Articles like this are the reasons I hate Fran. What a depressing piece of crappola. ---------------------------- By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle It wasn't the building that needed changing. It was the foundation upon which the Rockets have been trying to erect a new era. It wasn't the head coach that needed changing. It was merely the organizational approach that seemed to assume the young lions eventually would earn everything that was being handed to them. It wasn't the uniforms that needed changing. Well, actually, it was. But the point being that it was how the Rockets performed in those insanely striped jammies rather than how they looked that made the whole routine appear tacky. Confident. Cocky. Entitled. All, one would think, strange words to be applied to a team that could not qualify for the NBA's liberal playoff party even once in the past four seasons. Yet that is precisely how the Rockets have been perceived around the league and, more importantly, in their own hometown. So enter Jeff Van Gundy and everything is supposed to change. Sterner practices, higher expectations, tougher defense. If it were that simple, every franchise in the game would simply hire a Marine Corps drill sergeant. The reality of the matter is that Van Gundy doesn't know what he has on his hands as he enters tonight's season opener against the perpetually rebuilding Denver Nuggets and might not be too much clearer by February. That always has been the puzzle of these new-age Rockets in the post-Hakeem-Clyde-Charles Era. They always look a lot better on paper. They have never added up to what you think should be the sum of their parts. We know this: In Yao Ming, the Rockets have the next dominant center to eventually succeed Shaquille O'Neal. Beyond the great passing skills and the overall court vision that he showed as a rookie, Yao has returned for Year Two not just looking like a big man, but acting and playing like one, too. Van Gundy wants to hop on Yao's back and ride him the way he did Patrick Ewing for all those years in New York. As a local baseball manager-turned-author has written, it ain't brain surgery. But once the boss wanders out of Yao's area in in the paint, he might find more tics, quirks and mysteries of the mind than at a seminar on neurological disorders. There has been very little demonstrated during his first four pro seasons that Steve Francis can't do on a basketball court. Except, of course, figure out what exactly he's supposed to do and when he should or shouldn't do it. We could wait forever for the Franchise to eventually be transformed into a new version of Oscar Robertson or John Stockton or Jason Kidd at the point and ultimately be disappointed. Or simply accept that Stevie is what he is, an extraordinary talent who is looking, craving for direction and yet may never find it. The peripheral cast has changed dramatically from a year ago when the Rockets nose-dived down the stretch, using former coach Rudy Tomjanovich's health problems as a lame crutch. However, Van Gundy's real challenge is to change their ethos, their attitude that because they have athletic shoe deals and paychecks with lots of zeros they are professionals when, in fact, they've just been a bunch of lost boys walking around in circles. So much of where the Rockets might go depends on Cuttino Mobley getting a clue or a ticket out of town. So much of what they hoped to accomplish may already have taken a severe hit from the quite serious misadventures of Eddie Griffin. You go ahead and put your faith in the transformation of Kelvin Cato. Some of us will wait until April to evaluate the body of work. The opportunity is there for the Rockets to move up into the playoff mix this season, if for no other reason than several of their peers have taken a tumble. Utah, with Stockton retired and Karl Malone refereeing the Shaq-Kobe spitball matches in LA, is barely an NBA team. A Golden State franchise that was on the rise has disassembled itself and betrayed its fans. Seattle already was teetering on the brink and now with top draft choice Nick Collison out for the season and Ray Allen ailing, the Sonics are likely grounded. That leaves just Denver, Memphis and the LA Clippers to beat out for a return to the postseason. That's another change from the glory days of the franchise. The bar has been lowered.
Then please Codell, don't post them. You made me read it out of curiousity. I think a more productive thing to do would be to start a thread that is a petition to get him fired. Now that would be cool.
I agree with you codell. The first thing that came to my mind was "thems are fightin' words!". Blinebury is over the top. This is typical over the top stuff. The man is entitled to his opinions, but geez louise it sounds like he could use some prozac!
This is article is soberly and unapologetic. It's a "no excuse" article about the past and what JVG has ahead of him. This is an OP-ED article. Not a "cheerleader" article. I don't think it's depressing. It's about the stark reality we have to face. "Kill or be road killed." No excuses!
Fran speaks the truth. It's past time really for this team and organization to step up and do something on the court and not just make excuses. I personally don't expect too much, I will be happy with seeing them play good tough smart basketball. For me, that will be a welcome change from the past four years.
Unapologetic? Yes. Sober? No. C'mon- LA barely an NBA team?Good grief. Real sober. He goes over the top (not far from usual form) and overstates everything. The net effect is sorta like a woman that way overdoes the makeup! Here's my summary of the editorial - "You Rockets especially Francis and Mobley will surprise me if you ever change. And by the way you won't impress me even if you make it to the playoff's because all your competition suck this year." What the heck is all that???
shirking reality to be overly pessimistic about everything, except of course yao ming who must get his metaphorical you know what sucked in every article, is purposely depressing. steve sucks, cuttino is stupid, kelvin cato apparently isn't even good after a whole freakin year of playing lights out (relatively speaking), and our competition is weak is the only reason we're not making it (yeah, the western conference is just so weak, they're practically handing out playoff appearances). but, whaddya expect from fran.
Geez.... Fran sure is Mr. Negative. Maybe we should take some money out of the tip jar and get Fran laid so he can write some more upbeat articles.
He was referring to Utah, Tango. Anyway, pretty straightforward article, but it bored me. The Chron needs to hire a new writer!
He talking about opportunity to step up! Talk it cheap! Prove it. Does it hurt your feelings? Oh well. Prove it on the court!
The above quote is about teams that are NOT in position to challenge the Rox if we take advantage of the opportunity. No more squandering. Not all the teams in the Western Conference are strong. So, he's not saying that the "whole western conference is weak." He's saying that there's enough bad/average teams that we should beat that will allow us to move up in the standings. Enough of this loosing to bad teams as often as we lost to good teams, i.e. lack of consistency. P.S. I beleive that JVG will bring that consistency.
GriffFan - ooops my bad! I acknowledge my mistake. Still, the article is a pessimist view of the world. It certainly isn't a realists view of the world. In case you're wondering, here's my definition: Optimist- see's only the positives in everything (glass is 1/2 full) Pessimist - see's only the negatives in everything (glass is 1/2 empty) Realist - see's both the positives and negatives (glass has water in it) And before the season opens up tonite - let me just offer up a olive branch in peace as surely as the eternal war between the Pessimists, the Optimists, and the Realists will be waged on this board that we are indeed all Rockets fans and it sure is nice to be among your company !
Fran is typically over-the-top, but he does make a pretty good point. That is, the Western Conference OVERALL is a bit weaker than a year ago. The top teams have gotten (seemingly) much stronger, but the 7-10 teams (with the exception of the Rockets) have apparently "dropped-off" a bit. Last year with a couple of months left in the season the 8 and 9 seed in the West seemed open to several teams. This year the Rockets should be able to AT LEAST "secure" a 7 or 8 seed before the last couple of weeks of the season. Like I said in another post this morning: it sure is going to be a LONG freaking day!
Fran has been bitter since his only source, Hakeem, left the team and he got into a snit with some of the former coaching staff. Now, with Jeff "I don't give a crap who you write for" Van Gundy running the show and used to a MUCH more abrasive form of media in NYC, I'm sure Fran's even more grumpy. Bottom line is that it is his opinion. I could certainly live with all his negativism if he was a better columnist in general.
