Is 28.8 mins limited time??? or are you actually expecting Rice to play anymore than that as a Rocket??? Not with all those forwards you got, especially Griffin.
You're looking at his playoff #s (3 games). His regular season #s are more respectable, if still not that great. Rice's #s were worse than Pip's #s in most categories. Lies, damn lies, and statistics... Pippen Rice
Replace: Anthony (33) & Strickland (35) with Barkley (23) Augmon (33) with Patterson (26) Smith (32) with Anderson (27) Schrempf (38) with Randolph (20) In addition to the remaining players from last season: Wallace (26) Stoudamire (27) Wells (24) Davis (32) Kemp (31) Pippen (36) Sabonis (37), if he even comes back Steve Kerr and Will Perdue are old, but don't figure to get much playing time if they're even on the roster. And Steve Kerr's game was never based on his youth and athleticism anyway. So, avg. age for the projected 12-man roster as of right now (Stoudamire, Barkley, Wells, DA, Kerr, Pippen, Patterson, Wallace, Randolph, Sabonis, Kemp, Davis) is 28.7 years. Compare this with the top 12 guys down the stretch last season (Stoudamire, Strickland, Anthony, Smith, Wells, Pippen, Augmon, Schrempf, Wallace, Davis, Sabonis, Kemp), which was 31.8 years. So they've managed to trim 37 years from the 12-man roster this summer. So, you might not like the Blazers at all, but you can't call them old...
3 things: 1. Rice will get all the shots Matt Bullard, walt Williams, and SHandon Anderson got. Plus, he'll be able to creat for himself, so he'll get the ball a little more. Plus, he'll be on the corner to drain passes off Mobley and Francis' drives to the basket, and he'll make them consistenly. There's also the touches Olajuwon got. Basically, he fits into what we're trying to do. 2. Francis and Mobley can both handle the ball. Francis is willing to pass the ball. Much more than Houston/Sprewell. We have a PG that distributes, that's the difference. There's no selfishness at all on this Rocks team. 3. Francis and Mobley shot that much without Rice. Sprewell and Houston shot that much WITH Rice. That's the difference.
Davis is the player who will get most minutes at C, in his 30s. Sabonis at C, in his 30s. Main backup PF kemp, in his 30s. Starting SF Pippen, in his 30s. That's quite old compared to no one but Rice and Walt in their 30s on our WHOLE team. Walt will most likely be gone.
There are very few bastketball events that I enjoy more than seeing those whiney anti-clutch punks from the NW pull an El Foldo in the playoffs. Having said that, no we are not better than the Blazer's yet and will not have a better regular season record next year. Despite the Blazer's downward trajectory, they made some really good moves considering the circumstances. I personally think if the Blazers can get Sabonis to come back they are right back into the think of things, at least in terms of fighting with the Kings and Spurs for claiming next year's coveted <b/> league runner up </b> award. To overtake the Kings for the 2 spot though (I think the Kings are now better than the Spurs), a lot of things would have to happen 1) bench minnie mouse have DA become effective at the point; and 2) have Bonzi to recover, gain shooting range and consistency, and man the 2 well. I don't see that happening. However even if everything goes right for the Blazers in no scerario this side of Shaq or Kobe breaking an ankle do I see the Blazer's bringing home the only goal, so I see little reason for Blazers fans comming here trying to say ohh aww, we will have a better record than you. Couple of other points: Would I take Sheed over Francis? Like any GM in the league I would say, hell no!! Would I take Rice's size and length of a contract over Quitten's, most definetly. Would I take the whole Blazers team filled out with mostly overpriced aged losers over the up and coming Rockets, no way! We have bigger plans down the line than merely trying to end next year chanting we're #2, we're #2.
Didn't realize Rice played that much in NY. He'll still probably play around that in Houston which is as much or more than guys like Wells, DA, Patterson, Kemp, Davis, Pippen, Sabonis and Randolph will play before the hotheads start fighting amongs themselves with towels (ie Wallace and Sabonis) and the team collapses mentally. Also in NY, they play a defensive minded, low-scoring game, creative lower averages/attempts for the team as a whole. BTW, do the Blazers still have Strickland?
No they don't have Strickland. But expect Glen to play 30 minutes a night with the Rocks, and et many many more shots than he got with New York or LA. You gotta admit it BlazersGal, what happened at the end of last season was the result of no chemistry. Not to mention a towel being thrown in the face of Sabonis. This year, there are less minutes, and more faces/towels.
