[For some really good inside dope and analysis, go straight to oeilpere's post below.] Drewdog raised this very good question in another thread. I'm putting it in the title of this one in the hope that one of our team "insiders" (oeilpere, Doc, your name here) will chime in with what they know. The theory is that Francis, and possibly to some extent Mobley, is getting a bigger say in personnel and PT decisions than even star players are expected to get. The argument for this theory starts with the fact that it explains a number of decisions that otherwise seem dubious (Mooch's contract, drafting Tmo, possibly the Rice deal, possibly Taylor's contract, etc.). Next comes the fact that it's consistent with Rudy's general philosophy of building around his best player and emphasizing chemistry. For years, if you could -- and would -- throw entry passes to Hakeem and shoot well when he kicked the ball back out, you were a potential Rocket. If not, you weren't. It was part aptitude, but also part attitude: You played the kind of game Hakeem wanted you to play as part of his supporting cast, or else. Now it looks like we pick and play SFs and PFs with Francis (read: Taylor, Rice) the same way. Rudy has always been a hands-off coach. He believes that players, not coaches, win the game. You decide on your offseason conditioning. You decide on your ability to practice. It's all up to you. Maybe giving his star player -- and possibly his star player's favorite teammate -- a big say or even a virtual veto in personnel decisions is a logical extension of Rudy's idea that the players should feel a certain kind of ownership of the team and a responsibility for its fate. It's in their hands; treat them that way. To some extent, this makes sense. It seems pretty certain that for the foreseeable future, as Francis goes, so go the Rockets. We need to keep him, and we need to keep him happy. If he gets to call shots in terms of personnel as well as on the court, he won't have any excuses -- or good reasons -- to leave. He'll have that sense of ownership, for the failures as well as the successes. It's pretty well known that Walt's rapport with Francis and Mobley has kept him in Rudy's good graces when Walt's performance otherwise didn't seem adequate. Shandon didn't have that rapport; Shandon was gone. Nothing earth-shattering here, but there's a point at which you can end up paying a premium for chemistry (the money for Mooch, the pick traded for Tmo) that seems not worth the performance we're seeing on the court. I'm sure others of you have noticed other things on or off the court that seem consistent or inconsistent with this theory. And maybe you have different opinions on whether, if true, it is or isn't a good idea. Fire away. My opinion for now is that it's a worthwhile experiment. I wouldn't have made the deal for Rice, I wouldn't have paid Mooch what we paid him, and I don't think I'd have made the deal we made to get Tmo. But if Francis had a big say in these decisions, maybe he'll work harder to make them turn out successfully. If they don't, he won't have any cause to leave Houston because he didn't get what he wanted. And if Rudy didn't give him that kind of say, maybe the loss of that feeling of ownership for the team's fate would be a worse consequence than paying too much for a backup PG or an over-the-hill SF.
I wouldn't put too much stock in the "ownership" part of your theory. Supposedly, the Pistons retained George Irvine as head coach and brought in Christian Laettner to keep Grant Hill happy. When those moves didn't work out, Hill left anyway. I don't think Francis will be any different. If he can get the max elsewhere and sees the Rockets' future as limited -- even if it's limited by moves he championed -- he'll leave.
I think that there is definitely something to this theory. Think about it, what is probably the best offseason move this team made, in your opinion? I would say the Griffin trade, hands down. What did the Griffin trade involve? Four players to which no one on this team had any connection. Hmmm....interesting. I look forward to any Doc Rocket/OP post that might give some insight here.
My two cents is that I don't think Francis has that much say in things. Didn't he say he was on the phone with Webber all the time at one point begging him to come to Houston? Then Webber said in the paper that yeah, he and Mobley were persistent, but then they told him that the Rocket brass thought Webber was "too cocky". I think Taylor was a Rudy type player from the get-go. And do we really think Francis was in the draft war room trying to get the Rockets to swing a deal for Morris? I guess he may have said before-hand that he would like them to try to get Morris, but I tend to think he was also a Rudy-type player. Will, is that inside info, or speculation? I remember when Shandon left, Mobley said that he learned a lot from him about being a professional, and he would miss him. I'm sure they weren't buddies to the extent Mobley and Francis are, but I think they were probably reasonably close -- I don't think there was any tension or anything. I also think Rudy just loves Walt, and his popularity with the team is just a small part of why he's still here.
