While watching the Rockets play, basketball IQ comes to mind. Over the season I have made some estimations of who has a high IQ and who doesn't and what needs to be done about it to make up for our weaknesses and capitalize on our strengths. High IQ Players: Yao Ming: The guy has a great feel for the game and is learning to play now while being double and triple teamed. He plays an unselfish team game and understands the game very well. Glen Rice: He knows how to throw a pass inside to Yao and Mo and how to hit the hot man. He also knows when he is hot and will shoot it if he is. Mo Taylor: I am starting to really like Mo Taylor. He is bodying up inside and becoming an enforcer for Yao. He consistently looks for open team mates and has been passing very well. He knows when he is in a position to score and does so quickly. Low IQ Players: Cuttino Mobley: The guy would flourish next to a Steve Nash, Jason Kidd or Andre Miller with his quick first step, shooting ability and athleticism. The problem is that he is playing with a Point that does not have a very high basketball IQ and therefore his lack of passing ability becomes compounded. Steve Francis: I love Steve Francis, BUT he is just not a high IQ player and I don't think he will ever be. His positives are that he is athletic, a great shooter and has ice in his veins. He is becoming a better passer and playmaker but doesn't have the instincts to become a very good one. Moochie Norrie: Look buddy, we're not in a playground with no shot clock and a highlight reel filming. This guy just wastes so much time then delivers a bad pass with 3 left on the shot clock. CONCLUSIONS: With Francis' limitations I am not saying that we trade him. He is a very useful player who can do many, many great things. But what is needed is a team around him that can alleviate his weaknesses. The guy that I think truly has to go is Mobley. If we have a two guard that can pass better and is a more consistent outside shooter this will spread the defense and limit the ball handling abilities of Francis. With the emergence of Yao and the increasing focus of the offense shifting to Yao, this also frees up Francis who is wonderful at cutting to the basket and finishing. I see a guy like Brent Barry last night and that is EXACTLY what we need. A guard who can shoot from outside, has a very high basketball IQ and that can distribute well. I think a lineup of: Yao/Cato Mo/Griffin Rice/Posey/Nachbar Barry/Posey/Francis Francis/Moochie/Tito I see that as capitalizing on our strengths and hiding our weakness: the inability for Steve to be a strong creator. This is not just a bash Cuttino thread, because I think he is a great player, but he is just not complimentary to this team and is limiting its growth.
Barry would be nice to have at the two.. but how would the rox get him? I think the backcourt of Mobley and Francis won't be touched, which I'm fine with. But at the 3 Rice and TMo should be playing. Rice has the hot hand from the arc, but his D is a little lacking. TMo can shoot well inside the arc and has much better D than Rice... but he can't shoot 3's as well. Still Rice and TMo could keep the defenses spread. And MoT needs to play more than Griffin.. always. His shooting and his post play will open things up for others and help keep double teams from Ming. Another good lineup may be with TMo at the 4 and Rice at the 3. That brings in two pretty good outside shooters at the forward positions. That way defenses would have to concentrate on just about everybody or the rox can just swing it to the open man.
Ahhh, the "low basketball IQ" rears its ugly head again....The hot buzzword that means "Our guards suck!" Funny how Steve's basketball IQ immediately plummets after a loss...apparently shooting a jumper has no correlation on basketball IQ, or Posey and Griffin would be in the back of the short bus with drool haning off their chins...
Good god. Is there anyway to automatically delete any thread title that has "IQ" in it. Do not even try to place the blame on Francis.
Its funny A-Train, people think you are so negative, but you always come in to crap on this ridiculous threads after losses, which I'm glad you did.
Maybe if you would ACTUALLY read the post you would understand what I am saying. The FACT is that Francis is not a pure point guard, and i'm not saying to trade him at all. What I am saying is that the combination of Francis and Mobley in the Backcourt does not distribute the ball combined well enough. To allay this, we need a shooting guard who can distribute well and hit the open shot. This doesn't mean a super athletic guy who can cut and drive and all of that, but someone who can pass and hit the open shot.
