This kind of Thinking is Dangerous This is precisely the kind of thinking that's gonna put heavier expectations than our team can deliver next year. in the span of less than 365 days, people think Yao is going to transform from an unseasonsed untested Rookie into some powerhouse player. Well, have I got news for you. It's not going to happen... Seriously, when Yao was drafted, scouts saw a 3 year project with great potential. After year one, we are probably much farther along than any one could have thought. However, as most people know, the "next" mile of incremental progress always takes more work and is less observable. The classic "S" curve. For Yao to really become a super player, we need to repurpose this offense, from DAY 1 of TRAINING CAMP to suit a Yao/Francis centric offense. This entire season has been just a hodge podge of offensive schemes past, and ad hoc ones, present. The result? Schizo play. We are more unpredictable to OURSELVES than to any opposing team. For Yao to blossom, our coach, whoever it may be, has to be prepared to use him and use him wisely. This team needs to evolve from an undisciplined young team into a more disciplined seasoned SYSTEM team. The only way Yao becomes a bigger force is if our offense is tailored to utilize him more. That means less schemes running through our other players. It's a tradeoff, and one I think FAVORS working more plays through Yao. it's AFTER we've come up with a nice fine tuned system that we can add some extra weapons insofar as ad hoc plays. My greatest fear is that expectations run ahead of themselves, and thus, setting us up for ever more disappointment, ala the Blazers and Timbercubs of the late 90s. This could've been a great year to make tangible strides, but I guess we'll have to wait till next year. theSAGE
Where in my post did I say that I expected this to happen by next season? I said that I believe that he will develop into an unstoppable player, but I did not propose any time table. I will say this though, when you have never trained before you make positive changes much more quickly than an advanced athlete would as their adaptional window is wide open. The more you train the more the window closes, making it difficult to achieve improvements as it neccessitates more precisely programmed training methods. I agree with you in that they need to focus the offense to a certain style, but I think that they will ultimately need to make a few changes to fit the style that they are headed towards. I think they want to run a system similar to what we had when Dream was here. The problem is for that to work, you have to have consistent outside shooting to create the needed spacing. We DO NOT have anything resembling consistent outside shooting.
it happens almost everytime when he has to help out his teammates on D and have no time to recover when the ball is passed back to his own man. whoever from the weak side has been consistently failed to rotate and help to cover yao's man when he has no choice but to leave his man to protect the basket. by the way that play by matt harpring was a perfect example of basic basketball logic that only the rockets seems to have a problem to understand, but that play wouldn't have been possible had scott padgett didn't make that lobbed pass over to harpring when mobley was fronting him. Now i also wonder why the rockets have such a hard time lobbing a pass over to yao when he's being fronted by someone 8 inches shorter, while most players from other teams have no problem making such pass. please don't tell me the reason is because yao can't jump. harpring is only 3 inches taller than mobley and he can't leap like mobley yet the guy like padgett has no problem lopping a pass over to harpring. i hope for a big change for the rockets this summer and hopefully a well rested, stronger and more experienced yao ming together with a smarter and more undercontrolled steve francis make the rockets one of the feircest teams to be played against next season.
Very true. It is rather interesting how the Rox will evolve over the years. To date, I think it's safe to say, the current roster of faces aren't the ones who will get us the ring. But here's something I'm a little wary of too. The "search" for the consistent shooter... I don't know if he/she/it exists? I mean, sure there's Ray Allen, but look what it took to get him in Seattle? It took a Gary Payton and Desmond Mason. Rice, in his hey day, was "purportedly" a pure shooter, but even then, he had more moves that made him all the more dangerous in clearing space. My biggest concern would be if the Rox took this route but tried to find "veterans" ala Rice (whom I like, FYI but don't know if he's the right guy for the job), to fill this "most consistent shooter" spot. For the 4 spot, we can get away with an older veteran, but for shooting, that's a tough call. I want to say that all our problems can be addressed vis-a-vis this one "move". But it's hard to say... coaching is definitely numero uno on the list, but as far as personnel changes go... I personally WOULD like to see EG off this team, as well as many of our bench players. In their place, ironically, I think a Kenny Thomas type player would have provided ample shooting. But we need shooters, no doubt about it. How the team addresses the "Mobley" situation is another interesting caveat. theSAGE
You are deadly wrong. Yao's arms are short compared to his height, not short in absolute length. His arms aren't shorter than TD or Shaq's in overall length. Add that to his 7-6 frame Yao still has better reach than 7 footers like TD and Shaq's. Plus, Yao's hands are extremely long, which makes up for the relative shortness of his arms. Comparing Yao to TD and Shaq is very flattering. TD and Shaq are top five players. Even if Yao comes up short against them, Yao can still be a top five player.
