Ok, now that my stupid, sarcasm full threads are done with, I want to give one mental note I made during the playoffs this year. Now, I do not think its too early to talk next year matchup and future matchups. So, lets talk. At the current rate and with the current player types the Rockets are using to rebuild, they can pass the Pacers, Knicks, Blazers and Spurs in 2 years. Within 3 years, I think we can bust a can of whoopass on the Lakers. How? All the elite teams have the same weaknesses. The weaknesses I am talking about is speed, youth and athleticism. The Lakers have some. So do the Spurs. And so do the Blazers. We are starting to get it. But we are starting to get ALOT of it. We do lack size. Thats plain to see. But we don't need power players. Players like Etan Thomas and the like are played out in the NBA. No Oakleys or Brian Grant. We need bodies like Garnett, Duncan, Ratliff, Outlaw, G.Hill...players that can dribble and play multiple positions or block shots, rebound and hustle. Right now, the teams on top can't even start to think about being that type of team with the exception of the Blazers. But, they are getting old and still need one go to guy with cojones and a brain to lead them. The way to beat the Lakers is with quick double teaming and rotation. You need players who can trap mid-court to slow the set offense down and then be ready to double team O'Neal, even triple teaming, and then be fast enough to rotate to the other players. I think we are half way there. The Lakers are also weak at the 4. We can draft one now that can exploit that in the coming years. The Lakers are weak at the point guard. We have Francis for that. We sign Cuttino and there is another instant mismatch on the floor along with Francis. We can make teams who have good backcourts play both sides of the ball. That will wear out their players and bring the advantage to the Rocks in the end. Of course, we can get tired just like any other team. But, the main teams are way older than the Rockets and this method can work for the next 4-5 years. You can do this to the Spurs, the Knicks, the Pacers, the Timberwolves, the Suns, the Heat, the Blazers, even the mighty Lakers. None of them can handle heat like the Rockets can dish out. Shaq will be Shaq. No way around it. But, I am not scared at all of him as much if we play them like the Sonics played us when we had Dream and Drexler both tearing it up. That is the same type of team we need to build. That is the type of style that will get us the wins. Fast. Athletic. Defensive. We are half way there. We have Francis, Anderson and Mobley(if he signs). If Cato gets his head on straight and bust his ass a little more, we are set there. We need that swing man. That 3/4, Garnett type player who will wreak havoc with speed and athelicism. You have to give Rudy and the Crew alot of credit. They are building the right type of team at the right time in the league. We gave the top teams problems this year and we didn't even have the whole crew on the floor at the same time for 80 percent of the year. I would want a team like this after 2 years: C-----Cato(If he decides to play.) PF----Moiso or Swift(This is hoping, of course) SF----Anderson(I think he can play the Pippen role with no problem) SG----Mobley PG----Francis That, my friends, is wicked, wicked, wicked athletes who will make a lot of teams lose sleep. Bench players are always available and I don't see any problem putting Mobley in the starting lineup. The only team I can remember even being close to this one that we had were the 92-94 Rockets that consisted of: C----Dream PF---Thorpe SF---Horry SG---Maxwell PG---Smith That team was fast, played great defense, had a dominant player and gave the Bulls and all the other team fits! And I think that team would run around the Lakers today. The one team that was able to beat us consistantly? The Sonics. By doing all the things that we are going to be able to do if we continue to get these types of players. I think we need the same type of athleticism the Sonics had when they had Payton and pre-donuts Kemp. They were the type of team that can shut down a post up team with their double teaming and can run teams ragged with their athleticism. Yes, they never won a damn thing. But, they didn't have Rudy T either! We have the draft pick. Lets hope we get a big piece of the puzzle so that we can dance in the streets of Houston under our new stadium in downtown!*** ***Of course if the team moves to Louisville, drafts Iakovos Tsakalidis or trades Francis for Croshere, then just disregard all the words on this post. ------------------ I Want To Thank God For Making Me A Rocketfan [This message has been edited by Almu (edited June 20, 2000).]
