Just got the Rockets Team Report Not Bad but I think they are hard on Shandon. Too easy to just dwell on Offense. CENTERS: Olajuwon will be out, so now the starting job is Kelvin Cato's. He has responded well so far, registering two consecutive double-doubles, including a 13-point, 10-rebound performance against Vancouver on Monday night. He also added five blocked shots, proving he can be a real influence in the paint without demanding the ball on every possession. Grade: A. PForward : Barkley just keeps chugging along and is putting up solid numbers. Without Olajuwon, Barkley has the post pretty much to himself, but he has shown a willingness to clear out and let guys like Francis and Mobley penetrate. Barkley still gets it done inside, like his 22-point, seven-rebound game against the Grizzlies indicates. He is taking fewer shots and prefers to keep the ball moving. Grade: A. SForward : Walt Williams seems to be falling further and further out of the rotation, logging just 16 minutes against the Grizzlies on Monday. He took just six shots and made only one of them, finishing with five points. Williams did have three assists, but the Rockets need his shooting. Grade: F. SGuard: Perhaps the only thing more baffling than Williams' departure from the radar screens has been the play of Shandon Anderson. A slasher who thrives in transition, Anderson had put together a string of good games, only to disappear against the Grizzlies. Grade: D. PGuard: Francis is rapidly blossoming into one of the top point guards in the league. He can score with ease and set up his teammates. His 24-point, 10-assist game against the Grizzlies was another preview of the player he will be, and his nine rebounds (two more than Charles Barkley and equaling Shareef Abdur-Rahim) was nothing short of amazing. Grade: A. BENCH: : Cuttino Mobley might as well be starting. He put in another 35 minutes Monday night, finishing with 17 points. Bryce Drew continues to shoot well, scoring 11 points on 4-5 shooting against Vancouver. One of the key additions to the bench has been Matt Bullard, who came off the injured list to supply reliable outside shooting. Bullard threw in 11 points against Vancouver, hitting two three-pointers in overtime to blow the game open. Grade: A. COACHING: Tomjanovich is working on his team. With the lane clear, guys like Francis, Mobley and Anderson some have room to get to the basket. It's working. Grade: B.
Center: A PGuard: A PForward: A Bench: A What´s our record? 12-4 ? I think those grades are downright ridiculous...Anderson´s grade is fair, btw. ------------------ What do you expect from someone who beats up his fiancee?
Sounds rediculous. I mean Williams getting as high as an F. He's supposed to be able to shoot. Game after game the song remains the same. When will start Anderson in his spot and move Cat into the starting lineup.
I think we sould kick Williams to the backup SF so Shandon can start in his place. Then we should sign Sam Mack to whatever he wants, within reason, and have him start as the starting SG. This will strengthen our bench even more and gives us another three point threat. As of now, we don't even have an actual backup SF.
The report card was WAY to hard on Shandon. His defense is great. He is the best defender on this team(well, the best small defender). His offense has kind of died down, but yesterday against the suns, he did score 12. Shandon just needs to be a bit more agressive. by the way, for those of you who think moving Shandon to the 3-spot is good, I believe Rudy has already tried this in practice or something. I bet Rudy's thought about doing this, but has seen that it won't work or something. Rudy's not that dumb(he's actually a decent coach).
I don't think this is the best evaluation of talent. I've read a few of their report cards for teams, and for the Lakers they gave Shaq an A-. Cato is great, but does he deserve a higher grade than Shaq? They seem to not be consistent in their grading. They were pretty hard on Shandon, as I thought he deserved at least a C-.
Jovi, It may seem ridiculous at first, but the evaluations are stricly individual, and do no represent the team's achievement as a whole in any way. Actually, the players are doing all right individually, it's just the old cliche of clicking and gelling together that is keeping this team away from consistency. If look back at the last 3-4 games since the Blazers game, the guyz have been playing with a new-found energy and fire that was not around at the start of the season. napster, As far as I know, the grades are not used as a measuring stick to compare players, but instead are used to rate each player from what was expected from them and how they've matched up against this. For example, Ruben Patterson may get a higher rating than Mitch Richmond, but that does not mean he is better than him. It is merely a reflection of if how much they are over-or-under-achieving. Azim da Dream ------------------ "Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress undeniably requires change." - Motto of the Houston Rockets
Azim, that makes much more sense. It doesn't ALWAYS seem that way though... ------------------ http://alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=CVY-051 Make Money Surfin Web
I don't think they are too hard on Shandon. If he starts to play at his potential, the rockets might have a shot at winning the eight spot. I was very upset with his play in transition last night. He hesitated a couple of times when he should have been filling the lanes. I still think he should start at the 3.
Anderson is starting to play better (slowly) but his defensive work on The Nickel (Hardaway) was outstanding. Don't just look at one end of the floor. His great defense forces lots of bad shots that we rebound and use to ignite the running game. Keep him as a starter and let Cuttino come off the bench and supply the energy we need. The offense looks as if its becoming more wide-open, at least until dream comes back, and Anderson should start feeling more and more comfortable. He's starting to get some set plays that he wouldn't have seen a couple of weeks ago. Lets give it a little more time. ------------------ Look out, The Kid is about to blow up!
