pasox2, Get off the Odom trip. It ain't happening. All you are doing is describing an all-star team. Hell, I'd trade Eddie for Brand, but that ain't happening either You, Mobley, and Francis wanted Odom before we won the lottery. We got Ming instead, at the expense of being in the running for Odom. Mobes and Francis are settled on the fact Ming is better and have moved on to know they aren't getting Odom, too; maybe it's time for you to move on, too. pasox2 and AB, really, for fun, answer my question, would you have traded Vernon in 1993? Simple question.
I mean in a "trade his ass" kinda way, because you just don't want him on the team...in a Mobley kinda way. If you still say "no," then compare and contrast Mobley to Madmax's styles and situation.
We have enough championship caliber physical talent. As most champions have said (notably Jordan), what separates the champions from others is mental. Mental toughness, mental focus. Let's look at the Sac Kings. Bibby has the look of a champion. He wants the ball. He has made clutch shots. He has carried his team in critical situation. Unfortunately, Webber is mental mush. He doesn't want the ball. He doesn't make plays when it counts. The Kings have the physical talent to be champs. I don't think they have the mental talent or toughness. The best player (maybe plural) of championship teams is mentally tough as nails. As for the Rox, let's look at the leaders: Francis: inconclusive at this stage (4th yr in the league), but early signs are not good. Francis routinely misses key free throws late in 4th quarters of close games. a big problem. Francis does not play tough defense (torched by folks like white chocolate). He has demonstrated the propensity to make the same mistakes . . . driving into traffic, getting called for charging, getting stripped by Sura. Positive signs - he has hit a few game tying/winning jumpers this year. We'll see. Yao: way too early to tell. He seem mentally tough b/c he takes the physical beating without complaint and just plays ball. He shows flashes of determination. He has not been put into game winning situations yet, so we don't know how he will respond. Mobley: the complete jekyl and hyde. sometimes plays wonderful defense, sometimes not. most of the time is pigheaded on offense. unwilling to sacrifice his personal stats for the good of the team. I don't think we need to look to any other players. We go as far as Yao and Francis take us. Let's just hope they develop the mental toughness of a champion.
No. I am or was not a fan of trading either. I think Cuttino is better suited as a 6th man, spelling a 2 that makes better decisions. BTW I liked Vernon's game a lot better.
I will never give up the dream! . There are other big small forwards who can pass to look at, down a notch or two. Matt Harpring is a tough nosed guy who torched us in Utah. Donyell Marshall can move the ball. Odom is just the most impressive point forward on the assist. No, I wouldn't have traded Max. He wouldn't fetch value. He was a Tenacious Defender. Clutch. Bonehead. Max was my favorite player, back when. Not the best player - I just enjoyed watching his fight most. Max's D was a good match at the time to offset the super soft Kenny Smith. Ricky Pierce or Dale Ellis or Sedale Threat or another shooter would have been able to knock down Hakeem's assist, but they would've never dumped it down to him, and they wouldn't have been able to clamp down if they're worried about stroking. Max knew he had to throw it in. When he got it back, well, of course he was mostly too dumb to pass again to a better shot, and would heave up a circus jack. Ok, Maybe for Ricky Pierce.
AB, I think you are looking at history through rose colored glasses. For everygame Maxwell was on fire, he would have a game where he would go 2 for 15. Maxwell shot less than 40 % during the championship season. Maxwell was way worse than Mobley, but we all remember him fondly because we won a championship with him.
I never said he was consistant, I said he was known for last minute heroics. Challenge my points not yours. Plus although he never completely locked Jordan down, he really competed well against the Bulls.
Is this a championship lineup? 1. Franchise, The Moochinator 2. Cat, Posey, Hawk 3. Rice, T-Mo, Boki 4. Mo-T, EG 5. Yao, Cato No. We won't make that kind of noise this year anyway. But give it a year or so, when we have these guys having played together awhile: 1. Franchise, Moochinator 2. Cat, Hawk 3. Posey, Boki, T-Mo 4. EG, Mo-T 5. Yao, Cato Then we might be kicking some A. If I have any reservations, it concerns the 4 spot. The powerhouse teams in the West have really thrown some major cash around to secure their talent. Will we pay three franchise players? Steve + Yao are two of them; will Eddie develop into one? Or do we make a move for a bruiser? Stay tuned.
