Newgirl, No you haven't gone too far! The Rox front office sux and thats the bottom line! PERIOD! Carrol Dawson needs to get the boot b/c his bonehead moves have cost us a title run! Rudy is not the problem... CD is!
A disturbing pattern will emerge when you only list negatives, sure. Like when you don't point out that drafting Dickerson eventually got you Francis. Oh, but we had to pass up Ricky Davis to do it! Come on. The team is mediocre because of youth, period. 15 former Rockets are in the playoffs? What is that supposed to prove? I mean how is Dan Langhi being in the playoffs an indictment of this front office? What sad state of affairs? How long do you think rebuilding is supposed to take? How long do you think it should take a team to return to prominence after losing all of its stars to retirement?
Freak, I was going to point that out. Anybody can make any GM look bad if you just list out all the negatives he made. Folks, if you want to see a "sad state of affair" look at the Bulls. Look at how they've been rebuilding this side of Jordan. How many high picks have they got so far? The took Jay Williams whom everybody thought was the "can't miss" guy in the draft. Look how they are doing. Now, look at the Lakers. Apart from Shaq and Kobe, what do they have? A bunch of old role players and a few clueless rookies. What are they going to look like after Shaq quits and Kobe bolts. You think Phil is worrying about how the team will do after his contract is up? And look at the Suns. Thye traded away Jason Kidd. Everybody knew they got the short end. Who would've thought they could be in the playoffs? Marbury suddenly decides to pass the ball. Penny suddenly decides to stop giving excuses. They gambled on Amare and won. And there they are. Is it their management's credit? Hardly. Look at the Pacers. They were so promising and young. They are building a great team in the East, right? How did they drop like a rock in the second half of the season? Was it the management's credit when they rose, or was it the management's fault when they fell? Look at Orlando. Grant Hill is good right? T-Mac can carry them? Look at Washington. Look at Milwaukee. The point is, managements can control only so much. Some teams made bad choices but somehow turn out good. Some teams made reasonable choices but turn out not so good. some teams gambled and lost. Some gambled and won. Some teams look good now, but are heading to the wroing direction. Some teams may look bad now, but you never know. Hindsight is moot.
Pull Jason Kidd out of the Nets lineup and how much better does Richard Jefferson really look compared to Eddie Griffin? Also, as others have pointed out, Eddie is just now about to get to a point where he has as much experience as Jefferson had coming out of college. Chances are that Jefferson has pretty much peaked as an offensive player (he'll probably develop far better saavy on defense if he works on it). I'm not going to go out on a limb and say that Griffin will develop into the player he's been hyped to be, but I don't think that Jefferson would be looking all that much better in our system right now. He'd probably be jacking up threes and dribbling out the shot clock with the rest of the street-ballers on the team. The truth is that the front office is not to blame at all. Many consider CD to be a very good GM and a great evaluator of talent. Every GM has his downfalls in some respects, but that's the nature of the game. Imagine being the GM (I can't recall names right now) from Charlotte that traded Kobe's draft rights... or the GM for the Blazers drafting in 1983 (Sam Bowie?). The real problem is that Rudy hasn't been willing to really crack the whip with the players. Sure, he's been complemented by players all over the league for letting guys "play their game", but isn't it pretty obvious by now after looking at the Lakers, Kings, Mavericks and Spurs that the game is not street ball? Rudy needs to stop worrying about being buddies with his players so much as he needs to make himself to be more of an authority figure than he is now and implement a system that will work (e.g. running the offense through Yao!). If the team wins under a system like that and Rudy cracks the whip on it, then the players will buy it even if they don't like it at first. Rudy needs to get some Jerry Sloan in him if he wants to remain the coach of this team.
