I think the key is bruising Piatowski w/ high,hard picks so he can't concentrate on threes. Who else is a shooter on that team?
Rikesh(Sugarland,TX): Do you think Steve Francis is the best point guard in the NBA? David Aldridge: (1:34 PM ET ) I was just going over this the other night, and I couldn't think of a better point guard in the west than Steve. Payton is just as good, but I don't think he's better at this stage. I still think JKidd is the best in the league. He said Steve is the 2nd best point guard in the NBA... I agree...
I agree Crispee with Francis & Cuttino, they do create alot of things with their isolation plays. If they do force a Turnover, they usually come right back and make a great defensive move. My problem is with Moochie's dribbling. He was just horrible the other night, and in my opinion, the majority of last year (with his dribbling). Yes, he has a big afro, yes he brings alot of spark like Cassell did (WITHOUT THE CONSISTENT OFFENSE), and if he doesn't second guess himself, he can score and set up a bunch of points. His problem is confidence. Winners want the ball to score (or set up the score), Loosers HESITATE on open shots, and find ways to make mistakes. Dribbling until their is 3 seconds left on the shot glass, and then making the pass, only forces somebody else into a bad shot. That will never win games. There was a reason why Moochie has never survived the NBA, and was forced into the CBA. He had a bad rep for consistency on the offensive end. I do not think his problem is scoring, his problem is showing the confidence to take over a game as a winner. When he gets into that Zone (which he showed a few times last year), he can be deadly. If he continues to make bad playmaking decisions, he will only be a libabily to the Rockets. I have nothing against Moochie, if he just gets his head out of his A**, he would be a great contributer to the team. But this team is different than last year, and he will not see as much playing time. He usually came in for Anderson, when RT played the 3 guard line up. Now we have so much talent at the 3, that I just do not see Moochie getting as many minutes as last year.
I like both of them. Tmo may match up better with Odom, while Torres may match up better with Miles. I say play'em both. BTW, I don't think I have seen Torres play anything but the 2 in preseason.
Bravo -- couldn't have said it better myself. One thing -- Mooch has a ton of confidence, I think. A bit too much, actually, if he thinks he can waste that much time trying to fake someone out on the dribble... or if he thinks the Rockets offensive flow is so good they need only eight seconds to move the ball and find an open man. I put Mooch's contract near the level of the Cato travesty. I don't see the guy being that important to this team in the long run. Never doubt Cassell. That man is the bomb.
I think we should go for match-ups this time. They match up so well that we have to turn it around. Our backcourt is superior. personally, i think Moochie would be the best Guard on their team. That's how superior. We have no worries there. SF: I think Griffin and T-mo should get some time. Long arms, quickness, range. Just what we need. They're both above average defenders. We need to shut down Miles and Odom, and Rice/Walt won't do it. I saw we keep Walt on the bench. Use Rice in spurts, but primarily use Griffin and T-mo to defend their SF position. PF: I think KT should start here. His quickness is an asset. Not much (if any) height disadvantage. Cato should get most minutes next to Cato at PF. C: Willis should get most minutes here. Not necessarily starting, so that Cato doesn't get the wrong message. but I think Willis would ABUSE Kandi at C. I'm sure Brand is gonna have a huge game, but we should try to slow him. Odom's also gonna have an above average game, but with lots of turnovers. What we should prevent is a third scorer. We should keep everyone else below double-figure scoring. It should be very exciting. It's Francis vs. Odom/Brand. It's still not clear (to everyone else) who the better player is from that class. Who should've gone first. Then there's the High School prodigies. I just think we're gonna see a lot of mistakes, but the Rockets will come out on top: Rockets 84 Clippers 77
" .... There was a reason why Moochie has never survived the NBA, and was forced into the CBA. He had a bad rep for consistency on the offensive end ..." Actually it was narcolepsy that waylaid his pro career. He was seen as lazy, unattentive on the bench and sleeping through off-court talk-arounds. " ... Torres covering (the 2,3,4) ..." .... Admittedly, Torres is not the first call to cover the four, but who but RT would stick Mooch(1), Francis(2) and Mobes (3)with KT(4) and Griff(5) on the floor together? Better get used to RT using speed, long arms and attitude to cover the new young "tweener" (3-4) fours of the league. By all accounts what sane coach would use a 6'2" guy to play the two guard, and move him through the three lanes? Well, Atlanta stuck E-man (6'5"- 6") at the point and Terry (6' 1"-2") at the off guard, even had him slipping into the three role (offensive set with Terry rolling off Rice/Wizbang to the weakside) on a couple of occasions. Things are not as clear cut as they were two or three years ago. Even less clear this year. Torres (at 6'6" and 210 lbs of savvy) could fit most spots well, especially if the Rocket key is to shut down the middle with Cato and Willis. Where's a Clipper PF supposed to go? Outside and moving between passing lanes? Who do you want on him out there? Well, I'll take Torres on some of those occasions. Cheers.
