What? You mean that the Rockets don't read this site and do what we want, when we want it !! OUTRAGEOUS !!! Git riddy of Ruddy. DD
He sounds like he deserves more minutes than Yao and Yao playing more minutes than him simply because yao's first pick status.
If they don't, even more reason to think that they may have some screws loose. It's becoming more and mroe obvious that Steve is playing out of position, both offensively and defensively (heck, he's alluded to moving to the SG twice himself in teh last month - but this debate is for another time). I guess I was just presumptuos in think that the Rockets aren't satisfied with where their "superstar" has "lead" them. My bad.
So Cuttino Mobley just came right out of the second round averaging 20 a game? Francis was an All-Star right out of the gate? What about Kenny Thomas? Langhi, Maddox, and Morris? Can you tell me what teams regularly have 2nd-round picks that end up being contributors? Hakeem got old and retired. Not-so-great players only look good when they surround great players. If the players you mentioned are thriving without great players on the team, then the team most likely isn't very good.
The most important question is how have those players improved their games, as a symptom of the coaching, such that they improve the team as a whole. Has a few years of experience helped their games?? Certainly. Did the coaches teach, as an example, KT, his improved footwork?? Maybe. Did any of those new skills lead to a better team. Only marginally. I could care less if Cuttino is a 20 ppg player. Some could argue he is a worse teammate now than he was his rookie year. For a stretch in the mid-90's the Rockets either regularly had late or 2nd round picks, or old CBA players that regulary ended up being useful contributors to the team. Granted, the talent level in the NBA has picked up so much over the last decade (younger, more talented kids leaving early, foreigners coming in, etc) that it may be harder to find spots for those people. Of course, the other end of that argument is that solid players are getting pushed down and can still be had. Rashard Lewis, Gilbert Arenas - not one team doing it consistently like Rudy and Co. used to but it can still be done. Is this one of those arguments, then, that leads to the conclusion that we don;t have great players, because our not so great players look like cra?
I assume that you would like the PG to bring the ball up decide where we need to attack or who he needs to get going, call the play, and get that done. Newsflash - point guards don't call the plays anymore. The coaches do. So if LS or RT tell the point guard to run the Yao play, the PG dutifully throws the ball down to Yao and waits for a pass back out - just as the play was designed. And somewhere on the clutchcity BBS JayZ is posting what an idiot the point guard is. The PG doesn't design and call the plays. Not to mention, SF doesn't control the ball nearly as much as he did last year or earlier in the season. Take a very good look at the game tonight and realize that 75% of the time, the Rockets post up Yao or Mo and run the offense through them. Maybe six to 10 times a game SF will call his own number and take a shot. I can live with that from my point guard. If you say, we are not going to post. We are going to put the ball in your hands, SF. And it is your job to call plays and get everyone shots, then he will deserve all the blame we heap on him if the offense is stagnant. Until then, put the blame where it really belongs.
Collier. You are making millions for just being on the team. You don't even have to attend the games. Why should you complain?
You know what they say when you assume... I don't care who calls the play. With a true PG, the play run doesn't matter. That PG is able to recognize, within any play, if there is a guy open for a split second and get him the ball. Steve has amazing creating abilities. But even then, the extent to which he uses the abilities to play as a true PG would is either the alley-oop pass to Cato, or the kick out to the three point line. He does those well, I guess, but a true point can do that, and also run the pick and roll successfully, and also spot someone cutting backdoor, or, in the end, realize that he has nothign after 2 seconds and pass. Something that Calvin always says but is underappreciated on this team is if you don't got anything in 2 or 3 seconds, pass the ball. What else does a good PG do: Run an efficient fast break, make sure that effective plays are called/run out of timeouts, keep a better eye on the shotclock, and, this is really not position dependent, play defense (something I think Steve is better suited to do at the 2, especially if he put on another 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason). What does Steve do well: He finishes, and, in general, he scores. Offensively, sounds like a SG to me. And hit's not just that he does, but he does it extremely extremely well. Good enough to be all-star caliber. If he was taller, he'd be another Tracy McGrady. Plus, he has got to be one of teh worse PG defenders in the league. I realize that it is impossible to defend the good PG's in the league every play, but to let them blow by you every play is ridiculous. In either case, I think he and Cuttino are repetitive, Steve is the better all around player and should be moved to SG.
