No one player on this team is without blame. Yao isn't manning up and taking his game to where it should be(above the rim). 7'5" guys should not be putting the ball on the floor. If they are, they obviously don't have position. The easiest way to defend a big man is keep him away from the basket and make him put the ball on the floor where shorter, quicker players can take the ball away. Cato simply should not ever take a shot beyond 5 feet. The guy has no offense outside of dunks and very short jumpers. He needs to take a Ben Wallce type of role and stick to defense and rebounding while taking easy offensive opportunities when it presents itself. Francis is another story. He talks like he gets it(defense and team play), but when he's on the court he doesn't "walk the walk" and is consistently getting abused by his man. I simply do not see any defensive improvement on Francis' part. There are flashes of him getting the team involved, but I don't see it happen often enough. Nor do I see the intensity I expect from someone who should be the play maker. IMO he still has a good deal of growing to do if he intends on ever making a playoff appearance. Even Mobley, who is arguably the most improved player on the team this year, deserves a little criticism for trying to do too much on his own. He's actually cut back alot from trying to do it all himself, but there are still occasions where he could do something to get a teammate a better shot. I'm mainly nit-picking with his play because for the most part I am satisfied with his performance. Everyone else deserves blame for not pushing our starters in practice to become better all around players in game situations. Boki, Pike, Moochie, everyone. They should be out there trying to kick the starters asses everyday! Of course I am not there to witness practices, but someone needs to step up and start riding people. My pick for that role is Mo Taylor. I would love to see him step up as a vocal leader and start kicking some ass. Even better, take back the starting PF slot. He isn't a great defender, but IMO he would do as good a job as Cato, plus bring some offense to a starting position where it is desperately needed. He has no problem pointing out where guys should be and that characteristic is vital in the beginning of games where it is imperative teams get off on the right foot.
All of last season i heard that boki was pushing them really hard during practices, but i don't know what's going on this year, but it is a valid point you have, everyone should be held accountable for the rockets lack of scoring, not just the starters, but i think they'll get better, there is just too much talent on the team for them not to improve.
Yep, the whole team is a plane wreck. Simply horrible all the way from management (worst GM in the league) down to the players. When the team isn't completely unwatchable, they're just mediocre enough to give you a faint glimmer of hope until they fail like you know they're going to do. I never thought I'd say this again after last season, but I have never been more disappointed with a Rockets team as I am with this group of underachievers. Complete and total waste of talent that needs to be blown up and sent to the radioactive scrap heap...
Put him in the same category as Mo. JJ is a seasoned vet that has been around and knows a few things about what it takes to survive in this league. He should also be making these guys get their head's on straight.
JJ turns the ball over an aweful lot.....but at least he tries to push the ball. He also plays overaggressive on defense sometimes, leading to free throws for opponents. But like everyone else, these are things that can be improved
I like JJ's defense, if he could reduce his stupid defense fouls a little bit. I hope that JJ could hit more wide open shots. Also He should make penetration and layup.
I blame all the fans that are negative like you guys. Above .500, like a 1.5 games away from 1st and we have fans that are never satisfied. I wish you guys were Utah fans.
Then you would be on the Utah BBS. Is that what you want, just go there... Until they can beat a team in the west, it really doesn't matter.
Hey, when you struggle to score 70 points in a game 3 times in a row, that's not all rainbows and lollipops. Sorry to burst your bubble, but no we're not satisfied with playing .500 ball and barely squeaking by Cleveland -- the 2nd worst team in the entire LEAGUE.
