If you don't see any improvement of the team after the T-Mac trade, you are blind. The Francis era was the lowest point of the Rockets since the late 80s, when we lost Ralph Sampson to injuries and three excellent guards to cocaine.
We lost in the first round with Francis. We lost in the first round with Tracy. We were definitely better in the regular season with Tracy though. Too bad the regular season means squat in the grand scheme of things. The lowest point of the Rockets since the late 80's is still going on. 11 yr streak without any playoff success. It didn't end when Tracy came here. Our team is a colossal failure.
05 and 07 were good seasons for us,playoffs aside. 06 was cursed, and this year we are learning,lets not give up yet. yes i am tired of him leaving games, but then ppl got mad when he wouldnt "give it go and tough it out". i hope steve and james get it together.
Over the years the role players have changed and now even the coaching staff has changed twice since the Rudy T era. The only things that has not changed for this team in the last few years is Les, Yao, and T-mac. If something does not give soon and we get back to winning I bet Mac is the first to go out of the three people above. The Rockets have painted themselves into a corner we may not get back to winning again until we develop a group of young players to get the job done like Portland is doing. The down side is we waste Yao by doing that or do you trade him too and rebuild from the ground up a la the T-wolves?
The Rockets with Francis can't make it to the second round of the playoffs. The Rockets with MacGrady can't make it to the second round of the playoffs. What exactly is the difference?
Basically I don't think we have a choice, T-mac or Yao will NOT be traded so we have to live with these shortcomings. Neither have the killer instinct needed to dominate important playoff games anymore (or never at all), all we can do is PRAY hopefully that the Lord will bless both with this special gift.
Maybe the lord will bless them with that. Unfortunately the way they are playing right now, they aren't even going to make the playoffs. And if they do make the playoffs, they'll end up playing the spurs/suns in the first round, and well we know how that will go.
Yao is more polished. The McGrady trade was a lateral move at best, but you know what they say about hindsight.
Francis era 99-00 34-48 00-01 45-37 01-02 28-54 (headache season) 02-03 43-39 03-04 45-37 1st round 1-4 T-Mac era 04-05 51-31 1st round 3-4 05-06 34-48 (injuries season) 06-07 52-30 1st round 3-4 You can't seriously tell me there is no difference. Yes, we did not get past the 1st round. With Francis, we got to the playoffs once in 5 years. Won only one game in the playoffs. With T-Mac, we got to the playoffs twice in three years. And got to game 7 each time. In the grand scheme of things, every team that does not win the championship means squat. That's 29 teams every year.
The last year of francis with Rox last time, Rox only lost to Lakers which had 4 superstars. If Yao was as strong that year as he was the last year, Rox still had a chance of wining. Francis wasn't as good as T-Mac, but Francis was a fighter. T-Mac is very talented, however, he is not a fighter and he doesn't care basketball. He is not playing the ball with heart as he should have. I am thinking, if Rox did not trade for T-Mac, Rox may have won a playoff series already in the past three years. Talent is one thing, desire for winning is another thing. Look the Blazer team now, you can say no one on that team is as good (or as talent) as T-Mac, but they are winning 11 games in a row. A superstar without heart doesn't bring his team any good.
u know what difference and problem are? u are comparing present with past, but we are comparing present with future. we think we are suppose to be much better, while you think we could be much worse.
I don't hate Tmac, i just wish he was tougher. Dude has a lot of estrogen in him and it shows too often. Dude said it was on him and he fail. Don't cry, just tell them the obvious, you failed but you're coming back harder next year. Not Maclady, he cries on the podium. He than tells Yao, he'll be isolated by the team for stating their obvious softness. Go see the wizard and get a heart (Tinman) and some courgage (Cowardly Lion)
Give it up, thats why they are TMac haters. Facts do not matter to them, they want "heart". Yea.. we should trade TMac for Bowen. Seriously, they don't get the fact that TMac will never show emotions the way KG and Kobe do. Thats just his personality, it does not mean he is not trying! If you have watched Yi Jianlian play, he does not seem to be giving his full effort. But as a rookie, I am sure he is giving his all. Anyways, all these haters care about is he should attack and attack the basket, as if that is easy to do with 7" 6 Yao along with 2 other opponents clogging the paint.
You are correct. Every team that does not win the championship is squat. Almost doesn't count. No one remembers who comes in 2nd place. But the way to get to a championship is progress. Your version of progress is losing a little less bad in the first round. I don't consider that progress, because we're still losing in the first round. We haven't had playoff success with Francis nor T-Mac. Just because we're losing a little less badly doesn't mean we aren't losers.
I am saying that we are better off with McGrady than Francis as our main guy. I am also saying that this was one of the few decisions management got right in the past 10-11 years. As far as the argument that we would have been a lottery team and grabbed better players through the draft, I am not so sure that would be the case. First off, we were a middle of the road team before the trade. Second, management was notorious for making lousy decisions on draft day. Therefore, you combine the fact that we were unlikely to land a top pick and the fact that are management had a tendency to waste our 1st round picks year after year, and the result is that we may have been in worse shape than we are today having a player/trade commodity like T-Mac. How many players in the league could even be mentioned in possible trade scenarios for Kobe Bryant. Not only was T-Mac's name tossed around recently in Kobe trade rumors (reliable sources or not, it was making noise), but I also remember a time about a year ago when Phil Jackson openly said he would consider trading Kobe for T-Mac when things were getting sour between Kobe and Lakers brass. The bottomline is that if you are one of the fans that is unhappy with McGrady, be happy knowing that at least we will get more in return trading him than we would have by trading Francis and/or Mobley.
I think Mr. Alexander is an oft overlooked problem with this organization. He doesn't make good decisions that lead to long-term success. He is impatient and wants to win now all the time. He made it work once but he has never done anything to prove his aptitude at making this a consistently winning oraganization over time.
Wrong. The fact that most of us wish we were better is a different point. I am one of the people that was hoping we would be a better team. What I was trying to do with this thread was shed some positive light on the obviously ugly situation.
What has happened is thus: Once upon a time we were an exciting young team with a good back court that got a fellow named Yao Ming. The team got better...but struggled as well. It was decided we needed a new coach. The other one was pushed out a bit, and Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. After a good season but still a first round exit. It was thought that the problem was the super star player, so a trade was made for an even better star in T-mac. However, that didn't get the results as expected. So more changes were made. Wesley, Sura, etc...through Swift...through Battier and Wells. Those things didn't work either. And we still couldn't get out of the first round. So then we thought it was the coach again, and JVG was fired, and Rick Adelman was brought in. Some new players also joined - scola, brooks, francis again, and james again. But the team didn't do so well - and it was too early to blame the coach. So now, it's time to go after the superstar again... Does anyone see a familiar pattern here? Kinda comical isn't it? Maybe it's time we stop making changes and focus on just figuring out how to get better each year a little by little. Ya know, in a slow an methodical manner. A tweak here, a tweak there. Hey, it worked for us in the past. Or does anyone remember the Don Chaney years?
