Chron: Spurs' transition to youthful team leaves Rockets guessing

This article is right. The Spurs are much better than us now and will be in the future.

 

good article. i can just see a 30 year old steve and cat still using the youth excuse. then, they wouldnt have to wait too long to use the old age excuse.

 

It does help to have the league MVP who already has a ring on your team. Francis and Mobley didn't have the luxury of tagging along with a great player for a championship before the team was passed on to them, like Duncan had with Robinson.

Plus we barely have over half a season with the player that will potentially lead us to championships, while Duncan has been in the league since '97. Francis and Mobley are not even in the same category as Duncan. These two teams are not even comparable as far as youth/experience goes.

 

Good analysis francis4prez.

The team can only go as far as its superstar... granted you must complement the superstar with the proper pieces, but in the end, its the superstar that decides the fate of the team.

Comparing our superstar, Francis, with Duncan is laughable. Duncan is in serious consideration for League MVP, whereas Francis doesn't even crack the list. Duncan gets "it", he's already won a championship, and he knows what he has to do to win again. Francis, on the other hand, is still maturing, and still has a ways to go before he reaches his prime mentally. Naturally, when you have a superstar that's already figured it out like Duncan, things are much easier and the role players must simply do their roles. Compare this to our situation where our superstar is struggling to find even his own niche... big difference. How can you expect our role players to play well when our main cog hasn't even figured out what he's "supposed" to do, and when our potentially best player (Ming) is still trying to learn the game? Mix in the fact that our two best players haven't been able to figure out how to play effectively with each other.... and there you have our team.

 

Yes,

More excuses as to why we are younger, or not winning.

Duncan is great, no doubt, but Steve is supposed to be that level of player as well, isn't he?

The difference is that Duncan shares the ball and plays defense.

Something our guards never do.

DD

 

Possibly only the Rockets organization and some seriously biased and blind worship Rockets fans think Steve Francis is on the same level of Tim Duncan.

 

I say we just rename Franchise to Turnover.

 

The difference is Spurs always play focused no matter being old or young. It's the mental age that matters.

 

The article was absolutely dead on. There are plenty of "young" teams that are right in the thick of playoff contention. Maybe the new excuse Rudy T and the rockets need to coin is "we're still immature", because age is just a number. If the rockets don't get together and show some sort of improvement... ANYTHING that lets us as fans, and the rockets front office that this team is improving then I want some MAJOR changes made in the offseason. If you take away Ming and Posey, this team has been together for 2-3 seasons...at what point do you make a chage?

 

actually our starting pf eg has been with us for 1.75 seasons, our back up pf taylor is the same b/c he missed all of last season, our starting sf posey has been with us for 40 games, our back up glen rice has played like 65 games or something with us, and our starting center has played 60 games for us. cat, steve, mooch, and cato are pretty much the only holdovers i think and who cares that much about mooch and cato. so of our 8 major rotation people, 3 have been together for a while, 2 have under 2 seasons, and 3 have under 1 season. and i would say the 3 who have been here the longest are also not coincidentally the 3 with the best chemistry on the court. steve and cat obviously and the steve to cato alley oop connection shows they know how to play together. we're starting to get ming more involved and mo tay is becoming a more featured offensive player coinciding with his improved play after i guess finally fully recovering from the injury.

 

Panda: "The difference is Spurs always play focused no matter being old or young. It's the mental age that matters."

This is correct. A full 48 minutes of focus, poise and the flashes of promise seen most games for only 2-3 quarters will go a long way in establishing consistency and identity for this team.




Trying to describe my experience as a Rockets fan this season, I would have to say I've been simultaneously excited and frustrated so many times, that I need one word for the two. Excistrated? Fruxstrited?

 

Francis is not maturing he is doing what he wants. He is not even running the pick and roll now. Certainly he is not running it like Nash, Stockton or Parker. Instead he holds the ball with double teams. I have said it many times before, Francis, aided and supported by Rudy, is making the life for him and his teammates more difficult by the way he plays. The "young" excuse cannot work any more. It is being years now since Rudy has not deliver despite having top notch talent. He did a lousy job with Pippen then with the Pippen trade package of talent plus Anderson and Taylor all the way to this bunch. Nothing to show for it but a tractor trailer full of excuses. In no forum, even a Senate Committee can Rudy give a credible account of his performance.

