Who was the defensive specialist when we won our second championship? Hakeem, Horry, Clyde, Sam, Kenny, Elie? Only Hakeem and Horry were above average defenders. We played team defense for most part and had Hakeem anchoring the middle. Yao Ming and Eddie Griffin should be and will be those players. Where is the tenacious role player? Where is the veteran leadership? Nachbar, Maurice, Cato and maybe Oscar. The veteran leadership will be provided by Rice and Mobley will be in his fifth year. Cuttino: ballhog, demands the ball, plays no defense. I am tired of people claiming Cuttino is a ball hog and plays no defense. WTF was Cuttino suppose to pass to last year?!?!?!?! Clank Morris? Dribblehog Moochie? Mabye Cato? Black hole Willis? Airball Langhi? Stiff Collier? Maurice, Rice and Francis were hurt most if not all of the time. Cuttino's average assist per game was in par with other top notch shooting guards of the league. His defense is about average. If you wanna complain about defense, Steve Francis should be the first one on the list. Cuttino's defense will only get better when Eddie and Yao start anchoring the middle. MoTaylor: jump-shooting PF, no defense, no intensity. Mo will be the one that will be most responsible for opening up the lanes for Francis and Cuttino. I dont know of one other person that has as good a midrange game as Maurice. Mo played pretty good defense on Duncan two years ago and he is also average defensively. We dont need him to reb that much anyways. And Maurice is one of the top players when it comes to taking it strong to the rim. His dunks are simply breathtaking. Nachbar: offensive specialist, no defense. Can he atleast get a chance to play before we judge him? Rice: never-ever played defense, throws fits if his number is not called (at least in LA) Has he thrown one in Houston yet? We need him for his outside shooting and veteran leadership if nothing else. Griffin: will need plays to be called for him, otherwise his development will get stunted. Ming: will demand plays to exploit the mismatches he creates. I think Rudy knows how to develp big players fine. They both wont demand major play calling for them. It will be up to Steve and Mobley to pass when they pennetrate. Francis: he's still the Franchise, and still you gotta give him the ball. Agreed. But this will be the year where he has to prove that is a good "point guard"
You don't give a max contract to a 16-8 guy unless they also get 10+ boards, 3-4 blocked shots and 2-3 steals. Unless Steve gets a freakish growth spurt, I don't see him getting that many rebounds or blocks (although 2-3 steals is possible). If the Rockets are going to pay Steve the max he's gonna have to do one of two things: 1) Score a lot of points (25-30 per game) 2) Make a lot of assists (not less than 10 per game) Steve will never have the court vision and smarts of a Jason Kidd so I don't see him ever averaging over 8 assists (I think 6-7 is more realistic). However, his offensive skills are more than impressive enough to score 25-30 per game, so that's what the Rockets should use him to do. It would be stupid for the Rocket to try to mold him into anything else at this stage. If the Rockets feel they need more of a pass-first PG, then I hear Andre Miller is on the block (but we've gone there already). I actually feel that Cat and Steve are too similar and that the Rockets could use a better defender and more conservative shooter at the 2. At the same time, Joe Dumars isn't in the league anymore, so I think Cat is as good as we can hope to get. As far as the other players, I wish the Rockets had one "thug" on the team at the 4 or 5 spot and a Ruben Patterson/Mario Elie-type at the 3. I wish we had kept Najera back in 2000.
Ditto to what FP Kahn said. Ditto to CoinToss and mostly RocketFan007. Ditto to RileyDog. As Dvauthrin said: the Kings came very very close this year with a lineup full of scorers, most of whom realized the importance of team defense after the last postseason and worked hard on improving this year. The other problem is that you limit yourself to the last 10 years. Lately everybody's tried to model themselves after Jordan's Bulls or today's Lakers. The problem is that to do that, you have to have one Jordan, one Hakeem and exactly the right role players, or the two best players of your era (Shaq/Kobe). If you'll just go back a little farther though, to the two best teams ever to play at the same time, you'll find a Celtic lineup with Bird, McHale, Parish, Ainge, and Dennis Jordan -- scorers all, and a Lakers lineup with Magic, Kareem, Worth, Byron Scott, and o.k Rambis -- still we're talking 4 out of 5 who were scorers. Yes, this roster will have to learn to take team defense seriously in order to reach their potential, and we will have to find somebody who can be a defensive stopper to put on Kobe by the time we reach the point where beating the Lakers in the playoffs becomes our main limitation. But the Rockets of the early/mid 90's didn't start winning until those guys started listening to Rudy's message about how team defense made the difference between GOING to the playoffs and WINNING in the playoffs either.
