Yes, wins...that's true. But get this....here's what you will see more of... 1) Cleaner passes over-all 2) Easier scoring; less forces shots and more lay-ups 3) More time on the clock at each possession 4) Less turnovers on fast-breaks 5) Qucker outlet passes on fast-breaks 6) More confidence in the TEAM; not just 5 guys running around 7) A strong two-man game; McGrady/Yao passing off of doubles and cutting Yes, we need to fix somethings too. Need a PG (Barry, Arroyo or Snow...) and a backup center to give Yao rest. One thing that will need to happen is that once JVG figures out who our starting line-up will be they need to start building chemistry. That's going to take the whole year. But the other things I've mentioned will start to be evident the first half of the season.
Rocket River, You don't remember those fast breaking Knick teams running their way through the NBA? Actually, JVG was on the radio here in Houston last week and he was asked about Steve's comments (see Steve's press conference transcript thread) about fast breaking. JVG basically said that he focused more on half court basketball because that's what's successful in the playoffs so all those expecting some great Showtime Lakers action are gonna be in for a big dissappointment.
I think what DaDakota meant was, "carrying the ball." Francis has "baby" hands. The other do not. Thus, they would be affected less. Especially, McGrady and Iverson. They can actually PALM the ball and hold it in mid-air which helps them on catch-and-shoot plays. This gives them more leverage on cross-overs too. And less reason to "carry" the ball. This is what Francis was so bad at.
I'm not sure about everyone else here....but when I think of fast-breaking. I'm not saying we're going to become the "Dallas Mavs." I'm talking about when our opponents don't get back on defense, you'll have a outlet pass to the point man who then leads the break. 2-1 or 3-2 fast-breaks will be a options we can use. We'll have the players to do this. I do see that we will make other teams pay for this... especially with guys like Barry, McGrady and JJ running the break (outlet passes from Howard and Yao). In the past, we were bad at this for obvious reasons.
You're right. But still, his defensive rebounds was excellent and helped the teams overall defense, even if he did leave shooters open sometimes.
I have never thought of Steve and Cat as good defenders. So therefore Barry and McGrady can not do any worst than both. So i am not worry about Barry's defense because Steve don't have defense either. The Rox under JVG is going to make everyone a great defender because of the team's concept so i am not worry about that. This is going to be so much better if we have Barry running the PG position because now you have possibly 5 players on the court that have decent basketball IQs ....that my friend is going to be tough to beat. It is going to be so much better than Steve and Cat low IQs, bad decision making and quick shot taking....all of these are gone and replace with people that make intelligent decisions and this is just going to translate into more possessions and higher win percentage. I am so frustrated with Steve and Cat losing their cool under pressure....and it's not so much that they didn't try their best...it's just not enough man...cuz they simply don't have it!!! They simply lack the IQs...no matter how much you try ..it ain't going to work if you just don't have it. Now we have 5 players including Howard (I am not buying into Mo Taylor...he's another low IQ baller to me), that have high IQs...it's going to be scary next year.
All this crap comparing one guy's turnovers to another guy's MPG to another guy's shot blocking blah blah blah. It is all nonsense. No team has a Magic and/or Michael Jordan and/or Larry Bird at every position. Of course Juwan Howard isn't as good defensively as Kelvin Cato, but how many GMs in the league who still have jobs would actually want Cato over Howard? And okay fine, maybe TMac didn't have any desire to play D for one year in his career, but who the hell would think twice about taking Cat over TMac? My point is, we have to put together the team with the best chance of winning a title. People moan and complain about losing SF, and yea, it sucked. But what the hell have SF, Cat and Cato accomplished in what, 5 or 6 years together as the core of this team? One 1st round playoff exit, nothing more. The ceiling on this team is way higher than the previous team. We all need to realize that. With respect to holes in this team, sure. It is obvious CD is not done with his moves, but people speaking about the holes talk as if the team before did not need any tweaking when in fact, it needed some pretty major changes. Again, the ceiling on this team is much higher, no doubt about it.
the rockets don't have to be the showtime lakers to be twice as effective and twice as intelligent on offense next year. obviously they can't run the exact same plays, they're missing 3 starters, but the same concept can be used with these new players while looking entirely different.
If Steve blamed JVG for the lack of fast breaks last year then did he also blame Rudy T for the lack of fast breaks the previous years. Steve has never, ever, ever run a good fast break. JVG has only been here one year. Things that make you go hmmm.
If we sign Barry, a large part of that decision will be that we have the "next big thing," in TMac/Yao, and that he'd be a great fit. If Steve and Cuttino were here, I don't think he'd sign with us, nor would he be worth the money we'll be shelling out, which is the other reason he'll sign. So, in essence, we traded 3 starters for 3 starters, and had a 1st round draft pick thrown in and a backup PG. Is TMac/Howard/Barry smarter than Francis/Mobely/Cato? Are they better, both offensively and defensively? Will they be better as a team? Do they fit better with Ming and JJ? Do they work better with the coach we have? Will they have a better chance at winning the championship? I think the answer is obvious. As much as I love Steve, Cat and this season's Cato, and how they bled Rocket's red, with amazing talent and heart, our new players/parts fit better, and give us a better chance to win a championship or two or three or ... The nice thing about all this, is I actually believe that they will fit better in ORL than TMac, Howard, Gaines, and Lue did, especially with management. We did a mutually beneficial swap. They're a much better team with their new parts, I believe, and so are we. I'm sure we'll have new things to complain about. But, I believe we'll have new things to be excited about for some time. Its a good time to be a Rocket's fan.
Not if your palming and you're in MID-AIR. Something Jordan was a master at. As far as the cross-over carry... All I'm saying is that some player have the hands in which they don't have to carry the ball (by pushing the ball from the side) because they can hold the ball with their fingers (palm down). There's a difference. One is called by the refs. The other is not.
ok . . so .. let me get this right if they enforce one rule. . the one that francis does allegedly then he would be out of the league as long as they don't enforce the other rule. . . because that would force others out of the league? Rocket River
Huh? Put the "out of the league" part down for a second. I didn't say that...DaDakota did. I was talking about palming the ball in mid-air; in terms of actually having the ability to do that. Not carrying the ball by palming it on the cross-over...that's one part. As far as the cross-over.... All I'm saying is that Francis ability to cross-over is hindered greatly because of his small hands. His learned technique is bad. He relied more on carrying when he first came in. He's adjusted. But to his detriment; it was a "crutch" that he needed more so than McGrady and Iverson. McGrady and Iverson had to do less adjustment because they are able to control the ball more easily because of their larger/wider hands. It's just pure physics.
The Rockets average 97 points a game in Steve's second year, a high average for today's NBA. I doubt they did that without fastbreaking.
As far as T-Mac's defense is concerned, I think that defense is about 1) effort and 2) physical gifts It seems T-Mac is very motivated to succeed and prove ppl wrong about some of the negative things they say about him, defense being one of the major flaws he is said to have. But even if he is just sweet talking the media, JVG will drill the defensive stopper attitude in him. And as far as being capable, the guy is 6-8 and very quick on his feet, he will have no problem locking up any guard in this league if he sets his mind to it. He didn't do this in Orlando because he had to carry the entire offensive load. And even if he did play hard defense last year, it only would have won the Magic maybe 5-10 more games. They still wouldn't have made the playoffs. Look for T-Mac to turn heads with his defense this year.
Strange thing is that we have more players on our roster this year who never went to college. Though to those not going into the NBA - you have a better chance if you do go to college.
that is kind of funny Seems these days .. only Scrubs goto to College or it is getting that way If u stay all 4 yrs. .. GMs are wondering what is wrong with u Rocket River