There is a saying: to those who alot is given, alot is expected. He knew the deal as echoed by the owner early on. The manly thing for him to do is just step aside please.

 

Like who? (and remember the eastern conference doesn't count) There's a lot more young teams out of playoff contention than there are in it. As far as comparing the Spurs and Rockets future potential, it's not even close. The Spurs young, inexperienced players are just role players. The Rockets young, inexperienced players are the team's main cogs.

It will be a while before the Rockets are as good as the Spurs (if ever), but they definitely have more potential.

 

Although I won't argue that the presence of Robinson and Duncan makes his job easier, Tony Parker is one of the quickest PGs I've ever seen. He blew by Steve so many times on Sunday it was ridiculous and by doing so, opened things up for the other players (Ginobilli was the primary person who benefited). Unlike Steve, Parker didn't take shots against 2-3 guys; as soon as the double team came, the ball started moving and nobody shot until they had an uncontested look.

I think the youth and "gelling" excuses are BS. Part of the problem is having players like Francis and Griffin who really don't know how to play the game. Both of them are athletically gifted, but can't do the basic things that would make the game 100% easier. Rudy T also needs to work on spacing, which is not a problem for the Spurs. During yesterday's game, Steve passed Yao the ball and then stood practically right next to him. It allowed Steve's man (Parker or Kerr - can't remember who) to cover two men at once. That's terrible basketball. I also saw Rudy motioning at Mobley to get out of the way on a similar play.

This article is right on the money in my opinion. This team desperately needs a couple of smart, experienced NBA players who can still bring it every night (unlike Glenn Rice, who's pretty much a shell).

 

I think anxious may be the closet word to what you're looking for, and I know that I've felt a lot of anxiety watching the Rockets play bad this season

 

Dumb article. I'm sure if the Rockets had the league MVP on their team, their record would be a little different. This guy just completely misses the mark here.

 

Age Does Not a Veteran Make

One thing this article fails to point out is that for however young Tim Duncan may be, he is a "veteran" of the game. Getting to the finals and carrying that Spurs team to Gold is no laughing matter. Fate put him on the right team at the right time and he's been blessed with not only talent but that opportunitity to gain playoff experience early in his career.

What about the Rox??? Apart from Rice, I can't think of anyone who HAS any playoff experience. I think that's a very important distinction. San Antonio has a certain discipline, anchored down by Duncan AND a true age-wise veteran in Robinson. Yet for all the years Robinson tried to carry the team alone, they never made it.

Yes, the Rox are young in age, but what they're really lacking is that maturity to understand what it takes to win nite-in-nite out. I remember Francis being quoted as saying he's a "high-risk guy" after that Washington loss. That's NOT the right attitude, IMO. What the Rox need to become is a methodical team... not a predicatable one. They need to understand what it means to take high%/low risk plays instead of trying the high risk high octane stuff.

Maybe they are TOO YOUNG and energetic. And maybe they need to slow down and risk being boring but methodical. Point being, this article would have you believe that all 18 year olds are comparable to one another in terms of maturity and intelligence. Everybody has their own maturity curves. The Rox path is a little bit longer and bumpier.

No Big.



theSAGE

 

I know Parker has taken alot of heat here for the way the Spurs announcers hyped him last year. But he is a prime example of the difference between these two teams.

Pop has taken alot of heat here in SA for his dominating handling of Parker...from game lashings to public lashings to being very controlling of what he allows Parker to do. He's shown glimpses of being able to do alot of what Steve can do athletically. For the last 2 and half months this kid has started to really come on. While he's only 20,and I hate to say this,his game maturity level is at least as great,if not greater than Steve's.

Obviously Parker has had Duncan and hasn't had to be the go to guy like Steve has had to and Steve's trying to learn what his new role is on this team. But I think Pop's "control first" style of handling Parker is starting to pay off and he's starting to loosen the reigns a little with him. When he let's him go, this kid is really going to explode.

Alot of people hate the guy,he can be arrogant,but Pop's heavy handed approach shows up when you see his team being consistent,patient,and under control for practically the whole 48 minutes...win or lose. Young or old doesn't matter...he makes them all play that way. If they refuse to play his way, they simply don't play. They learn pretty quick! The difference is obvious.