Blame some of this on Mean not bringing Yao in the game sooner rather than later. I agree, the Rox should've been going to Yao more in the game. They also should've ran plays for Francis. I'm going to say this again, the go-to guys on the team are Yao and Francis. Until EVERYONE -- including Rice (especially Mobley) -- realizes this the Rox will continue to be very inconsistent. They don't have an identity offensively. You have too many guys out there wanting to do their own thing. The Rockets have to say "Look, this is who we are: Yao touches the ball. He doesn't see anything, we go back out. You go BACK in to Yao and he still sees nothing there (he's a smart enough kid to make the right decision [even though he turns the ball over a bit much]. Give it to Stevie to create something." Or "Stevie brings it up, you see who's guarding him -- it's a mismatch. Do your thing Stevie. He's where you say to yourself, 'I can't get him off the dribble, go to Yao.' Nothing is there...this is when the role players come into play." Now of course game situations will dictate circumstances, but you see a theme here? Yao-Stevie are the focal points. Everyone else gets what's left. In the meantime STOP THINKING THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN HELP THE TEAM IS WITH OFFENSE, Mobley, Rice, Taylor, Griffin (even though you get blocks), Moochie. Like Charles Barkley says, "Too many players today believe the only way they can help a team is with offense. This is why I love Ben Wallce, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett; I don't like the Mavs and I think Mike Finley is their best player b/c he can beat you individually in more ways than one. He can get that big stop on defense as well as hit the big shot on offense."
The truth is GlenRice cannot do some of the things that he used to do when he was with the Hornets(?),but he knows how to play the game...GR has slow down somewhat due to his age,but i have no doubt about his basketball intelligences...GR knows what it takes for the team to win....Actually,ym prefers GR to be the team captain due to his experiences,something ym feels can be beneficial to this young team...i think i read that somewhere.MoT has been playing closed to his capabilities...i like them both right now,and of course Cato too!
Cheeky? Where does that come from? Try saying Z-I-C-K-Y, and let's let Rice/MoT say what they want if they can back it up with a synergistic effort actually bettering the basketball team. Rice doesn't dirty his uni and MoT is fine, so far as he can be. Which is very limited. Cat and JPo put more positives out than these two. Hawk and Cato play like men. Stevie and Yao are the heart and soul of this squad. A squad with an ancient and essentially enfeeblized 3 and a marbleheaded 4 as important cogs with open and empty mouths is in trouble. This team is in trouble.
I actually don't mind if Rice, Francis, Yao or even Mobley making a mistake when trying to do something right. It's the bonehead play that I hate. i.e., I don't think coaches should bench a player because he misses an open shot but I think he should do something about player taking a bad shot. The idea here is if you do things the right way, chances are good that good thing will happen. On the other hand, if you play the wrong way, bad thing will happen more often.
i disagree. i DO believe that glen rice was talking about someone in particular. if you look at the last part of the quote where he says, "you keep telling him over and over. you have to punish him or put him in time out." he said "him" 3 times. yeah... you can say that "him" was a reference to the team as a whole, until you get to the last sentence where he mentions the "punish" and "time out" parts. what...?... are you going to put the whole team in time out or punish the whole team? nope... he's talking about an individual. fingers can pretty much be pointed at anybody on the team except for (dare i say it?) cato, taylor, and hawkins. cato's remergence keeps shocking the hell out of me. life saver. taylor's hook and outside jumpshot are becoming automatic. hawkins is doing what he was supposed to do... be a benchwarming role player. For everybody else, well... yao: the turnovers in the latter part of the game are streak busters. come strong or don't come at all. francis: again, the turnovers are costly. maxwell...errr... mobley: ill-advised shot selection that disrupts the offense. play breaker. posey: please make a shot. thought that he would be another najera or artest at first... wrong! griffin: seems to have issues with yao on the court. talent? please. if we wanted a three point shooter we'd bring back chilly pete. norris: gone since the signing of the contract. nachbar: poor guy. morris: wouldn't be on the team if he wasn't stevie's ol' maryland bud. rice: horribly inconsistent. please stop posting up. can't teach an old dog new tricks... can't teach a old dog to play defense either. sigh... too bad that the finger pointing has come at the tail end of the season.
I know that Rice says 'him' and uses the singulare, but that's the anaology. The team is like a hardheaded kid. Using the analogy he's set up, him refers to the team as a whole. However, certain players are definitely more guilty than others.
Well anyways..... When is Glen Rice's last season? When does his contract expire? This year? Can we like waive him? And not resign Posey? AND THEN SIGN LAMAR ODOM! W00T!
Glenn Rice is saying what other teammates probably WANT to say, but can't. He is the only veteran with a lot of playoff experience. Who else could speak up and say what is so painfully obvious? Yao is a rookie. Cato has been terrible until this year. Posey is new. Moochie came from the CBA. Nachbar doesn't play. Mo Taylor was hurt all last year. Griffin is struggling. Glenn Rice is right on the money, and he's just trying say what a veteran should say.
He may be saying the right things, but they should be kept out of the media where they can become a distraction. That's very non-veteran or least shows a lack of leadership. Right or wrong, Rice may want to keep those things behind closed doors, and spend more time working on his game, which is basically non-existent most of the time. Teammates might be more willing to listen to someone who plays well and contributes to the team on the floor.
I think we fans have been waaaay too understanding to the dumb growing pains of Stevie and Mobley - stop teasing us; stop torturing us also. It is time to call a spade just what it freaking is. To who much is given.............. Francis and Mobley, our dumb and oft indisciplined players who despite their 4 and 5 years (respectively) veteran status mysteriously still play like they are in high freaking school. Crap. I am freaking tired of the excuses .......... and it looking more and more like they may NEVER EVER get it. Please for goodness' sake (Francis and Mobley) choose one - either be consistently smart or consistently dumb. You cannot have the best of both worlds. You cannot serve "God" and "Man". You cannot eat your cake and still expect to have it. Damnit!
You failed ot mention that he has scored 9 points total in the last two games. After which he felt that it was necessary to complain to the media.
I don't care if he was talking about an individual player or the team, what he said was the truth for both. This should have been said three monthes ago if you ask me. Glen is still the best shooter on this team, and when the ball is being moved around the court properly (not in the Cuttino iso offense) he knocks down the shot. My guess would be that this is not the first time he has said this, so putting it out in the media may be his only option.
Speaking of KT, I was watching 76ers the other day and KT is passing the ball very well since every player is constantly moving. There is no way anybody could hog the ball. Even AI is not hogging as before. I guess KT knows he is going to see the ball again if he passes out. I think Rox player are taking a rest everytime Yao gets the ball. They know he could score easily.
the kid thing was an analogy. He does not appear to be saying anything about any player. ... Rice didnt have a good game last night...funny how he comes up to talk now. ....like A-Train said.
I was among the strongest critics of bringing in Glen Rice, and still feel that it was clearly a terrible baskeball decision...but if he can continue to become the leader that gets the guards to see the same klight everyone else in the world has been seeing for a wile now, and play the inside-out game through Yao that we need to deveop if we're ever going to go anywhere, he wiull have fulfilled his value to the team, even in my opinion...
