****EVIL LAUGH**** My master plan is working. One by one, you will all join the dark side. All I need to do now is forge a Ruling Ring of Power, and the board will never see positive posts again! ****EVIL LAUGH****
I have patience for Yao, not for Francis. The road to a championship goes through Yao, when Francis realizes this and stop playing like he has to prove he is da man then we are better off. The number one thing Francis has to learn is how to feed Yao the ball better.
Even with Magic Johnson or John Stockton passing Yao the ball, Yao still will not shoot it, he just does not want to shoot it.
Yao is not blameless in all this. When he can consistently run with the rest of the team without getting winded halfway through the 1st quarter, then the the offense can run through him like it did with Olajuwon. Until then, no offense can run through your primary player when he's planted on the bench because he's gasping for oxygen. If there's one thing Yao needs to work on this off-season, it's his conditioning and stamina because 28 mins in a major game does not a stud make.
Yao certainly needs to work on his conditioning, but the guy didn't even get an offseason this year. I fear his commitment to his country's obligations will always leave him tired for the NBA season. But we're in agreement that the Rox's primary player is Yao and the rest must conform their game to his. I just don't know if Francis will ever get it through his head. I can handle us losing when Yao is on the bench because he is fatigued, that should only get better. What is frustrating is the same players making the same boneheaded mistakes again and again. Even lab rats learn through repetition, we don't.
No go. The Clippers are trying to make sure they have enough money to jump into the Kobe sweepstakes---provided Kobe's home next year is not in Colorado (and I don't mean the Nuggets). For example, the Clips are looking to trade Jaric and Ely for Fizer. Got to get Steve out of the West. Steve and Cato and Pike and Luke Ridnour to Chicago; Jamaal Crawford and Antonio Davis and Eddy Curry and Adrian Griffin to Seattle. Rashard Lewis, Kirk Hinrich, Brent Barry and Booth to Houston. Of course, my solution is too elaborate. As far as Yao Ming passing in the 4th rather than shooting..., this just plays into the overall problem. Steve's brains are scrambled eggs. His confidence is nothing now. We bring in Mark Jackson because Steve sucks as a point guard. He doesn't know when to pass or shoot. Yao has improved greatly over the last few weeks but it's like he's on the Portland Trailblazer team that should have won the Finals four years ago. They could run teams out of the gym but if one player hesitated, so did they all. Bye-bye Steve. Nothing personal, but this is painful to watch.
While elaborate, it may actually be a fair trade from all perspectives. Though, did Barry get hurt the other night?
Don't be so pessimistic,rockbox. Though Rox isn't a champion contender now, we will be in playoff this year.
No.Yao cann't be a leader in a year or two.He will be a leader when he's mature on both frame and mentality. It's unfair to say SF inhibits Yao from becoming the potentially great! All that depend on Yao himself. Poor KM!
Where did you hear that? If they are really trying to get cap space, why not give them the exception for Jaric and Wilcox?
It not so much about winning or losing. I think this the most talented team we have had since the big three. However this team is full of chokers. They find ways to screw it up. Even our big win against the pacers was full of mistakes. We should have lost that game with the way we were making mistakes at the end of the game.
What happened to the #1 JVG defense? 99 points... Miami +90? Divacs and Christie were 3-17, so it wasn't SF's shooting. It was defense that lost the game... Blame the great JVG.... Just a comment from the darkside....
Give it up ricerocket. JVG has turned this team around into a legit playoff caliber team. You Van Gundy bashing is futile.
I dunno what was worse. 24 (25?) turnovers or SF going 2-15 or whatever he was. Steve. We're losing games 'cause you can't put the ball in the hole. And everybody protect the ball like it was your next paycheck, damnit! The team, generally speaking, is fine but enough is enough with the same old mistakes.
Four days ago there's an "Eat Crow" thread. Now everyone's ready to either: 1) Banish Francis back to Vancouver (figuratively); or 2) "Give up" on the Rockets? Please. Dr. of Dunk is spot on--- we need to bear in mind the big picture. Think of the Rockets like a share of stock. What you care about is your financial return at the end of the year, not the daily or even hourly fluctuations of the price. Even the blue-chips, the ones that consistently yield 10% each year, even they have their highs and lows on an hourly basis. Back in the mid 90's, let's say you own some shares of Intel. Do you sell them every time the price dips down? (Which it DOES, each and every day! But then it usually turns around, maybe not that minute, hour, or day, but at the end of the year, you'll get the hefty return). Day-trading will give you heart attacks. By the way, I'm not saying that you should ignore what happens on a game-by-game basis. That's part of what makes basketball fun. But it's flat-out ridiculous to give up on your team or radically change the complexion based on a couple of losses. Especially when one of these losses was a close game to the best team in the league. Here's a prediction. Next time the Rockets go on a four game win streak--and I'll bet money with anyone on this board that this will happen--everyone who has "given up" on the Rockets will suddenly be back in the fold. Another way to look at it: if I read some of these posts, and had NOT seen the games or the standings in the past couple of weeks, I could only assume that: The Rockets are entrenched in a long losing streak We're not in the playoff race We've been exposed against quality teams. ??!??!?!?! Stop the madness. Yes, we've lost two in a row. And the back of our neck is warm from the breath of the Grizzlies and Nuggets. But you know what? We're still in the sixth seed. And while we're only 2 losses from the #8 seed (Denver), we're also only 2 losses from the #4 seed (San Antonio). You can't have it both ways. The Rockets are right where most of us predicted before the season---on pace for the #6 seed. Drag up all of those old polls. I bet that most of us predicted a #6 finish or so. We're improving. Yao's improving. We're not consistent, but we're getting there. rockbox, I respect your long history as a Rockets fan. And I share your frustration, last night I almost threw a chair through my wall. But this seems a very curious time to give up on the Rockets. Stick around, it should be a fun ride.