Subtomic, I just don't see Francis averaging more than 20 points a game unless he moves to the 2. Would you rather Francis score 25 points a game and lose? I don't think Francis is worth the max but my opinion doesn't count. The fact of the matter is some other team may think he deserves it, so that's what we will have to pay him. Remember when Barkley and Clyde were here, they did not average over 20 points a game. It doesn't really matter how many points a person scores as long as we are winning and Francis contributes to that.
p.s. It would really be nice to see basketball go back to a 5-man TEAM game and not a one-man or two-man game. I loved Jordan, but nobody else is him, and all this iso and two-man stuff is getting OLD. We have a "starting five of the future" that could accomplish that, if they're willing to work as a team both offensively and defensively. If they decide winning is more important than statistics. And I am personally convinced that at least Stevie and Yao feel that way.
Ming < Olajuwon Let's not get ahead of ourselves... Also, Griffin, Lewis, Nachbar, and Francis are quite different from their 94 Championship counterparts.
Kayman, I feel you brother. There are several pieces on this team that don't seem to fit on a championship team: Mobeley-no, Cat, I'm not a Mobeley hater. I just don't think an undersized SHOOTING guard who hates defense can fit on a team with a PG like Francis. I would love to get a guy like Christie who takes pride in D above all else and can hit the occasional clutch shot. Like it or not, Cat's gonna have to check his ego and realize for this team to maximize it's potential down the road, he has to become the 3rd or 4th option and learn to become a role player who does the little things. If he and Steve insist on remaining the top-scoring backcourt and continue their personal quest to be in the All-Star game together, we won't win anything. Taylor-I know frontcourt depth is important, but the future starters are now in place, and Taylor is redundant. The strengths he brings (jump-shooting, passing, finesse) are also those of Ming, and to a lesser extent, Griffin. What we need is a bruiser with a mean streak who won't even think about roaming more than 10 feet from the basket. Griffin could partially fulfill this role with his natural rebounding and shotblocking skills, but I'm also confident by limiting him to this type of role we would be severely hindering his potential. A guy like Etan Thomas would be great. Cato-Obviously, if they had the opportunity, the Rockets would have dropped this dead weight a long time ago. Makes way too much $ for a backup. No point in going on...everyone knows about Cato. With Ming as the starter, the Banger-type could see minutes here as well. Here's how I would like to see the rotation: C-Ming PF-Griffin SF-Nachbar SG-Christie-type role player PG-Franchise Bench: PG-Norris/Maddux Swingmen-Rice/Morris Bigmen-KT/Thomas-type
Why is everyone second-guessing this mess now? Sure, who the hell wouldn't like to have Webber or Garnett instead of MoT and KT? Want a breakdown? 2 years ago, our own Dream promised Rudy that if he'd hold this squad together, he'd come back and make one more run of it. GUESS WHAT? Dream sold out (for a measly $1 M) after we went out and paid big bucks for MoT, Mobley, and Cato. We were the laughing stock of the league. We then puked in our own lunchbox when we got nervous (or stupid) and signed Rice to big bucks. That was then; now we've got something to work with. Griffith's gonna be pretty good. Garnett good? No, but pretty good. Francis will be in the top tier of points. Ming's gonna work out fine (probably better than expected in a couple of years), Natch will be a nice player (probably like Turkoglov), MoT's serviceable, KT is a nice 6th or 7th guy off the bench, etc., etc. Do you see a pattern? We have no Shaq or Kobe, no Jason Kidd, no Webber, no Garnett, no Duncan, no Malone, no Pierce, no Walker, etc., etc., etc. To be good, you need good guys. We've got plenty. To be great, you need powerhouse all-stars. Maybe Francis qualifies here, but maybe not. Our only hope is 1) Ming turns out beyond the wildest expectations, or 2) CD will pull off a blockbuster trade to get one of the aforementioned all-star studs. Barring that, we're destined to be playoff wannabees or 1st round histories.
Forget Doug Christie..has no game in pressure situations. Besides that tattoo of his has to go. ha ha ha
Awesome work, 03. Cuttino and Steve both shot about the same shots per game (18) and Cuttino had a higher scoring average. Therefore, if either one of them is a ballhog, it is Francis because he has to take more shots to get his points. (the difference is minimal, though, so either both are or neither are) You can call Francis the number one option and claim that is an excuse for him, but I don't think that's right on the offensive end of the floor. Certainly Steve is the more valuable player, but it mostly comes from his advantages in the all-around game, such as passing and rebounding. In terms of the ability to score points, I don't see how you can distinguish one from the other. And, since they both score around the same points on the same shots per game, either both are ballhogs or neither are. Truthfully, neither are; they just have to take shots because they haven't had the other options yet. Mobley's assists are within one of most other shooting guards in his class (Finley, Allen, Szczberbiak), and that's not factoring in the pass that sets up the assist, or team shooting, for which all of the other SG's teams' were better at than Houston. Mobley's also a hard worker on defense, and has rapidly improved. He's still not great, but he's at least average. The problem is that there are no stats for perimeter defense, so reputations tend to stick. Mobley was a subpar defender two years ago, but if you watch the games closely (and with an open mind) you'll see that he's come a long way. Like 03 said, if you want to complain about someone's defense, look at Francis... As mentioned before, this team is most comparable to the Kings of this year, if we can improve our team ball movement. Historically, the easiest route to a title is two superstars, or Michael Jordan. But, it's not the only route. The Kings proved this year that you can overcome two superstars with a team full of versatile scorers and talents. The only things keeping them from the title were Dick Bavetta and the free throw line, not their "style". I'd rather try to win in that fashion rather than ditch all of our players for dime a dozen defensive specialists, and hope Steve and Ming turn into Shaq and Kobe. The important thing is that we have a lot of pieces to a championship puzzle. Do we have them all? Who knows. But you don't go from 28 wins to a championship overnight. Let's just go out next season with what we have, see how we do, and then see if we need any of those pieces. It's not too hard to go out and grab a Bruce Bowen or Shandon Anderson.
