From what I've read from media and the new insiders on this board, I believe we have improved at every position. PG- Franchise is older and hopefully wiser. Francis is starting his prime this year. Moochie is in shape. If gives us what he did his first season here, I will be happy. SG- Cat is also a year older and won't feel he needs to carry the load. He has two good ankles for the first time in 3 seasons and won't have to play 45 minutes a game. We got JJ and Pike as backups. SF - I'm biased here because I thought Posey sucked arse for all but 10-15 games. Jim Jackson is a vet and proven all-star caliber scorer and will be our 5th option on offense. Griffin will give us everything Posey did and plays within himself. I think we will see Pike here also when we need shooters on the floor. PF - MoT at 254 lbs That guy was getting his skills back at the end of last season and he is in better shape now than any other time in his career. Remember, people thought MoT was going be a max type guy. Potential all-star. This will be MoT's breakout season. Griffin is legal to drink this year. He will be better just because he's reached puberty and he worked out with the coaches all summer. C- Yao will be a monster. He finally getting the attitude needed to play in the NBA. Cato worked out with Ewing this summer so he should be better offensively. His defense was really good last year so he will continue to be the best backup in the league and will be our protector if needed. Coaching staff - I loved Rudy and I don't think JVG is a better coach. But I don't think the change was good for the team. It ensures the players don't get too comfortable. Ewing replaces Larry Smith which is good also. I know I'm a big homer, and I'm excited as always. I don't think we need anyone else. All the pieces are in place. All we need the players to do is to buy into the system and execute the game plan set by JVG.
I was never a big Posey guy, he was never a smart player, and I think that this season is a wait and see. With Yao in here a little more for training camp, new coach and Stevie being more of a point gaurd (we can only hope) I think this year we will be about a 6th seed and going up from there.
More muscle, and a decent backup pg. But we could make it if Eddie and Mooch step it up respectively.
Agreed. Personally, this is as pumped as I've ever been about a post-Hakeem era team. This season should be a blast. I can't wait. Of course, some people will never be satisfied unless we add Ben Wallace, KG, and Brand...
A VET. POWERFORWARD - would be nice like Charles Oakley. (Maybe Meech can play some at the PF?) This mix of players is alot turfer than last year but we still need an "ENFORCER"
Well Steve is older but he must become wiser. He needs to learn to be a leader of the team not the leader in stats( this is not to say that Steve is more interested in stats than wins but merely to say that we will win more when everybody is involved as opposed to when Steve has a monster game.). Cat showed signs late last year about how his role should be for this team. Cat is a very talented player and can do many things well. He needs to continue the improvement. Posey was a decent player and I liked but not at the price that Memphis is paying him. JJ will be a fine addition and with AGriff, Boki, and Pike we are well stocked. If MoT steps his game up like he did in the 2nd half of last season and EG bulks up and gets mean, we should be in good shape. Also Cato anf Meech can log some time here as well if we play a big lineup. From the videos and pics at the Asian championship, Yao looks to be much more aggressive and focused. Also he looks to have bulked up a bit. All of these are good signs. If Cato can continue to be motivated and play the intensity we look good here. Meech should help with depth. Rudy will always have a special place in my heart and JVG is better IMO but JVG will give this team what it needs. An "IN YOUR FACE" attitude. Rudy was "daddy" to this team and sometimes you need to move away from home to grow as a man.
Lets stop hating on Mooch for the time being. It looks and sounds like he is really getting for this season. He and everyone else knows that he had a bad year. He said something like "If i could have played well last season or maybe even half the season, we'd be in the playoffs." Sounds like that was his motivation to get better. I say that Moochie will be back to his old way this year.
Good post rockbox. You pretty much answered your own question. I think we are ready to stand pat, unless a deal comes up that would, without a doubt, make us a better team. Lets save the trades for Antonio Davis and co. until we are ready to compete for a title and know what we need to put us over the top.
I agree with your player summarys and am very excited myself. I also agree with Codell that basically we need to let these guys play for half a season before we make any more decisions on "what we need" cause right now we don't really know. We will have to use our 7 million dollar trade exception in the next year but I think mid-season or next summer we will have a much better overall picture. We are in a great position to make a run at a championship over the next 3-4 years. We have a solid foundation and some versitile parts. We also have some tradable pieces and a 7 million dollar exception that makes our abillity to trade basically ideal from a flexibility standpoint.
Wilks sounds like a solid back-up PG. A consistent PF would be nice, but we could get that from Mo and Griffin. Also I think that Amaechi will be more valuable then people think. On Utah and Orlando he had an important role, he played well for Orlando, but it caught up with him having to play center for Utah in the West. Here in Houston he will be the 3rd PF and Center, meaning the pressure will be off of him and he can contribute a little bit. We don't need much from him, just a wide body to throw around, burn some fouls and minutes, get some boards and score a point here or there. Basically do what Cato does, but not quite as much as he does. I think the Rocks are fine, it's just a matter of chemstry, consistency and running a solid offense. Once they get that down they will be force. This team is deep, especially up front, and talented.
We need to bring back the toughest bald dude we had back from one of our finals runs...............Granville Waiters.
"" But the only chance would be after training camp, maybe during the season, after the coaches of all the teams have had a chance to evaluate who they have.
Steve being selfish is a little bit unfair characterization, IMO. Steve hasn't been interested in stats. He could average 30 ppg if he wanted. He DOES look to get people involved...he just doesn't do a good job of it. So I agree older but become wiser is needed. But that is how JVG can help. Steve often looked frustrated that he couldn't get teammates more involved. Steve rarely had more the 10ppg in the 1st. When teammates didn't step up, he'd take it upon himself more and more as the game goes on. It really looks like we are primed for a breakout season. I hope the guys can pull it together.
Yao was humble last season, new surroundings, adapting to culture, a lot thinner.........This year (after seeing some games this year)....he's gonna be a bad bad man! I can't wait, the mean streak is showing and now he's thickened up a little and added muscle to help him be a banger/graceful center.
