Take a season long perspective after a 1-3 start like this. There are few short term positives. So, are there any long term positives? maybe 1. Francis has slowed it down. 2. 4th game...Rudy took 2 Shakes away from Mobley in the second quarter, and found other ways to get Cat open, like Walt's double pick. 3. The rotation defense looks good. Now let's learn to play it at a full 24-seconds. Damn Rodney Rodgers! I also see 2-3 nice new plays a game. Low frequency, as if Rudy is slowly testing new plays. We do have some efforts at general ball movement, slashing drives (by Walt/Shandon) and dishes. Too often the movement ends in a 3 or an sub-10 sec ISO. Digging down into positives, I see an attempt to win with what won last April and try some new things slowly. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 06, 2000).]
HeyPartner, I need to see more set plays, picks and roles, give and goes...etc..etc. With our strength at guard, the PF and C position could get some easy baskets if they would come out and set a screen then role to the hoop. I am tired of Francis...dribbling so darn much. He needs to move the ball around and get the rest of the team involved. DaDakota ------------------ All you MO-FO's better stop ripping off my lines !!
DaDakota, I guess one thread wasn't enough, and you have to dribble around like Francis and turnover every play. I got some negatives, too. And I'll post them in your thread...don't worry. Can this thread be positive? maybe <font size="1"><font color="> [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 05, 2000).]
If you think these are positives partner, you are crazy. We have some serious problems. With no inside presence, we will rely on our gaurds to constantly(and willingly) force the ball through the hoop. I'm starting to worry about that 8 seed. ------------------
AllMigthy go whine somewhere else. what, are there only negatives!! Well, if so, there are many negative threads for you to call people crazy. I see some longterm positives and want to know if anyone else does as well. Now go find a negative thread. It's pretty easy to do.
I'll give you a positive: We're not last place in the west. Just tied for it. With a team that got their only win against us. ------------------ stop posting my damn signature
Hey my bad partner. Just giving my opinion. Didn't know their were only pos and neg threads. My bad, didn't mean to upset you so much. ------------------
AllMighty,,, that's cool. it is very hard to see growth and to be patient. There is not much new Rudy can do with shoddy execution. You certainly cannot run multi-option sets with poor execution. Nor can you just wave a wand and say let's establish the low post. Poor execution just winds down the 24-sec clock and ends up in an ISO. I like to try to see what the attempts were, even through the noise of poor execution. That's why I have tickets. It is a long road to contending. I enjoy the journey, as much as the final quest.
As frustrating as it is to watch, the positive I take from these two losses is the fact that we have had numerous opportunities to win the game, and we did enough to keep in it, but we just couldn't execute down the stretch. We just missed too many easy opportunities. We almost got away with it against the Clips, but we will get murdered against better teams if we do the same. Hopefully it is something that will improve in the short term. ------------------ Maybe all the rulers are wrong. Current Rocket's Salary & Contract Info
Hey well I'm diggin deep to give us a positive. Since the Gizzard is gone(sorry about the prediction, but it was a gimme), maybe we can slide Shandon down to 3 and get catino in the starting line up. Although thats coming a bit small against the Lakers. But that's a loss anyways, gauranteed. But after this game maybe with The cat in to start and SA at 3 we can get a little fast break going. This wil be ok as long as his inner voice doesn't tell him to put up every shot he can. We defineatley need some easy, gimme points. And watch out for Bullard. He will fill the Gizzard's shoes well (both offensively and defensively). ------------------
Positives, you want only positives....hmmmm...ok...let's see.... Los has played well when he has been in there. Walt has played extremely well, and Cuttino is playing great too. That is all the positives I have right now. Oh, and KT is looking much improved. DaDakota ------------------ All you MO-FO's better stop ripping off my lines !!
Do you see any positives about Rudy? I really like the fact he toned down the 2 Shakes from Mobley in the 2nd quarter, after his miserable performance in game 3. I know Walt was out, but that was great to see Mobley used on the weakside for once. We started the 4th with some nice double picks for Mobley. I really did like the rotation defense in the 4th. We put Phoenix in a scramble several times. Unfortunately, they still scored in the final 5 secs several times on drives. But, I do like seeing the other team have to work the whole 24-sec clock. That is an improvement from last year. I also really like the ball movement to Walt and Shandon who then drive for shots or dishes. That is something we haven't done in quite a long time. Pippen was supposed to do that, but never did.
