BBS reaction to a game is immediate and direct. No need to say, it's a valuable place to find high BB iq people. I don't mean coaches are not as good. But no hesitation for BBS guys to speak out. Even opposite opinions are both smart. I noticed many times, Chronicle's comments are barely a copy of BBS but late. Players and coaches are talking about "getting Yao the ball", which is the main subject of this forum since season started. I understand players and coaches are in a more difficult position to "getting Yao the ball". But it is good to listen what Rockets fans have to say. I believe Rockets players and coaches read as much post as I do.
The Rockets players and coaches very likely do NOT read the BBS regularly. Hell, I wouldn't if I was a player and all these anonomys people were ripping my **** up one side and down the other. Players are instructed to avoid the media of all kinds because it can be hard on them psychologically. Getting blasted in public is pretty damn emasculating. But, I do think there is a direct correlation between what is REPORTED IN THE MEDIA and what we say. The Clutch City BBS is a buzz creatin' machine. If we are talking about it, chances are so are the reporters and the Rockets organization.
We know for a fact that people in the marketing arm of the Rockets read & reply on this BBS. We had 2 of them "offically" reply in one day earlier in the season... before they wised up & removed their corporate signature from their posts the VP of marketing is a semi regular poster, and will reply to peoples comments/questions if addressed to him. So yes we at CC.net ar eall powerful
Who you calling "semi-regular"? Honestly, I stopped posting full title/e-mail with every message because it just got cumbersome, and sometimes the sig would be longer than the post. But many of you e-mail me (semi-regularly), and my e-mail is pretty easy to get. If you don't have my address, just hit the reply by e-mail button at the top of the post to get feedback to me. I do read just about everything on here that concerns the business side of our organization. I don't always post replies because I'm interested in hearing your thoughts, and sometimes my replies can skew the way the thread goes. Getting an honest window into the fans' mindset is important to good marketing. That said, I have to admit I pretty much skip all the ridiculous trade threads. It's fun talk to engage in as a fan, but some of them ... Tim McDougall Vice President of Marketing Houston Rockets and Comets timm@rocketball.com
Yao Ming has said that he read fans comments about him on sina.com. I think when he masters English, he might come here.
Tim, Does what we say here reach the coaches and players? I mean, some of our points and opinions are valid! -Tariq
Tariq: The players and coaches are purposely insulated from many comments. They hear about fans, I'm sure, by way of the marketing department, etc, but asking for autographs and talking about the uniform colors is a lot different from giving advice on trades or decisions on the court. It is obviously important to the Rockets to determine what we like both in players and in merchandise (or tickets or whatever), but that is very different from making decisions about actually playing basketball. At a hospital, doctors, nurses and administrators should absolutely listen to their patients when it comes to the food they serve, their bedside manor or the service they provide. They should NOT, however, take advice from patients on the best way to do a spleenectomy or the right combination of medications to use on patients. It could have disasterous results. Some jobs require the input of the general public while others require experts to be hired and do their jobs without the interference of the public. Chances are, they are fully aware of the problems we raise long before we raise them. I mean, they do this every day, all day. CD's job is to try and find trades that work and improve the team. The coaches and players eat, sleep and breathe basketball 24/7. No matter what we'd like to believe, watching most of the games and talking about it with our buddies does not make us experts.
...naw. I agree...I usually never click on trade thread titles to read them. most of them are a complete joke, and waste of time/engery.
That is what I would hope for. That all what we observe here is caught way earlier by the coaching staff and some effort is made to address it. We all were recently infuriated by the ball hogging of Francis and Mobley. What would compound this problem is if the coach and his staff were either oblivious of it or condoned it. As long as Rudy & Co. are seeing the same problems we are (and more) and taking steps to correct it, I am a happy as a clam. -Tariq
That makes perfect sense. However, when analysts (including those that have actually played the game or coached) are questioning why we don't feed the ball more down low, it's no longer just the general public. Obviously, our staff spends more time with our players than any outsider, but if everyone can diagnose the problem, it's our coaching staff's job to find a solution. That's what adjustments are all about. When Linda Cohn is diagramming plays on ESPN with arrows highliting Yao wide open while our guards are forcing up shots and turning the ball over, you've reached the nadir.
C'mon Jeff, didn't you know Rudy checked this board before the Minnesota game and got the idea to tell the guards to throw it into the post?
Tim, What we all want to know is if mgmt read the infamous rockHEAD interview with Hakeem Olajuwon at Wholefoods, when he wasn't talking to mgmt during free agent negotiations. It went like this: rH: "Hi, Hakeem. [insert kiss ass comment here] Are you returning to the Rockets next season?" Olajuwon's response: "I'm going to work another year, but it won't be here!" Was that before your time here?
