This articles optimism is based on these two assumptions. 1- I fully believed this to be true before the season started, and we could argue this point forever. I'm very worried about Yao's regression, but it could be one of many fixable things.... his elbow injury, coaching, poor conditioning, his need for an emotional leader. Bottom line - you would have to be crazy to abandon this core before it has really been explored. 2- I think we have started saying this because it keeps us sane, but I didn't think this at all before the season started. I was devasted early in the season when the team looked so bad because I thought we would go through an adjustment period and then start winning. Did the Rockets think this? Why are we the oldest team in the NBA if we didn't think it was going to net us some wins this season? If Charlie Ward is a stop-gap point guard, then why did he sign for 3 years? If we aren't going to the playoffs, then why did we sign Mutombo instead of rolling the dice on some talent that might flourish in a couple years. In general, all of the personnel moves were made with experienced, older players who won't even be around when we (hypothetically) start to win big - if this assumption is true.
I thought we were pretty good on paper before the season started, and I believe that we are underachieving. I would love to say that it is the talent, but since when did Mo-T, Howard, McGrady have trouble scoring? Sura's per-minute stats are also way below last year. Jimmy Jackson is an excellent player. Why are we hurting for talent so bad? We may not have championship caliber talent, but it doesn't look like record-setting-ugly-ball talent on paper. To respond to the article's title.... I didn't think so before the season started, and I'm not sure that is true right now either.
Doc Rob, Exactly. This roster was built by JVG and CD to win NOW, not in the future. They surrounded the 2 young studs with veteran role players, but what they failed to realize is that they got END OF THE BENCH veterans instead of ones that can actually contribute. DD
Rockets are missing a shooting coach. Calvin Murphy was the unofficial shooting coach until he learned his daughters were going to take him to court which is probably a month before the public announcement of the accusations. Who is the shooting coach now? Even in baseball with professionals who have swung the bat all their lives, they still need a hitting coach. Look at Harry Spilman's horrible tenure with the Astros. Then look at Gary Gaetti's tenure so far. The Rockets have no shooting expert as a shooting coach. They have guys who just rebounding misses and passing it back to the player. An elementary student can do that. The Rockets have a teamwide problem. Noone can make a shot beyond a layup or dunk.
Les could take a lesson from Mark Cuban. More coaches mo better. Heck, getting rid of balding Napolean would be a good start. DD
That coach, whom you criticize (and it's wrong to critcize one's appearance), called out Les last year for being more concerned with marketing and not giving him the ability to bring in a more adequate coaching staff.
Don't hold your breath waiting franchise23. It was CD who thought that Juwan Howard was a good "replacement" for Cato in the Orlando trade. It was CD who signed MoT to that big contract. It was CD who pissed away 3 FIRST ROUND PICKS on a guy who'd barely played college ball and ended up washing out of the league. It was CD who traded for Witherspoon to play PF. And after all of this, we find him still looking for a PF. What makes you or anyone else feel confident that CD will somehow, some way actually get it right THIS time?
What troubles me the most is how in the world a team with T-Mac, Yao, Howard and Mo T has trouble to score over 80pts every game? JVG's offense is beyond pathetic. You can argue that we don't have enough shooters but his offense is so stagnant that shooters just can't find any rhythm. I supported JVG in the beginning, I thought he worked hard and was a well-respected coach in New York. But I really suspect his ability right now. Rox is probably the ugliest team to watch in the NBA. If Rox fails to make playoff this season, Les, please fire JVG!
Good post. Ya, we don't have any real good shooters, but JVGs offense doesn't allow anyone to get into rythm.
At this point I will take a Dan Gadzurich [sp?] or even an Antoine Walker. One can rebound the other can score often & has an expiring contract.
Shooting is the most important part of basketball, and it is safe to say that the Rockets have no shooting coach as seen by the garbage on the court.
It's stagnant It's slow There's no player movement It requires passing the ball for 20 seconds along the perimeter I could go on and on. JVGs offense is absolutely pathetic. We played the Nets/Hawks/Knicks/Sixers/Hornets/Mavs, they are some of the worst defensive teams in the league, giving up close to a 100ppg. We scored 20 less points than the other teams playing them. It's no coincidence that Allan Houston/Latrell Sprewell/Steve Francis/Cuttino Mobley/Tracy McGrady all had significant drops in ppg and ppg% under JVG.
No, but that was basically a garbage in - garbage out deal. Signing Moochie to all that money and then having to dump his contract somewhere was dumb. Shipping him off to NY for a 6'7" PF was probably the best that you could do at that time. But the bottom line is that all this trade did was exchange a nonentity at PG for a nonentity at PF - in essence a zero-sum move. This was all covered up while Cato was onboard because he was an ideal backup at PF-Center. Many folks overlook the fact that last season when MoT got hurt (again), Cato moved over to the 4 and never missed a beat. Now after trading him you have 3 6'9" PFs (Howard, Padgett & Taylor) and 1 6'7" PF (Witherspoon) going up against bigger, faster and younger PFs in the Western Conference. They are spending $21 MILLION on PFs and not one of them can play the position.
To me, that is just amazing. $21 million......and no one can even play the position *shakes head* Now they can't even trade any of them because nobody wants them, and none of those contracts are expiring, we're in some deep ****
We don't score 100ppg because we run a half court offense, but at the same token, we rarely give up 100 ppg also. Our scheme is predicated on tough man to man defense and not giving up fast breaks, and as a result, we dictate the pace of the game. Anytime you control the pace of the game you strengthen you chance of winning. Is our offense the most creative? No. Is it adequate enough to win games? Yes. The bottom line is that players have to execute. We are not very good because our players are not very good. And that starts at the top. Our basketball operations department is incompetent. We have assembled a cast of old, soft, slow, overpaid players, and there is no one to blame but management for that. Whenever you trade overpaid mediocre players, the only thing you are going to get in return is overpaid mediocre players. Surrounding these soft players around a soft center has resulted in disaster. Would I like to get a new coach? Sure, but I want a new team to go along with that coach too. Can coach Van Gundy be attributed to some of the thing you're whining about? Yes, but to blame the coach for all of this teams problems is wrong. If you think a new coach is going to get this team to rebound and not be soft, you will be sadly mistaken. The thing about coaches in all sports, today, is that they recieve too much of the blame when things go bad, and too much of the credit when things are going good. Players play, and coaches coach, nothing more. It's not the coaches fault our 7 and a half foot monster is as soft as Charmin, gets pushed around on the block, can't rebound, and is easily, and in multiple ways, made a non-factor. Nor is it his fault that our one-dimensional power forwards are nearly as soft and also can't rebound. He's also not the one on the floor that is an inconsistant shooter. If you are looking for a coach that will run an uptempo, full court offense that creates easy baskets, then you better look for a new basketball operations department that will bring in a new cast of players.