You can't always blame everything on luck. Sports management (like everything else in life) requires as much hard work, skills and vision as luck. If it's always about luck, everything is 50-50, then why not hiring you or me as the management team? I for one would work for a lot less money. Put it this way. Those .com investment companies couldn't say they gambled and lost and that's it, right? If a company is doing something wrong and losing (money), who needs to be held responsible and accountable for that? Yes the managment. Also, I've said it, if you want to compare to the likes of Chicago, be mediocre, then that's your choice. I can't believe that the stardard for some of you is so low. You don't shoot for the best? You settle for 2nd best? You are satisfied with something like "above average", "not worse than the worst"? Why is the front office not to be blamed? Who put together this team who couldn't make the playoffs? You blamed Rudy's coaching? But ask this, who hired him as the coach? Who considered CD to be a very good GM and a great talent evaluator? Homers on this board? Also, FYI, those Hornets and Blazers GMs have all been gone.
One more thing, with this statement, you are dismissing Steve Francis's point guard skills, right? Then again, who got Francis as our point guard? Whose fault was that? We had the number 1 pick (by sheer luck I have to add, not by some incredible skills). With the number 1 pick, you are supposed to get one of the best few players if not the best player, and you better do that. So why should they be given credit to get Yao with the number 1 pick? The funny thing is that if we did trade away Yao for say Odom or Dunleavy, would there still be people here making excuses, arguing like we did the correct thing and got the better end of the deal like they did with every deal Rockets made? I bet yes. To some people, the front office "are just unlucky, made some, gambled and missed some", "can't be blamed because they don't have hindsight" or "the player we have has bigger upside and will be better than the one we traded away" blah blah blah. Rockets can't do no wrong.
Gene Peterson "Barkley...backing it in..backing it in..still backing it in...stripped again by stockon."
They became an up and coming young team this year. The Bulls had a great home record (27-14) this year. I know they lacked on the road, but they are still in rebuilding stage even after the Jordan era. Jay Will is going to be their starting point or backup guard of the future. He is going to be an integral part of their team coming out of the trenches. Well, you are right about their bench. But they for some reason, unlike the Rockets, come through in the clutch when they have to. That is why they have been successful this year to come from the 10th seed earlier in the year and finished off 5th. That is why in the last 3 years, they are champions. But yes, their bench sucks, but they know when to play. The Jason Kidd issue they have solved w/ Marbury. He is a perfect fit on their team. Hardaway is a bust coming from the Magic, but he is fitting in as a role player and helping the team anyway possible. Marion is also a great player on their team that helped them get to the playoffs this year. Their bench is young, but they are coming through and that's why the Rockets were kicked out of the playoffs. They had more fire in them to get to the playoffs than the Rockets. Their only lack is the center position. Scott Williams is a great backup a center, but definitely not a starter. I'm pretty sure they will upgrade that position very soon. I would give their management credit for finally getting this team fixed to fight for the playoffs since the Barkley era. Well, what about the Rockets 2nd half? I don't think it is management that these teams cratered in the 2nd half. Players didn't step up for both teams (Griffin, Posey, and Mobley for the Rockets and Reggie, Brad Miller, and Tinsley for the Pacers). But their management have brought in key players to help Reggie and they have been successful in getting to the playoffs. Did they make the playoffs? They didn't need Hill's help. T-Mac did carry them and their management did a great job in getting Giricek and Gooden from the Grizzlies. They are going to be a great attribute to the team. I'm pretty sure through the draft and free agency they are going to get players that will help out T-Mac make a run at it again next year. Just like the Rockets. They need help. Management got a great acquisition in Payton. Players didn't step up in the playoffs when the going got tough. They are a center shy of dominating. But their management is going in the right direction. And I agree w/ the above. They can only control so much. But with the way management has been for the Rockets, they haven't been picking the right players to help improve their weak spots. Everytime it looks like the Rockets have made a great move in the draft or free agency, we think it's a step in the right direction. But when it plays out during the season, it makes them look like idiots. One good idea would be to move Rudy to the top. Maybe he can bring in some guys that can improve this team. But for now, it doesn't look so good.