All you Guys are thinking and expressing thaughts about Yao Ming and his future. The problem you all have is that you are comparing him to the way that Power Centers have played. Yao Ming is not a Power Center he is a Finesse Center a start of a new breed. It is going to take a couple more seasons for him to realise his potential as an NBA Player! I hope that the Rockets realise that he needs specialised training by a coach like Moses Malone. Moses can teach him how to move near the basket and how to use his body and positioning. He needs to perfect a Jabar like hook shot and develop mental toughness, like demanding the ball and becoming the leading scorer of the Rockets team.
DS - Paraphrasing from Coons' FAQ's: For extended rookie scale contracts, the player's BYC begins on the July 1 preceding the first season of the extension. For example, if an extension of a rookie scale contract is signed on 8/26/02 (the date of Francis's extention), his BYC begins on 7/1/03, because the first season of the extension is 03-04. Therefore, as I understand the CBA, since Francis is on an extended rookie contract the BYC classification will last one year starting on July 1, 2003 and will terminate on June 30, 2004.
One more point. The BYC classification does not make Francis untradeable...just difficult and probably requiring a 3rd team to "eat" some salary in return for something like an expiring or short contract and/or future picks. My understanding is that Steve will make around $10m in Year 1 of the extention (his BYC year). His trade value would be roughly $5m. So if the Rockets wanted to receive a non-BYC player making $10m, the Rox would have to find a 3rd under the cap team to take some Rocket player(s) worth the difference between Francis's ~$5m trade value and the ~$10M they will receive. IOW, the 3rd party team would eat enough Rockets' contract $ so that the Rox total would be within a % of what it was with Francis. As mentioned prior, the 3rd party does this for picks, expiring or short contracts. I suppose in a rare case, the 3rd party could do it just because they want a particular player. A cheap dirty example that is close $wise. Rox send Francis to NJ for Kidd. Rox send Cuttino and a 1st rounder to Denver (an under the cap team) to match salaries. Nets send Kidd to Houston (re-signed but not enough to be BYC). Denver sends a 1st rounder to NJ. aelliott or hp - feel free to step in if I've hacked this up!
In a few years, Francis' contract will look like minimum wage. As time elapses, the "digestability" of his contract will improve. Here's a case of classic "inflation" helping us out. The inflation of NBA salaries and contracts make college tuition inflation look like walk in the park. So long as Francis continues to perform and look "statistically" attractive and marketable, there is no reason to assume that he is "unmovable." Take a look at Gary Payton. Nobody thought he'd be moved. Yet with his unhappiness in his situation, the Sonics managed to swap one gross contract for another in Ray Allen. However, back to the original question. I do NOT think that Francis is the problem, nor do I think he's the odd man out. What we need now is being firm in our resolve to MAKE Francis and Yao our de facto one/two punch. And surrounding them with, well groomed, role players who, hopefully, don't cost an arm and a leg. As far as I'm concerned, the Rox management made out with a STEAL with Yao's 3 year contract + fourth option year. That offsets all the other egregious contracts they made. Let Rice's contract expire. Trade EG Offer Mobley but try to get the most for him And dump Collier.. he's a total eyesore. theSAGE
Francis doesn't HAVE TO GO. But we need to add more veterans. Get rid of the useless kids who never get to play. And instead, get the veterans like Avery Johnson for minimum wage. We need veterans who can control this team...and can play. Or we can always wait... Rice can't say anything bad or he will not be well-liked by his teammates. He needs some vets to join him... The Rockets need a real head coach. And the Rockets need more veteran leadership. Mobley and Francis will never lead them to the playoffs. As much as I hate Stephon Marbury and the Pheonix Suns, they have done a much better job. I don't know if it's the veterans they have...or if it's all Stephon...or if it's Frank Johnson the coach...or if it's just luck. But at least they are winning. Anyways. I'd only trade Steve Francis for Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, or maybe Baron Davis. Or I would trade him for a solid good role playing point guard and another solid good player and maybe a draft pick. We traded 12 players for him... Wait til next season.