I don't buy it. Here's a legitimate story, too: 1. Hakeem made his own decision. 2. Shandon was a solid professional so Les and Rudy were not against rewarding him with a favorable SnT. Fegan made that happen. That had nothing to do with Francis. 3. Rice was a decision of presented by Fegan, and we said... "well, yeah, let's do it." 4. Moochie held out and won. Rudy wants to attack the zones in a certain way; it was proven that our 3 guard system could work, Moochie is supposed to help with that. 5. I don't see the Maurice Taylor connection with Francis at all. 6. TMo is supposed to help our defense, nothing more. Really, the "star gets say in personnel decisions" can easily be over done. What he does have say in is the offense to play. Once that is set, personnel decisions are about matching talent with roles. Will, you said it best in the Hakeem scenario. Do any of us believe we got Drexler just to make Hakeem happy, although it was obvious it would make him happy? Do we believe we got Barkley to make Hakeem happy. I'd say your Hakeem example is actually a case that CD and Rudy make up their own minds and will react aggressively to opportunities that present themselves,,,like Griffin, Taylor and Rice. Mistake or not, they'll do it. And the Cato thing is way overdone. We had to sign him before Oct 31st, or he was going to be a free agent. I think the real question is who's philosophy is the long contracts idea. The length of contract and the salaries have nothing to do with Francis, imo. It is a matter of matching a system to Francis/Mobley and finding players to fill it. Anything else is too much complication for me. For instance, bad decisions or not, the agents don't give a damn what Francis thinks. Moochie wanted to be here, and Fegan is a great agent. Why overthink this...but thanks for finally making it a big topic, Will. The simplest theories are usually the correct ones: the motivation of agenst, the need to define roles and fill them, and Rudy/CD being aggressive risk takers is simpler, imo.
I think there is definitely room for speculation here. Some of these moves seem too coincidental to me, thus the reason for my questioning. On the court Rudy T likes being a players coach, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. To me however, it seems like he gives the players too much leeway or freedom if you will. Thats why we see so many selfish plays/ISO's on offense and no passing. IMO Rudy simply lets his players do what they want (to an extent). Off the court its harder to tell. But there have been several transactions which make me wonder about the validity of why and how these things happened.
Will: RT and the Rockets organization in general, give some deffernce to key players. This is not new nor solely the perogative of the Rockets. Most successful teams allow input from their key players above and beyond merely asking for opinions. Lately, the Rockets have allowed this "deference", this perogative, to be translated into "direction" and "focus" (at least on some level). Some cases in point (in no particular order of importance). 1. T Morris is here because he has the skills, but so has umpteem milllion young kids chomping at the bit to break into the NBA. Francis put the bug in CD's ear well before the draft and he was consulted on many occasions on the topic. To be sure,Terrence Morris kept his job based on talent, but make no mistake, getting the opportunity (and the cost of that move) was all Steve Francis. 2. The Rice aquisition was passed through Francis and Mobes ( and from what I hear, also Walt Williams) prior to CD signing him. In short, they were given more than an FYI headsup on that deal. They were enthusiastic. the Rockets got enthusiastic. Rice is a Rocket. 3. As someone mentioned previously. Walt Williams was kept a Rocket, when everyone with even a minute sense of basketball knowledge, was screaming for his scalp. This was largely due to Steve and Cuttino's intervention. Walt was seen as a mentor to a large extent. I think it would be superfilous to say he was merely a Maryland Terp too, and that is the connection. Walt apparently has good sense, a common bond and good veteran game knowlege (so I am told). All of these make him invaluable with a young team, and even more valuable if that young team sees him more of a leader than either you and I see him. The point is he is here because the cardiac kids want him here, and therefore by extension, so does the staff. 