Even Linda Cohn and SportsCenter Pointing out how crappy our Offense is.

Last 10 games for Francis, 71 for 169 or 42%.
Last 10 games for Cuttino, 64 for 159 or 40%.
Last 10 games, Yao is 36 for 91 or 40%.

They've been shooting almost exactly the same but he's had half as many shots. That's not even an opportunity to evaluate.

 

I'm beginning to think that this team desperately needs an "Eric Snow" type; move Francis to the 2 and bring in Mobley as a 6th man.

Dave

 

Yao Ming's last 10 games > 36 for 88 = 40.9%
Cat Mobely's last 10 games > 64 for 159 = 40.1%

(Not to mention all of the times Yao gets the ball late in the clock and is forced to be a 1 on 1 player which is not his style).

I think you've missed the point. Yao is having a solid game against the Bulls and is abusing Donyell Marshall (among others) and never sees the ball for an entire quarter. Meanwhile, Cat goes 5-15. The point is that when someone IS hot, you feed them and stop looking for your shot.

Good team BBall is about exploiting mismatches. When Yao is having a good game or clearly an over match for his defender - he is the one who should be taking 15 shots.

 

Geez, He was freaking wide wide wide as wide can be open, and franchise chose to driver to take on 4 Griz player. Doesnt matter how many research you do, you GOTTA pass the ball to the OPEN 7'5 man. Is that so difficult? It's gotta be a mental problem, selfishness, heroism in him, whatever. BTW, even they shoot 120000%, they still should pass the ball to a wide wide wide as wide can be open Ming, coz hthat's 100% for that play, period.

 

Since it's on national tv, he'd probably take 40 shots. Remember the Lakers game? Maybe he was just lucky his shots were falling that night.

Oh, another thing. I think Franchise is becoming the next Starbury. Stephon's tactlessness aside, they are both players who, for the majority of their careers, can't make their teammates look good.

HOWEVER, Stephon has seemingly matured this season, even trusting a rookie (Amare) and an unproven guy (Joe Johnson) and including them in the offense. Here's hoping that Stevie does too in the near future.

 

Look, I've been bashing Franchise's selfishness this year just as much as the next guy, but the fact is that A: Starbury left the nucleus of what could be one of the truly great teams in this league to go to New Jersey, didn't make the playoffs, and the team goes to the Finals after getting rid of butt. B: the Rockets won 45 games two years ago with Franchise, Mobley, and an Hakeem on his last leg. So I think the comparison is just not there. Oh, and BTW, Marbury played the Suns right out of the playoffs last year.

 

Don't you all realize that streetball IS Rudy's system? Francis and Mobley aren't playing like this because they have low basketball IQs, and constantly ignore Rudy. On the contrary, they are playing just how Rudy likes it.

Rudy's system involves the guards going one-on-one. If their jumpers are falling, they start driving to the hoop. When that works, they drive and dish the ball to outside shooters, or drop off passes to Yao or Cato.

The second option is for Yao, Taylor, or Griffin to get the ball and go one-on-one. If they start hitting, teams are forced to double, which leads to the ball being swung to the open man.

It can be an effective system when players are hitting their jumpers, and it was a perfect system before zone defenses were legalized.

Seriously though, do any of you really think that Rudy has all these spectacular plays, and the guards just ignore them every time down in every game? Of course not. They ARE running his plays.

If you want less one-on-one, Rudy is going to have to change his system.

 

Or is it possible, just maybe, just perhaps, that Rudy is still feeling his way with this team and in the offseason will address (with CD and Les) the sort of trade that will put us over the top?

We just signed Francis to his long term extension. He doesn't seem to understand that he can earn the $$$ even when he DOESN'T HOG THE BALL.

Our offense is crap, but I wonder: is it Rudy's fault? (Maybe.) Or is he giving his knucklehead guards enough rope to go hang themselves? Because one of the guards has to go. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Yao might have hit the rookie wall but he looked smooth enough against the Bulls...certainly energetic enough to catch a freaking basketball and score. But no: he stands waiting for a pass while Steve, Cat, and Mooch drive to the basket every time down the court.

Ahem. Hello? Pass? PASS? Is this mike on? Is anyone out there?

 

The comparison between Kobe and Francis doesn't make any sense.

Kobe was and is a very good defensive player, but Francis is average at the best. More importantly, Kobe was a SG, which means he didn't have much control of the ball unless the PG passed it to him, he didn't have to direct the plays; on the other hand, Francis is a PG, a floor general since he holds the ball 90%+ time.

I've stated in my early post, Francis is a greate athelte, but a terrible bball player. Can he become a great bball player? I don't know, but I'm willing to give him some time given the status of the Rockets. If he is still playing like what he is doing now by this time next year, I truely believe the Rockets will either trade him, or take the ball out of his hand by trading Mobely for a PG who can run the offense. The Rockets don't need an all-start caliber PG, they just need an average PG who knows how to run the offens.

