Lets all be realistic. Who cares who wrote the article. Its real simple to see that Shandon is being shunned on the offensive side. Here are a few problems I forsee with this whole situation 1. Rudy T. Rudy is the single most in touch person with this ball team. He has to realize that Shandon is only getting 2 shots a game. It is his job to set this right. Not just allow it to continue hoping it clears itself up. He could do this by actually playing the teams best defensive player in the 4th quarter for a change. Since last year Shandon has had to sit in crunch time. When it was direly obvious that the team could use a defensive presence in many games last year, SA was caught on the bench. I point this finger right at Rudy. Shandon DOES have more than adequate offensive abilities. He can easily post up 90 percent of the players at his position to include Kobe. The fact that we never ever see plays or post ups called for Shandon is disturbing to myself as a fan, how do you think Shandon feels about it. Lets not pretend that this is new. As early as the first half of last season Shandon was grumbling about his role on the team. 2. Francis/Mobley. Its a widespread notion that teams need defensive role players who play within the flow of the game. Anderson is that player. For Francis to openly shun anyplayer regardless of what his personal problems are with them is the greatest sin a player could make. The GREATEST. What FA is going to want to come to Houston if they look at another player who is in "Houstons dog house" getting shunned by their own teammates. And if Mobley is going along with it to align himself with Francis then hes just as simple. 3. Besides Shandon, who on this team plays defense. If shandon bolts, the Rox are stuck with a whole cast of non defenders. Francis, Mobley, Bullard, Cato (only blocks shots well), Wizard, Kenny T, Taylor, Collier, Langhi, Moochie, and in his older age Hakeem. Thats as rediculous a non defending team as their ever has been. 4. It is not anyplayers role to dictate who is in the "doghouse". NEVER EVER. IF Shandon is in Rudy's doghouse so be it. Even though I strongly disagree with Rudy's abilities, he is still the head coach and it should be his decision as to who is in the dog house. 5. If Shandon Anderson bolts, rebuilding will take 2 steps backwards. I promise you that people. Anyone who watched Anderson shut down the Millers, Kobes, Riders, and Iversons last year, knows how extrememly valuable he is. If you believe Mobley is suddenly going to be a defensive stopper next year Ill have a chat with you after next season if Anderson bolts. 6. If Anderson can not be involved in the offense (ahem Rudy) that would make the top 2 FA's in a two year stretch who had the same gripe about Rudy. For as much as a punk Snottie was here in Houston I can look back at that season and find validity in that Scottie was NOT being utilized properly on Offense. These things stick with orginizations. Add to that Mo's pending walk (cause at the rate his play is going he's not going to be retained) and its enough to make Houston One of the FA havens to one of the FA Donts. It is my belief that SA is being shunned by certain teammates and not utilized properly by Rudy. Many many of us have been thinking the same thing for a while now. Shandon is more important to this team than many of you may realize. If he leaves it will be a horrific loss. ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink
Last night, SA's stats were: 17min of action 0/0 field goals. ZERO field goals attempted. What's wrong with that picture. Shandon Anderson is a damn good player who can bring a lot to the picture. And im not too happy with the whole Steve/Cuttino relationship. IT's one thing to have a tandom like that, that produces a lot of offense for you, i.e. Michael/Scottie. Its a totally different situation when that tandom seems to openly refuse to get anybody else the ball. I've heard Francis talk about it before, and how he PRAISES Cat, and the whole wristband thing, and how he will go to Cat. Where the hell does Shandon fit in there. U have to involve everybody in your offense, especially someone who DESERVES to be involved. ------------------
True that. ------------------ da ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence - alaskanSnowman
Shandon is vitally important to this team. I completely agree. But, if he is complaining about not getting to post-up, screw that. That is complaining about wanting to do something that will not work in the long run, and is out of our game plan (to post-up guards in the low post). Francis really isn't even doing that too much this year. Shandon cannot dribble well enough to initiate offense at a sustained rate. And he does not have a pull up jumper either (or a fadeawa). And he can't do the Walt double pick stuff better than Walt. Guys, Shandon cannot beat a double team, so he is not an ISO candidate in the low post or anywhere. His offense comes from the results of play execution. You don't call plays for Shandon; I am sorry! Shandon's scoring percentage is where it is because he is in great position on many shots, and he is good at cutting to the hole for passes. If you ask him to run plays, his % will go down, imo. And if it succeeds for a game or two, defenses will quickly shut that Payton Post-Up crap down because Shandon will never beat a double team. If Shandon is complaining about being waved out of the Low Post, well, he should stop complaining about that and learn to dribble if he wants to initiate offense. He needs to improve his outside shooting if he want to pick-n-roll with Mo, Collier or Francis. Anderson has not shown me any offensive skill improvement to warrant anything other than back-doors and wingside slashing. Saying Shandon is vitally important is one thing, but I am not listening to any complaining like this about posting up. I am sorry!