4. I posted something last week about the very important role that Willis was asked to play (and is doing) in regards to Cato. This is not just a skill-teaching role. Kevin has taken Cato under his wing with regards to off-court and "life in general" instruction More than anyone has ever done with that boy. God knows he needs it. That Rockets organizational philosophy (ploy/strategem/mindset) to develop mentors, veteran/rookie relations, maturity-shapers, etc.. is not new. The fact is, they spend as much time and money delving into, investigating and studying a potential players psychological bent as his talent potential. They spend as much time defining his mental toughness, and his philosophical weaknesses as to how well he shoots the ball. ( .... Don't say it ... just don't lose your self respect and point out the obvious .... no comparisons of/between recent lack of mental toughness versus shooting ability deficits of late ... okay?) 5. The biggest pill that Hakeem had to swallow over the previous two seasons was that he was not the first consult anymore, nor was his recommendation always accepted. In some cases Steve, Mobes (to a lesser degree than some think), Shandon Anderson, and even Matt Bullard's recommendations were taken in lieu of Hakeem's. Now before everyone starts to have a kitten fit about disrespect, etc .... you must understand this - Hakkem was not being dissed. Most of the time he was listened to, and the result in the end was they would try something Hakeem did not recommend. Frankly, (and I know this will bring lots of cranks craking it up) Hakeem's recommendations were not forward thinking, not innovative enough, not problem focused, and ... to cal it the way it was ... well, Hakeem was out of touch when it came to innovation, startegy and team play. (Sorry guys,but that is the crux of it right there). This erosion of Hakeem's off court "strength" had as much to do about his decision to leave as money all the rest rolled into one. 6. When asked, both Steve and Mobely have borne the Rocket Organization's corporate PR mantle and they have called, argued, flattered, invited, cajoled, expounded upon, and generally sold the Rockets team concept to anyone they have been asked to approach. We can talk and inderstand Webber, Duncan, Van Exel, Jackson, etc..., but they are also active "convert particpants" with less publicuzed efforts. Mc Dyess, Mourning, Lewis, Steve Smith and Sprewell. The Rox know this, but they maintain enough distance to allow for deniability, and yet close enough to direct some input if requested. You don't get that type of latitude to represent a team ideal, that type of freedom to openl;y prosletize, that measure of deference from your owners/coaches ... unless they genuinely respect your opinion and are willing to listening to your recommendation.
This is like saying "Was Barkley calling the shots back when he played for the Rockets?" Barkley was primarily responsible in acquiring Scottie Pippen. He wanted Pippen, and management did everything possible to go out and get him. Barkley also played a small part in acquiring Steve Francis from Vancouver. He knew the team's age would be a factor and that they needed a young, rising star to carry some of the load. So to some extent, even Barkley had more say in player movements than Olajuwon. Nevertheless, management must always consider their current players and chemistry when considering transactions, and sometimes that means going to the players themselves for input.
I must say this surprises me. Maybe that's why players are so drawn to the Rockets if they get so much say in what goes on. If this is all true and Francis gets to put in his thoughts regularly on major goings-on, I'll be very disappointed if he were to go unless it's quite clear the Rockets aren't going anywhere for a long time.
Dammit Pops, you need to start posting more and starting threads again. Personally, I'm tired of your self-imposed sentence of "I'm-not-gonna-start-any-more-threads." Yes, I'm b****ing. I miss that tingly feeling I'd get when I'd see a thread started by you. I respect you, so do what you think you must. I just wanted to make my opinion known. Thanks for the info. Nothing like news from you to make me feel better about the team.
Damn...this is like Mission Impossible! Francis and Mobley are our operatives out in the NBA, convincing and cajoling all the good NBA players that Houston is where they want to be. Rudy sends them little slips of paper, voice mail messages that they immediately erase ( Mourning is driving down Westheimer, operative Franchise. Prepare for massive defection efforts and meet operative Feline ). It is all masterminded by Rudy/CD/Les in some high penthouse in a very expensive motel, into which no cleaning maid will ever enter, and no record of them staying there exists. We, the Rockets, are impenetrable in our efforts and safety (liability-wise). Francis and Cat are the eyes and ears of the team. But should an inquiry be made regarding the Rockets hand in this, they would disavow any knowledge of their actions. This kicks ass. I love it. <FONT SIZE=1>This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds.</FONT>
