Guess who has the 2nd worst DIVISION record in the NBA?

All you have to do is look at the each of the teams' respective "star player." Ask yourself, can that "star player" one day lead their team to a title? How much relative help does that "star" need around him?

And if the answer to the first question is "no" and if the answer to the 2nd question is "a lot"...Then, why pay them max contract in the first place?

What I'm saying is this...

1) the inability for Francis to carry this team
2) the inability to play two different ways (iso and team)
3) the inability to make the team better either by PG duties (efficient passing) or SG duties (efficient scoring)
....none of these things justify the cost of max contract.

I not saying that Francis is Juwan Howard (another max contract bust). Francis is better. But Francis is at the bottom of the heap in terms of "star player" title within our DIVISION. Even the rook, Melo has a better upside...

Ok, so we don't "stink" as much as Juwan's contract (multi-year 100 million contract). But we still will lose in the end. So what does it matter?


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Dallas - Dirk Nowitzki
San Antonio - Tim Duncan
Minesota - Kevin Garnett
Memphis - Pau Gasol
Utah - Andrei Kirilenko
Houston - Steve Francis
Denver - Carmelo Anthony
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DavidS in what way did you anwser the question? or was this just a good way for you to show that you do not like Francis?
one question though do you think that these two
Memphis - Pau Gasol
Utah - Andrei Kirilenko
can lead there team to a title and frincis can't? or were you just saying who the best players of those team were?
silentfan you aren't one of the most positive posters on this board. but you do have a point in some way. it is very bad that the rockets have had such a bad record against our conference. but i think people will have to accept that the rocktes aren't a title contender. in our conference there are 3 title contender. and 3 other pla of contenders like we are. the rockets are gonna lose games. because they aren't the best. they are improving. but before we can cal us a title contender we wil have to wait some years.
look at it at an other angle the rockets ar 4-10 in our division so we are 27-13 in the rest of the league. that is a good number

 

Division means absolutely nothing in today's NBA. Conference record is an infinitely better tool for analyzing the teams playoff chances.

The only use for having divisions currently is that division WINNERS get the top 4 seeds. So if we're 2nd or 7000th, it makes no difference really.

 

Division record is the 2nd tie breaker after head to head, so it matters.

 

Everyone knows (including JVG, CD, and LA) that the Rockets are not a legitimate contender, and won't be until the core five is shaken up.

Raven

 

the two teams not in our division that would make the playoffs are sacramento and the lakers. we are not 1-4 against them, we are 2-2.

 

finally, someelse sees this, i been saying this the whole time. That why i wanted a trade.

 

Ah, but the NBA is a *business*, not just a sport. Steve is a perennial all-star and a decent draw on the road. He sells jerseys and shoes and keeps the Rockets' profile high. That, combined with his skills, is what made him worth a max contract in CD's eyes.

Of course, if CD had known that unproven rookie Yao Ming would end up challenging Jordan as the game's biggest marketing image before all is said and done, he might not have been so quick to give Steve the max.

 

Many more are going to embrace the idea of moving Steve Francis for a legit passer who can gun the 3. Brent Barry fits that role. Unfortunately, Brent Barry's agent watched last night's game too, so he might want to jam the Rockets the up for a bigger contract.

 

I agree that Steve Francis' athleticism makes him a greater draw than someone like Mike Bibby. That's a big reason why he's still in a Rockets uniform because his play on the court doesn't even match the inside-out offense at all.

 

brent barry would be a good fit, but the only downside he is getting old. I wish we could get someone like hinrich or ridnour.

 

how can we guess if you tell us right after you post??

 

I was showing the "best" players on each team...then....

I'm also saying that those two teams are better off with their respective "stars" and will have more growing room for their team to build off from their current leadership. Why? Because both Gasol and Kirilenko are, young, improving, actually are fairly productive, both are athletic, play on BOTH ends of the court, and are smart players...

Those players' postitives outweigh ther negatives (80+/20-). I'd say that Francis's positives are equal to his negatives (a 50+/50- player). So, will Gasol and Kirilenko lead their team to a title? I'd say that with their foundation (what they have to start with), there's a lot better chance of doing so.

Out of all the players I've listed, Andrei Kirilenko is the showing the lowest potential, but that's for the management to decide and how much talent they will bring in to surround him. Who knows? Maybe he'll be the *third best* player on that team in 3 years. And because I believe that Kirilenko (a 3rd year player) is better than Francis today (a 5th year player), then what does that tell us about our team chances to build for the future?

Hint, hint...it means that Francis should be the 2nd or 3rd best player on our team in terms of talent. We're in trouble because of the max-contract.

Example...this should be our lineup...if CD would have known about Francis ability ahead of time...

PG - Francis (3rd best player)
SG - T-Mac (1st player)
SF - JJ
PF - MoT
C - Yao (2nd best player)

As far as the other players in our division...well, that goes with out saying. The chances of them winning it all has either been done, or could happen...

Dallas - Dirk Nowitzki
San Antonio - Tim Duncan
Minesota - Kevin Garnett
Denver - Carmelo Anthony

 

i do not think that either kirilenko or gasol has showed us that they will be better players then francis will be. Francis had some great years, now he is adapting. i agree he could adapt faster.the other players you mentioned i wil not disagree with.
when cd offered francis his max he deserved it IMHO. if francis would have to get a vntract after this year. he doesn't deserve the max. But i really believe he will play better again. we will see how both gasol and kirilenko develop. But i do not think they have shown us they will be better. i do have to say i really like both players, and would love to have them on our team

 

Most GMs would take Pau Gasol over Steve Francis due to Gasol's similarity to Dirk Nowitizki, and everyone would take Dirk over Steve in a second. Excellent shooting tall forwards do not come along too often. That's why the Rockets tried to trade Mo for Austin Croshere.

 

Sorry but Croshere is not better than Mo T. I don't see the point in trading Mo T for Croshere

 

1. When was this true that the rockets beat good teams? Last year we were abysmal against the top teams. Something like 4-12 against the top seeds

2. Naturally, if you take away the Rockets victories over top teams, they have not beat any top teams. Why is this noteworthy?