I was afraid of something like this would happen. I really expected it to happen between Mobley, Francis and Hakeem. Cuttino demonstrates some open disrespect of the post players while he "Jacks" all kind of shots at that rim. However, I hope Rudy (the players' coach) will be able to nip this in the bud. This was the main reason I cringed when Cuttino made the statement about being leaders and everyone else just following. Maybe they should have put an assist clause in Cuttino's contract! ------------------ Respect Hakeem's legacy. A championship in the hand is worth two in the bush!!
This is a very serious problem. I agree with Dreamshake when he says Rudy is not utilizing SA to the best of his ability. SA is a very good post player with many moves. His weakness lies in his ability to handle the ball. He will not drive to the hole very often because of his trouble at handeling the rock. However, he is excellent at cutting to the hole and is almost unstoppable if given the ball on the cut. Rudy's offense is pretty stagnant. SA is at his best in a motion offense. I have seen flashes of passing the ball around and working for the best shot, but it is usually early in the game and, for some reason, they forget about it as the game goes on. ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know.
Now heypartner... Now I know you love the ISO death trap offense to itsty bitsy pieces. But come on. Running it 90 percent of the time is just going to lead to the same problems that the Dump it in Offense led to. Inability to do anything different once opposing teams adapt. Actually just to defunk your thinking of Anderson.....Anderson should absolutely thrive in an iso oriented offense. Mobley out on the wing dribbling, dribbling, dribbling causes opposite end defenders to be lulled into moments of sleep, or overly trying to rush over and help out on Mobley once he makes his move. Anderson is a great cutter to the hole. The problem is that when he cuts and is open, hes not getting the rock. Mobley is shotting the J, or driving the lane. Mobley will put up a horrific shot amongst 5 defenders before he'd dish the rock. Anderson does have a decent outside shot. Remember he shot much much better than Francis and Mobley last year. I believe outside of Hakeem he lead the team in FG percentage. I know he finishes 8 million times ( ) better than does Mobley. Mobley misses more layups than Arnold Palmer does these days. If Andersons strenght is the post up game, then he should have plays called for him. Its that simple. If this team were a post up team would you be telling Mobley to get a post up game to earn a shot. Of course not. ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink
First of all, the cat's gotta go. We all saw who the key was last night. The All Mighty Hakeem. Shandon needs to slap cat before he starts tryin to get married to Stevie. Their gay antics have no place on the court. SA needs to stup up and show the cat whats up. And give it to Hakeem!!! ------------------
Steve may be making this situation of not efficiently distributing the ball to SA, from not only the squabble, but a part of this may be to help make Cuttino look that much better than Shandon. I feel Steve wants CAT starting with him in the backcourt. I can imagine that Steve looks up to and publicly praises CAT so much, he probably questions why CAT has to come off the bench when "He" believes CAT is the better player. (Even though he may not say this publicly) ------------------ Sometimes you gotta do the next best thing!
Anyone know if Toni Braxton is involved??????? ------------------ "It's incredible to see how he [Mobley] can beat his guy one-on-one every time. That is a tremendous talent. The combination of Steve and Cuttino, I think, is wonderful in the backcourt." --the Dream
Dreamshake...I DO NOT love ISO. I love motion and flex offenses. I apologize for ISO and try to figure out why Rudy runs it so much...but I have never liked it. That is the reason I would NEVER put Shandon in the low post, because it is ISO and I do not like, especially when the guy can't dribble. He gets ISOs like anyone else who isn't a scorer...on mismatches in transition, or when we play Philadelphia. Seattle sucks because Payton runs too much low post ISO. Shandon will not improve our offense by doing that. Shandon is not a great scorer, and that is why he doesn't get plays. He should stop complaining. And by the way, he nearly blew that Laker game that he is complaining about. Shandon sucked on offense in that game. Really bad. Go find a tape and look at it. Shandon sucked on offense. He had two air balls and two pitiful drives and blind pass turnovers at very critical junctures, plus he got badly stuffed by Kobe on another occassion. It is because he has no lateral moves or spins, and that requires dribbling skills to succeed in the NBA. Please, don't call me a Shandon basher, because defense is what wins in this league, and Shandon is our main man. But he needs to improve his dribbling for me to give him the ball on offense.
DS...Having a good outside shot does not mean you can get it off at will. If he shoots more, he will get defensed more. IMO Anderson should be scoring at 50% considering where he gets the looks. BobFinn*...having good moves in the low posts (which i don't think shandon has) means nothing if you can't dribble or shoot fade-aways. You might score off dribble-less spins for awhile, but you will be shut down eventually. That's why I say his FG% will go down with more plays. Now, with all that said, I completely agree that Francis should run more motion. But, that means Shandon must allow him to wave him off in the low post. The way I remember all Shandon's request for the ball are due to quick positioning off of transition. If you complain about the PG waving you off because he decides to not start a transition play and wants to switch to half-court for that possession, then that is all you are doing....complaining to the PG.