I think the personnel is very similar to Sacramento. By the time the team is considered serious title contenders, I think this will be the lineup. Starters: Ming/Divac Griffin/Webber Nachbar/Stojakovic Posey/Christie Francis/Bibby Bench: Mobley/B.Jackson Taylor/Turkoglu Cato/Clark There are still so many question marks though. (1) Ming, Griffin and Nachbar's development (2) Cat's willingness to accept a smaller role (3) Steve maturing as a point guard (4) Taylors ability to return to the player he was (5) Cato continuing to play inspired ball (6) Rudy getting the team to gel
If I was Another Brother, I would post this as a pic...but since I am a sissy, I just post the link...that would be the perfect answer, though http://orsm.net/prycless/prycless16/images/prycless305.jpg
Personnel to win a ring? When you talk ring..I think playoffs..and in the playoffs, experience becomes a much larger factor than in the regular season. Young inexperienced teams are usually exposed in the playoffs..here is how I see the Rockets. STRONGEST 1 & 2 Steve and Cat,,Our only returning starters. Know each other and matchup with any other duo. 5......Yao &Cato would be our strongest, but will the rookie be consistent in the playoffs. 3......Rice & Posey Rice may be our weak link in long range thinking..but in the playoffs..he would be a tough vet, the kind that excells under playoff pressure. 4....Eddie & MoT For the playoffs I think Eddie is the weak link..his weakness would be exposed if he were to be a major factor. But MoT should at 100% by playoff time..if RudyT didn't think so..he wouldn't have traded KT. Our chances? The Rockets are too young and inexperienced to be consistent..and history tells us experience and consistency are the keys to winning in the playoffs. Trade Max?...no Trade Cat...never.
Actually I like the Rockets chances THIS year. They do have the personnel; that is they don't really need to add any new persons to the team. Sure they do lose to the poor teams, but they do quite well against playoff caliber teams of recent (who cares about the lottery teams; the Lakers lost to just about every one last year). If the Rockets can just get out of the first round, i think they have an excellent chance in a 7 game series against any team. Any team. The one condition is that the offense is run through Yao. Even if Yao develops a scoring slump that lasts throughout a whole series, he can help the Rockets and hurt the opposing team in so many ways. I see no way that the Rockets as a team end up on the wrong side of a short series. They're not going to get swept or beaten in 5 (besides maybe the first round). If the series goes the distance 6-7 games, I think the opposing team has the greater difficulty in adjustments than the Rockets. The comparison of the Rockets and the Kings (arguably the best team in the NBA whom inicidentally the Rockets beat) was a good one with no team being noticeably superior on PAPER. However, i doubt the Kings improve substantially over the rest of this or next season. The Rockets on the other hand...
Two more seasons before the BIG WIN !I expect, if we do reasonable well in the playoffs, ie:- go into the 3rd round, this season , we are going to attract the players we need for "TWEAKING". I still would like to see BRAND in a ROX uniform!
The Rox definitely have the talent to WIN it all! The main problem is that we need proper role players. I think the key positions are filled (premier center, great pg, good sg, good bench). All we need is a few tweaks with the lineup and good coaching (i have faith in Rudy). But you guys did list some very accurate fundamental problems. 1. Too young 2. Poor rebounding 3. Bad D My opinion is that these issues can be fixed. Imagine if we got Brian Grant for Mo Taylor and Cato. I am actually a Cato fan but his talent is underutilized here with us. Grant is experienced and played on many great teams with the Jailblazers. he is tough and does alot of the dirty work. This will free up Yao more and Grant can play some back up center as well. I honestly feel that this addition will take us in the Western Conference finals and who knows then what will happen. By that time, Yao will have had 1 full season of NBA ball and we can be dangerous.
I honestly think we have all the pieces. When Yao becomes the player he can be... Steve and Mobley mature and improve their decison making... EG and Boki live up to their potential... Posey becomes the defensive stopper we need... plus all the players stay healthy, yeah that would be the time we can be challenging. And one more time. We don't need to add players like Elton Brand/Brian Grant. We already have EG as our future and Mo Taylor is also capable. Just give them time and we will be fine. You have to let all our players grow together to gain chemisty and not make panic change every season to kill it. Be patient. Good times are ahead...
I think time, a deep threat at the 3 and how EG/MoT work for us are the only factors here...if EG blossoms into a more consistent threat inside and MOT can keep his game consistent, we will have the best front court in the league and top 3 back courts....Rice will not be back here unless he cuts his money, so either Boki develops or we need a 3. Posey is a nice player, but not a pure threat from 3 land.... Time will make everyone better playing together within 2 years this team will have been together long enough to make them lethal and experienced enough...kinda like Sac-town has done..
I just think we are short a 'Mario Elie' type player. Someone who just bangs, has high energy, a team leader, and can score occasionally, especially when the game is on the line.
