As expected, Webber did not not arrive in Houston, now it is time for Eddie Griffin to be the Heart and Leader of the Team. I love Rudy T, but for all his gutsy moves in the offseason, he's deeply conservative during games. He always goes for the "percentage," always turns to veterans when possible, and always sticks with plays and players that have been working OK instead of taking a chance on something new. Steve Francis has shown he cannot be the leader and the heart of the team, Mobley makes too many bone headed decisions to be a leader, Mo is so soft all he could lead us to is the lotto. Steve has had plenty of chances, it's time for Eddie to take over, ever since Charles retired no one has stepped up and become the heart of this team. If Dream returns Rudy had too little courage to yank Hakeem out the captaincy from him and what the hell is Matt Bullard doing being a captain, surely if Steve, Cat or anyone else in the Rockets future had an ounce of Leadership qualities they would have been able to displace a crippled veteran and bench shooter from being captains. Mo gets his minutes. Francis gets his space. Mobley gets his touches and shots. Anderson if he returns will also get his minutes, Mooch gets to dribble and the other guys get a chance to find their roles in a system that better suits their talents. Everyone starts to get comfortable. Things start to click. But who's going to be the Leader and Heart of the team... the one logical answer is GRIFFIN, he is all of the Rockets answers, scoring, rebounding, shot-blocking and most importantly PASSION, he must be the Heart and Sole of the rockets for the upcoming season and has the intensity to LEAD the rockets to the playoffs. If we had landed Webber he would have solved the Leadership and Heart problems, but he is not coming and furthermore he might be the guy whose style is being disrupted if he doesn't suit the rockets style. Rudy doesn't like disruptions, particularly if things are going well. CWebb might have moped, and maybe he wouldn't have handle sharing the scoring responsibilities with Mobes and Steve. The same thing applies to Dream, he will have to embrace being the 4th or even 5th scoring option and define his new role gracefully or to spend his last or second last season as a Rocket complaining about not getting enough touches and will then be a disruptive influence and no Leadership and experience to Houston, which is what we need most cause of the Rockets of 2000-1 had none on the court. There is absolutely no doubt: Eddie will be the Man! He will be the team leader. Anyone who says he won't be able to run and lead the young studs hasn't been paying attention. Defensively, he will be Sensational. This young rookie is a wily old fox inside and will grap boards away from taller, and older players. Youth and fast twitch fibres will win over age and heavy legs every time. He will settle down the loose cannons of the backcourt in Steve and Cat and make the whole thing come together. He wants to win badly,every game, and he wants everyone to put out their best. He doesn't get on the guys to make himself look good, but to try to make them better. We'll go as far as the team will let Eddie lead us. ------------------ "The things I enjoy most, I suck at: 1) Sex: everything's fine until she makes noises." - Achebe
Hes 19, cant even drink Alcohol. Give him a Break! ------------------ "Break off the block like Maurice Green" --- Steve Francis President of the Moochie Norris fan club.
It is harsh to say Francis blew his chances at being the leader, when Mobley is clearly the one with the most fire...24 point second halves after oral surgery with no anesthetic is pretty legendary. But when I actually see someone like Smeggy makes these taboo sentiments, I can't help but to say that I view Francis sometimes as a posing celebrity. I mean, what is up with that histrionic, shoulder-back strut onto the court after a time-out. please. Larry Bird would slap his point guard upside the head if he strutted like that. Francis is the chosen one, by us, the media and Stern. But does he deserve. Does he get it by divine right. Mobley deserves it from court guts, but he is not the one. Over time, Griffin can grab the leadership away from Francis for sure.
if Griffin was a soft drink, what soft drink would he be? I would have to say Dr. Pepper. 3,4,and 5, its pepper time. ------------------ .,.·^*'´'|'\..........,.·^*'´¯¯¯'`*^·,...,/|'`*^·-, '|.......'|::\......,·'.....,.·:*:·,......'`i:'|.......| '|.......'|:::|.....;.......':,:::,:·.......';:|.......| '|.......|::;i - ·;i'`:,......¯¯.......,·´|::|.......| '|.......'´.......'|'i:::`*:~·.–·~^*'´: :'|::|.......'`*·-, '|........,.-:^:':'\:'`:;:: :: : : : :: ::;·'i::/`':^·.,......`'i '|..,.:'´:::::::::::'\| '`*^~·:–:·~^*'´..'|/:::::::::'`:^:., | '´:;:::::::::;:-·^*'´.....................`'*^·:;-.....:;·' ....`·;:·'´........................................'`^·:;·´
You don't watch much hockey, do you? ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet
You must play Fantasy Hockey where they score 24 points!! Hey guys, this is a serious topic. Why does Francis deserve team leadership when he just wants to improve via osmosis in the playoff bleachers with Tracy McGrady, and then watch his house being built on MTV Cribs.
