After seeing today's big win against our worst inter-state nemesis. I am convinced that with the current players we have, we can go pretty far. Even though Steve Francis is not as good a point guard as the rest of them are, he gives his all today. I believe Yao and him are the guys that are going to takes us to a championship. I know Steve's prone to make boneheaded mistakes even though he's a veteran, he definitely has heart and a competitive edge that can push us in the right direction. Even if we get a good point guard, we should still keep Francis and use him for SG. I definitely see something I have not see in Rockets game, Francis and everybody else tries really hard to get the ball to Yao although they're still not having too much success. With that being said, we have tons of problems we need to address if we're going to go far in the playoff. If not for those 30 turn overs, we would have blow out the Mavs just like I predicted. We still don't run the break well. Those miss freethrows nearly give me a heart attack. Yao not being able to play a lot of minutes. However, with Yao and Steve around, we have a chance to beat every team in the NBA. With Yao's maturity and Steve's willingness to learn to adapt, I predicate we will get a championship in 2 years. The reason is simple, because I don't see other team has someone like Yao and Rockets are only going to get better.
The Rockets have plenty of talent. I have to be convinced still that it's complimentary. They play well enough to win quite a few games. But if you get an even-trade for more complimentary talent, you might have to take it. But it would be stupid to blow up the team for lesser players just to make the talenet "fit." Trading Francis for Ray Allen - ok. Trading Francis for Eric Snow and change - r****ded.
Now I believe that SF is not the problem, Cat is. He is the only one who plays out of the system and keeps making boneheaded plays.
we only need to break Steve... . . . . . . . break his pride, that is. Now that he is' comfortable with his new role, we only need to trim down our TOs, then we're golden.
The problem is not Francis, the "problem" is Mobley. Actually, none of them are a problem. It's just that we need at least ONE safe player with a very good asst:to rate in the backcourt. I'm sure we can make the playoffs over and over again, but to go further, I believe some re-tooling is absolutely necessary. It would definitely help to snap up Brent Barry in the offseason, and make him our backup 1 and 2.
how about Francis and Mobley for Ray Allen and Brent Barry? our bball iq would double with those 2 players.
Whoa there. I'm a bit uncomfortable with just getting Ray Allen for Francis, though I'd probably do it. But there you're trading a whole lot of dribble penetration and getting almost none back. I totally agree that we need better ball handling and 3 point shooting. But trading both is going to seriously hurt this team's penetration, which is pretty important in the NBA.
Like i have said before. Keep Yao, Steve, Cat, JJ, Mo, Cato. Dont make any major trades that would further our progress and this team will be a serious championship contender in no time. I VOTE FOR NO MORE DAMN TRADE TALKS ON THESE FORUMS. Its soo annoying.
Yes, Eric Snow is not a player who can gun it. Ray Allen is the gunner the Rockets need from outside. However, it is still possible to get a legit 3 point gunner from outside without trading anyone. That would be by signing Brent Barry who is an excellent passer and one of the best 3 point gunners in NBA history. Also, he has a very high basketball IQ. His father, Rick Barry, instilled him with a strong knowledge of basketball.
Did you watch Yao pass it out to a wide open Mark Jackson from beyond the arc and see Mark Jackson try to dribble right back into a paint full of defenders who were there to guard Yao? This is not supposed to be the gameplan in the inside-out offense. When the post player passes it out due to a double teaming defender, the wide open guy on the perimeter is supposed to shoot the ball. It's worked like that for many, many years. It's worked like that for the Spurs, Rockets, and the Lakers. Guys from beyond the arc getting passes from the post need to can the 3 at a decent clip. Having the guy dribble penetrate back into the paint is just insane.
I'm sorry but Steve Francis is a problem right now, you can not afford to field a competetive team team whgen your max guy is scoring 12 points, Steve needs to find his offense especially when Yao is on the bench. I don't get it, he used to be able to get a decent shot whenever he wanted, not to mention getting to the line and making the free throws at a respectable clip. IMO Francis can not be on this team if he is going to continue being the fifth option on offense because the rest of his game aside from rebounding is not strong enough. He and Yao must be one two consistently.
And if Yao were good for 40 minutes a game, I might even agree with you. But he's not. And if Yao were better at sealing off defenders or catching balls over the top, I might agree with you... but he's not. Yao is, imo, clearly the best player on offense. But he still has too many limitations to trade away all of the dribble penetration on the team. At times, that's been crucial to the Rockets.
Francis offers something that I've never seen Ray Allen do. Hustle. He hustles for boards, dives on the floor, high rises for blocked shots like he did on Nowitizki in the 1st half and sacrifices his body for an extra possession to take a shot for the team. His shot is off and it may very well be due to his hustle but more than anything that's what I've really liked from him lately. Just 100% pure hustle. Hell he outjumped Olowakandi in a crucial moment in the game during a tip off for possession. He does so many of the little things like that, that lately I've been hardpressed at all to fault him for his game. At the same time he does take careless shots and careless passes, but his hustle is just flat out amazing.
A strong 3 pt. assassin off the bench is what we need. Keep our starters, maybe save Cato. Trade our benchies (some of them). Get a lights out 3 pt. artist and a new PG back-up once M"geezer"J is done that actually has a shot (you need legs to have a shot). The more major break-up trades you pull, the less winning you'll do for a longer time. KEEP THE CORE FOUR (Yao, SF, Cat, JJ)
