I don't agree with Griffin not being the starter part. With KT moving to the 3, there are only two PF left: Eddie and Mo. Of the two, Eddie is clearly the more all-around player. Of course, his offense still need to be polished, while Mo has a better J at this point. But look at the last two games. When Eddie was the go-to man in the second half, he responded very well. He will be the third best all-around player after Francis and Ming. He should be starting. But Mo will see lots of PT. We actually have two starting materials at the 4. What will happen, I believe, is that Eddie will be the main backup to Ming at the 5. Rudy will phase out Cato (unless some mystical stuff happens to him some fine day! ). With 96 total minutes at the 4 and 5 spots, the rotation of Ming, Eddie and Mo will amount to about 32 min. each. Ming won't see that much PT this season. But don't forget KT can still man the 4 for 5-10 min a game. Anyway, I expect to see Eddie and Mo playing a lot of minutes alongside each other when Ming sits.
Damm good post Yetti........you da man Dreamshake man its hard to belive you follow the Rockets much at all Looks like you get your stuff off of NBA.com or some other goof ball spot.....
CoPilot Ive been watching the Rox since you were a seed in your daddy's sack. Anyhow, this was a thread to spark conversation. Obviously what you have provided is junk to the contrary. Debate the points all you want. Disagree, give your (here's a word who's definition you should look up) OPINION, or go cry on the ESPN boards of the pending Championship the Rox will win this year. EASY...the reasons I think Eddie will still be backup to Mo this year are: Rudy doesnt easily remove people from the starting lineup once they are there. He shows a great deal of patience and loyalty...especially to Big Free Agent signings. Mo's Offensive game is (or was at last check in) lightyears ahead of Eddie. People can blab all they want about preseason this and preseason that...Ask Cato what preasons can get you...but my bet is that Mo Taylor is going to have a solid solid season this year. With Eddie getting alot of minutes behind him and at the 3 also (at least I hope so). Now everyone put your official Rox total wins predictions here.
OOOPS almost forgot. Don: Why am I a Rox fan. Cause when I was a kid growing up in Dickinson they were the local team. Explains why I love the Stro's too. Because as a Kid, I wished I was Moses Malone soooo badly. I watched him put up shots, miss on purpose just so he could get the board and put in the follow. When everyone else in the world was on the Celtcis or Lakers jock, I was the only kid who was screaming go ROCKETS. Because I thought Lewis Lloyd was the coolest mofo on the court. And that Robert Reid was the only man on the earth who I believed sucessfully could guard Larry Bird. Because when we drafted Ralph Sampson, I was in bliss...and when we got Akeem the following year, I was in heaven. I actually wanted the first pair of LA Gear Hakeems...complete with the twisted "fire" leather on the sides. Even though Karl Malone wore them too. When we beat the Lakers in 86 I reminded everyone who was the only W.C. team to beat the Lakers in the 80's in a playoff series. When we lost in 86 to the C's, I cried. I could go on and on, but does this short list suffice???
things i mainly disagree with. one, griffin should start now, his defense is that good. i guess your point was rudy might not start him even if he's worthy but i don't think that's the case. griffin will own that spot by the end of the year. two, kenny is too good to struggle. getting mop-up points and rebounds will alone make him worth his court-time. i've liked what i've seen from him at the 3 and the opposing 3's trying to guard eddie. it's worked. three, if mobley isn't averaging over 18 points than by default imo, ming is getting plus 12 easily. actually i think both will get their points- mobley 20, ming 12. four, i predict the 6th seed. earlier in the offseason i went with the 8th but the decline of a few previous playoff teams and our vast improvement makes me believe we'll do more than just sneak in.
You're right about that. But, in the end, the best players should start. When MoT is on the court, I "yawwn...." Good, not great. Decent, not exciting. Solid, not dominating. Consistent, not a momentum breaker. Lightyears? What about the rest of his game? Eddie will win out in the end. By the way, I really do want to see MoT do well. But he's going on his 5th year. Tick, tock...
Good point. I guess we should ask ourselves, "Will the Rockets be better than the 7th and 8th seeds in the west?" I say, WE BETTER BE, or we suck!