I'm not one to ever blame the coach,(unless as I said before, he gets Hakeem hurt gaurding Shaq tomorrow), but as I recall he did pretty well with a group of so-so NBA ers this summer didn't he? Hmmmmmmm... ------------------
I think Walt has to be number one on the list of positives this season. If his slow start last year was due to his disappointment at leaving Portland, then he seems to have really come into this season with the right attitude. Led the team in rebounding (8) against Minnesota in 25 minutes. Led the team in scoring (28), rebounding (10), steals (3) and blocks (2) in the win against Milwaukee. Played only 20 minutes against Phoenix and still scored 11, grabbed 5 boards (1 shy of the team lead), dished 3 assists and came away with 1 steal. I'm really enjoying watching the Wiz play this year, and seeing him hustle. Another positive is Shandon Anderson who is good for 14 ppg, including 25 and 19 point performances, while hitting on 50% of his shots and grabbing 5 boards a game. He also has only 4 turnovers in 4 games. Stevie hitting for 56% from behind the arc. Taking only 9 attempts in 4 games. Since his 4-15 opening night, he is 20-42, 47.6% from the field. The Rockets have been in the last 3 games without getting much of anything out of Mo Taylor or Cato (due to injury). Once they figure out how to use Taylor and he becomes comfortable in the system, the Rockets will not only be in games, but start winning more than they lose. That's not to mention what Cato will bring when he returns. ------------------
Could it be? Could AllmightyHakeem be Tybrave? The inability to spell? The flowing writing style? The unforgetable "hmmmmm" ? Though he may have learned a little something about Thread starting.....the possibility? I'm getting nostalgic here.... ------------------
HP, Something I just remembered from last night -that play where Shandon gets the steal, beats Kidd in a race down the floor for the loose ball and then dives in front of another player to come up with it - then passes to Mobley(?)for the easy layup. That was PURE MADNESS. Shandon is just so freaking awesome. Another point, (sorry to derail your thread but better to post here than start a new one)for a time in the 3rd quarter last night (when the Suns went on their run) we had Moochie, Mobley, Francis, Rogers and Bullard. Now I'm not going to complain about the three guards, but where is your rebounding coming from? Both Bullard and Rogers, to put it politely, get completely manhandled on the boards. If we are going to go with a small lineup, we need someone with strength to grab some boards. ------------------ Maybe all the rulers are wrong. Current Rocket's Salary & Contract Info [This message has been edited by davo (edited November 06, 2000).]
davo, Rogers has bulked up over the offseason and is a quick leaper with great reaction. I think you might be underrating his rebounding prowess. Last year, he averaged 5 RPG in 20 minutes, and this year I think he would be even better if he got the time. Of course, the Rocket guards rebound better than most guards, IMO, as well. ------------------
Couldn't be....too much capitalization to be tybrave. ------------------ Save our children from the TAAS test: TAAS test report card TAAS test fact sheet
"Now if we get to 1-7, let's talk.-ROCKETMAN Well, we're 1-3 right now, and our next 4 games are Lakers, Grizz, Lakers, and Blazers. I think it's quite possible to go 1-7. But on the whole positive thing: It will just take time to get everything going. We can't just continue on the streak we had at the end of last year becuz a whole offseason has passed, and plus we have a new player in Mo Taylor. It'll take some time to get everyone ESPECIALLY Mo to get used to running the plays and knowing where everyone is supposed to be. WE're a good team; it'll just take some time(hopefully not a lotta time) to show. And it's pretty amazing how the Rox can just turn it on in the 4th quarter. Sooner or later, we should be able to start off well from the beginning and keep it that way. ------------------ president of the dan langhi fan club.
Positives? I got your positives right here! We don't have to look very far to see some positives. Remember Milwaukee? What impressed me about that game was that the Rockets were aggressive on defense and decisive on offense. I was thrilled to see them swing the ball around with quick, sharp passes and they would keep passing until they found the open shot or fake a guy up in the air and drive past him for a mid-range jumper/runner. But it really was the defense that made me sit up and take notice. These guys have the skills to put up big scores and eventually will develop a system to do it with more regularity. I'm not worried about offense. Defense, on the other hand, has been a weakness that a lot of us have been whining about for a while. That is the biggest positive I've seen this year - I just hope the players recognized that difference in the Bucks game and look to build on that. Also (this isn't exactly a positive, sorry hp), don't forget that injuries have really hampered our progress. This team has been plagued with injuries since '95 and it always hurts. However, with young guys looking to develop chemistry, it hurts even more. I'm still excited about this team. Looking at the long haul, we still have a lot to do to get back to the top but the foundation is coming along nicely. ------------------
