Well, of course you're right. What do you want to do about it? We have to make the best of this situation. The trade bait out there is pretty nasty. I don't know if it's better to try and play the FA market, or pick up damaged goods/malcontents now. I'm not very optimistic about player development, generally, with a few exceptions. I want to see the key to a player's game early, and know where it fits in with my team's game plan. I think it usually takes about 3 years for a college player to show his skills in the pro game, another year or so for a HS phenom. After that, I don't think players really ever change, no matter what the coach says or how they try. MoT will always be the player he is. Cat, KT, Cato, Moochie, Hawk, etc. We have a lot of players who are already set in their ways, and can't really be anything else. SF is there, now, too. He won't ever be anything different than he is now. Don't kid yourself. Maybe we can use the great side of his talent, but don't expect a change. I'm only going to except Tmo and Griffin, as possibly different players next year, if they get bigger and think faster. Is that likely - probably not. We do have a mystery in Snackbar - can't tell what he'd play like. Maybe he fits with Ming. The good news : We DO have Yao Ming, and he has shown himself VERY EARLY. We already have a good picture of what kind of player he is and what he can do. We can fit the other pieces around him, over time. What does he need to be effective ? That's really the long term question, and probably more than one answer. Here's my stab : A good backup, strong and fierce. A big, strong, fierce, PF to protect him, swing the ball and rebound A silky shot, slashing sf that can grab carom boards. A perimeter d two that can slash and shoot A pg that can work the 2 man game, dump it in, and score on the iso A sixth man that can slash and score A frontcourt backup that plays with heart and hustle, that knows his role. Offense is Yao/Guard option 1, open shot option 2. Defense is man with strength inside. We don't have that kind of team now. With what we do have, we should concentrate on defense, IMHO. Our players will be better suited to a low-scoring affair, and we should coach accordingly - favoring few trips with high percentage options. A shootout just exposes our clanky holes, lack of movement & smarts, and offers low percentage options vs. their easy baskets.
kidrock, Outstanding analysis, I agree 100%. I would also add about the coaching. Rudy is just not a coach for young players. Obviously, he is either not getting through to these guys or he has given up trying. To me this is the most worrying thing of all - that the coach really has no control over the team. Another thing that is worrysome as well, is that with the exception of Yao, we have a team full of players that are not sound in the fundamentals of the game. Kidrock's analysis above points out the specifics, but if some of these guys would concentrate on doing the little things that have to be done, then that would go a long way in making us a better team. Right now, we are winning because of talent. However, that is going to cause us to be inconsistent and a team that MIGHT make the playoffs but one that will never win a championship.
The Rockets will be fine. It's true SF got schooled by Andre Miller Saturday night because Andre apparently has taken a page from the Calvin "Stop and Pop" Murphy book. Steve is not playing defense well because he is so banged up from charging into the paint and getting hammered game after game. When he turns to juke, fade and pop from the perimeter of the paint like Miller, he will be even more effective than he already is. I wish people would lay off Eddie Griffin. He is developing and anything we get from him right now is a plus. We knew when we drafted him that it would take time for him to really blossom. I like to look at the years it took Jermaine O'Neal and Tracy McGrady to ride the pine before they came into their own. Please believe....and be patient. Mo Taylor needs to play. He is the better passer and, in the games he has played, he showed a better feel for passing to and receiving passes from Yao Ming. He has gotten into foul trouble in the past because he was the only big man we had and was drawing a crowd in the paint. The situation is different now. With the attention focusing on Ming, his rebounding will improve and his need to dribble and drive like a guard will diminish. K.T. is more effective off the bench than starting IMO. He gives the Rockets fire and punch and is not nearly as mismatched against frontline PFs. Against second stringers, his first step speed and spin moves are much more effective. We need that while the starters rest. Can you believe I was disappointed Yao Ming only had nine rebounds against the Clippers? At the first of the year posters said they would be tickled if he averaged 14-7. Now, we are disappointed by those numbes. What a difference 20 games make! And don't forget that Cato has made real strides and is a very, very good backup without sulking over losing his starting role. Rice has been decent this year posting up opposing small forwards. His "3" has been there but has not been as prolific as I had hoped. T-Morris is coming along and I like his game. I just hope Santa helps him find his shot again. Nachbar should just be coming around from his hernia injury -- yes, it takes that long (been there and done that). That's what has been throwing his shot off. By the spring look for a lot of Boki. Cat is still a weapon and plays defense despite his ankles. He even admits they are not 100% and won't be the whole season. I wish Rudy would rest him more. Hawk's defense is the real thing but nobody fears his shot. Early in the year, it was there. Now it's gone. I think a Cat running on the floor is better than a Hawk flying all over it, but both games are certainly needed. Anyway, that's my two cents worth.
To make the offense effective, Rudy needs to make the offense little unpredictable and take high percentage shots. To make the opponents to adjust their D with ROX offense, the players need to move the ball and not jacking up 19/20ft jumper. Well, 80% chance, the ball either ends up in CAT or SF. And they're still in "shoot first and pass second" mentality. C'mon guys, Yao only shot the ball 9 times. I like the idea of trading CAT for EJ. At least, ROX have one less ballhog to deal with.
The problem is a lack of defensive intensity, confidence and player maturity. Right now Rudy changes the line-up too often; even before the injuries. By the way, how do you like hearing (ALWAYS) players from opposing teams say that they had their best game of the year (and sometimes their careers) against this Rocket team? This has happened about 10 times since last year. There are always records being broken against our team.
Sane, you might be on something here... I get the same feeling. I don't think that Francis knows HOW to play defense. It's almost like he uses the wrong foot work...or maybe he's just not heavy enough to break through the screens. He's light as featherweight, and get's bumped off the pick most of the time.