E-mail guarded Mobley, though, while Terry guarded Francis. There is a quote in the paper E-mail saying how he likes this lineup, because he gets to run the show and guard the 2's. The problem with Torres playing the 3 is why not just have Mobley play it? A lineup of Francis, Mobley and Torres doesn't achieve what it is supposed achieve. We are supposed to create a mismatch on offense in our 3-guard set. Does that create the same mismatch as Moochie, Francis, Mobley? It reminds me of Smith, Drexler and Elie failed to create a mismatch of Hornachek on Drexler once Russell started getting the minutes, like that lineup did prior to that. They simply switched Russell and Hornachek on us so Hornachek could play the slower man. I really like Torres and TMo, and I think everyone sees their potential. But at the same time, I only expect us to play 9 guys in our rotation. Moochie, Willis, Griffin and Walt. It doesn't make sense to me to stretch out the rotation just so we can have strange lineups. I still think Torres and TMo are going to have to wait their turn. They'll get it, but I don't see how Torres gets minutes in a 3-guard set, nor gets hardly any SG minutes (since that is manned by Mobley and Francis). Likewise, I don't see how TMo gets minutes when he can't really do anything better than Griffin. Unless you are going to play TMo and Griffin together (which is doubtful without injury), I don't see how you don't give Griffin all the minutes between the two. Griffin can play both the 3 and 4 better than TMo...that's not a stretch, is it?
The Sporting News is actually showcasing tonights game as the 'one to watch'. Of course, they don't say anythin which hasn't already been said in this thread, and others, but its nice to get a little positive press!!
I do not see what is the big deal with the 3-guard rotation. Forget about it. Norris should only play to spell Francis if he is tired or in foul trouble. If there is ever a need to play Francis and the 2 then that will be at the expense of Mobley. End of story. The 3 is for Rice, Williams, Morris and Thomas as far as I am concerned. I would go more with Thomas at the 3 for a change of pace and use Griffin at the 4 and Cato/Willis and 5. The real advantage there is for Thomas to dominate the 3 and a much better defensive presence down low.
Crispee, regarding your statement about only playing a 9-man rotation, and not playing Torres & Morris. Why do most teams play around a 9 man rotation? Maybe its because they are only 9 players deep. The Rockets are easily 10-11 deep!! .............and their is a good arguement that our 9-12 players have more game, than some of the veterans (not including Francis & Mobley). Looking back at some of the preseason games, it appeared to me that (minus Francis & Mobley), our 2nd unit (without Moochie), outplayed and maintained better control of the game than some of those 9 man rotation players you mentioned. I only see it one way, does RT want to win!!!! Will he play the best players to win the game, or does he play people with the bigger contracts out of obligation. I say we get all those shot blockers involved, and as a team average 10+ blocks a night!!!!! THAT WILL LIGHT UP THE CRITICS!! The SF spot is going to make us or break us this year!! Unfortunately Bullard is not here to save the Rockets, like he did in many games last year. Somebody else will have to show the consistent outside jumper when Francis & Mobley pass out (AND ITS NOT BARKLEY, I MEAN KENNY THOMAS). Hopefully Rice finds his shot soon. Walt is a different matter, he has always been a streaky shooter. He might not start making those 3's until after the all-star break. Eventhough Langhi does not fit at the moment, I bet he would be an effective spot up shooter (like Bullard). He just needs to be told not to try to imitate Cuttino slashing to the basket. He needs to learn to be one-dimensional (not likely), and move into that Bullard type of player. Well everybody enjoy the game, I have unbreakable plans tonight and will have to rely on Clutch's recap!! LATER
We will have our hands full tonight. Mobley will have a tough time against Q and Maggette, Odom will do a number on Rice/Williams, If we don't take care of the ball, we will get run out of the gym. Still I like our chances, but we can't play like we did the first night. Their press is very effective especially if the Rockets dribble in the corner and pick up the dribble. Aside from Francis and Mobley starting, our other players really aren't good ball handlers. Rice looks painful when he has to take more than 1 or 2 dribbles. It should be a good game and i hope we win.