 

A. Put Jason Kidd on this Rockets team and see if we don't AT LEAST reach the second round. We won't definitely be up against the Kings, Mavs, or Spurs due to the fact that we'll have a better regular season record that what we'll end up with this year, and we'll probably beat the Blazers and Suns in a 5-game series.

B. We have relatively better role players this year (Posey, Rice, Griffin) than two years ago (Walt, Shandon, KT), and yet we'll probably still end up with the same record. We are still on pace to win 40-45 this year (hopefully) with Yao's numbers comparable to Hakeem's, but like Stephon did with the Suns last year, Francis and Mobley will play us right out of the playoffs this year.

 

My God!! ZRB, I've never actually looked at it that way before. If you are right, then Rudy is a much much much bigger idiot than I originally thought he was. My god help us all.

by the way, you've just added fuel to an already raging inferno. LET THE RUDY BASHING REALLY BEGIN!!!!

 

This is one of the best posts I've ever read here. It took tough guy Frank Johnson to change the way Stephon plays in Phoenix, and tough guy Hubie Brown to change the way JWill plays in Memphis. Either we change the system or, preferably (for me), we change the coach.

 

See what I mean about THAT being the best post ever?

 

You have me chanting "Rudy gotta go"!

 

Rice being back in the lineup will help ease this current malady. Posey has been playing great, I agree, but he does not make the others on the team any better...if anything, his oppurtunistic/rebound mentality game, has Steve and Cat playing worse. I like Posey, but he fits into this team the wrong way...he provides an alibi for fast and furious..exactly what this team should have been moving away from. When Rice gets back, I'd very much like to see cuttino coming off the bench, and Posey startignt he 2...of course Rudy is spineless so it won't happen, but having Posey on the floor with Francis, Rice, Taylor, and Ming, would make for some very sound offensive basketball, along with smart team defenders. People are talking abou Rice being offensively focussed of the bench against opposing teams 2nd string, but Rice would be much better spreading the court for the team's other weapons, while Cat could come off the bench like a firecracker. Of course, losing Cat altogether for something worthwhile wouldn't kill me either. But either way, Rice coming back will atleast ease this selfishness problem...I hope Rudy is smart enough to keep him on the floor, and atleast try the Posey?Rice duo on the floor together...Posey is aferall as 2 guard.

 

GATER,

I know I've asked you this before in an earlier thread, but since there's no search function, and I have no memory of that thread's title...

Who has a 3 year $28.5mil (... 1.5 down, 1.5 to go.) contract?

Sorry. Just curious.

 

Good points 41Fan. Posey is actually a 3 though. I think he mentioned that he wasn't used to playing the 2 in an interview. And I think more than anyone on this time, other than Yao, he does make his teammates better. He has very good court awareness, and I'm impressed with his patience when handling the ball.

 

Mobley and Cato for Gary Payton!!!

Mobley is a poor man's Francis....we dont need them both. GP would come in and run this team like it is suppose to be run.

Payton
Francis
Posey
Griffin/Taylor
Yao

This squad would be an absolute terror, offensively & defensively.

 

Exactly, the Rockets won 45 games with a poor supporting cast, and only lost ONE game to an Eastern Conference team. I guess Francis had nothing to do with that.

 

I would buy this except for the part where a play is actually working and the open guy doesn't get the ball. I see guys cutting and moving without the ball. I just don't see the ball getting consistently passes. Rudy can only draw up the play, the players have to execute it. Rudy isn't the one not passing the ball. I sincerely doubt he is telling the guards to "dribble into three defenders and ignore that open guy rolling to the basket."

Rudy's system is mostly predicated off the one-on-one game (like most NBA offenses) but it is up to the players to make intelligent decisions with the ball once the play is in motion. The guards' primary thing may be to break down their defender, but they have to not get tunnel vision about getting to the basket and not forget that there is a play being run and a team mate might be open.

One thing I've noticed about Rudy: Like Phil Jackson, Rudy likes his players to be adults and make their own basketball decisions. He likes to give them a framework and not micromanage the game. With a young team, like the Rockets, that further exposes their biggest weakness: immaturity. These guys just haven't developed their ball IQs yet and this motion offense exposes that.

IMO, the way Rudy coaches is a good thing in that he is trying to build a champion not a playoff contender. A champion has to be intelligent, able to execute and control the flow of a game. A champion can improvise (read and respond to a defense/offense/game flow). This is important because a coach shouldn't have to and can't manage every single possesion. (How many timeouts does Jackson usually call?) A contender doesn't know how to improvise and just has to do as the coach tells them without really thinking about it or understanding it. Contenders (like the last few Portland, Sacramento, Philly, NJ and Dallas squads to face LA) often choke when the pressure is on because they can't improvise. The team as a whole can not adapt to game situations.

This Rocket squad is having trouble balancing strictly running a play and improvising based on what the defense is showing. I think that is part of the reason they look so ugly at times. Guys are swinging the pendulum too far in one direction. Hopefully, after some heartbreak, they will settle down and just read and react without forcing too much action.