"Getting it", Grades and Splitting Batman & Robin Up

Yup! But I wouldn't put him at the 3 either. Screw SAR.

 

Shareef can't play a lick of defense. Have you noticed that every place he goes, his team loses? Let me ask you a question BIGEZ. What is the difference between the Hawks and the Rockets? ATL has a decent team on paper as do we. Shareef is only good on paper and in some fantasy leagues. We do not need another player to come in and shoot. We have that. We need players that play defense, character guys that know their role. I don't know if Rudy has defined each player's role. If he has then what we need is a character guy that doesn't need the ball to be effective. Horry comes to mind not Shareef! Anybody from the Pistons would be perfect but definitely not Shareef.

 

Part of the problem is that people are trying to compare Francis to guys like Magic, Jordan, and Barkley, when he isn't close to being in their class, and never will be. He's a Stephon Marbury, possibly an Iverson or Paul Pierce-caliber player when he matures. The expectations for this guy are just crazy. I mean, he could get 'it' like Jordan, but that would just make him a better version of Marbury. Remember, Francis wasn't the real all-star, son, he just got voted in.

Of course a simple trade can always fix whatever problem a team is having.

John Lucas? LOL.

 

SAR can play the 3 or the 4. What position do you think he played in Vancuver? Using your terms, and you were probably one of them is that Brand is only good on fantasy teams as well as bibby before last yr. Everything has to be taken in account and see whats a weakness of you team. bibby was a better player in Vancuver than he is now,but since his team is better, he looks better. Where would Chicago be right now had they kept Brand? probably right on the cusp of the playoffs. Where would Cleveland be had they gave miller his money. had the good health of big z and drafted one of the many good big men instead of a undersized wannabe iverson. How good of a defender and player was Horry when he was in Phoenix when he didn't have Shaq or Hakeem behind him?

The fact is this team struggles are partly attributed to the inconsistent play of Taylor/Griffin combo at the 4 spot. SAR can and always has been a very ,very consistent post player and a player who draws fouls. He is very efficient with his 14 fg attpts and would give the rockets a good rebounding young versitile player on the frontline to play along Ming. More importantly is that he would take the ball out of your worse decison makrs hands in Francis, get rid of a stupid contract in Taylor, and improve the team chemistry. I'll tell you what, if the Sonics, or Lakers wind up with him, you can kiss the playoffs good bye.

 

I think we've been such a bad defensive team for so long, that we don't realize our problem this year: OFFENSE.

We are one of the better defensive teams in the league. We HAVE the gunpowder for offense too, but we just can't seem to light it. It seems our coach's lighter doesn't have any fluid.


MoT, Rice, Mooch, and Griff aer all guys we thought would provide offense for us. We thought MoT and Rice would be a big part of it. But those guys have been offensively horrible. Terrible. Even Steve is not scoring efficiently. Too often he has 6/21 shooting or something like that. Our offense is not taking high percentage shots. Maybe they're bad passers, maybe they're too obssesed with passing.

Who knows. All I know is, this team can be a 5th seed if the players were providing their average in offense. No one on our team is producing more than his average, usual offensive output. Everyone's either worse or the same.

 

Jeff,

While I agree to an extent that this was supposed to be "that kind of year," I can't entirely agree with the comment about a PG who's still learning. Steve Francis has been our PG for 3.5 years now, and he's showing no signs of improving. I don't care if he's had to re-learn the offense with a dominant center; what does that matter, when he can't see the guy?

How can you miss a 7'5" Chinese guy, for God's sake?

I sometimes really wonder how much Steve actually enjoys playing with Yao.

Since Steve's contract is in its poison-pill year, I guess Cat's the one who will go....unless Steve goes in the off-season, when he's slightly easier to move, packaging him with Rice (fantasy BS trade: Garnett; more realistic: look to the Clippers).

These two guards cannot be on the same team anymore. I like Cat, but watching him and Steve hog the ball....gawd! I mean, every single play against the Bulls was a drive down the lane by the guards. OK, I don't like that, but fine; now how about hitting the free throws?

 

Leebigez,


Bibby or Brand have been in the league less time than Reef. Plus, Atlanta has NO problems. They have all these good players, all the talent, good coach, good management, and they're all locked up.

Clippers just want money, and Vancouver was a horrible horrible horrible team.

Reef is betetr than anyone we have. But if we get him, then there's no way out. I'd rather wait on Griff. Reef makes 2 much.

Lakers won't get Reef. maybe the Sonics, but I couldn't care less. They'd be too soft on the inside to compete. (Drobnjak/Reef/Lewis?......Please)

We need someone who can let this team know what he thinks. Assistant coach, player, ballboy, fan, whatever. Someone who yaps as much as Charles Oakley.

Does Anthony Mason talk a lot? He'd be a nice addition.

 

Sane,

in a discussion regarding chemistry, anthony mason should never be brought up. that is, unless the word "ruining" is inserted somewhere in the conversation.

 

BTW, I've brought this up before, but can't remember where:

How do you guys feel abotu acquiring Penny for Rice and Mobley next season? Francis plays more off the ball, and we get some experience. they have Joe Johnson, so either Mobley or JJ will take over their 2-spot. Penny's knee has been healthy for a year now, and if he can continue through the season, I'd say he's healthy enough to play. Only problem is his contract, which will be over by the time Yao Ming or Eddie griffin extensions kick in. Thoughts?

 

I remember when he initially started doing that back in the day. I thought it was so cool. Now, anytime he does it, I do one of these -----

 

Especially when he does it while we're down 15 or right after giving up an easy score to Jamal Crawford or Tony Parker or Avery Johnson or......

 

So we still have 5 years to go. This is not news. Nor a surprise.

