Now that is a post! It's definitely time for Steve and Co. to grow up and either take it to the next level or start packing their bags because we all know if ANYONE minus Yao doesn't adhere to the coaches plan, they will be traded.
Brutally honest article. We Rocket fans have certainly been used to the national media saying we play ugly ball - that goes back to '81. But I think this guy just insinuated we were stupid and ugly. If he said that about my sister I'd have to beat him up. As it is, I have to agree.
At last, we few posters that see the clear picture have an article fron another State that makes a bold presentation of the facts of the Rockets present condition!! The one thing I dont like is Griffin for a Point Guard!
I love how people are falling all over themselves with double fistfuls of praise for an out of town sportswriter, whereas this time last year, whenever a writer would put "Ming" within five or fewer words as "Bradley", people would start lighting torches and gather up the pitchforks.
So what is this? We traded 3 first round picks for Eric freaking Snow? Hell No. I take my chances on Eddie actually finding his game with JVG. What he needs to do is trade quittens sorry #33 for his late brother's #41 (as soon as Rice leaves). Pippen put a curse on #33 before he left.
Those writers last year were making judgments without any merit. It was pure speculation. This article has merit and is simply a summary of everything we've seen first hand. Instead of attacking the writer, maybe you can point out the flaws in the article rather than making a generalized statement with no substance.
I may want to trade Griffin, but I'm not going to give him away for Eric Snow. I don't understand why can't Francis just learn to run the offense better? When he's shown he wants to control the game, he can. The thing is what gets Francis in trouble is the moment he has one of those poor shooting games, he feels he needs to come out and establish himself instead of being the team concept. Francis,Mobley and Ming can co-exist, its just the coach have to instill in the guards that the ball needs to go in first, then swing and penentrate. A good coach should be able to get it across to his players. The Rockets have a nice mix, they just need JVG to get them thinking about the advantage we have on 90% of the nights. Francis has a advantage about 25% -50% of the time. Work to the strengths and away from the weakness.
I have a lot of optimism that JVG will change Eddie's game significantly. Say adios to the 3-pt line, EG, you are about to be the inside banger we drafted you to be.
Did I say anything about the content? Did I attack Dave D'Alessandro? No, I didn't. I just made an observation. Sadly that seems to happen a lot on this BBS recently, people make an observation or observations, and in reply,a responding poster makes certain assumptions and draws certain conclusions, and then writes and angry retort to the original poster, attributing to him or her manufactured assertions that exist only in the responders imagination and not in the original post. But since you put it at issue, go ahead and distinguish the "pure speculation" fromm last summer from the unspeculative nature of the present piece. I'm waiting.
We drafted Eddie as a SF, but found out he was a growing lad who was more suited for PF. In fact, there was a time (pre-Ming) when some of the board, including me, thought he might grow enough to become the center. We drafted potential, and Eddie still may turn out to be the difference maker on this team. However, Griffin was not drafted to be "the inside banger" per se. That label came later.
from xiki: xiki, these kinds of posts are obvious and ridiculous. Sure it's Van Gundy's job to improve us. The thing is almost eveyone here has one or three players responsible for the poor play on the court. Even the most ardent Rudy-basher is disturbed by what we've seen. A coach isn't a magic pill no matter who they are. Hell yes a coach can make a difference, but even if the Rockets don't make a move before the season starts, you're still going to see some moves this year. When Van Gundy's watching the videos, don't you think he's going to ask "who is it that really got Rudy fired"? He is a coach, and Les made a change close to the top that was probably very difficult for him to do. An attitude of the players not being the problem left the barn once Rudy "resigned". For Van Gundy here, he's got to go to his strengths as a coach. Whoever it is that he can't deal with is going to go. I'd say Yao's safe, but no one else. Steve has a max contract that he would have gotten anywhere else, and though not a likely candidate to be moved, he's still vulnerable because of his value, and because his play last year with Yao didn't exactly jeehah with the really great things he said last year. Man, maybe Rudy became the antichrist last year and I missed it. A bad coach doesn't create articles like this one. I love the Rockets as much as anyone, but Yao's presence really has magnified the deficiencies we all have seen and have suspected for awhile. I love how people are ragging on a just turned 21 year old kid that was getting more PT than he earned. Yao got more PT than he earned. If that yields future benefits, which I think it will, it's still a "stupid" coach that did it. And missing the playoffs? That sucks for the owner and doesn't mean a damn thing unless you actually have a team that contend for the title. We were not one last year and there's only a possibility we can do any serious damage next year. Yao and Griffin represent those possibilities, everyone else around here has a pretty good idea of what the rest of the team can do. Apologies to Boki fans.
"3. Establish Yao is the Man: As Van Gundy put it, the best thing about Yao Ming is that he wakes up every morning at 7-foot-5. Such a weapon cannot be limited by the amateurish whims of two guards who don't like to post the ball regardless of the physical mismatch staring them in the face. He'll demand 30 touches per game, minimum. " I predict Yao will be a 19.8pt and 9.8reb guy next season.
Thank you for your help. My post was in reference to REIT talking about what others had said was wrong with the article. I will try to be less obvious for you and not at all ridiculous for you. OK?
Pure Speculation: Yao Ming is Shawn Bradley. How is this pure speculation? No first hand observation of Yao yet making the statement he would be the next LaRue Martin, etc. Let's examine his points: 1. Discipline. Fact or fiction- Team needs more discipline. Is this speculation? Open your eyes. 2. Defense. Fact or fiction- We need better perimeter defense that continually allowed opposing guards to penetrate causing our big men to get into foul trouble or led to easy baskets. 3. Establish Yao as the Man. Fact or fiction - this team needs Yao to be the man or it won't go very far. 4. Bring in a point guard. Fact or fiction- Our guards almost never setup teammates for easy scores. 5. Mobley should be a 6th man. Fact or fiction- Mobley is not a pure shooter and is best in one on one situations which is the exact opposite of what this team needs in their shooting guard. 6. Getting Francis to Buy In. Fact or fiction- Francis needs to step up and become a true leader. Yao is too young and the rest of the team isn't talented or assertive enough. The problem with this BBS is not with articles like this or posters who find it interesting that an out of town reporter has such a prescient pulse on the Rockets weaknesses. The real problem with the BBS are flippant posts like yours which serve no purpose whatsover. Your post did not add a single interesting or insightful observation. What did you say? Nothing. That's the problem with the BBS. People who say nothing but feel compelled to say it anyways.
I like the fact that the article doesn't sugar coat anything, however I find it to be overly critical and very disrespectful to Rudy T. The Rockets still won 43 games last year in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs by 1 game. They were in the 8 spot around the time Rudy T got sick. Looking at the Rockets East/West split, they would have won 46 games in the East. The Griffin for Snow trade is a joke.
Thank youRIET for taking the time to explain to SamFisher the difference.I find it hard to understand that one would would have difficulty between speculation and Fact.
