At the beginning of the season we all wanted to at least make the playoffs, and we did so I was very proud of the rockets for at least making it into the playoffs. In the playoffs we could have made some noise but our lack of experienced showed. I for one still would like to keep SF but I do not think that is possible. I hope this board does not go crazy with trade ideas but I am sure it will. I just hope we either mature in the offseason somehow or make some smart moves.....Thanks Rox for making it a fun/frustrating season...
Yes... we did suceed. We made the playoffs... won a game... and got plenty of experience to get better. Sure the Lakers weren't as tough as they were supposed to be, but experience makes up for lack of execution sometimes...
We traded a good head coach (and Rocket legend) for a mediocre one, and are likely getting rid of one of the cornerstones of "one of the greatest teams ever assembled." This season goes down as a failure.
NO we did not succeed. Every single NBA teams goal is to win the NBA Championship. If they don't, they've failed.
http://bbs.clutchcity.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75673 I would have rather had the ping pong balls.... Raven
Psh whateva. JVG is 10X the coach that Rudy is right now. When I say right now, I mean for this team. Rudy was great with the veterans during the championship years, but clearly he didn't know how to get through to the guys we have now because he was never able to control them. We played much better this year and our defense is awesome when they really try. In my mind, the Rockets are at least 10-15 wins better than their record showed. They are so frustrating because they gave so many games away. I love them so much yet they piss the hell out of me and break my heart.
Rudy had Hakeem. Then, Rudy got Francis and was "fired." Now JVG has Francis. Notice a pattern? The coach is NOT the problem!
THANK GOD WE TRADED GLEN RICE AND OUR FIRST ROUND PICK TO UTAH !!! GREAT JOB CD !!! Maybe Boki can be NEXT YEARS number one pick too. Pathetic. DD
Did they succeed? Are YOU A MORON???? Did we or did we not play and compete in the playoffs? Nuff Said.
I would say they were 5-6 games WORSE than their record showed. Van Grumpy said it at the beginning of the year. He came to win, and win now. He did not do that in the regular season. He did not do that in the playoffs. In both cases there was a total collapse when they needed to huddle up and win.
That was one of the worse rockets playoff performances of all time. The old team, even with matt maloney would have played better.
Just wanted to throw this in here to vent. Eric Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin, what a joke. Are the Rockets forever doomed to sign role players to bad contracts?
It wasn't a success for Van Gundy whose goal it was to win it all. Moderate success for me...playoffs against one of the current WC Top 4. We learned what we need to compete. There are a few diehards who just can't put that logic together. A joke, right? AGriffin will make $807k next year and Piatkowski won't top $3m in his last contract season 2002-06 so he's probably a Bobcat. Is it that easy to overlook the steal we got on Jim Jackson who makes less than Piatkowski?
I'm so sick of everybody putting the blame on Francis. He was the main option and star of this team for like 4 years. Then the Rockets bring in Yao and you all expect Francis just to give that all up when Yao doesn't even really play like he should. He doesn't look forward to big matchups with opponents like the Lakers, he plays with little to no aggression, he passes WAY too much, gets into quick foul trouble, etc. Would you expect any other superstar to just give that up? They probably wouldn't but I guess Francis is different. You guys can sit here and whine about Francis not passing the ball all you want but he was 9th in the regular season with 6.2 assists per game and 5th in the playoffs with 7.6 per game. Keep him!
Let's be clear: The Rockets did not succeed. To ask if they succeeded insinuates that there is a goal. If you were to ask any Rocket player, they will tell you that the only goal is to win the championship. They will say (and have said) that the goal is NOT to make to the playoffs. It's NOT to perform better. It's NOT to beat the Lakers. The goal is to win a championship. And, clearly, we did not achieve that goal. The Rockets progressed. They made great strides in the right direction, moved forward after some huge early-season setbacks, and put up a good fight against a tough team in the playoffs. They achieved what has not been achieved in Houston in the past 5 years, and turned a lot of heads in the process. We've progressed greatly and will certainly continue to do so next year. -- droxford
