An unbiased look at the Rockets

I'm just trying to get a feel for how people percieve our team on the court, while editing out the high emotions, or personal favorites, or whatever, that typically bias such a discussion.

Steve Francis: A gifted athlete, there is no doubt. Some of the things he can do with the ball are magically, unfornately, many of the things he does are also show very poor judgement, as his very high Assist:TO ratio demonstrates and his career low shooting percentage this year. (He shot better the year he was suffering through migraines each game!) He's very good at dribbling, but is much more suited to play small guard than point guard.

Yao Ming: A very large Chinese man, there is no doubt. Sometimes slow, sometimes awkward, and sometimes he can't even standup, he still has the best pure shot of anyone on the team, shooting 51% this year, imagine if he actually dunked more, instead of taking more difficult jumpers and hook shots? For all the talk about him being soft, he makes the Rockets much better on defense (every game there are people who start to drive to the basic, only to change their minds when they see him there, there should be stats for things like this.) He's the Rockets' best passer, but also their worst ball holder (when Yao holds the ball for very long, it is nearly always stripped away.)

-Also, Let me make this clear to Yao fans and Yao haters: There is no chance he will be traded, besides the fact he has excellent skills for his size, he brings in an entirely new audience to Rockets' games (the Asian crowd seems happy to watch Van Gundy's horrid offense, as long as Yao gets the ball occasionally, can't say that for the rest of the empty seats in the Toyota Center.), In short, ultimately, no one in management cares if Yao makes the team better, or if the team gives Yao a fair shake, they only care about the bottom line.-

Cuttino Mobley: Not a bad player, as such things go, he is the definition of a "scorer" as his passing game is worse than Steve's (and that's why Mobley is currently the 2) His streaky shot usually leads him to taking many shots, just to see if he'll get hot, while the rest of the Rockets watch him run basically ISO plays (since when he passes, he is almost as likely to turn the ball over as pass.) This has the added effect of basically wasting the relatively few possessions the Rockets get a game, since they typically are very slow on offense. His decision making skills are also poor, but to his credit, he is capable of defending all the good 2's in the league.

Kelvin Cato: A poor man's Ben Wallace, unfornately in this case, the poor man is paying him quite alot. He can't shoot, people with his height and playing as close to the basket should not be shooting 40%. He can't pass either. But he does block and rebound well.

Jim Jackson: Defends well, and is probably the Rocket's best decision maker on the floor, unfornately he only runs the offense occasionally. He shoots well, and passes well enough. He is one of the few people on the floor who seem to know how to pass to Yao and when JJ is given the ball he can score efficiently and effectively from any spot on the court, without unneccesary theatrics.

Mo Taylor: JVG seems to be favoring Mo lately, who is very aggressive on offense (sometimes verging on being a ball hog.) His passing is almost non-existant. Mo is a subpar defender for his position and it's unfornate we can't merge his strengths with Cato's, but the Rockets seem to be trying to subsist with alternating PF's in a hope of getting consistency on both ends of the court.

Eric Piatkowski: Brought in to be a sharp shooter, he is the only regular player shooting worse than Steve Francis. To his credit, he often shoots exclusively 3's, and seems to have a green light to ignore the rest of the offense when he is playing, and seldom passes (or defends). He seems nearly entirely useless so far this season.

Bostjan Nachbar: A fan favorite, (Why? because he has a cute nickname? who doesn't like saying Boki), he has done nothing to deserve his status. Early in the season when he was getting consistent minutes, he shot poorly, which is a bad thing to do if you are supposed to be a good shooter, and has spent much of the time left sitting on the bench, watching Piatkowski steal his minutes playing just as poorly.

Mike Wilks: Allows Steve and Cuttino about 5 minutes a game to rest.

Jeff Van Gundy: Defensive genious? Maybe. I'm still of the opinion if you use nearly the full shot clock each possession, all games will be low scoring, and people will shoot poorly. (Try taking one shot every 5 minutes, as opposed to every 30 seconds, see which way you shoot better.) Unfornately, his Rockets seem no better on offense than Rudy T's (likely worse?), and only slighly better on defense. Of course, it's not entirely the coach's fault, as the core of this team (Francis, Mobley, Cato, MoT) has been together for 4 years or so now, and has yet to show anything other than flashes of brilliance (and usually only on National TV). The Rockets managed to get Yao because of how poorly they played, even if was in part because of Steve's ear problems, and even if they manage to sneak into the playoffs, they are doomed to be first round fodder.

Biggest problems: Complete lack of a passing game, and few strong shooters.

Solution? They have to make a trade, if their goal is to improve. Of course, the bottom line may prevent it, or Les may want to give the core yet another year to see if the chemistry appears. However, the writing is on the wall, I'm not sure what they can do, or who is available, but all good point guards make the rest of their team better, and the Rockets have sorely missed that person since the days of Sam Cassell. (Memphis seems to have 2 or 3 good passing point guards, though possibly they are just a reflection of Hubie's coaching philosophy. Why can't the Rockets have even 1? Cuttino Mobley for Jason Williams? Unfornately I don't see why Memphis would go for it, scorers are a dime a dozen in the nba, good passers are the rarities.) I've hesitated on thinking we should trade, wanting to give this group and JVG a fair shake, but with a month left till the trade deadline, and no proof that the Rockets have improved, it seems the only logical decision.

I tried to keep the reviews of the players unbiased, though obviously the Problem/Solution section is all my opinion, based on my observations presented in the player section.

 

That's not what I was trying to say, though I could see why you might take it that way. I'm not saying the Rockets should go downcourt and toss up the first shot in hopes of getting hot, I think they should pass more, and faster, without so much waiting and dribbling. Sacramento is the best example for a good offense, they shoot for a high FG%, because they pass quickly and crisply, until they find a man that is open. This is more like what I wish the Rockets did, pass until the find an open man, instead of dribbling 15 seconds of each possession away, which forces them to take lower percentage shots.

As someone said, Shaq dunks, not shoot. I've watched Yao in practice, he can step out and make 3's with this best of them and it's hard to contest a 7 foot 6 center that far out, because you can't mug them like you do inside. Of course that's not JVG's style (and I'm not saying it should be), but Yao tends to avoid the dunks that inflate most center's FG% (because he isn't aggressive enough inside, to get proper position) for those short to midrange jumpers, or hook shots, that he seems to prefer (and which he still shoots 50% taking.) That is a pure shot in my opinion.

 

Oh. I totally agree, I don't blame Van Gundy, or the players, they all have strong and weak points, but they just don't seem to be working well together. That's why I think we should do something to get a true passing point guard, it won't turn us into the Kings overnight, but it will cut down on stupid turnovers and improve our offense. And like you, I'm sick of thinking/watching/talking about the Rockets horrible offense, and I wish they'd make a change. (and hiring a backup point guard to play 10-15 minutes wouldn't be enough of a change.)