Its a wonder why some of you can't get this through your skulls. We lost the best player in franchise history, as well as every other player who contributed to the Rockets Championship runs. It is to be expected that the Rockets would go through a rebuilding process. Look at the Bulls, the same thing happened to them, yet they're in much worse shape than the Rockets are right now. Some of the teams we are now so jealous of like the Kings and the Mavs were rebuilding for a decade before they could really claim any success. And then some other rebuilding teams that look like they're making progress, like the LA Clippers, are in worse shape than ever with a bunch of players who do not have any loyalty to the team. Its a good sign that current Rockets actually WANT to stay and resign, which is something that can't be said for a lot of the other rebuilding projects. Unfortunately, all of the injuries have stunted the Rockets growth, but I guess unlike some of you I didn't expect the Rockets to be a championship contender this season anyway...healthy or not. "The Rockets suck." "The Rockets suck a$$." Of course they suck. That's kind of what happens when you are rebuilding. Those type of quotes suck in my opinion. Being critical is one thing, but just being negative for the sake of being negative is another. We make fun of the Bulls for trading away Brand, and then some of us actually have the nerve to say the Rockets should trade Steve. Come on guys. Surely some of you know that's not how rebuilding works. Get a clue! With Steve and Cuttino, the Rockets have formed the groundwork for a team. They are by no means a good team yet personell wise, at least not in the Western Conference. Maybe if some of the players like Eddie improve like expected the Rockets do have a good team, but that still falls under the category of what they like to call "rebuilding." The Rockets had close to the worst frontcourt in the league this season, and I don't know who could possibly have a worse bench. These are areas the Rockets must improve in to become a contender. And I agree that Rudy needs to make some changes in the way he coaches next season, but I think he's at least learned the right to prove himself during a normal season rather than the ridiculously, wacky one that is finishing up. I understand the impatience brought on by being spoiled with such a good team for a number of years, and now having a losing one, but I just think its causing a lot of people to be irrational.
Agreed... We have a good shot at getting a player in the draft that will help us going forward (ie. Gooden, Wilcox, Stoudamire or even Ming if we are lucky). Rebuilding eventually hits everyone at sometime or another...for us, the time to rebuild is now. Eddie now has a year under his belt and he will only get better. Our backcourt is top 5 in the league...not a bad way to start a rebuilding process. GO CAVS!!!!!!
If you're rebuilding, why trade for an over the hill overpaid Gunner like Rice? That's a "one of the last few pieces" move. The Rockets didn't consider themselves rebuilding, thus the fans didn't consider them a rebuilding team.
Yeah, I shudder to think where the Rockets would be now if Steve wouldn't have minded playing in Vancouver or if the Rockets selected one of the other 28 second rounders instead of Cuttino Mobley back in the 1998 draft. I guess if you want to be positive it would mean the Rockets would have probably been two-time Lottery Race Champions by now.
Just because they got Rice doesn't mean the Rockets weren't rebuilding. And I think it was a matter of getting something for nothing since Shandon was going to leave one way or another. Looking back, they should have just let Andersen go, but I think Rudy thought it would be good to at least have ONE veteran on the team.
We could have had Cliff Robinson for nothing, and at least he would have been healthy and played good defense. Plus he can play 3 positions (SF, PF, C). Oh well.
Well, of course they're still in a rebuilding mode. In fact, I would say they are in the 'middle' to the last 25% of 'rebuilding.' Consider: - Holes in the roster, especially in the frontcourt. They are still 2 players away from being 'there.' - Lack of identity offensively & defensively. - Players are still in 'me-first, I'm-the-star, what-are-my-stats' mode, still figuring out that they may have been stars at every level they've played at, but they are just another player at this level. Also, the conference is such a bear for them, they just aren't equipped right now to compete. (and not just barely make the playoffs every other year, but compete) I say at least 1 more solid draft and some considerable X's & O's work, they'll be ready.
DCKid, I don't know about something-for-nothing; you may be right. Certainly giving Shandon a present for having originally signed for less-than-market value was a factor in the Rice trade.
Our backcourt is actually top five in the league on one end of the court, and bottom five in the league on the other. I really think our rebuilding would be accelerated by building a better defense. We've added some good defenders in Griffin and Morris, but I wouldn't mind seeing us add a few more, and certainly getting more defense out of some of the guys who have the skills to be good defenders. I like Moochie, but I really wouldn't mind getting rid of him in order to get a backup point guard that serves as a defensive stopper--kind of like Greg Anthony did in Portland a few years back. I'd like to see us keep Morris so that he might fill that need at small forward, and also just to see if he pans out in other areas as well. I don't want to give up on the guy too quickly. Kenny Thomas didn't make his mark on the team for a few years, and that's how it works with some guys--especially those who end up finding their nitch on a team as a quality role player.
Of course we're rebuilding......but is that an excuse as to why we practically run nothing but ISOs, don't play defense, and show no signs of improvement? People never seem to agree with me, but when it comes to Pro Sports, you have to either produce, or show signs of improvement...........no excuses. A job as an athlete should be treated similar to damn near any other profession...programmer, doctor, analsyst......expecially when the profit off of the business and salaries are 6+ figures.