Actually, I have seen tremendous strides from Francis & Cat lately. Francis making the over the shoulder pass to Yao on the pick and roll the other night is a prime example of smart, savvy play. Cat has also been passing to Yao on the roll, sometimes it takes a while to develop a feel for the game. While they may never reach the ultimate level of savviness ala Magic Johnson, they can certainly get to a plateau that allows the team to win consistently. DD
Okay. Francis has improved... But Mobley....he's still score-first. Which isn't bad....but he misses a lot of easy opportunities when huge people like Yao Ming are right under the basket. But yes.....he does make some good plays. All I want from Mobley is his good and aggressive defense and his ability to get open and catch and MAKE shots... Moochie well..is all right. Last night...he scored 14 points, which was amazing vs. his former team. But he had 0 assists. I remember one time.....we were on a fast break.....and Moochie was runnng...and all of a sudden passed it to a wide open Glen Rice for a fantabulous 3. Now Posey....he is athletic. But he is not extremely intelligent ON DEFENSE. Yes...the coach's job is to tell him how to change. Yao is smart...of course, but he can't watch himself play during a game. No one can. That's why the coach has to tell him how to adjust when he encounters new defenses on him...or when he makes a mistake. Cato is great. He's funny. He's emotional. He doesn't have to be thinking about too much. He knows his job is to get rebounds and help out on defense. Cato is very aware on offense and always knows when an alleyoop is imminent. Griffin....well....he can improve. Glen Rice and Mo Taylor are both intelligent.....especially Mo when he uses all those big words for the media. Anyways.....they are good players....BUT THEY HAVE TO BE TOGETHER. MO RICE. WOLVERINE POWER. Mo Taylor is just like Yao. They have to talk to each other and find ways to adapt to the new defenses on them. IF WE ADD BRENT BARRY TO OUR TEAM........OUR AVERAGE IQ WILL BE 140 compared to right now....about 60.
I think the thread poster is equating IQ to decision making and you must notice that our Guards make too many poor decisions. This is a fact, not pro this or pro that, it accurate observation and the success of each game depends on our Guards making intelligent basketball decisions.
Exactly! This isn't a bashing thread, but one that will help us to realize what this team needs (aside from time) Because of Francis' lack of strong decision making ability and distributing ability we need a 2-guard with some semblance of that as well as one that can spread the floor so zone's like the one yesterday are easier to break. I'm sure many teams will look at how the Celtics and Seattle play us and begin to mimic it because they know our guards cannot distribute well enough in to take advantage of the double and triple teams.
Also with teams doubling and tripling Yao, there will be many more open looks from the outside, which is why Glen Rice has been on a torrid stretch as of late. Mo Taylor is helping this significantly because forwards are realizing they can't rotate off of Mo because he has been hitting. Then defenses give the outside shot and Rice has been nailing it. As much as I LOVE Posey defensively, he really needs to work on his shot, its just so off the mark sometimes. I really think Tmorris played extremely well in limited playing time and should get some minutes if Posey cannot improve his offense. TMo is athletic and a great defensive player as well as shot-blocker and passer. His shot has been falling this year as well because he worked at it in the summer.
Just like every night. We should get Lamar Odom. Then we should get Brent Barry. Then we should get Rashard Lewis. WE SHOULD GET HIM!!!
I think Posey is pretty smart on the Defensive end. In just about every game i have watched Posey has taken atleast a 1 charge. Usually he gets 2. Is is really keen on setting himself in the drving path, to force the charge. He is great on D.
I say we get KAREEM RUSH. We need shooters. Rockets have Yao and Taylor for a post up game. We also have Francis and Mobley as slashers. BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY SHOOTERS. Boki can shoot but for some mysterious reason he doesn't get playin time. Rice is getting tooo old. This is the lineup I present. Starter: Francis (Slasher) Rush (Shooter) Posey (Slasher) Griffin (Post) Yao (Post) Bench: Moochie (Slasher/Shooter) Mobley (Slasher) Boki (Shooter) Taylor (Post) Cato (Occasional Dunk) Mobley and Taylor would be our spark off the bench
I hate to say this but in all the years that Brent Barry has been in the NBA, he has done SQUAT!! So, please, get off the guys jock. If he had such a high bball IQ, why would Riley let him go?!
Will's original version was TTWJP: Trade with Team We Just Played I altered it slightly because of a disturbing trend I noticed in post-game trade threads, to TLWGTWJP: Trade for Lame White Guy from Team We Just Played
