No trade out there would of put the Rockets over the top aside from the Wallace trade. Every other trade either would of made us slightly better or slightly worse, and most of those trades would of made us worse. In reality, the only thing that's going to put this team over the top is if Yao takes close to 20 shots a game, and learns how to play through double and triple teams. He's making that move and it'd been a big reason for the Rockets success as of late, even our losses. We've seen he can hang with the big boys in the regular season and he'll only get better as time goes on.
We need Brent Barry. He's a 2 guard that can see the floor and distribute the ball. Remember the game against the Lakers where Mobley actually passed the ball and had 10 assists? Francis will distribute decently, but he just doesn't have enough of the pure point guard in his blood to make that his only job. He's just not designed that way. When we had a distributing shooting guard, the offense flowed so much better. Brent Barry is a passing 2 guard that can shoot and has size. Personally, I disagree; Cat is not a guaranteed keeper for this team.
I definitely think the rockets made the right move by standing pat. Throughout the course of the year this team has shown flashes of how great it can be. While being inconsistent at times, they have improved. They have one of the toughest defenses in the league. Yao is finally starting to grasp the concept of being aggressive. When he plays great we win, and when he struggles we usually lose. Cuttino Mobley has proved to everyone he can adapt his role to fit JVG's system. Francis though struggling has really tried to change his game and hopefully down the stretch he continues to improve. Mo Taylor, while overpaid has been one of our best players. He can shoot the mid range jump shot or he can post it up with the best of them. Jim Jackson was a bargain. Many people questioned his signing but arguably he's been the most consistent rocket the last 2 months. Kelvin Cato is a perfect defensive complement to Yao, but is better suited to come off the bench. Hopefully they'll address that in free agency with that 7 million salary cap exception. Bottomline is this team deserves the full year together. They are pretty much a lock for either the 6,7 or 8th seed. If they catch fire at the right time who knows. Perhaps they are able to score a first round upset.
we can all sit around and nitpick about the rockets deficiencies, but we do not suck. you, however, are a negative blowhard.
If Cat plays like that consistantly, then he does what we need and Steve can play more like a , well... whatever the hell he is.
Is there any surprise the Mavericks used the textbook to beat the Rockets? They killed. We need players that pass. There's no putting lipstick on a pig.
