DaDa, i agree 130%. yao ming must become the focus of the offense immediately. nothing else makes sense, because having this guard oriented team is only playing for the short term. with two guards that are actually shooting guards controlling the offense, no other players will ever get consistently involved.
DaDakota:- You are only jumpimg on my bandwaggon. You have never come to support the same view that I have been saying ever since the lottery!! Rudy T. MUST make Francis a Point Guard First and an MVP Candidate Second. If Rudy dosen't then Yao Ming and Ed Griffin never become Stars on the Rox.In time everyone will notice this, if our Point Guard refuses to pass to Yao Ming,Nachbar or Ed Griffin, conflict will increase. I have great hopes for Francis and the Rox, I know he can do it if he sets his mind to it!
I'm sorry, but if we're judging passing talent on both the ability to get the ball to the right person at the right time AND actually doing it, I don't see how KT is any better than Francis or Mobley. He took just as many ill-advised triple team shots when someone was standing wideopen outside last year as Franics or Mobley. I think he is better at this than you give him credit for. The problem is they just don't do it enough. Especially given that he gets so many boards on his own, he really needs to just pop down after the board and take off ala Steve Nash - if nothing happens, you still have 18 seconds of half court offense to run. When they do run the fast break, though, I don't see any problem with it.
I agree with everything you say (I'm speaking of the original post BTW) and it's refreshing to hear a fan that's still a realist. The only thing I would say is I don't think it's fair to put Steve and Cat in the same mold. Steve passes the ball, he's no Stockton but he passes much more than Cat. I think this team can win in the future with Steve and Ming scoring and Griff grabbing rebounds and blocking shots. I see them as being our "big 3" for years to come. Everyone else is expendible in the long run. As long as Griffin keeps eating and lifting weights and Rudy doesn't try to turn him into a jumpshooter, I think good things can happen in a few years. I miss spell-check..
DaDakota- good post, but I think everyone should consider the following- 1. The problem is not just that Steve will not pass, he does pass. The problem is he doesnot have point guard mentality. He does not know how to get players the ball in a position to make them successful, he does not get them the pass where they can have their best move or scoring opportunity. He will pass to Eddie when he is standing around the three point line and ignore him when he gets good position on his man inside or breaks free close to the basket. If Yao Ming gets good low post position no telling what Steve will do. This weakness will prevent us from acheiving 4th quarter effeciency 2. Yao Ming has the offense to be a legitimate threat and run the offense through him. He has the skills and ability to score at will. or draw double and triple teams- passing off- Again that is not going to happen because the offense is going through the guards. 3. Eddie Griffin needs touches and confidence. If we stick with him as an option and he gets minutes he may deveop faster offensively to be a real force by playoff time. 4. To make the playoffs- Steve will have to make those around him better and play more of the true point guard- and let the game come to him. And we have to avoid serious injuries to the basic rotation.
rhester, Bingo !! Exactly, it is not as some have suggested the players that are playing with Steve that are causing his assist totals to dwindle, it is his lack of an UNDERSTANDING of how to get the ball to his teamates in a position in which they can succeed. Magic used to talk about it all the time, so did Isiah, you find out where your teamates are most comfortable and you deliver the ball to them in that spot. Yetti, You are joking about bandwagon..right? I have been saying this since we drafted Steve.... I actually think the thing that r****ded his growth into a quality PG is the injury to Sir Charles. If Steve would have played a full year with Chuck, he would have seen how effective a low post game can make him. As it is, Steve has never worked with a low post player before. As evidenced by his comments about Ming and how it will help HIS game. I think Steve is an amazing talent, however, I also think he does not have a clue on how to win in the NBA. I just hope the message is finally sinking in..... DaDakota PS...The post about Steve rebounding and stopping him from breaking is ridiculous...how does rebounding stop you from pushing the ball? Don't believe me? Ask Jason Kidd.