 

Sane-
Hardaway. Man, we are going from bad to worse. Heck NO!

I retract anything I have written that could of been interpreted as derogatory towards any of our players. Now, I know it isn't that bad. Penny....?

Bringing in Penny would definitely be the end of Yao's career. Yao would be limited to 10 minutes a game because he will be in foul trouble trying to defend SF's man, Penny's man, and his own. Man, his head would come off from watching everyone blow by our guards. Shoot, I haven't even brought up MoT yet.

 

Hitting your prime is subjective. Some were at it in college like Bird or Johnson. Some took longer. Look at Jason Kidd. The book on him was, "Sure, he can pass and run the break, but the guy can't hit an open jumper." That was until he was well past 30.

Jordan didn't start winning championships until his late 90's and what about Dream? The guy didn't hit his prime until he was 30 - at least in terms of truly leading a team to contender status by himself.

It isn't an excuse. It is just the understanding that this is a very tough league and guys don't show improvement all at once. For some guys, it takes 5 or 10 years in the league before they become dominant AND a leader. Steve is already dominant, but he isn't a leader and he's the guy I'm speaking of here, not Mobley. Mobley is a role player on a good team and should not be a primary option IMO.

Francis almost NEVER feeds the low post with the entry pass. That job is reserved for the two and three. But, I get what you are saying in general and I'm not saying Francis is perfect or above blame. He isn't. However, Yao is NOT going to lead this team this year. Period.

The guy is out-muscled almost every night and he is dog tired. He is a 21-year-old rookie from another country who has played basketball without a rest for nearly 5 years. This guy needs at least another 2 seasons to fully grasp the scope of playing on this level with players of this calliber.

There are times in games right now when going to Yao means NOT scoring. Until he can dominate on a play-by-play basis in the post, he will not command a double team and continute to struggle.

Having said that, I'm just looking at this realistically here. Francis loves playing with Yao and they can most definitely help one another. Steve can help Yao with the physical aspect of the game. Francis is a freak workaholic when it comes to playing and getting stronger. He is a dogged competitor and Yao could use that influence. On the other hand, Steve NEEDS Yao's instincts and basketball IQ. It will help him to mature as well because that kind of intellegence on the floor will rub off over time.

It's hard to be patient when you want a W every night, but this is the reality of the NBA. No one is immune.

 

Penny does his work. ever since he realized an NBA athlete is so fragile, he's been putting the work in. Phoenix's defense has suffered with his loss. Look at their record with him and without him. He can run the point and be a SG, and doesn't take too many shots. He's a regulard 15, 5, 5 guy. Isn't that exactly what we need next to Francis?

Regardless, I think Jeff makes a good point that I've beent rying to make forever. Ming is not going to lead us this year. It will take one more year of frustration till he actually says "NO, give ME the ball, because I can put it in the basket MUCH better than YOU can".

But it's not fair because, Ming is just so incredibly exhausted. People here seem to keep forgetting that he's just a rookie. That's the MAIN reason why I don't blame him for anything. He's playing above expectations. You can't ask anymore of him. He CAN do more, but he's doing enough for us to be better than our record.


Here's my question about all this: Jeff says Francis is dominant, but not yet a good leader. I sincerely disagree. Francis is NOT dominant, but he has become a very good leader. For someone to dominate, he should be the favourite to win all but one or 2 of his matchups and he should ALSO be able to at least LIMIT the opposing player. Everytime Francis scores more than 30 points, his opponent eclipses his average too.

What are your thoughts? Leader or Dominator?

 

Sometimes I wonder if Francis and Cat would have turned out differently if it wasn't for CB4 and Dream's injury in Stevie's first year.
It's easy to use hind-sight, but we essentially told Stevie do whatever you have to do to get us wins after Chuck and Dream went down. The problem was Stevie (and Cat) didn't know how to win. They trusted each other, but I'm not sure how much they trusted their teammates.
THe Cat his rookie year did exactly what the team needed, he played good defense (for a rookie) and did ok at the point (again for a rookie). He seriouly regressed after the injuries (to CB$ and Dream) defensively and as a passer (again he was not a great passer but was more willing to pass it his 1st year).
I truly belive if Chuck and Dream stayed healthy that Stevie and Cat would have deferred to them much more, and possibly could have learned from that year how to pass and play defense (that would have been their roles).
Oh well it could be wishful thinking, but I agree one o fthem will probably be moved and we bring in a true PG to play.
It's really a shame they do work well together, but unfortunately the NBA still plays with 5 man teams, not 2.

 

How prophetic is this article, particularly the "...they have to lose before they win (i.e. learn)..." line?

I'm still wary of the Rocks making any moves right now, but if there are some serious issues of chemistry and selfishness, things have to change.

Hell, ya'll are talking about yesterday's game, I'm still pissed off from last week's Spurs' game!! I mean, Mo was playing like a M-A-N, literally brought the team back by himself, and just when the Rocks had all the momentum, hear comes Cat & Mooch trying to be the "Hero", i.e. totally destroying the flow with ill-timed shots and decisions.

Now just watch, the guards are going to come out and play a total team game tonight. They'll probably play well the next few games, play within the offense, but then go right back to the same BS ball they've been playing.

 

Remember that seven-game losing streak we went though in 92-93? Rudy pulled us out of that one, and we went on to win the title the next year!

This is just a little-old four game losing streak, three of which were against teams with better records than us. The rumors of Rudy's death are greatly exaggerated! Believe it again!

 

28 of 29 teams can almost always execute a Pick and Roll. Rockets are the only one that cannot.

 

That team had a future hall of famer - a true leader. Everyone on that team new their roles. Can you sincerely tell me that this present bunch (since calling them a 'team' will be unfair to 'real teams') have all those qualities (and then some)?