Friends, let us brace ourselves for another lottery season for our beloved Rockets. Last year, I predicted this and everyone flamed me off this BBS. This year, let's hope we can honestly discuss this rather than get nasty, OK? I would like to believe otherwise but ever since the preseason I have questioned whether the Rockets would be capable of having a respectable season. Granted, I do think that they will have some improvement over last year, but the West got a lot stronger during the offseason, and those little wins against the Lakers and Blazers we got last year are just not going to happen this year. Take the Mavericks off our list of "sure wins", plus the Kings are still going to give us fits. This is not to say that the season will not be exciting. I will have much fun watching the Rockets grow and learn and hopefully provide a lot of good entertainment. But, as young and inexperienced as they are, I don't hold any illusions that they will make the playoffs this year any more than they could have last year. Let's break it down: Maurice Taylor - great player, playoff appearances = zero - also a weak rebounder who doesn't look like he's going to improve much Cato - inconsistent, young, and foul-prone. Not going to make a huge difference Francis - never been to the playoffs - still has a lot to learn about controlling a game and when to shoot vs. when to pass. Mobley - probably the ONLY guy on this team that is a TRUE stud and to me is the real team leader and star. But, still, not going to make the difference between playoffs and lottery... Maybe on another team but not this one. Olajuwon - still can be somewhat effective rebounding the ball, but teams aren't even double-teaming him anymore. Since the Rockets used to live and die by Hakeem's passes out of the double team for 3's, I don't expect Olajuwon to make much of a night-to-night impact. Shandon Anderson - scrappy, tough, good defender but is still a role player. You don't win championships without good role players. But good role players don't win without legitimate go-to guys. This team has one in Mobley but he's not going to carry us out of the lottery single-handedly. Walt Williams - this guy has been on so many teams - and he's never had a major impact in the playoffs. I don't expect that to change this year. Anyway, I want to hear what others are thinking on this subject as well. ------------------
I agree. It's one thing to play well at the end of a season when your team is way out of contention but it's a whole different thing to play well when the season means something. Mo Taylor is still ole Clipper Mo with his 15-16 pts and 4-6 rebs. Cato is still playing like he's a junior lost on the varsity team. And let's face it, Stevie is immensely talented but he still needs more time and experience to really be a front line superstar. Reality check says the T-Wolves, one of the teams predicted to battle for the 8th seed, are a heck of a lot better team than the Rockets right now. ------------------ "Somebody DO something out there." -Bill Walton
let's get nasty! ------------------ Mobley and Francis ...are not the two best players on the team. - Rockeem 11/2/2000
I simply do not agree. We can make the playoffs by doing 2 things better than last year: FTs and TOs. How many games would we have won had it not been for giving away all those points? You say all the other teams have improved, but so have we. You breakdown our lineup and give your reasons why each individual will not get the job done. Have you done this for all of the other teams that you say have gotten stronger? What makes you think that Portland will even be as successful as last season? They added so many new people. How do you know that they will mesh? What about Sacramento? They have their first 5 games without Williams. C-Webb might decide that he is definetly leaving the Kings midway throught the season and lose interest. Are the Sonics a lock? How do you know that Ewing will not break another bone and miss most of the season? Is he any less vulnerable than Hakeem? Plus he'll be taking a bigger beating than he ever did in the East. Will Minnesota fall apart at some point? Can Dallas make a true team out of all that bought talent? Will DVD players in their locker room make them a better team? Will LA win as many games as last year? Can Rider be a good boy ALL season long? What about Phoenix? Can Penny make it a whole season without getting injured? Will Rogers be as good as last season? There are too many factors involved in us making the playoffs. You really can't say whether or not our guys will come together. Do you consider what we did in the last 10-15 games last season a fluke? Did all those playoff teams roll over for us? I doubt it. They were all fighting for position. I can tell you this. Our guys will be a better team this year. They know each other much better and the lineup has not been drastically changed. LA and Portland will not win as many games as last season. That means there will be more wins to go around. Some might go to us. Some might not. There will be an intense battle for the last 3 playoff spots. I beleive that we will find our groove and have our fair share of winning streaks. I truly beleive that we will make the playoffs. The first part of our season will be incredible tough considering that most of our competition in the 2 months were in the playoffs last year. We might start slower than we like but we will not have a repeat of last year. We start winning more this season, especially towards the end of the season. ------------------ RocketFuel is dead!
hey The Cat (if you're out there): ever thought about forming the Snap Judgement Police? ------------------ Mobley and Francis ...are not the two best players on the team. - Rockeem 11/2/2000
Timing, What do you mean "still"? It's been <U>one game</u>. By that logic, Cuttino is now an all-star and Steve has regressed. And the idea that we played well at the end of last season when it didn't count is absurd. The games NEVER count for the Clips or Griz, so why don't they win any? Besides, the games did count for the teams we were playing against. [This message has been edited by Tb-Cain (edited November 02, 2000).]