All I could think about after the game last night was "I want the Rockets to be the team that takes down the Lakers, again." What you say is true, Almu. I would love to see us take on that lethal Sonics-type of swarming defense and fast-breaks-a-plenty. I think we saw in the last 15 games of this season how fast our guys are getting there. It's all about repetition. We saw them coming together, trusting each other and having each other's back. Steve knew where everyone was going, where they were going to be. They came together and they are spending the summer knowing that not only can they win but they can win against the so-called elite teams. There are no excuses for playoff teams fighting for position to lose to a team with a record like the Rockets had. Those wins were real they are a glimpse of things to come. The Rockets were the only team to beat both Portland and the Lakers twice each this season. The ONLY team. I know some of you will be quick to point out that one of those Lakers wins was when either Shaq or Kobe were out. Well, we lost Barkley. We also lost Hakeem for most of the season. But most importantly, we beat them on Sunday in February on NBC when they had everyone. We were the ones who disrupted the Lakers run in the 80's. We were the ones who disrupted the Bulls run in the 90s. I have no problem being the spoiler in the 00's. ------------------ RocketFuel is taking the summer off!
Almu- I agree with your assesment, but you are assuming one major thing- that all these guys will play D. Anderson does all the time. Cato does some of the time. A rookie PF is an unknown. Francis & Mobley are both quick, athletic offensive players who have not learned to play D yet. Will they learn to??? Mobley IMO was a better defensive player his rookie year when he didn't need to score, so maybe he was expending too much energy on offense. Francis is just learning, and yeah rookies do often get torched in the beginning, but he (like Mobley) made some players (ala Cassell) look like scoring champs. Francis was also very active offensively, but not as active on the defensive side of the ball. My point is I don't know if we can be a good defensive team. Only 2 (Anderson, Cato) of our starting 5 have shown an ability to be a defensive presence. Also our bench as it is now doesn't seem to have a lot of defensive stoppers either. ------------------
Okay. I agree Al. We still need an answer at the 3/4 as you mentioned. Anderson just cannot match up with a vast majority of the threes coming out. He needs more meat on him, I think. He also doesn't have that wingspan that is getting more predominant in the SF/PF position ... kinda like Horry's eagle drift and Garnett's huggy hooks. DerMarr Johnson is supposed to possess the right tools .... Miles is suppoosed to have them or headed in that direction. But you hit it on the head with the mention of Swift. This Odom-type player has height, some size, a great wing span and is fast. Man he is quick. He can play multi-positions like KG and Odom. can dribble and carry when called on. Then you add someone else who has maybe more weight than athleticism, a little more defense than offense, to the backup PF role, that to me is the direction of the 3/4 spot. Gee, maybe DerMarr is a better bet than Moiso at the #9. ------------------
The Lakers are also weak at the 4. We can draft one now that can exploit that in the coming years. It's true they are weak at the 4, but they can get someone in the offseason or something. Since the Lakers are a proven team now, more people in search of a championship will want to come to them to play for less money. I've heard rumors about Brian Grant headin there to play for less also. But IF they dont get any upgrades, and stick with someone like Green and Horry at PF, then I think that KT could just dominate them without us having to go out and and get a new PF in the drafts. KT'S got lotsa post moves, the only thing he lacks is height, but he wont have any problem powering over A.C. Green. I doubt he'll have much problem with Horry either, seeing as how KT was able to play well against Mcdyess & Raef Lafrentz also. But real nice post. ------------------ treasurer of the moochie norris fan club
Almu, I totlaly agree with a higher defensive intensity. Can the rockets do this with Walt at the 3? The funny thing is the best defensive player in the draft after Martin and Swift is barkley. I would love for the rocs to draft him if they got a 2nd pick ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
not sure I understand what GUILE FROM sTREETFIGHTER has to do with anything, unless you plan to utilise his speed and agility alongside Francis and Mobley. ------------------
Joe Joe-Not either of the N'Diayes, Mickeal, Carrawell, Samake, or Tsakalidis? Again, we'd have no use for him, as he'd get nearly no PT behind Francis. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better.
Nike, Barkley is the best perimeter defender and will give ballhandlers problems. He will lead rookies in steals if he starts. His size will give him problems aganist the bigger PG and SGs, but his speed will give them problems. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
Joe Joe-I'll take Mickeal's defense over Barkley's every day of the week. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better.
