I've been reading articles about the Scola deal, the Francis deal, Adelman's system, Morey's moneyball and on and on and it's almost as big a broken record as "David Carr isn't to blame. The offensive line sucks." So, here is a little resource for all our reporters, columnists, broadcasters and commentators out there to help bring you up to speed. Adleman's system will be tough on Yao because of all the running up and down the floor. How can a guy who squeezed every ounce of talent out of Chris Dudley and Vlade Divac be considered someone whose system is not conducive to Yao and his skills? Yao has more athleticism in his big toe than Dudley had in his whole body and he's a freaking Olympic sprinter compared to Divac. Steve Francis is a cancer in the locker room. This has NEVER been an issue. Has he complained to coaches before about playing time? Yes. Has he had some issues with arriving late to meetings, etc.? Yes. Do his teammates always love him? Absolutely. Players, coaches and GM's have routinely praised Francis despite some of his more immature tendencies. He has never been a problem in the locker room. Whether his immaturity with certain parts of his personality is still with him remains to be seen. Steve Francis has serious knee problems. I've seen a couple articles calling his knees "shot" or "arthritic." Fact is, Francis admitted at the press conference that he has tendonitis, a very common condition among athletes, particularly basketball players. He has no structural problems. Adleman is going to put Yao in the high post most of the time. Based on what exactly? Adleman has said repeatedly that he wants to utilize more of Yao's passing game meaning he will be in the high post at times, but he has been clear in saying that they know how dominant he is in the low post and they will continue to use him there more often than in the high post. Daryl Morey's deals are all about numbers and formulas. I'm sure his scouting staff would beg to differ. He has said on a number of occasions that they use the statistical equations to augment the process, but that he understands the game is about people and evaluation, not just numbers. Steve Francis is the anointed starter. Francis has been called the Rockets version of Bobby Jackson in the Chronicle. He has said he does not care about starting. Mike James has said he's happy to work with Steve and they are better for it. No one has promised Francis the starter's job and no one should assume he will get it. Steve Francis will spend all his time dominating the ball. Does ANYONE actually believe that Yao and TMac are going to let Francis dribble out the shot clock? Me either. Feel free to add yours to the list.
That's beautiful. I'm also already sick of the question, "do the Rockets have enough balls to go around?" Of course we do. Mike James, Bonzi Wells and Steve Francis are all coming off humbling seasons. They are also all 30 or above. None of them would be here now if Morey or Adelman thought these guys expected to take away shots from McGrady or Yao. Last year we had NO scorers after our big two. It's not a bad thing that this year is different. In fact, thank god for that.
Bonzi will take another season off and hurt the team. I don't think this is going to happen again. Adelman and Bonzi have a better relationship. The word is that he is getting in shape even now and the groin injury has had a year to heal. Plus, if Bonzi sits out another year, his career in the NBA is over.
Amen. Well said, Brother Jeff. It'll be interesting to see what kind of crap the national media has to say about this team when we're leading the Spurs by 20 in the fourth quarter of game seven of the Western Conference Finals next year.
great post. im sick of all of stevie's drawbacks being projected onto the whole team. if he truly is the poison that the media makes him out to be (ie. turnovers, not enough basketballs), then at worst we turn to one of the other forty pgs. also a great point about yao and RA's system. while he is obviously not a fast guy, this doesnt mean that the system wont work or that we will be 4 on 5. yao brings more interior presence defensively, and its not like the centers on the kings ever ran a 4.3
Bonzi will take another season off and hurt the team. I wouldn't be too sure about him. After how that played out...I want him to take another season off. And if we make it to the playoffs with him contributing...great, but you never know when he's gonna walk back out the door.
One of my all-time favorites: Yao is finally living up to the potential everyone saw in him when he was drafted. Um, excuse me, but on draft day, at least 3/4 of the media predicted Yao would be a stiff. I distinctly remember phrases like "a Chinese Shawn Bradley -- if he's even that good." There was talk of us being lucky if we can get 10 points and 5 rebounds a game out of him -- if we could miraculously pry him away from the communists. Now retro-memory has all of these idiots thinking they'd predicted a hall of fame career for Yao. Morons.