it's amazing how stupid the rockets are. they could have had jamaal magliore or desmond mason. and they most likely could've gotten a better player than bostjan nachbar. this would've been the ideal lineup: C Yao PF Magloire SF Griffin SG Mobley PG Francis this lineup could've done some damage in the postseason.
complain of not giving a chance? come on, he was the starting center while Cato is out, while until Yao had a break out game in dallas..if he could beat Yao and Cato in prcatice, he would be starting, Yao is starting and Cato is backup because they all better than you. it is fair.
I don't see what's so hard to understand about a player looking better than he actually is when he's put next to Hakeem Olajuwon. Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell were nothing when they came to Houston. Maxwell was BOUGHT for 25K. While in Houston, these guys won championships. When they left Houston, they were OUT OF THE NBA. Seeing as how we don't have the best player in the NBA on our team anymore, we don't have a guy that's going to make scrubs look decent. Let's see -- Robert Horry. In Houston, wins championships. After leaving Houston, his biggest accomplishment is throwing a towel at his coach. Suddenly he's placed on a team with Shaq, and now he's Mr. Clutch again. Funny how that works. The Rockets' eye for talent hasn't changed, they just don't have a guy that erases everyone else's mistakes and gives them wide open shots all day anymore. Correct, the Rockets currently don't have any great players. They've got Stephon Marbury with 3 less years of experience and a rookie center who shows flashes of brilliance. Perhaps the reason you think Mobley was a better 'teammate' when he was a rookie is that he had Barkley, Olajuwon, and Pippen in the same lineup?
Great point freak. This is exactly why guys like Bruce Bowen, Stephen Jackson, Troy Hudson, and Joe Smith go from journeymen scrubs into "good clutch team players", why guys like Bibby are thought of great, team oriented, players instead of good but self-oriented players, and why Tony Parker becomes thought of as Jesus in his first year. This just in, Ginobili would look like a hopelessly lost and completely ineffective player for 80% of NBA teams out there.
I am not sure about this point though. Francis is awefully close to being a great player. His total contributions certainly are more than anyone Phx, Portland or Detriot has--all of which could make the playoffs. (You possibly could suggest Ben Wallace has a greater overall impact or is the greater player right now--but no one else on these teams IMO can you make this case. Steve rebounds much better than Marbury and gets a lot more assists than Marion--and more importantly his scoring efficiency is much better than either)
I do not blame Collier at all for being frustrated. The guy seems to work hard and have a nice jump shot. He says that other guys got opportunities and time after time they have failed. Collier believes that if something is not working, then change plans, which is normally alright. In his first year of his career, Collier was solid. I remember him scoring 10 - 12 points in 13-15 minutes in his rookie season when Cato fell to injury. Collier, I believe, has potential and is a hardworker whose dedication would pay off if he plays. For those of you who said that Collier does not show anything, you better check again. As for the criticism of Mo Taylor, I think that Collier should understand that Taylor is a solid ball player with lots of skills and his been contributing solidly this year. The achilles' injury is a tough injury to recover from and Taylor has made solid contributions in the past, so that means that Taylor has the ability to continue his contributions. I think that some of his criticism also is at Eddie Griffin. Griffin has been struggling and inconsistent, but yet he has remain in the starting lineup. Collier probably feels disappointed at the fact that Griffin is inconsistent and maybe he thinks that he can make a better contribution. By the way, is TheCat around? He likes Collier and always backs him up.
poor collier, boki, morris. they are going to get the same fate as langhi. langhi was not given the ENOUGH chance to improve. now even though he is given playing time in phoenix, his confidence is already down.
