Memo to TMac and Yao Ming. The fans need your help. The Rocket's management team is fumbling and bumbling away your primetime careers and alienating the team's most ardent fans. I know you guys are very wealthy, but we believe that the game is important to you, that your legacy is important to you. We love to see both of you perform. You both have amazing skills. This management team is largely incapable of surrounding you with the right supporting cast. Over the last several years, the management team has painted themselves into a corner. They now have very limited options and they don't know how to use the ones they still have. I assume you have had input, but it is time to turn up the heat. Your input is desperately needed. Act now, for your sake, for the fan's sake. If any of you guys know how to send this message to Yao Ming or TMac, please forward it to them, I believe that this is the way many of us feel. Most of the NBA commentators that I have listened to, say the same thing. The Rockets don't seem capable of surrounding our Stars with the right supporting cast. Futhermore, they really don't seem to care what the fans think. This is amazing. We are their customers. We pay outrageous prices for their tickets, concessions, and merchandise. Over 16,000 fans voted in the draft night poll and almost all of them thought the draft night trade was horrible. Most everyone on Clutchfans wanted Mike James, they fumbled that one too. TMac and Yao Ming deserve better, the fans deserve better. It is time to rattle some cages. ClutchFans represents the hardcore fans, we number in the thousands. Our vote counts. The Rockets need to pay attention and get their act together NOW! And to Les Alexander. If I owned a business and my most loyal customers were writing the things that are now appearing on this board I would be horrified, alarmed, and desperate to make changes, immediately.
Goodness, solid, you sound like you're in the Nihilist camp. Yours are the well spoken sentiments of many on the board.
I so agreed with one of your posts the other day, where you said that the Rockets are killing the spirit of their fans. This is so true, and so utterly amazing to me. Are they dense, arrogant, disconnected...? I can't imagine a sports team being so oblivious to their most rabid fans. If I were running an organization, something I once did, and there was a board like this where my customers expressed their views about my services, I would read it every day and take notes.
I completley agree with u 100% but did this need a new thread talkin bout how bad our front office is, I mean we got enough of that.
You may have forgotten CD's miracle 04-05 season... Mike James for Reece Gaines and 2nd rounder, we totally killed in that deal Jon Barry for...idk but we probably won there too David Wesley for Jim Jackson, I think we were the winners Flukes? or does he know bball?
I don't know of a thread pleading for TMac and Ming to put pressure on the front office, I think this is new.
"Miracle" is the key word. How about the other nine years of dumb trades, dumb contracts, and dumb drafts? And I am not sure that CD deserves all the blame, that is why I said, "management team."
You've been reading the Chronicle too much. Since Carroll Dawson is retiring and is an easy target as a lame duck, management has set their attack dogs on him. CD pulls off the deals as ordered. He did it for Rudy T and now he does it for JVG. I lay some of the blame on him, but the bulk of my dissatisfaction rests at the feet of Jeff Van Gundy.
first round of the playoffs, man what a freakin miracle those were good moves, but com'on, the rockets should have been a first round team with yao and t-mac playing full season alone.
What I like about Van Gundy is he is honest almost to a fault...and never satisfied! I garuntee you if we have another bad year, Van Gundy will say he deserves the blame and will be the first to say he should move on. If I am not mistaken this past season was the first time he has ever coached a team with a losing record. That sounds like a winning coach to me. I hope we can give him one more chance and support our coach this season...if healthy, we could go deep into the playoffs.
We are thinking alike. Here is what I posted in the Nihilist / Sycophant thread: Rockets2K, no disrespect meant, but are you serious? If you own a business, do you want to know what your customers think about your product? Will their opinions influence the color, cost, features, etc.? Yes, I seriously believe they read ALL the opinions posted here because this is their core fan base. Why do you think there is such a stream of management rationalizations for their actions? Yes, board members get extreme but passion is at the very core of fandom. We all, secretly or openly, hope we exert a modicum of influence on the overall course of the team.
That team was better than that -- it was a top 4 team in the West, we'll say that. They were short-term moves, but you absolutely have to credit the Rockets for 3 excellent trades that year: - Acquiring Mutombo for Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin. - Acquiring Jon Barry for Tyronn Lue. - Acquiring Mike James for Reece Gaines and two 2nd rounders. Mutombo was a huge piece to the puzzle. Barry and James were extremely good additions as well. Also signing a crucial guy in Bob Sura for as cheap as they did (though he lasted only one year). CD probably was second in GM of the Year voting that year, and deservedly so. Of course 2006 was a disaster year. Last year signing Swift and Anderson, only to ultimately dump off both as "zero value" contracts. James-for-Rafer was a disaster. Baxter-for-Bogans had zero impact. Sura, Barry and Mutombo dropped like flies.
I still think Rafer will prove to be a good move when we have a healthy team. If his three point shot improves to 40% we have a solid PG. I'm still in favour of the James-Alston trade. His assists will improve on last season (6.8) and his percentages will improve with more space and time to shoot.
I am of the following that believes CD finds the deals and presents them to JVG and Van Gundy approves or disapproves them. We only hear the deals that don't get vetoed by Jeffy. This is the way it was with Rudy and this is even moreso true with JVG. Of course Les has final approval but Les seemed to have an open wallet for JVG in the beginning. I don't believe that is the case anymore, Les is listening to Morey and CD more now, but no doubt Jeff is still in his ear. Why did CD say we listened to Jeff and he wasn't going to play Rudy. Why else would we even be talking to Padgett with Novak on the team. And why did Banks and Murray jump to the head of the class when CD had such high praise for VSPAN and Van Gundy said he's not ready even though he has never really seen him play. So my hope is that the Rockets survive Van Gundy?
Our worse enemy is not Dallas, or the Spurs...but ourselves. Until our front office can get their act together, this team will be hovering around mediocrity for the next few years. What just completely blew my mind was how after we failed to sign Mike James, CD began by saying that we now need to formulate a Plan B. I mean how can the Rockets organization not have a back up plan in place.
Hmmm...I just hope that the Post-Van Gundy Rockets don't looks nearly as bad as the Post-Van Gundy Knicks.
And it will continue until management finds a way fill the gaping holes left on this team by the moves or lack thereof so far this offseason. So far this is how its shaping up: 1. Need for a shooting guard- not filled 2. Need for a legit power forward- not filled 3. Need for added depth on the bench- just got thinner today