Bonzi not playing last year is equally his fault as it is JVG's. They are mature adults and should have worked out their differences. I think this should eliminate worries about Francis' maturity having a detriment to the team. Steve performed well under JVG and JVG has said many times that he thinks really well of Steve. If Bonzi could play under Adelman I can't foresee any problems for Steve playing under Adelman.
Scola is not NBA ready and could take a long time to adjust. Scola might be an NBA rookie, but he is no rookie. He has played against NBA level competition internationally for several years. Certainly there will be an adjustment, but I don't think it will be months.
That's also funny because they say it every season. It's like the bar keeps getting higher and higher.
Brooks is another JLIII: just a flash in the "summer league" pan. Yes, both were stand-outs in the summer league, but JLIII's big year was his third year out of college. Also, there are significant differences in attitude and personality, as well as skill sets. Remember Adelman has closely followed Brooks career and is likely responsible for him being here. The team is guard-heavy but this will not likely be the case by Fall. Brooks may see more action than most think.
TMac and Yao are made of glass and will likely miss extended periods during every regular season. They do seem a bit injury prone, but I am not sure this is an annual event. TMac's back definitely seems improved. Under Adelman, Yao might not take the beating that he did in JVG's grind it out approach. With more scorers, the load for the team's two stars may not be as heavy.
The Battier for Gay/Swift deal was a bad trade. First, I am well aware that we were never taking Rudy Gay, but most of the people on this board cant seem to get over that, so for argument sake we pretend that was the scenario. The last thing this team needs right now is a super freak athlete, that doesnt compete hard all the time, makes spectacular defensive plays from time to time but doesnt necessarily play good defense, and is able to score but not get his teammates involved. With Morey's additions, the Rox are far better served with Battier on this team then Gay. We no longer need a third scorer who can create his own shot (Francis, James, healthy Bonzi). What we need is a good defender who can guard the other teams best perimeter player, a spot up shooter to hit threes off of double teams on Yao, or penetration of Tmac, and a solid veteran and citizen to help balance potential knuckleheads (see above mentioned third scorers). Battier is all three of those things and better at all three of those things then Gay. As for Swift, clearly we would be looking to dump his salary at this point or worse case, unable to and not be able to land some of the players we did.
Rafer Alston is a better PG than Steve Francis. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WurJbzFsyQo"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WurJbzFsyQo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
I was just getting ready to maybe make a thread about Battier now that we have aquired all of these other players. Last yr on a team with 2 players that could score, Shane was kind of a bad fit on the team because he is not a guy that can score other than the 3 ball. Now on a team with Yao, Tmac, Francis, James, Wells and Scola, Shane has suddenly become a great fit, and I am thankful to have him here. When you have only 2 players on your team that can score, and a team that had 4 players score in a playoff games, a solid defensive/ glue guy like Shane is not gonna help. But now with a team chock full of scorers and creators who need the ball, Shane is now perfect.
With Adelman, the Rockets will score, but won't defend Adelman has stated numerous times that defense will not be overlooked. Adelman has coached good defensive teams in the past. People only remember that Sacremento was a good offensive team, but forget that in their best year the team was a top offensive and defensive team.
The fact is nobody knows for sure either way. Not even Francis, Bonzi, or Adelman are 100% sure. Not even Morey. No one knows. I mean, If Steve really had value, why did Portland buy him out? Basically they saw him as worth NOTHING. I'm not saying that's what I expect, or that signing Steve was a bad move, I think it was a great one. Look, the media's going to be the media, ask questions, create doubt...hey that's what sells. And wouldn't it be boring if everyone just said - hey, the Rockets are the champs now??? C'mon, we need some adversity, we need questions. If Francis didn't have that on his mind, with those questions, maybe he wouldn't be motivated to be a team player. Maybe because everyone says Bonzi is done that he'll be motivated to get into shape. Maybe people saying Adelman will just use Yao in the high post will make Adelman make sure that doesn't happen. So thank you Media. Thanks for motivating our team