Rejuvinated Hakeem and Walt on fire. And I would hardly call 45-37 a winner......if you are satisfied with a barely .500 record then I guess you can say that. However, I want greatness.... DaDakota
Bwahaha! Yetti, Dada has been critical of Francis for a lot longer than you've been around on this board...but he's getting on your bandwagon? No offense, but that's pretty funny. I think you guys are a little too critical of the ambiguously friendly duo. Someone mentioned in the open practice thread that they talked to Cat and he said that he and Steve don't care about getting their points this year - they just want to WIN Baby. I believe that they are both going to show a new dimension to their games this year.
Gutter, Actions speak louder then words...I will believe that they don't care about stats when I see them getting out on the break and GIVING up the rock to a hustling teamate. Now, that being said....I would love to eat crow about the duo. By the way..... I almost spit out my Dr. Pepper when I read the Duo bit....good stuff. DaDakota
You don't think this team is better than the team of two seasons ago? Personally, I think we have twice as much talent! So yes, the 45-37 record with a less talented/deep team makes me feel very confident about this season. By the way, that record was an overachievement. Would I be satisfied with that record this year? Nope, but I definitely was when it happend.
DCKid, The differnce is that on that particular team, you had players who KNEW how to win in close ball games...Hakeem was the leader late in games. I think this years team has more talent then any recent Rockets team, what they don't have is a KNOW HOW to win. I am hoping for a Dallas Mavericks type season of 2 years ago, where the lightbulb went off in their key players and they just "GOT IT" and started winning. That can happen, and it should happen, but it will all depend on how stubborn Steve and Cat are late in games. It is easy to trust your teamates in the first quarter, the key is to trust them late in the game with the game on the line, then you will know that the team has grown. No more excuses, enough of the core players are established NBA player, they should take it to the next level. If not, then it may be time to go another direction. DD
Alright DaDa, you stated your case. Now how about we wait 'til we get further into the season before we bring it up again? If Steve and the Rockets aren't succesful this season, then I won't be able to argue with you anymore. I just feel like the last couple of seasons there's been a lot more factors that have gone into the playoff drought than just Steve's play. This season, I don't think that will be the case. It's all on Steve!
DaDa I agree with a lot of your post, and I don't think I'm home-team biased by disagreeing with a little part of it. I do believe that Steve needs to pass more, and the team needs to improve at ball movement, and off the ball movement. I think most of that will come with the team running more plays for other players and growing comfortable with each other. I hope it happens that way, because it needs to. But the thing I disagree with is that Steve and Cat don't make other players on the team better. I think they do, even with out an ounce of improvement. I don't think it's necessarily in the way normal point guards do it though. The record with Steve vs. without Steve is one indicator that the team is better with Steve. The fact that these guys draw more attention from defenders, is what makes the other players on the team better with them. Moochies open game winning shots usually came when the opposing team doubled down on Cat or Steve. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement and that they shouldn't improve their ability to make their teammates better by better ball movement, but to at least some extent I believe they already do make their teammates better.
DaDakota, I think you are on target, I agree completely. I am still very concerned about our guards, they are at once a huge asset and a liability. If they don't mature soon, that is, get rid of their "ball hog, human highlight reel" mentality, this team is stuck in neutral. I still believe that Frances is the key. He can make or break this team. We will know soon whether it is the "same ole Steve," or the "new improved Steve."
I agree with the point that Cutino and especially Steve is going to have to lead this team forward, at least until someone else proves they can do it better. But to compare this team to the Laker teams of the 80's or the Piston teams in their heydey or for that matter Jordan's Bulls teams is just whack. Right now the only 2 guys who have shown they are of leadership abilities is Steve and Cat. Rice is a bit over the hill and no-one else has shown during the season much less the playoffs that they should have the ball at any time before our 2 starting guards do. Eddie and Yao look like the real deals but they haven't shown squat yet. Now that the season is finally here maybe we can see some development start to happen. But until then for this team to even think playoffs it will be Steve and Cat taking them there. I just can't believe someone is knocking Steve with everything he's shown so far. Nobody on this team compares.
