In the aftermath of the tragic ending of the of a great carreer, something great will happen. The younger players will polish their game. Kenny Thomas will establish himself as an inside presence. Kelvin Cato will improve his rebounding and blocking ability. Carlos Rogers will develop his game even faster. Francis will learn to lead. Cat will occasionally take over the game. But that's just the beginning. Sitting at the end of the bench is the great warrior. The great champion of the past. He learns that his glory can be relived by changing his game ever so slightly. He can work to the outside and take advantage of his deadly mid-range jumper. When lumbering big men come out to stop him, he will out- quick them for easy lay ups. He will work the pick and roll with the team's prodigy. They will become a deadly duo. The team will gain confidence with wins and will enter the playoffs on a roll at the 5th position. Then, as touch fouls aren't called as often and hustling defenses won't allow for many fast breaks, Hakeem will take over with the best combination of size, strength, and quickness this game has ever seen. He will gladly mount this team on his back one more time and take them to the promised land... They'll do it for Chuck. ------------------ You fellas have room for an optomist?
That's a pretty optimistic post. But, these aren't the fifties anymore and people don't listen to the government as much as they used to. We are a more cynical society these days because of Watergate and the many other scandals. That's why I'd have to say that the Rockets probably won't get anywhere this year. They'll be a Boston like team for this year and maybe next year as well. If there were Hollywood endings in the NBA then the Rocks would go out and win one for the Chuckster.
Stranger things have happened. The Knicks made the finals last year from the 8th seed and might have won it all if Ewing hadn't got hurt. Remember that Speewell played a lot, lot better in the playoffs than in the regular season. Bill Russell led the Celtics to a championship in their last season after the Celtics dynasty was declared to be "dead". Joe Nameth led the Jets throuh the playoffs and past the Colts when the Jets were a nothing team. Even Denver beating Green Bay was a big surprise since Elway was washed up and they supposedly had no defense. All of these teams had some sort of big crisis that almost killed them but they rallied around the problems. They also all had some senior leader on the team, a lot of good role players and some up-and-coming young studs. Sound familiar? One thing to remember, if the Rockets win it all this year, then Barkley gets his ring and you can bet he'll be at the front of the parade. ------------------ Doesn't Rudy know that there are geniuses at clutchcity.net!! [This message has been edited by Air Francis (edited December 09, 1999).]
AirFrancis, The Knicks made the finals last year from the 8th seed and might have won it all if Ewing hadn't got hurt. That's more of an indictment of the eastern conference that a compliment to the Knicks. I bet against an 8th seed in the west winning a single playoff game this year.
TB, This is not true. There is no dominant team in the west. All of the teams have problems. The 3 best teams are: 1. San Antonio - weak back-court and Robinson's back is an issue. 2. Portland - no super-star, no go-to guy. 3. Lakers - Shaq's free-thow shooting and no power forward. Overall, they may be better than than the Eastern conf teams last year, but none of them are a whole lot better tham Miami or Indianna was last year. Also, the Rockets now have a lot of depth and all of their players on the bench have shown they can produce. Depth will be critcal to survive the playoffs and the season. Case in point: Losing Barkley is a big loss but if Cato/Massenberg/Thomas/Rogers can step up, then they may not be that much worse off. All of these players are young enough to improve this season. Plus the Rockets have 2 players that can dominate. Francis can dominate the guards on any of these top three teams. If the hernia was Dreams problem early on, then he can be still be dominant in the half-court game for limited amounts of time on offense and defense.