It's become an alarming trend for a lot of Rudy apologists to compare this team to the likes of the Clippers, Wizards, Bulls, and many other scrubs in the league just so they can point out how the Rockets are slightly better off than them. Well, who gives a rat's ass?! I don't want the Rockets to aspire to be better than the bottomfeeders of the NBA. I want their sights set on a championship. No, that doesn't mean they suck if they don't win a title every year, but their goal should be to reach the status of contender and remain there. And right now, I don't see that happening anytime soon. All I see are a bunch of selfish, me-first players who are more interested in personal stats and excuse-making instead of team ball. And I pin a lot of the blame for this on Rudy. When you allow(and in many cases encourage) your guys to do nothing but play ISO everytime down the floor, it makes it impossible to create team unity and have the players trust one another. Many of this team's deficiencies are a direct reflection of their coach. Rudy is a one-dimensional offensive coach. The team is one-dimensional on offense. Rudy is a "player's coach" which is another way of saying he's soft on his players. The Rockets are one of the softest teams in the league. If you don't believe me, look at the back-to-back debacles against Portland and Utah or the countless losses to bad teams this past season. Was any player really pissed after those games, cuz all I saw was everyone paying lip service to the fans and press. Rudy is also prone to making excuses for the team's shortcomings. Not surprisingly, so are the players. And who can blame them? When your coach is always b****ing about how you're never healthy or the key guys on the ballclub are young and inexperienced, it justifies in the players' minds that it's ok to play like crap because nothing's expected of them. But hey, I'm probably making too big a deal out of all of this. I mean at least we finished with a better record than the Clippers, Bulls, Nuggets, Cavs, and Wizards, right? Isn't that good enough?
Hey, just wait 4-5 years once the bad contracts expire and some of the younger players mature. Then it will be a different story! Woohoo...
Expectations for some have been gradually lowered to the point where such a comparison is acceptable. For me it is definitely not.
PLease enough with the what ifs. Keep in mind the space time continuim. Keeping Jefferson would More than likely mean no chance at Yao Ming. Things happen for a reason and we are fortunate enough to have acquired Yao from our "bad front office moves"
You are the only one that actually heard me. All the others think that I am trying to set a low standard, or blaming everything to luck. I am not. I am just answering people who are bashing the Rocket management like we are a bottom-feeder. We are NOT a bottom-feeder. We are better than them. And the managements of some of the teams that look better than us might not be as good as they look. That's all I am saying. I agree that we should aspire to the best. But look, there are only about 4 elite teams in the entire league that have a legit shot at the championship each year. (BTW, I don't want the Rockets to become stuck in the middle of the pack for the next decade like so many of those playoff teams.) All the other teams can't get to that level because all of them have made some bad decisions in the past. You can list out all the mistakes they made and bash them. The funny thing is, I remember we were all very excited before the season started. We'd got Yao. We'd got Steve all healthy and ready to play at the all-star level. We'd got Griffin poised to break out (remember DoD's summer league reports?). We'd got Rice looking good in training camp. We'd got KT looking very fit. We'd even got TMo shooting well in preseason. There was a thread asking whether the management was going the right direction. The vast majority said yes. Now, we are all bashing the management for not getting the right players. Remember we all laughed at Seattle when they offered to trade Rashard Lewis for Eddie Griffin? Now people start threads to bash the management for not pulling the trigger. Don't you think it's a bit hypocritical to bash the management with the benefit of hindsight? P.S. I forgot to mention Cato's case. Was signing Cato's contract a mistake or not? Last year, he's the punching bag of this BBS. His contract looked ridiculously insane. Now the majority of the people are praising him. His contract doesn't look as bad now. The question for all the Monday moring quarterbacks here is: How would you know this change would happen then? How would the management know?