ok dakota....why do you think griffin should be the center of the offense? he has shown no post up game something that every single dominant big man has. also griffin has show little offense consistency and he can't pass. i think he is still a couple of years from being a serious offensive threat. right now he has the offense of a robert horry, someone who can get some put backs, his some jumpers and nail 3's other than that his offense is not great because he doesn't create a lot. he tends to sit back more on the offensive end. i am up here in austin and i havent got to see much of the preseason, maybe his game has changed some but i havent heard about it. my feeling is for this team to be successful this year the offense must run thru stevie and cat because they are the best offensive players on the team and they will continue to be for the next couple of years. yao should get his looks but his best years are certainly ahead of him. also if you want to criticize steve for not passing then you have to look at griffin...the man certainly cannot pass. another reason why the offense should not run thru him. all power forwards that have offense go thru them can pass. finally, my hope is that francis can develop like payton did. gary payton had similar assist numbers early in his career like francis, however he had much fewer turnovers, but this shows that players can improve with time. so if you are willing to wait on other players to develop their games you have to be as optimistic that francis can develop his passing. i don't understand how you can just call francis the odd man out. it makes no sense you dont just find players like steve and cat every day. our offensive focus for the future should be steve, cat and yao and eddie should be a role player on offense and a defensive monster.
I understand a lot of the criticisms of Steve. I think since Steve plays the point, a lot of people think the position calls for a pass first, playmaker. The thing is, the Rockets haven't had a player like that since John Lucas. Look over the years, and the Rocket point guards have all been shooters first and have never averaged very many assists. Kenny Smith was a shooter. Cassell was a shooter. Sleepy Floyd, Scott Brooks, Matt Maloney, Bryce Drew, Brent Price, Allen Leavell were all outside shooters. In fact, Rudy has NEVER shown that her prefers a pass first kind of point guard. He prefers people that are just guards - neither point or off - that can score and create. Like it or not, that's Rudy ball and it's been pretty successful. There isn't one style of basketball that dictates whether you are successful or not. It comes down to who makes the big plays at the end of the game and who doesn't. Teams will always try to take away your strengths. In the playoffs last year, the way the Lakers played Jason Kidd was to stay at home and make him be a scorer - don't let him get others involved. You need to be able to be balanced to make yourself harder to defend. Any one dimensional player is going to be easier to stop.
Agreed, but is that because the team is better simply because they are playing and are an addition to the mix? What I mean is that if Steve is making his teamates better, do their scoring averages and energy go up when he is playing? THAT is making the team as a whole better. Personally, I think it is time for Francis to grow up and show the leadership skills he needs in order to improve. By the way, if he doesn't I am willing to concede that a big part of the problem could be Rudy not TELLING him how he should play, and being too passive and hoping that Steve somehow gets it on his own. Larry Brown has gotten Iverson to pass, all the while still getting AI his shots.....Rudy needs to let Francis know that he can be a part of a LARGER winning team if he takes a lessor scoring role and more of a playmaker role. I think the sky is the limit, and yes, I know it will take time to work in some chemistry with some new players....but at least be able to run a decent fast break...any 6th grade baller can do that. DD
i mentioned this in a separate thread before, but imho, the rockets will at some point in the near future have to make a serious decision. will the team be built around ming/griff or cat/steve? as it stands: francis: max cuttino: midlevel ming: max (guarantee that one) griff: upper midlevel (maybe max depending on this year/next year's development) of course, there's the supporting cast, as well. i honestly don't see the rockets dishing out quite possibly 3 max contracts with this team. not to mention i would not recommend it. my preference would be to give ming: max griff: upper midlevel cuttino: keep @ midlevel francis: the door out and bring in another point guard that is either a) a true point guard or b) another cuttino clone insofar as $$$ (bobby jackson) francis is a serious talent and could land the team that starting pg, plus a bench player & probably an unprotected draft pick or 2. you build around big men, and if this current team can't get it done, i foresee the organization going that direction...