LOL! I think you meant insomnia, although narcolepsy would be pretty intresting in a basketball player... Imagine Mooch driving to the basket and becomming unconcious in midair.
I agree that this is a relatively big game considering time of year. We need to build momentum and fan-support, and losing to the Clippers, even an improved Clipper club, doesn't further either goal. I think the key to the game is for Glen Rice, to find his shooters touch, he was laying enough bricks to build the new arena last game...shooters need to shoot though, and he hasn't been in the lineup much cause of injury. My prediction Rockets 96-93 Rice with 18
<i>Brand, Francis, Odom were 1-2-3 in the 1999 NBA Draft.</i> Clutch, Just a minor correction, Odom was #4 in the draft behind Baron Davis.
No, sorry but it wasn't insomnia. It was narcolepsy. He suffered with it apparently since late adolescence. Didn't know what it was. He finally got a proper diagnosis within the last three or so years - started some therapy and medication, but by that time he was branded in the NBA as indifferent to the game/difficult to coach/etc. Got himself cut from the "big pros" and ended up playing in the CBA. His agent put out a release that he was diagnosed with a "sleeping disorder" and since most people assumed that it meant he couldn't sleep at night and therefore was "sleepy" or "taking naps" during the day, partially explained it. Narcolepsy: is a rare idiopathic syndrome of recurrent sudden "attacks" of sleep, sudden lose of muscle tone, sleep paralysis or hypnagogic characteristics. Most sufferers have only one or maybe two of these symptoms and about 10% have all four. Mooch apparently had a mild form of sudden sleep attacks, which can vary from a few a day to several a day. They may last minutes or hours. Because actual sleep occurs during these episodes, sleeping at night may be difficult or interrupted and a poor sleeping pattern including chronic insomnia may result.
<i>No, sorry but it wasn't insomnia. It was narcolepsy. He suffered with it apparently since late adolescence. Didn't know what it was. He finally got a proper diagnosis within the last three or so years - started some therapy and medication, but by that time he was branded in the NBA as indifferent to the game/difficult to coach/etc. Got himself cut from the "big pros" and ended up playing in the CBA. </i> I've gotta agree with Ottomaton on this one, it was insomnea. http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=soni&date=19990126 <i>Maybe this time Norris will stick. However, his precarious NBA fate isn't the cause of the insomnia that limits him to just two or three hours of sleep. He passes the time reading the Bible or listening to R. Kelly and Master P. He's tried medicine and sleeping aids, but his problem isn't physical. Norris' sleeplessness began the day his mother died. She was a single mother who raised her son with little help. Without her, Norris was lost. He dropped out of high school for 16 months. When he resurfaced, he rediscovered basketball and found Helms. </i> http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=sonr&date=19990324 <i>Seattle placed Norris on the injured list with insomnia, and activated Drew Barry. The move sealed Norris' fate. </i> http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=sona&date=19990312 <i>Seattle first gave Moochie Norris a shot, but after a sizzling start he was put on the injured list with insomnia</i> http://archives.seattletimes.nwsour.../vortex/display?slug=kell&date=19990223&query <i>He sleeps only two or three hours a night, a strange condition that began when his mother died. He has tried drugs and relaxation techniques. Nothing has worked. He listens to music and does pushups and situps to force fatigue. But every day he is back in the gym. And on the practice floor he never seems to rest</i> http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/basketball/nba/news/1999/02/16/nbaspot/ <i> Martyn Bernard Norris -- his grandfather nicknamed him Moochie after the Cab Calloway tune Minnie the Moocher -- has suffered from insomnia since his mother, Irma, died of cancer in 1989. He rarely gets more than two hours of shut-eye a night and says he has "tried everything" to solve the problem. Last year, while toiling for the Fort Wayne Fury in the CBA, he'd go to bed wearing glasses that flashed lights and emitted a thumping sound when he closed his eyes. (The thinking was that he'd focus on the noise and lights and clear his mind.) But on a typical night, Norris is doing push-ups and sit-ups, reading the Bible or listening to the lullabies of another erstwhile member of the Fury, Master P. "My coaches ask me, 'Did you sleep last night?'" he says. "I say, 'Yeah, I got a lot of sleep -- 8, 10 hours.' But it's really more like one or two." </i>
But don't you think that Moochie had insomnia because of narcolepsy? Pops pointed out that having narcolepsy caused Moochie to have insomnia. He also pointed out how the Seattle media mixed it up as well. That's why those articles don't tell you the true story because they are flawed.
