I have been reading and reading and reading posts for the last 6 weeks about mainly two things: Yao doesn't get the damn ball. Steve is either dumb or needs to be traded. First, let me say I do think that Steve is dumb when it comes to basketball. But his basketball IQ can be increased with proper coaching. Second, we have to look at the big picture which is really lacking in this place. This team is EXTREMELY young. Not just young. EXTREMELY YOUNG. Yao is 23 years old. Francis is 26. The two centerpieces of this team are babies when it comes to the NBA. You can argue you hit your prime at 30 nowadays. What does everyone think is gonna happen with JVG in 6 weeks? A 15-2 record? Guys, lets get real here. I have watched JVG all of his career here in NYC and I can tell you that the difference he will provide for a team is when everyone adapts to his teaching, training and game planning. You wanna know when this team is on the verge? When during the second half of the season, the Rockets start to outpace other teams. When the defense is consistant throughout the year. When other teams tire, JVG teams smell blood and kick into another gear. I have seen it for myself. One thing JVG has here that he didn't have in NYC are athletes. The best athlete he had in NYC was Ewing. Here, he has a 7'5 center who has the mobility of a 6'10" player and the touch of a 6'6" shooting guard. He has Francis who plays like a man bigger than his size all the time and is a tremendous athlete. Getting players around these two is what needs to be done along with teaching. Jeff just got here and we want to challenge the Lakers? We all want to see improvement. But what will people say when in March, we start getting stronger while teams get weaker? What about when we are the 6th seed when the playoffs start? Isn't that better than what has been going on here the last 5 years? And even if we suck this year, so what? Its not a win now team. Its a DOMINATE in the future team. Yao is growing. Steve needs proper coaching. And if it doesnt work out, then trade Francis. But whats the big deal about this year? Look at the BIG picture. What other team can boast the talent we have at such a young age with the coaching staff to go along with it. We need paitience. I want my 3 year old daughter to be a tennis star. She shows alot of advance motor skills for her age. She was walking by 12 months. She speaks alot. She runs like a deer and jumps like one. But she can barely hit a tennis ball with a tennis racket. Should I give up now? Or let her grow and teach her the game? We have babies on this team. Give the staff a chance.
Even JVG said in the beginning of the season: NO EXCUSES THIS YEAR. No body expect them to win championship this year. But the bottom line is: They have to make playoff and show improvement.
If you meet a girl and ask her to marry her after the first date and she says she would like to get to know you and you say, it's now or never, now that is impatience. I would call waiting for five years to see improvement and seeing little, well, I would call that incredible patience. After such an agonizing wait, expressing frustration is more than understandable.
The Rockets are currently -- even with the 3-game losing skid and a precipitous drop in the standings -- in the 7th seed. So they are on track to meet that expectation currently.
Besides Yao, who on this team is "extremely young"? 26 isn't young in the NBA. Francis - 4 full years in league Cat - 5 full years JJ - 11 full years Cato - 6 full years MoT - 6 full years Pike - 9 full years Sorry, the "we're still young" excuse doesn't hold water anymore. I don't expect us to win the championship this year, I just want to see some improvement and a playoff spot. Sorry, but losing to the j*zz and the sonics isn't going to get us there.
I'm all for showing patience and letting the team grow. But Francis will turn 27 soon and this is his fifth year with no playoff experience; Mobley is 28 and is in his sixth season with no playoff experience. They're not kiddies anymore. It's time to produce. Yes, they're in the West, and yes they've had solid records the last few years. But the best do what it takes to get into the playoffs, and the Rockets haven't done that. Yet. They're playing pretty well so far (9-7), so they have a good shot at playing in late April this year. The pieces seem to be finally falling into place.
Yes, they are in the 7th seed right now. But many bbsers may not realize that they had the exact same record last year, being among the top 8 in the west most of time and still failed to make playoff. I think people just don't want see it happen again.
I was going to add my thoughts Almu, but it looks like that has all ready been done. The BBS seems 80%-20% on this point of view and you're on the 20% side.
Time is one thing this team does NOT have The Rockets can't beat a quality opponent to save their lives. Uh oh, look at the next seven...Utah, New Orleans, Detroit, Portland, San Antonio twice, and Minnesota...After the Rockets go 2-5, all their confidence will be zapped and a major trade will be coming before the all star break.
while I appreciate your misguided optimism, I have to disagree with you. I listened to Rich and Charlie berate this team last night and I thought it was fantastic.(reason being, is that I feel this team needs to own up to their faults and address the issues) There are no more good excuses. This team isn't too young. This should be a playoff team. Van Gundy said as much as soon as he was brought on. I have watched this team play almost every game/quarter/minute of the past ten seasons. The last four have been extraordinarily painful and I am ready for that to stop. Steve sux!!!!!!!!!!! There I said it and it feels better. Steve sux as a point guard and as a defender. Guess what, when he isn't having that one in ten game where he actually shoots a decent percentage, he flat out sux overall. Cato should not be our P.F.. With the recent good play I know we want to crown him as our pet comeback athlete of the decade, but that is stupid. We have an incompetent offense and are reduced to playing four on five when he is on the floor. Before everyone starts the I am a Yao only fan thing...... Yao does need to learn to get better position and to demand the ball. He also has to work on rebounding and ball handling. But guess what, He has already done something Steve has never done. He has improved his game in the offseason. That gives me hope.