Did you guys hear Rudy speak in code on 610. Q: Rudy, do you now have the guys you are going to go with? A: (paraphrasing) We are keeping our options open about adding a player that might be available due to other teams not wanting to pay luxury tax . . . . who the hell is he talking about? Doug Christie. the kings need to unload salary b/c they are going to sign bibby. Christi is a probable candidate. If we get him, we have that defensive perimeter stopper that we need. No, he can't stop Kobe, but nobody can. However, on most nights, he will at least prevent guards from running down the lane like a super highway. That's my addition to this team. Rudy knows Torres is not the answer.
Rileydog -- I like that train of thought a lot. Christie would be a great addition to this team. He brings us all the stuff Shandon was supposed to. Plus, we know that Rudy has wanted Christie for years (remember the aborted Hakeem trade), and he has a tendency to make it a mission to get guys he's always wanted (Walt, Rice). Make it happen, CD.
I'm not worried about the defense, the Rockets aren't "forcing" players into roles. The Kings went from one of the worst defensive teams to one of the best defensive teams over the last few years. As long as everybody is healthy and buys into the system the Rockets will be fine.
I'll speak my peace and then leave it at that: All the people calling for defensive specialist need to show me the defensive specialist that were bounced out the playoffs. Patterson,Bowen and Christie were all done in by their inaptitude to make the other player play on the other end. Kobe basically took breaks on defense while guarding the players mentioned above. Shaq did the same against Davis,Rose and McCulloch. To become a good defensive team, the team concept has to be in order period. A team doesn't have to have a roster full of good defensive players to be a good defensive team. A good example is Boston of this yr. Name me all the good defensive stopper they have on their team. The only player regarded as a good defensive player is paul pierce, thats it. The reason they became a good defensive team, rising from 20's the yr before to fifth in ppg allowed and opp fg % was team defense. Gone was the gambling full fourt man to man defense and in place were people trusting each other and playiong the passing lanes. The Rockets have no worse defenders than the Celtics its just the mind set of the team. They have no "defensive specialist" on their team. Many people like to look at the lakers as the epitome of a good defensive team, but as we all know, when Shaq isn't in the game , its an entirely different ballgame. Horry the so called defensive specialist gave up about 20 a game against a limited Kenyon Martin. Its all about making opposing players respect you and playing good team defense. If the team has been told to force a man baseline, half the team can't send a guy baseline and the other players send them to the middle. Say what you want, but Rockets defense will improve very quickly with ming playing center.
After being drafted, Ming was asked a question :" what can you do to help Rockets?" His answer was :" grab more rebounds" This is Ming. He started to merge himself into the Rockets team already. He is a guy caring about the team win. He will be happy not have the ball to score if nessecery. But I think it is not good for PG taking too many shots. My prediction: if mobley and francis insist taking more than 30 shots a game, Rockets would not go anywhere.
Team Defense is much easier to play with 2 shot blockers in the middle. Ming and Griffin will allow the guard to be much more agressive and gamble more often. Give the other players time to develop and learn their rolls and we will be fine.
An intimidating presence at the 4/5 and a defense-minded 2? Sounds like Alonzo Mourning and Eddie Jones to me. Too bad Reilly couldn't do anything with them. Could Rudy? Especially surrounded by the young talent? That ship has passed more than likely. Would the Nugs like anyone on our roster (not named Yao, Steve or Nachbar) for NENE HILARIO? What about GS? They paid a pretty penny for Jiri Welsch, what would they want in trade?
PLEASE PLEASE DON"T GET CHRISTIE. How short are your memories??????? Were you not watching the same Western Conf. Finals that I saw? Was it not Christie that put up 5 terrible shots in the OT game? For some reason, he must think himself a shooter of substance. Yeah, he'll hit the occasional wide-open 3, but who doesn't? He completely and singlehandedly (sans refs) destroyed the Kings' chances of beating LA. Oh yeah, his defensive prowess is highly suspect, too. Bryant beat him like a circus monkey on every possession. Don't give me that crap that "no one can stop Kobe", because Kobe is mortal if not teamed with Shaq. Hell, Shaq was double and triple teamed every game, every play. You'd think they'd find a way to get Bryant open. DON"T GET CHRISTIE, he's another Shandon Anderson, but without a shot.