Might it be called plantar fasciatis? That makes it really hard to stay on his toes. Might it be called shoulder separation injury? That makes it hard to keep his arms raised on defense. Steve is still banged up and continues to be because he defies the tall trees. Their bark has been worse than their bite on Steve. I wish he would listen to Calvin: Stop and Pop! Stop and Pop! Stop and Pop!
But what is your perception of the team? Is it from this post of yours: "This is just the same old story from the Rockets. They simply don't try against lesser teams. They turn on the intensity when they are down 9 with a minute left. They are an embarassment. They have so much talent, but they have the wrong attitude. This has been the case every year since 99. Nothing has changed. This team will go nowhere until a change is made in management." or something different?
Regardless of the inuries, Steve never lacks on the EFFORT. He just doesn't seem to know the little tricks. The angles, how to position himself, how to move, things like that. Those are things that someone can teach him. Bring in a defensive PG, TELL him to teach Steve, and TELL Steve to learn. As for him being a featherweight, you couldn't be more off base.. Before our game against Washington, I read a scouting report from a Wizards assistant coach, and he specifically mentioned Francis being one of the strongest PG's in the league. He said something like "he comes backs to DC every year and really hits the weight room...He's become so strong, one of the strongest at his position..." DavidS, BTW, It's ok....I'm ON something more often than I'm ONTO something anyway......lol....
The only guy on this team that is cleary a problem to me is Moochie. He's just not a good player in any respect even though he's probably the best passing guard on the team. We cannot run a three guard situation where Moochie is one of the guards. He can't shoot or defend and I'm begining to think it was Matt Bullard's shooting that got Moochie his contract. That little high pick and roll that they ran was golden but since Bullard left Moochie has nothing to offer at all. The other guys that people b**** about, KT, MoT, TMo, Eddie, etc. just need more time to find their niche on the team. We haven't even played half a season and people want to rebuild and trade most of the team away. It's ridiculous around here lately.
They need a little more time to gel. Most of elite team in the league need sometimes to get accustomed to each other before they become good. Unless you have a PG name Kidd who make the game easier for everybody, it will take time to get used to each other. Look at the Kings, it take them a couple of year to be this good. Same thing with Dallas. Or may be a couple of guys name Nash and Bibby does make a difference. I would give the Rockets another half a season to getting use to each other. After all, we did see some improvement and flashes of brilliant. If after they have time to adjust and they still not doing any better, then I think management need to make a change. Not sure where to start but the Lakers start to win championship when Jackson replace Harris. Nets start winning when Kidd replace Marbury. Same thing with Dallas and Sacramento when Bibby replace J Williams and Nash took over the point guard for Dallas. I do think that Francis at this time of his career is not a true point guard. He relies too much on athleticism and less on being a general on the floor. Sometime he tried too much to pass the ball around where there is nothing there and at other time he reluctant to pass when there is a man open. That doesn't mean he cannot improve though. I truly believe Steve had tried so hard to make the team better but sometime you need to sit back and let thing happen naturally. But if the experiment fail, then he should be move to a shooting guard where he can continue to flourish. I remember AI in his rookie year was averaging like 7.5 assists a game (a figure that Steve was never been able to achieve so far), and still he was move to the shooting guard by Brown because he doesn't have the mentality of a pg. I think Mobley would be a good instant offense off the bench like a Vinny Johnson of the old Detroit Pistons. So, I don't think we lose anything by bringing Mobley off the bench. So, as I said before, give them another half a season to gel. And if things don't work out then management should make a change in the off season so that we won't waste all the talents that we have.
Sane, I didn't mean weak. I mean light. He's 6'3", but light (193lbs). Thus he cant power through the picks. Stephon Marbury is 6'2" at 205lbs. Shorter package, heavier built. Baron Davis is 6'3" but 223lbs. I counted three times last night that Francis was on the floor from a pick; He's tripping and stumbling all the time. The same problem that haunts Griffin in the post, is causing problems for Francis on at the top of the key. He keeps getting picked off on the screens. I even seen this same problem when Steve brings the ball up the court. A lot of lesser, but heavier guards(opponents), are able to body him and pressure him to cough up the ball for a turnover. That's why you see Rudy switch Moochie to the PG some times when he notices that Francis is having trouble bringing the ball up the court.
I did a little analysis of the PG position. The opponents starting PG average 16.4 Pts, 7.4 asst, 4.3 reb, 43.3% shooting, 79.3% FT, 24.3% 3pts against the Rockets. Now normally against the rest of the league these PGs only average 14.8 Pts per game (I included Tinsley's average PPG eventhough he didn't play). So Francis gives up an additional 1.6 pts per game than the average PG.
You must be kidding me. You must have never seen Jason Kidd and Gary Payton play. Or you are probably in denial. On a related note (to this thread), I have a question: If we fans see what works and what doesn't, why doesn't Rudy? Can somebody more knowledgeable please answer this?
I can name many! For arguments sake I might suggest Miller, Payton or Kidd. All better assists men, can score big numbers and play defence. By the way in the offseason I asked for us to trade Francis for Miller but everyone shot me down!!
Kidrock-Great post- Glad to hear someone besides myself tell it as it is! By the way how can we get this information to Rudy? Rudy seems to not see these problems, some of which have existed for seasons. Kidrock do you thing we can do anything via. the ,Fan Consulting Commitee'?
Bobreck- That was just one of those "My god the Rockets just lost to the Clippers" reaction posts. After I cooled down a bit, my perception became more positive.
<blockquote><hr>Everyone knows that I'm the resident pessimist, now that ZRB seems to be more optimistic than ever...<hr></blockquote> There is nothing more stupid or embarrassingly juvenile than labelling yourself as pretext to your words.