HE IS NOT SLOW, FOR A GUY HIS SIZE HE MOVES VERY WELL. PLEASE DONT TELL ME U ACTUALLY BUY INTO THIS LEBRON JAMES HYPE. THE KID HAS NOT PLAYED ONE SINGLE NBA GAME YET AND EVRYBODY IS CALLING HIM THE NEXT JORDAN. HELLO? I DONT CARE IF HE DROPS 50 POINTS ON SOME DAMN HIGHSCHOOL TEAM THAT DOESN'T MEAN SH*T . YAO MING WILL BE A GREAT PLAYER . "YAO IS TILL A ROOKIE" IS NOT AN EXCUSE IT IS A FACT. THE GUY IS ONLY 6 MONTHS INTO HIS NBA CAREER. HE WILL BE GREAT. I AM NOT SO SURE ABOUT LEBRON JAMES. YEAH HIS DUNKS LOOK COOL, BUT LET SEE HIM DO THAT IN THE NBA. SCORING 50 POINTS AGAINST A BUNCH OF HIGHSCOOL PUNKS DONT MEAN ANYTHING.
MJ took 7 years to win it all, so I think Francis deserves a couple more years to prove he can bring hou a championship. After that, rox should seriously consider trading Francis OR getting rid of Rudy T. We do need a little patience being a fan. BTW, maybe rox dun wanna get to the playoff 'til they move to the new arena cuz compaq center is just too old!!!
Now I am not suggesting trading Francis but your Jordon logic is flawed. Even if Francis is comparable to Jordon (not really comparable IMO), Jordon made the playoffs in his 2nd year and then spent his next 6 years to figure it out how to win in the playoffs. Let's assume Francis does make it in his 5th year (next year), do we need to wait 6 more years for him to figure it out? That's assuming that he's intelligent to figure things out as Jordon but even then he will be 33 years old. If our ultimate goal is really depending on Francis to win the championship, the prospect doesn't look very good.
Very good points, Newgirl. But what I think UHcat was alluding to is our need to be more "patient." Although that much is all fair and good, I'm not all convinced that being "patient" with the current squad is what will help us to playoff land. If there are any chemistry issues it's the fact that we DONT have any workmen players and NOT enough veteran leadership and/or "starter" leadership. Francis is a great talent. Is he Jordan? I'm not so sure. I just look at Francis' decision-making. After one loss, Francis, who took the last shot while running once remarked something to the effect of, "I'm a high risk guy." Instead of calling a timeout and running a set play, he took it upon himself to shoot the last shot. While this seems heroic, it's not necessarily smart. Big differences btw Francis and MJ include: 1. smarts: I think MJ is a much better decision maker come crunch time 2. defense: MJ has a history of taking the tough defensive assignments. Does Francis??? 3. shooting: I think MJ is a much more consistent shooter, though I could be wrong here. 4. making teammates better: MJ had a knack of highlighting the talents of Pippen, King, Paxton etc. MJ MAKES his teammates better. Similarities btw Francis and MJ include: 1. heart of a leader 2. mondo hops and atheleticism 3. ability to create off the dribble 4. ability to finish off the dribble Other than that, I don't think it's fair to either MJ or Francis to compare the two. Moreover, our core is quite different. The Bulls plucked a young Scottie Pippen as the protege complementary player to Jordan. They literally engineered him from scratch and what a fine job they did. EG, though young, is NOT the compliment to Francis. Moreover, we have Yao, a center Jordan never did have (no sleight to Cartwright). If there is a better analogy out there for Yao and Francis, I'd probably pick: 1. Brad Daugherty and Mark Price 2. Hakeem and Cassell 3. O'Neal and Bryant theSAGE
I don't care how much you hate Steve Francis or Cuttino Mobley, or any of the Rockets, or how disappointed you are at this point in the season, or how stupid you think these players are playing. HOW could this guy not have just been LAUGHED AND SHUNNED OFF THIS BOARD WITH A COMMENT LIKE THAT!? O my f-ing god!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?
I have to second that... DUMBEST THiNG I'VE SEEN IN A LONG TIME. Please...... please...... stop the insanity!
Come on. It's not Stevie. It's the system. It takes time to build a playoff team. Much less a championship team. This was the Roxs first year together in this format(with Posey not even that much). How long has it been since the Rockets had a set formula. Give them a break. They actually still deserve one. Steve is damb good. If we didn't have him we would want him. This whole year everyone has been living on a hopeful miracle cloud. Basketball happens every year. That is the best part. We will get there. I hate the months in between as well. Next year...It's On! New arena. New Uni's. Longer season. Go ROXS!!