People will be b****ing in 3 years about Griffin not being demonstrative enough on the court. He will be one of those "lead by example, not a ra-ra type" leaders. Hakeem was such a leader and we were always looking for someone with "heart and fire to pump our boys up". Shareef Abdur Rahim could put up a triple-double average and he would still be considered a softy who led by example and not by emotion. Ray Allen is one of the best SG's in the game, but is criticized for not being a "real" leader, whatever that means. My guess is that if all the reports out of camp are true, Eddie's quiet, stoic, emotionless demeanor will have us wishing for a "real" leader in a couple of years. Cat makes bonehead plays, but so did Vernon Maxwell. Vernon helped light a fire under the team. Somebody who can rile a team up has to be somebody who'll get in the face of others. At the age of 19 is Eddie going to do that? I don't know. Yes, I haven't even seen Griffin play, but I don't care. I had to say something in Smeg's thread. ------------------ "I'll tell you this, the older I get, the less I trust people. It's true. It's damn true." -- gr8-1 going through some growing pains.
smeg, as a fellow aussie, out of national pride I must dispute this & say Axel Dench will be the teams new leader Seriously think he would be a good (bench for now) addition to the Rox. 'Gong did win it all last year. (As painful as it is to agree with an adelaide supporter (please say you don't go for the crows too! Yes, I'm from Melbourne (Titans fan)), I think Lowry flopped bigtime. The Jazz would've taken notes on how to perform a flop so well. Amazing free throws, in both series though. Never had time for a whole ciggy between the ball being released from the hand and falling into the net before!) ------------------ "Hakeem gets a 3 with the final shot" - my second favorite moment of 95 finals [This message has been edited by harumph (edited July 22, 2001).]
For someone to say Francis lacks heart and "sole" , obviously didn't see Francis lead the Rockets in many comeback victories this past season. Mobley also plays with fire and passion. The one thing that does scare me about Francis & Mobes is, many games, they came out flat and got blown out. I hope it is just a "growing up" faze. They need to learn to come to play every night, and not rely on turning it on and off. ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet [This message has been edited by BobFinn* (edited July 22, 2001).]
That comes with experience. ------------------ It was the time of the preacher, in the year of '01 Now the preachin' is over, and the lessons begun . . .
A leader will emerge amongst are young team, but we must all remember our stars are young. We don't have a Magic, Isiah or Larry to fire this team up, but someone will step-up. Steve should be the one...Mobes should bring it on when Steve's in a funk, but don't be surprised if someone else emerges...maybe a Dan Langhi (if he gets PT). Eddie looks to be the real deal, but he's 19 and not ready to be the Rockets team leader. It's Steve time to step up, mature and become the rocks leader. ------------------
Mobley never came out flat, because he was never a main option in the 1st Quarter. How can you be blamed for the team being flat if you are not a playmaker or a cutter in the first 8 minutes. Besides, he was on the bench until January, and after that he never ran an ISO until about 9 minutes into the game, and many times not until the 2nd q. I'm serious. The 1st Quarter was never about Mobley, nor could he effect anything. Think about it, Mobley scored over 10 per 4th quarter; he didn't score in the 1st much. The offense was Mo getting started and Francis waving off the pick n roll to go ISO. Plus, we often tried to get Anderson or Dream waved off as well. Mobley was just placed in the weakside corner to spot for Francis who he should wave off. 1st Quarter no-shows were on Francis's shoulders and Rudy's for not recognizing it quick enough and giving the damn ball to the the real leader -- Cuttino!!! Ahhhh, that feels so goooooooood. I've watched 2 Rocket's games today alone. Mobley is the 4th Quarter man for sure!! ahhhhhhh Don't you all wish you had 25 tapes from last year. Screw the Rocky Mountain Review ... I want to see Francis wave off Shandon and pass to Mobley!!!
