I would like to discuss the difference between the Spurs and the Rockets, between a great and a good team and to start things off I printed these quotes from the Chronicle: Aside from the color of their uniforms and their records, the Spurs and Rockets entered the game with little difference between them. The teams had near-identical statistics in scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense, shooting, 3-point shooting and rebound differential. "You look at it and say those are even teams," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I think where we have to improve is not beating ourselves. The one thing I've been impressed about San Antonio since they've gotten in this championship mode is they don't beat themselves. "They have a game. They play their game. They live and die with their game. That's when you know you've made lasting progress." Another quote from the Chronicle: “Until the last two minutes on Monday, they did roughly everything as well as the Spurs.” These two quotes hit it right on the button for me. I know that this is a Rockets forum but I follow both teams religiously. You see, I grew up in Houston during Hakeem’s prime and then left and got stationed in San Antonio for the past 4 years. It can be argued that as a tandem, Duncan & Parker and Yao & Francis cancel each other out talentwise. As for the rest of the team: J Jackson = Bowen & Hedo Cato < Rasho Nestorovic Mo Taylor & Weatherspoon = R Horry & Malik Rose Cuttino Mobley = Ginobili Van Gundy = Popovich I love Yao and what he means to me as an Asian American but Yao is still new to the NBA game and will never be quite as good as Duncan even in his prime. He’ll be pretty damn good but the difference between him and Duncan are two things: (1) lateral quickness and (2) aggressiveness. The first you can’t do anything about since a man of Yao’s size cannot realistically be quicker than a shorter man. One thing though -- he is trying to move his feet and his length sometimes makes up for his lack of quickness. However, when he is playing in a fast paced game, he cannot adjust. Tim is reserved by nature but played four years of American college ball and 5 years of NBA ball to be taught the athletic aggressiveness that permeates American sports. Yao is not reserved by nature but it was ingrained in him culturally his whole life to think of the team more than the individual and this will take more than a couple of years despite prodding from Francis, Van Gundy and Ewing. Tim really blossomed when he realized that the Spurs were his team and he was the leader. Yao still defers to Francis. Parker although not quite as good as Francis athletically plays smarter which is due to two things: (1) Better development as a player by Popovich and playing in Europe where they seem to better train players in fundamental basketball and (2) his own athletic limitations (can’t just as high) which causes him to play smarter (disciplined) and within team ball. Francis has gotten by sheer talent and was so good that he did not have to play disciplined fundamental basketball consistently. When things break down he resorts to streetball. Many players do this and I think that every ball player cannot help but have a little bit of street in him, but Steve is not quite as talented as Kobe or as quick as Iverson. I accept that is the nature of his game and believe Steve can still flourish in Van Gundy’s system given better decision-making and defer more to Yao (once he starts to become the Man) Van Gundy also needs to let loose and let Steve drive and dish more (I hate the dribbling too much and shooting 3’s when guarded!!) The Spurs coaching staff treat everyone equally no prima donnas allowed. Popovich screams at Tim just as he would at Kevin Willis and this is noted by the other Spurs players. The Rockets are currently trying to infuse that type of atmosphere. Hopefully, the Rocket players buy into it. Van Gundy, in my opinion, is a better X’s and O’s coach but Popovich somehow is able to communicate better to his players. Pop is both disciplinarian and nurturing at the same time while Van Gundy is a disciplinarian period. When the game is played at such a high level and the level of skill is practically equal, communication also becomes key. Bottomline, for the Rockets to become as good as the Spurs, it’s the little things in the game that are crucial. Knowing your identity – who you are a s a team and playing unselfish team ball, agressiveness and decision-making. There really is not much separating the Spurs from the Rockets talentwise but they still have a long way to go.
when the Rockets of the mid-90's were winning championships, i used to laugh at the media attention and respect that teams who play like the current Rockets got. all talk..no substance. the mavs of that era come to mind, in particular, with the 3 J's.
I simply cannot imagine Steve ever admitting to himself or others that another player is more important to his team than he is. If he were capable of leading us to a championship, that wouldn't be a problem. However, he's not, and it is.
