well BTW we can follow the career of a Demarcus Cousins and how that plays out. Contending is always a possibility with a big man and a top 5 player even if he were selfish. It just didn't happen here.
Didn't we have Steve Francis too before we traded him? Imagine, a perfect world where everyone was healthy. We had our own big three.... Franchise McGrady World Peace Scola Yao That's like an all star lineup! My dream lineup that was never fulfilled....
Well, you know I don't go thinking 'what could have been' cause I'm happy knowing what 'did'. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dulebOZKMMU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/francst01.html July 11, 2007: Waived by the Portland Trail Blazers. July 20, 2007: Signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets. But in that point in time, it wasn't that he was injured, it was that he was a terrible point guard and he'd lost his quickness that made him so effective. Rudy T masked Francis's weaknesses by making him an ISO point guard with the green light to score. It wasn't just the Rockets, all the others teams lost confidence in him. It's sad cause we all love Steve Francis.
What if we never included Cuttino in the T-Mac trade?! That was the one that I'll never let go... Even with his heart condition, Cuttino went to work every night.
I don't see Cuttino being a big help back in 04-05. Our backcourt then was incredible: Sura, Barry, Wesley, Mike James.
Yeah but who'd he outplay in our backcourt back in 04-05? Mike James outplayed Cat briefly after we traded him to Toronto.
Blah blah blah, what a pompous blowhard you are. Did you forget to take your medicine today? I was talking specifically about the series itself. Not where the Rockets went wrong by not doing this or that throughout the off-season. I was simply saying we COULD have and most likely WOULD have beaten the Lakers and made it all the way to the Finals that year were it not for the injuries that occured during the series.
In a thread about supposition, or "what ifs," I posted that if we had gotten those rebounds, if we won that game 7, we would have won the championship because I believed our Rockets team that year was good enough to beat the next opponents. Let me ask you this, had we beaten Utah, do you think we would have lost to Golden State? San Antonio? Cleveland? Steve Francis threw his teammates under the bus, Steve Francis pouted, Steve Francis had public disputes with the coach. Steve Francis came to camp, got outplayed by Rafer Alston then publicly stated that an all-star shouldn't be on the bench. Steve Francis never made it out of the first round. But see, I don't hate him because I still have fond memories of him with Cat. I remember the excitement, I remember his heart, but I also remember him dribbling out the shot clock and pouting on the bench. In short, double standards are fantastic.