I seriously doubt Griffen becomes the leader anytime soon, he could probably use a veteran to tutor him as it is. Hopefully he can get the team going with some good defense but leadership is far fetched. Who was the last rookie leader? Wilt? ------------------ "banging Shaq is a whole different expirience"-Pete Babcock Behold the power of quotation
Francis, when it's all said and done, may well be one of the top 2 or 3 at his position, ever. For Griffin it is still questionable whether he will make the all-star team in his NBA career. I would put my $$ on the more known quantity (Francis) at this point. ------------------
To me, the first quarter was all about establishing a low post, offensive presence. Like you said, the first 9 minutes of the 1st quarter was all post up, with the remainder of the offense being split up between ISO's and pick and rolls in the quarter. I don't remember Shandon, Francis, or Dream's number being called in the first quarter that often. Honestly, I'd rather Rudy have established our guards first, and run more pick and roll to begin the game. I would blame this on Rudy. Like you've said, Mobley's useless being camped out in the right corner. I've seen him chewing on his nails during games to give you a picture of how involved he is during the beginning of the game. Maybe Rudy felt he should wait until the opponent was winded or put in their 2nd string to use Mobley more, so he would have an advantage? I don't know, but maybe that was his line of thinking. I STILL don't know what play you're talking about. I just don't see the Shandon post up on the secondary break, and either way, I'd rather they not post him up anyways. End of tangent I don't think Eddie will ever be a "heart of the team" type player. He might give you that kind of contribution, but there's more to it than numbers. On a sidenote, why do so many assume that our playoff hopes depend on Hakeem resigning? I would think that Cuttino in the starting lineup for a whole year, the expected improvement from both of our guards, Mo Taylor fitting in from the get go, and Griffin bringing what he's capable of defensively should be enough to get us in. ------------------
Smeg: How can you say Griffin is going to be the heart and leader of the team? You haven't even seen him play yet. Not only that, but he is 19 years old. If he ever does develop this leadership quality, I would say in at least a couple of years, not "now" as you say it. If you were talking about Battier for example, then I would agree with you. He is the only rookie that I would call a leader. Griffin on the other hand, is a pretty much a Duncan... quiet, not much to say. Of course he can lead by example, but even that will take a lil while. And personally I don't buy into this leading by example crap...I think a great leader should be vocal, get in people's faces, and show emotion. I think you gave up too early on Francis. Most people say that young pg's come into their own during their 3rd year... let's give him that chance. You don't develop that leadership right away, especially when you have to submit to a 38 year old legendary center. Francis has shown signs of leadership... he has led this team before to dramatic comebacks. Mobley is all heart... he's had many gutsy performances and hit many clutch shots. Granted I don't think he is a true leader yet, but he is probably the closest. Francis isn't very far behind. I hope Griffin will be the leader that you are saying he will be, but frankly, there is nothing to support your opinion. He hasn't really shown any leadership characteristics before... on the contrary, he is the complete opposite: quiet. You hear Shane Battier talking and instructing his teammates all the time. He can be a good leader, but Griffin has showed nothing in the leadership department so far. For this upcoming season, I expected Francis to take over and become a better vocal leader, and the same from Mobley. I expected Griffin to follow their lead. ------------------ its not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours - alaskansnowman
I hope he does become a leader or one of the leaders of the team one day but it probably won't happen soon. He's just too quiet out there on the floor, he doesn't really take on the role of getting everyone together or getting everyone hyped for action. Then again he's still very young and not use to the team yet. But he could lead by example on the floor for a special someone that needs to get off his lazy butt and play in the SL games. One rookie this year that has alot leadership that I notice is S. Battier(but he's 22). Give EG some time to develop and hopefully leadership will emerge. ------------------
Francis has played for two years. Mobley has played for three. Both of them have played with Hakeem, a living legend. People on this board have enough trouble getting over Hakeem's legacy... I can imagine it being that much harder for people on that team. Either one of them very well could be capable of becoming a team leader. I tend to think it's more likely for Francis, as he 1. has more natural ability and 2. was a team leader at Maryland. If any of you remember, Francis was considered one of the best college players for his leadership as much as his skills. We'll see. Griffin wasn't much of a leader at Seton Hall. Maybe he'll change... I hope so. But I think it's a bit premature to be worried. ------------------ Clutchcity.net... source for all your Rockets, Astros, political, music, humor, and Gordita news.
I think its obvious that Dan Langhi will be the team leader by midseason. Rudy knows it, thats why he has been running the offense around him in the summer leagues. Dan got himself run from that RMR game to motivate the team to win (ok, he needs more practice). Note how Dan tanked his shots in the last RMR game in order to make Griffin step up and take a role in the offense. Man, I cant wait for the Langhi Show to begin. ------------------ [This message has been edited by mateo (edited July 22, 2001).]