The Jazz are the masters of the quick offensive strikes before the defense is set. SA knows a little bit about this. Francis does not. While Francis is talented, he has a LOT to learn about running an offense. Think about it for a minute, SA comes from a motion offense run by one of the best PG in the NBA to an offense with very little to no movement and a PG who is just learning. Thats got to be frustrating. Hopefully this can all be worked out and become water under the bridge. I am betting Rudy runs some piks to free up SA to cut to the hole. It will be up to Francis and crew to get him the ball. ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know.
you are right....I'd agree that Francis is not giving the quick strike a fair shake. I'd go so far to say my greatest disappointment in Mobley and Francis is they do not push the action to get Anderson in transition. To me, Anderson is extremely valuable in primary AND secondary transition plays. Mobley and Francis seem to resort to the half-court game too easily. I believe Anderson is a happy camper once our transition game improves. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 19, 2000).]
heypartner...Im thinking maybe you misunderstood my tone in my earlier post...let me restate. "Now I know you love the ISO death trap offense to itsty bitsy pieces ( ). But come on. Running it 90 percent of the time is just going to lead to the same problems that the Dump it in Offense led to. Inability to do anything different once opposing teams adapt. (And none of us want to go through that again) Ultimately Im finding major faults in Francis, and Mobley in all of this. Because it is the role of a teammate to get his entire team involved. Not just his friends. I especially am pointing a huge finger right in the eye of Rudy. This is his team. He is the coach. He is responsible to ensure he has a TEAM effort every night on the floor. And if one or two players were not playing that way, (even though Stevie is one of my favs) bench them. No one wins in any sport by not finding ways to get their teammates involved. I promise you that if Shandon has to continue drudging along with no support he is going to bolt. And I promise you that the Rox without Anderson next year have absolutely no shot at any kind of semblence of a playoff spot. ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink
This is a very weird argument... wasn't it the same Shandon Anderson who played with the Rockets last season with the same 2 teammates in Mobley and Francis? Didn't Shandon consistently improve his offensive output every month of the season to the point where he scored 17-18 a game during the last month of the season? I'm guessing (and this might be just a guess), but the Rockets have another bona-fide offensive option in Mo and with Dream's mini-resurgance and the development of Norris it just seems that there are less shots to go around then last year, someone has to pay the price and it seems that Anderson is the one who is giving the shots up.... I don't know if I agree with that - but I'd really like to see Anderson getting his looks on the breaks and slashing (which he does so well!) ------------------
There are times in life when complicated issues can be resolved with simplistic solutions. Moochie is the take charge guy of the second unit and IMHO he pushes the tempo better than Steve. Have Shandon play with the second unit till he gets himself together again. Collier (and KT on occassion) runs the floor well for a big man and Bull is available at the 3pt line for a secondary break. This idea will probably not sit well with SA fans, but 14 points off the bench feels alot better than 2 as a starter. And most of us know how much Moochie loves an assist! ------------------ GATER
Good post Dreamshake. Shandon's been one of my favorites since he got here. Then I wake up and hear this sh*t... Two points: 1) The dude's mom just died. That's hard. Some people take it well, some don't. Everyone eventually (key word) gets over it. 2) He's in a slump (to steal a baseball phrase). Also something he will get out of. Something you said caught my eye: "If Shandon Anderson bolts, rebuilding will take 2 steps backwards." I'll second that. Luckily, everyone's been steppin' up to cover Shandon's "downtime". But that is also a temporary thing. Shandon will come back when he comes to terms with what has happened. Death tends to put us on our worst footings. He'll recover. Has everyone forgotten what he did last year? THAT is the Shandon we have to look forward to. Just give him a little time. I don't know how much Rudy has to do with it. He certainly hasn't seemed to adjust Shandon's PT any, probably by design (keep him active, he won't think about it, that sorta thing). Maybe Shandon ought to see a little less PT until the storm is over? I dunno. That IS up to Rudy... ------------------
DS...I don't believe this article. Bob* made the best comments regarding getting Shandon involved. Our transition offense is pretty non-existent. What do you think about our exchange above?
It's not about one play. Of all the players on our roster, Shandon is the only guy who bring the defense night after night. You HAVE to reward that. He does very well in transition, and giving him the ball on the break is one way to reward his defensive efforts (as well as benefit the offense). But S.A. also excelled in Utah at posting up smaller guards. I'm not talking 15 plays on the left block - I mean that he got 3 or 4 good post-up opportunities during most games. Rudy, Steve, and the rest of the club need to see to it that Shandon gets the ball where he can do something with it. A few post-up plays would further this goal, keeping him happy and, perhaps more importantly, make his defender have to play defense. Shandon's defensive assignment gets a little easier if his man has to play a little D himself. I guarantee you, if Anderson is frozen out of the offense in Htown, he'll find a club that will give him the ball next season. And if he's not seeing the ball because of Stevie, well, Franchise needs to grow up. ------------------