I was the same way you were at the beginning of this season. I was hype w/ the acquisition of Yao, resurgence of Francis, Griffin, Thomas, Taylor, and Cato. But the Griffin summer workout in the beginning became a smokescreen for us throughout the season. One, he was playing against scrubs during the summer leagues. When he played against the big boys, he was a little boy among men. Trading away Thomas was a huge hit to this team. He plays a key role now on that Sixers team. Another Rocket who plays a role on another team. It seems like we pick the best players, but we trade them away. I have no idea why. Cato's case, we had to wait a while for him to finally develop. He is still a backup center, which he was suppose to be when we signed him. I think we should of signed him for like 2-3 years and see how he would of developed. Instead, we give him this huge contract, and we get screwed on how the Bullets did w/ Juwan Howard. It took all this time for Cato to step up to be a role player. Where was he when we needed his defense and rebounding when Hakeem or any of the PFs were out during the game? He would give us minimal work for the amt. of $$ we pay him. I know we can't predict the future, but they really need to watch what they are doing. I think they don't give players time to develop. I know I have been bashing Griffin because of his lack of talent. But I feel we give him up on him, 2 years later down the road, he's going to be an All-Star or role player w/ another team. They just need to take a deep breath, relax, and then think about what they are doing before jumping the gun.
I think the management saw Cato's potential and gave him the contract. That plus the overvalue of centers in this league due to the shortage of the supply. Cato didn't play well not because he didn't have the abilities, but because of motivation. (Later we found out that he probably had a case of depression.) From hindsight, I think they made a reasonable investment on him. I admit that I was one of those who made fun of Cato's contract. But now we know better. Moochie's contract is another story. . . or is it? Life, I think you got it right that we shouldn't jump the gun too quick on players. But discussions of how to get rid of current players is the favorite pasttime on this board.
??? Bringing in Drexler brought us a championship. Bringing Barkley brought us to the conference finals. Yes, I agree we're paying the price for that now. But I agree that it was WORTH IT at the time. If you have a chance at the golden ring, take it! The players you mention are generally average players on good teams. You think putting Horry or Najera or AJ on the Clippers or Nuggets would make them anything better? No. Then there's the Jefferson vs. Griffin. Yes Jefferson turned out great. But Griff is far less seasoned, its still unknown if he'll amount to anything. Upside is still good there, but time will tell. Generally your arguments hold no water, sorry.
Ok, Superkevvvvv, when I meant the aging stars era after the '95 season, I meant on a future basis, not at that time. Sure they both brought us that far, but once they left, who was there to fill their spots? They went off into their retirements and the Rockets were left hanging. Management didn't have a clue on how to help Hakeem. Instead they went a different route in the offense and Hakeem left. When I watched the '97 Conference Finals, there were so many key players on that team that came to play. So many guns to go to for offense. This team doesn't have that. They are too young and we are going to be in a rebuilding process for a while. The players that I mention, the majority of them are average and below. But on the list, there are some key players that play big roles on their team. They use to be rooks and subs on our team. Now look at them. For them being sent to sorry teams, the Rockets never did that and they should of. That was my point. The Jefferson/Griffin issue, just admit that Jefferson was a pick that we should of kept or NJ knew that he had an upside and the Rockets didn't know about it. Griffin has the spotlight on him when we picked him and so far, he hasn't been the guy we thought he would be. He needs to be reduced to a backup forward slot now instead of taking the starting PF slot. So my arguments do stand. Sorry.
How anyone could argue Cato's contract is not a mistake is TOTALLY beyond me! Okay he improved a little bit this season but he's STILL not living up to his contract. Fact. $50m for a role playing 5 ppg backup center??? Damn those type of money was only given to All-Stars especially in nowaday's salary cap-luxury tax enviroment. And Cato wasn't, isn't or won't be ever close to All-Star status. Do you know that DPOY Ben Wallace got paid less than Cato? That contract (especially the length of it, 6 years??? damn) was simply ridiculous even without hindsight. Just imagine if that contract expired shortly or was less money, we could well have the cap room to sign a solid FA (well Rashard Lewis last summer? Andre Miller this summer?) last summer or this summer OUTRIGHT, instead of depending on just the MLE or trading. Thanks to that contract, the Houston Rockets basketball is set back for 3 years. Thanks **** for that.