I agreed and brought it up. I just didn't understand getting someone like Rice when we could have had a player like Robinson who has been steady even in his 30's, play defense and can play multiple positions. People say they are rebuilding, but adding a player like said otherwise. We could have had something for Anderson, cap space!
I don't think anyone said the Rockets WEREN'T rebuilding... Also, I don't think being the 5th worst team in the NBA was along the plans of rebuilding in our 3rd year.
Well their lack of patience says otherwise. And come on! You and I both know the Rockets would not have ended up with the fifth worst record in the NBA if it hadn't been for the injuries.
I'm convinced that it's the constant overly negative rambling that has chased off the quality posters we used to have here. It sucks to come in here and constantly read negative crap all of the time. Our rebuilding process has gone absolutely fantastic compared to most other teams. DC is dead on- Sacramento was a total joke not long ago. Dallas had been a joke for what seems like forever. The Clippers keep drafting guys that could build a playoff team and then losing them. The the post-Magic Lakers coasted for a while with well-drafted talent but didn't get over the hump until they got Shaq- and they still didn't get to championship level for a few years. With Shaq! Post- Barkley Phoenix and post Shaq/Penny Orlando both rebuilt themselves quickly and well. But has Phoenix even made it to a fifth or fourth seed yet? These things take time. Good lord, how long has it taken for the Twolves to finally start playing well, and Garnett has been there how long? Think about it- Phoenix, Orlando, LA, all rebuilt pretty well- because they are awesome places with good management that can attract FA's and keep them. Houston is one of them. We are in the post-championship, post- dream team years. We got nothing for Barkley, a first rounder for Hakeem, Cato and Walt for #33. We took Cuttino Mobley with the 42nd pick, Steve Francis for Dickerson, Harrington and change, and Griffen for three 1st rounders that would have eaten up cap space. We attracted two major free agents in Anderson and Taylor who, though they may not be big impact players, were heavily sought after by major market teams. The point being, we can attract major FA's when we want to- hell, look at Weber- he's raging mad just because we didn't go after him! Look, in my eyes this all comes back down to the same pessimists cs. cheerleaders thing back in that terrible season when we lost both Hakeem and Charles to injury and the young guys floundered. Personally, I'm more of an optimist, I have a lot of things to be happy about with this team, although at the same time I hate losing. I don't like coming to this BBS just to be brought down by other guys who will only find the negative. I guess I should just use the ignore feature, although I would prefer there to just be a better atmosphere in here and to take input from everybody. Like DCkid said, "Being critical is one thing, but just being negative for the sake of being negative is another." I don't know if some of you guys actually need it as an outlet or something, but man, some of you do absolutely nothing in here but spew negative sh*t constantly. b****, b****, moan. It just brings the place down. We have things to be unhappy about, but we have things to look forward to also. The way I see it, we would have won at least seven, maybe ten more games if Steve wasn't out for that fifteen game stretch in the fall. If Taylor were healthy for this season we would have won even more.
It's important for everyone to define "rebuilding". We were in the playoffs without injuries. Is that rebuilding?
Also, correct me if I'm wrong but this is really only season number 2 of rebuilding. Everyone counts 99-00 but in reality we had Hakeem and Barkley and were expecting to make the playoffs until early sucking and then both getting injured ended that season. The organization did not go into rebuilding mode until after that season, not before it. So really in 2 years we've already started to lay down a nice foundation and, sans injury, hopefully we will continue to improve and be good for years to come.
We all know that rebuilding takes time and patience, but some b****ing is well-deserved. What are we rebuilding into? Do you see us winning a championship or being a perennial first-round out? If you wanted a championship, CD pretty much blew it by giving big contracts to mediocre players (MoTay, Moochie, Cato) and trading for Rice. Steve is a star and deserves the max and will get it. But he is not a superstar. He's 25 years old and he's pretty much as good as he will get. I don't see him leading the team to a title. Heck I don't see Garnett leading the T-wolves to a title, much less Stevie F. Cat is a good complimetary player, but as Bill Simmons pointed out, he is bigger on stats than on value. You need another high-caliber player either through free agency, trades, or through the draft. By locking the team's cap money into Taylor, Cato, Moochie and Rice, CD killed the possibility of getting a big-name free agent. When Rice's salary comes off the books in two years we will have Stevie's salary take up the cap space. Moreover, since our money is tied in such mediocre players, we won't be able to make any trade for a big-name player as well. Who's going to trade their studs for any combination of Cato/MoT/Mooch/Rice? That leaves the draft as the only option, and that's why we have to go through this embarassing display of late. The draft, however, is never a sure thing, even if you have high picks. Look at the draft history and see how many busts there had been. It's tough to know who will pan out and who will not. Even after a year Eddie Griffin is still just "potential" and not a "player". There is no guarantee that you'll pick the right man, not to mention that in some years there's just no right man in the draft. If they hadn't blown their money on duds, they could have gone after some big name like Duncan, Brand, or J. O'neal.
