Houston, I still believe in you!

Okay, so we've lost a few games. So what? After all, we've lost our three main offensive stars from last year, in Francis, Mobley, & Taylor. Even with the loss of Taylor, we were competitive, up until the loss of Francis & hobbling of Mobley. We were 7-7 when they went out & of the 7 losses, only 3 were blow outs. We very well could've won the other 4, making us 11-3. I agree that our offense has been somewhat nonexistent, but our defensive intensity has been considerably better than last year & was the main reason we were in those games.

For all of those that are screaming for Rudy & CD's heads & finding any & every reason to blame them for the current record, all I've got to say to you is F*ck off. These two guys, imo, are basketball genius's. They've rebuilt this team in a very short period of time. Yes, we still have a little ways to go yet, but for the most part, the future pieces are in place.

How could anyone have anticipated that Taylor would've torn his achilles tendon before the season began? If Dream hadn't drug out the negotiation process for as long as he did & been honest with the Rockets from the beginning, they might've made a serious run at Webber (assuming he was really interested).

By the way, I've lost some respect for Dream, as a man, for his latest statements in the press. Even if what he said is true, why did he have to rehash it? All he had to do was say that he's sorry it didn't work out between him & the Rockets. He, as a man, is in control of what he answers. He screams about getting respect, but then he doesn't show any.

Now, back to the present day Rockets. Rudy & CD built this team around the nucleus of Francis, Mobley, & Taylor. With these three out, we were left with the role players (that were originally assembled to support the big 3), to carry the franchise. Rudy & CD were left with a tough decision to make. Do they make some radical trades to put a competitive team on the floor or do they ride out the storm? Obviously they've decided to ride out the storm & I couldn't agree more.

However, they've made two moves with the trade & medical exceptions, without disturbing the current nucleus. The acquistion of Willis has definitely helped the center position & Rice, even though he hasn't lived up to our expectations yet, has the potential of providing us with the consistent scoring from the SF position that Walt has been unable to do.

They also added Torres, Brown, Griffin, & T-Mo to the roster. All 4 are rookies & with the exception of T-Mo have contributed significantly to the team, even though they still have a lot to learn.

The injuries that we've experienced this year may actually be a blessing in disguise.

1) With Taylor out, KT has blossomed & Griffin has gotten more playing time than he would've gotten otherwise.

2) With Rice out, Torres has pleasantly surprised everyone & may very well be our future starting SF.

3) With Francis out, Brown is getting more playing time & has shown signs of being a pretty good PG, which could make Moochie expendable down the road as trade bait to help solidify our weakest position (center).

I also believe that (with the emergence of Torres at SF) when Steve comes back, we'll start winning again & make the playoffs. At present, we're only 5 1/2 games out of the 8th spot, which is held by Portland.

Even if we don't make the playoffs, that could also be a blessing in disguise, because we'd be in the lottery & could have a chance at one of the top 3 picks.

If we take the older players off of our roster & look at the younger players, currently on the roster, that'll be here in 2-3 years, our team looks real promising.

C: Cato/Collier
PF: Taylor/Griffin/KT
SF: Torres/T-Mo/Langhi
SG: Mobley
PG: Francis/Moochie/Brown

This group currently has no one with more than 4 years of NBA experience.

I'd say that PF, SF, & PG look solid & deep.

SG just needs some depth or we could just use Francis as the backup.

Center is the weak link, but if Griffin grows a couple more inches & puts on about 20-30 more pounds of muscle, that should take care of that position. I don't have any faith in Cato, but I still think that Collier will live up to his potential (which I believe to be higher than most of the rest of you, except for "The Cat").

Plus, don't forget that we'll have a couple more 2nd round picks, between now & then, for Rudy & CD to pull out a gem or two.

The Rockets might not reach the optimistic record that my sig indicates, but they will win a lot of games before this season is over.

I STILL BELIEVE IN THE ROCKETS!!!

 

DoD,

Until the Rockets lose 23 games, I'm going to believe it can still be done, even though it'll take a herculean effort.

Another note to all those negative Preachers of Rocket's Doom out there.

The signing of Cato, while in hindsight looks like a bad decision, was a very good move at the time. He was a 7 footer with all the tools that the center starved NBA craves. He was still very young at the time & showed the entire NBA a flash of what he could do in that one preseason game.

The Rockets had a tough decision to make with him, as well. They could sign him immediately to a long term deal or wait until he was a FA & have to compete against all the other teams that would've most assuredly bid for his services.

If Cato had turned out to be even half the talent that he displayed in that preseason game, everyone would be singing the Rocket's praises for having the foresight to lock him up long term & at such a cheap price.

Unfortunately, the Rockets didn't have the luxury to wait & find out if he had the heart & motivation it takes to be one of the great ones.