Yo blazergal, The point of the thread was to see how the rockets are better than the blazers???? Are you sure about that???? Read your post again, you have a lot of bias in it. I mean telling us how zach randolph was such a good pickup and how rice and griffin won't contribute. Please read that again, it's making me laugh already. You talk about how rice is past his prime shooter. Did you ever wonder what pippen is???? Let's put this thing in perspective, pippen is the talk of all of nba : the biggest bust out there( as far as writers and media are concerned), messed up the chemistry, and pippen couldn't be found in the portland's exit in the playoffs. No, cato is not the talk of the league. Hey, maybe there was a reason why you didn't post for so long. The blazers haven't done anything. A team that has been so hyped and with so much "talent" hasn't got anywhere. What have the rockets done? Last year, no one gave them a chance. They were one game away from making the playoffs, team to win the most games without making the playoffs, started to show chemistry. All this without cato, olajuwon, or any real center for that matter. Ok, let's do talk about how the rockets are better than blazers. the blazers were supposed to have gone to the finals : no chemistry . A "seasoned veteran" like pippen was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle : no chemistry. Wallace was supposed to stay in more games than out of it : ok , chemical imbalance. The rockets have taylor (if you watched any of the games would understand that he was beginning to understand the system and get with the flow towards the end of last season) , francis, mobley forming the nucleus. Given how they were playing late last season, they already are better. Put in rice, all he has to do is hit those threes : don't tell me he can't do that. Now, the jury is still out on cato, but this is the season we all find out. The rockets have one of the best benches out there. One of the main reasons the rockets are a better team is because we surpass the expectations every year, whereas the blazers seem to find a way to mess it up. I don't get it. With all that talent, one would expect blazers Vs lakers every year. How do you expect anderson to be a better fit tham smith was? He will be as lost in your system, if not more. I really have to laugh at your reasoning because it sounds more like frustration than reasoning. I can give you numbers player by player to show how the rockets are better, but i'll let you have the honor of watching the rockets games and finding out for yourself. Look, the blazers have the pressure on once again, they have to reach the finals. The rockets aren't even expected to make it to the playoffs. So, i keep saying the balzers will make it to the playoofs and the rockets aren't EXPECTED to make it. How is it then that the rockets are better than the blazers? The blazers self destruct, but here's another reason, like others have mentioned, the blazers can't score in the zone, and the rockets haven't finished wheeling and dealing (whereas one player is all the blazers needed to get the chemistry ) here's another reason: seedings: 6. rockets 7. blazers remember this post and talk to me when the season ends, you will realize that your team needs an overhaul. The rockets and balzers are going in two different directions, i'll let you figure which one is which.
Isn't all of this skill calculation a moot point? The Blazers have mentally disintegrated these past two seasons. They can't count on their best player in crucial game situations. Everything else is a wash. The Rockets are a rebuilding team. Do they have more super-dog crash jimmy fantasy league hyperpontaine whammy points? Who knows? Who cares? I like watching these new Rockets b/c it reflects on some superb GM'ing and some fun basketball. These rockets have completely overhauled themselves. The team wasn't bought... the team isn't $35M in luxury tax land and the team doesn't sport a rapist. So Blazergal... try trolling for whammy points w/ another team... b/c your teams future pales in comparison to these feel-good Rockets.
Hey, I'm as big of Blazers fan as there is but I have no intention of getting involved in this debate. Nobody's going to change eachother's minds, so what's the point? You guys are obviously going to get the last laugh in this anyways right? Since it's so blatantly obvious that Francis/Mobley/Griffin/Taylor in addition to Langhi/Thomas/Cato/Norris/Collier/Morris and any other mediocre young "talent" you want to mention is so superior to what the Blazers have.
High plains, The point isn't to have the last laugh. I mean it seems you blazers fans can't articulate it to us how is it you have a better team or how you will be " balzing to the title" Back up your statements, facts always will win over opinions. You are welcome to do so, but if we have some counterpoints, we will articulate them to you guys , too. Don't expect us to believe that you have a better team just because you tell us. If we doubt your reasoning, we will let it be known. one last thing : (not the last laugh, but one of many).
How did the Blazers get better again? Lets see they added another overpaid not-star who wants to get serious minutes to a roster packed with them. They drafted a big PF, who didn't even start for his college team, and are going to have him tutored by such reliable folks as Shawn Kemp and Rasheed Wallace. The Blazers have a lot of second tier talent, but have the mental fortitude of a middle-schooler. They completely fell apart last year, what makes you think they won't this year as well?
Mmmm.... BlazerGal, We don't get too many females 'round here.... How's about I give you a little more than a " Summer Song"
blazergal cant troll at another site, because other teams do not have as good of a setup as we do here at clutchcity! she is just jelous that we have it so good, so she trolls around here to see what it is like to have a sweet hangout. our clubs better than yours nah nah nah nah nah
Houston Rockets 2000-2001 Field Goal Attempts: 6494 New York Knicks 2000-2001 Field Goal Attempts: 6198 Lost Hakeem: 568 FGA Lost Shandon: 590 FGA Total: 1158 FGA Glen Rice: 752 FGA He's probably thinking, "Eureka! That's 406 more FGA for me this year!"
Well, the entire argument against the Blazers is that they're not going to get along and play as a team. All of the pessimists say they won't, the optimists say they will. There's no way I can prove that they will or won't, so all of these stats that people are throwing out there are meaningless. Bottomlin to me is, if Kemp is in shape, Stoudamire excels without somebody breathing down his neck all the time (see: Anthony, Strickland), Wallace tones down his act just a little, Wells and DA coexist like they say they can, and Patterson just does his hustling thing in the minutes he's given and doesn't complain about the situation he put himself in, then the Blazers can go about as high as they want to go because nobody can argue that the talent isn't there. But there's no way to ensure that all of those things will happen, so you'll just have to wait and see...
Ok, you, yourself, don't you think you used a lot of "if"s? When the Rockets' only if is if Cato plays at an average level? C'mmon, seriously....Remember Cheeks said he has no intention of toning Wallace down? Do you really think Wells and Anderson will co-exist? And about Stoudamire, it's the same as with Cato. He's got the spot, and I'll take a chance on him proving he's worth something.