Man you guys are really jumping the gun here. I have to agree with TB in that it is way to early to tell. I can only guess, but you guys being the reactionaries that you are, if we have a great game tonight does that then make us championship contenders. I think not. Here's a novel idea, why not put this topic off until the All-Star break. You know, the half way mark in the season. By then we should have seen enough games to have really seen the true character of the Rockets. ------------------
better question: can penny start a season without being injured? dude ought to change his name from penny to wooden nickel. fragile b****. ------------------ Mobley and Francis ...are not the two best players on the team. - Rockeem 11/2/2000
Absurd? Did the Rockets not play well toward the end of last season and did those games mean anything towards making the playoffs? Those seem like undisputable facts to me. The Timberwolves are a better team than the Rockets right now, another undisputable fact. As for Mo Taylor, time will tell but I've never heard of a player "learning" how to rebound after being in the leagues a few seasons already. Rebounding has always been called a hustle/desire statistic. Those are adjectives rarely associated with Mo Taylor and Kelvin Cato. ------------------ "Somebody DO something out there." -Bill Walton
Axe, too early for this, but got some valid points. ------------------ Sometimes you gotta do the next best thing!
Timing, it should have read "the idea that we played well at the end of last season because the games were meaningless is absurd". Those games did mean something to the opponents who were fighting for playoff positioning - an undisputable fact, as you like to say. Are you suggesting the Rockets CHOKED on Tuesday because it was a meaningful game? The situation had nothing to do with how well the Rockets played at the end of the season. The other teams certainly weren't lying down for the Rockets. ------------------
I guess my point is that last year I said it before the season started and it obviously worked in my favor. I think that based on looking at the other teams in the West and the talent level on the Rockets right now, it's easy to see that they will have a hard time making the playoffs, and odds are that the lottery is in the cards again... As far as the assertion that we played really well at the end of the season and that should count for something... We were beating mostly veteran teams. This is a trend you will see throughout the NBA. The veteran playoff teams will many times struggle to beat the younger more athletic teams toward the end of the season. The older guys are just simply running out of gas. Think of the Rockets from 94 until 98 (Barkley's last full year). They always got beat by the Clippers, Mavs, T-Wolves, you name it at the end of the season because the old farts were too tired to keep up with the young pups. Anyway, we'll see what happens... I hope I'm wrong but logic tells me we're in for a long season. Another thing -- Everyone is so high on Francis and while he's no doubt a great player, he's not near where Iverson was talent-wise his second year in the league. It took Iverson a few tries to get into the playoffs. I think the same will hold true for Franchise. ------------------
Axeman--good points. I also think it's too early to make irrefutable judgment, but all very good points. ------------------ Jazzkiller
I'm not suggesting the Rockets choked. I'm suggesting that last season a lot of teams were overlooking the Rockets towards the very end of the season. This happens in the NBA. Dallas rattled off a seemingly impressive string of victories at the end of last season as well. They were not a playoff team either. In fact looking at the Rockets games last season. In March, the Rockets went 5-10. Inlucing losses to Phoenix, Utah, Minnesota twice, New York, Milwaukee, Indiana, and Toronto. All pretty good teams. Their only win against a winning team that month was on March 2nd, a 3 point win at home against Sacramento. Now in April, they go 7-3. Their wins over bad to mediocre teams were Atlanta, Vancouver, Denver, Dallas, and Seattle. Their wins against good teams were against Utah (old team playing without Hornacek), Portland (old team who matches up poorly), and Phoenix (Googs and JKidd both DNP). For the record, old teams do get tired and do overlook bad teams at the end of the season. How impressive does that month of April look now? ------------------ "Somebody DO something out there." -Bill Walton
Those who think it is too early to tell... Do any of you also believe that it is also too early to tell if we will make the playoffs and win games? It seems to me that everyone is ready to give the Rockets the benefit of the doubt but not really willing to express doubt. Hope springs eternal, I guess. I agree the Rocks will improve, but to the playoffs in the West? Not sure. ------------------ Save Our Rockets and Comets SaveOurRockets.com
