows how to create space to get an open lane to the basket. I don't know why, but if there's a defender present, they're always in front of Mobley &/or Francis. Shandon's open. Okay, not always of course, but you know what I'm saying. And if you REALLY start to think about it, why do you think the defenders cheat to Francis or Mobley's side, and give Shandon a more open look? I don't think it's cause they believe Shandon won't make the shot. Dude has ups; he can dunk. But defenses are aware that he's just not gonna get the ball. If he would get it on a break every so often, it would keep the defense more honest. And that would open the game up for other scorers. Shandon doesn't have a great 3 point shot, and he's not the best post up player on the court, but by getting him involved, it would only help the team. He runs the break well, so why don't we utilize that? ------------------ Founding Father of the Refs Suck Club
toast, what are the options that shandon does well on the break? i can only think of one, and that is to lay it up or MAYBE dunk it over the defender. now, when you only have that ability, and on the other side you have a player who can stop and pop, spot up, or finish strong...which player would you choose?