10. Bostjan Nachbar will see very very little time this year. AGREED. Maybe more at first with MT and TMo out. 9. Cuttino Mobley will average less than 18 a game. But his shooting percentage will increase. AGREED. 8. Griffin will still not be starting by the end of the season except by default. AGREED. He may be one of the best "6th" men and be the spark defensively RT wants to put in after the first 10 minutes. He'll see plenty of time though. 7. Steve Francis will not lead the team in Rebounds again this year. Will make the All star team again. AGREED. Yao Ming should be getting boards and Steve should be burning down court. 6. Ming will average less than 12 pts per game, and less than 10 boards. DISAGREED. 12-14 points would be about right. 7-8 boards would be fine. 5. Mo Taylor will eventually be the teams second best all round player and contribute greatly. AGREED. He will start playing better D and will pick up some rebounds too. 4. Kenny T is going to STRUGGLE if he plays alot of time at the 3. (But Kenny is a fighter, he'll do the best he can and still put up good offensive numbers) DISAGREED. He already looks good at the position. 3. We will still struggle to beat the good teams on any kind of consistent basis, but mop up against the average and below average. DISAGREED. I think we will battle the good teams and have good success, especially later in the season. 2. At some point, The offense will stagnate again. Iso left, Iso Right. To many fresh faces and returns from long layoffs to have a good idea of what everyone is going to do. NULL. I think that will happen early with the new faces, but will be less as the season goes on and everyone gets in the flow of the new offense 1. We will win 42 games and just miss the playoffs...wait till next year though. DISAGREED. 50 games and 4-6 seed.
Sorry, but u lost me when u said MoT would be our second best player. At best he will be our 5th or 6th best behind... Francis Mobley Griffin Yao Ming KT or MoT Mo has some nice low post moves and decent mid-range shot...that's it! KT has a better all-around game.
MT should be better (in an all around way) than EG and Yao Ming, at least until they develop more later in the season. Cat could be on level with MT that way. All of them are going to be really good... It's a good problem in rating them!
compare this team to the one that won 45 games two years ago: starters 2001-2003 dream-cato moT-griff shand-rice cat-cat steve-steve bench cato-ming kt-moT bull-kt walt-oz mooch-mooch collier-collier langhi-Tmo ir colson-tierre _____-tito _____-boki we are deeper and more talented at almost every position. there is no way that we dont get to AT LEAST 45 wins.
Just wanted to put a TTT for this thread, and see where I stand on my forecats so far. I know its only 4 games, but still fun to keep as a rolling tally, to either brag or get lambasted for being absolutely wrong. 10. Bostjan Nachbar will see very very little time this year. Doesnt look like Im wrong here. Boki has logged exactly 0 minutes for a Rox team that has 0 healthy SF's playing. 9. Cuttino Mobley will average less than 18 a game. But his shooting percentage will increase. I still beleive Im on pace here too. 8. Griffin will still not be starting by the end of the season except by default. Three terrible games, and one great game where he disappeared forever. I still believe he is a year away from being our go to PF 7. Steve Francis will not lead the team in Rebounds again this year. Will make the All star team again. So far Cato is giving him a run for the Rebounding lead, and is there any doubt Steve is going to play in the All Star game? 6. Ming will average less than 12 pts per game, and less than 10 boards. Whoa Nelly, Hes not going to even get half those stats at this pace, and with the amount of time Rudy is using him for. 5. Mo Taylor will eventually be the teams second best all round player and contribute greatly. Still to be seen yet. 4. Kenny T is going to STRUGGLE if he plays alot of time at the 3. (But Kenny is a fighter, he'll do the best he can and still put up good offensive numbers) Kenny is rusty, hes still injured, hes fighting chemistry problems, hes in a contract year. Like I said...struuuuuuuuugle 3. We will still struggle to beat the good teams on any kind of consistent basis, but mop up against the average and below average. Still early, but the early results are holding true. Without any real semblence of Team D or Team O, this team will not beat the better teams without superhuman singular or dual performances from their players. 2. At some point, The offense will stagnate again. Iso left, Iso Right. To many fresh faces and returns from long layoffs to have a good idea of what everyone is going to do. The offense has changed...from running clear out ISO's to setting up the ISO with a top of the key screen, and high pick and rolls. A modified ISO if you will. And a pick and roll is only affective if we actually pass to the roller more than once in three games, LOL. Either way, we dont play Team offense yet. 1. We will win 42 games and just miss the playoffs...wait till next year though Right on pace so far
Heh heh, you know that most of your "fearless predictions" are not that fearless. Most are reasonable and the rest are very subjective: "So and so, will struggle" "The Rockets will improve" "So and so will score less than 18PPG" (That means, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, etc...Oh, and 19 is not "wrong" either since it was close). "Yao Ming will get more than 1 rebound" Ok, that last one is very obvious. But you get the idea.
Rudy has to figure out the type of offense he wants to run. Because ISO is not working out consistantly, alright! For onething a good fast ball movement,besides majority of this guys has fresh young legs besides Rice.
wow! I pretty much agree with Dreamshake. And it only took about four years. I tend to disagree about Mo though......but I hope you're right about that one.
The only two that I had a prob with were the 42 record and Griff. Griff should start every game. And 42 record? You know how we get on those post-All Star runs?