Almu, thanks for the optomistic thread. Nice to see these every once in a while. I agree with some of your points and disagree with others but definitely appreciate the thread. The fans are impatient with the Rockets over the last 4 or so years but the "JVG Rockets" has just begun. I think we need to show the "JVG Rockets" a little patience as well. There are some things that are troubling and there are definitely some roster moves that have to be made and probably will be made before the trading deadline if these bad trends continue, but at the same time let's give this team some more time to gel in JVG's system.
Here Here! I totally agree. Many people were complaining about the Rox for the past few years and demanding a big change. Will we got that big change in JVG. Now after just 16 games a whole bunch of people are complaining that we need another big change. The season isn't even 20% over for crying out loud. Lets wait until at least the All Star Break before demanding JVG's head or making a major change. Of course if people were patient we would see a lot less posters to Internet forums be they for sports or foreign policy.
My point exactly Deuce. The JVG Rockets just started. People lump everything up with Rudy T. The team IS young when you look at the centerpieces. HENCE THE WORDS "YOU NEED PLAYERS AROUND THEM". As far as the girlfriend dating scenerio, I equate it to this: I was married before. It was great. Then it got bad. I got a divorce. I meet the new hot chic. Would I ask her to marry me so that the good times can start tomorrow? Or do I be patience knowing that this girl here could be the one? Listen, I want this team to win right away. But its only December. If they make the 8th seed, thats the improvement we are looking for in the conference. If they make it any higher, I would do backflips. If they suck, rebuild the team. Thats where the EXTREMELY YOUNG part comes in. Yao...who is now the focus point of this organization...is only 23. As long as he is the centerpiece, the team is young. Its not an excuse. I want the 8th seed. Thats improvement. And we are on our way. Lets see what happens.
That's the first time I've heard JVG referred to as a "hot chic." Now that I think about it he does have a strong resemblence to Rob Schneider.
I agree with having patience. But we should not be practicing basketball fundamentals and having remedial training.. That is ridiculous. That is what people can't tolerate. And we're not too young. That's just the same old excuse.
how many years have we been saying this? When is it finally going to happen? Second, we have to look at the big picture which is really lacking in this place. This team is EXTREMELY young. Not just young. EXTREMELY YOUNG. Yao is 23 years old. Francis is 26. The two centerpieces of this team are babies when it comes to the NBA. You can argue you hit your prime at 30 nowadays. this team is NOT extremely young. All but Yao have multiple years of NBA experience. That should be enough to realize what it takes to win. You wanna know when this team is on the verge? When during the second half of the season, the Rockets start to outpace other teams. When the defense is consistant throughout the year. When other teams tire, JVG teams smell blood and kick into another gear. I have seen it for myself. that would be nice, but the rep of this team is that they choke down the stretch. The rep of this team is inconsistency. As of yet that has not changed, and I do not expect a grand change in the 2nd half of the season. One thing JVG has here that he didn't have in NYC are athletes. The best athlete he had in NYC was Ewing. Here, he has a 7'5 center who has the mobility of a 6'10" player and the touch of a 6'6" shooting guard. He has Francis who plays like a man bigger than his size all the time and is a tremendous athlete. Ewing wasn't much of an athlete when JVG got to him. Spree, Houston, and Camby were all pretty athletic though. Getting players around these two is what needs to be done along with teaching. Jeff just got here and we want to challenge the Lakers? We all want to see improvement. But what will people say when in March, we start getting stronger while teams get weaker? What about when we are the 6th seed when the playoffs start? Isn't that better than what has been going on here the last 5 years? this is the west, the teams wont get weaker. We can't count on a strong finish from our stars. Look at how they choked last year. Yao may end up with little more in the tank than he did at the end of last season as well. And even if we suck this year, so what? Its not a win now team. Its a DOMINATE in the future team. Yao is growing. Steve needs proper coaching. And if it doesnt work out, then trade Francis. But whats the big deal about this year? Look at the BIG picture. What other team can boast the talent we have at such a young age with the coaching staff to go along with it. OMG, how many years have we heard this tired argument as well? It's not a win-now team? wtf? It's always a "win-now" team, esp when you have 2 "franchise" players on your squad. Look at the records of the teams esp in the west - plenty of teams can boast about young talent. We need paitience. I want my 3 year old daughter to be a tennis star. She shows alot of advance motor skills for her age. She was walking by 12 months. She speaks alot. She runs like a deer and jumps like one. But she can barely hit a tennis ball with a tennis racket. Should I give up now? Or let her grow and teach her the game? Uh, wait until she can grab a racket, and if she can't play trade her in for someone who can. We have babies on this team. Give the staff a chance. Babies with 4+ years of NBA experience need to be traded for men.
No way, I'm not saying that. I'm saying be patient in terms of becoming a great team. But we shouldn't be patient with the current crap going on.
