I am developing a problem with some of the naysayers on the board who seem to think that the only way our team is going to improve is by getting rid of this player, that player, the coach, or people in the front office. I am as tired as anyone else of watching basketball in May sans Rockets, but I am still EXTREMELY optimistic about the fortunes that our team will bring to Houston. First, I would like to make an observation and forgive me for shouting, but THIS TEAM WAS THE SECOND YOUNGEST IN THE LEAGUE AND WE MISSED THE PLAYOFFS BY ONE GAME. That is not exactly a horrible result, and IMO, many of our players showed marked improvement over the course of the season. Examples include Eddie's post play in the last two months, Mobley's D, Posey's offensive game, and MoT's automatic jump hook in the 4th quarter. Second, Rudy made a tough decision at the end of the year to take care of his health so that he COULD come back next year and lead this team. As unfortunate as the result was, it was the right decision and he deserves to continue to lead this team. Third, one of the most important parts of building a championship team is chemistry. Chemistry is more than getting along with your teammates, it is being able to predict where your teammates will be and what they will be doing at any point in time. This kind of chemistry can only be gained by playing together for long periods of time. Having said all of that, I do believe that there are some changes that could be made without trading our young (Griff), headstrong (Mobley), or franchise players. I would bring in a solid SF to solidify the front line, move Mobley to the bench for offensive punch with the reserves, and start Posey as our defensive 2 stopper. Another option would be bringing in a PG, move Steve to 2, move Mobley to the bench for the aforementioned reason, and stick with Posey at the PF. What would you do?
Amen, preach it preacher! I have to agree with you on almost everything that you said. The only people who I am looking to trade are Cato and Moochie, although MoT is not far behind them. I really believe that Cato could fetch a piece from a center starved team back east. That coupled with the fact that he *shouldn't* be playing a whole lot next year due to Yao makes him prime trade bait. If there were any way to swing a starting 1 or 3 with Cato as the principal I would jump at it. Jamal Crawford and Eddie Robinson for Cato and filler? Cato for S&T Payton? There has to be a deal out there for a big guy locked into a reasonable deal for a starting C. Lamar Odom is my wet dream, but I don't really see it happening (although Doc said he thought so so who knows?)
Yeah, we could trade for some missing peices. But it all comes down to Yao. If he can turn into our #2 scorer and get 12+ rebounds a night, it might be the kind of glue that can put this Rockets team together. We can pick up some new guys, but its going to come down to what SF and Yao do. These two guys are going to have to lead the Rockets out of Lotteryland. Hell, if Paul Pierce and 'Toine can do it, I know SF and Yao can do it. Yeah, the Western Conference has dominate Power Forwards... That didn't stop the Lakers from winning three championships. If Yao can step up, then we can get around that weakness for a while. It would be great to land a strong Power Forward, but I'm putting all my chips on Yao. The biggest risks can have the biggest payoff (or failure). Its not as fun to talk about, but this season comes down to Yao and Griffen getting in the gym and seriously bulking up. Oh, and an offensive strategy won't hurt either
missing the playoffs by only one game is the biggest crock of **** rallying cry this board could muster. This team was dead in the water a week before the playoff spots were decided, arguably even earlier. Some of the individual players may have made some small strides as the season progressed, but as a whole the team did nothing but regress throughout. What would I do? Get a pg who knows to take care of the ball, not dribble out the shot clock, play d, and pass. Then try to trade Steve for a taller "franchise" sg who can play d, or a big man to go with Yao if possible. Then fire everyone.
I agree Crisco. The problem is, what team is the Rockets going to be better than next yr? Phoe 3 best players are younger than the Rockets 3 best players. Utah will reload with 2 premium free agents. Sac,Sa,Dall,La, are still going to be the top seeds and Minny has one of the top 5 players in the entire league. Not to mention GSW and Seattle will be better next yr also. The Rockets room for error is so small right now its not even funny. Next yr, it might take almost 50 wins to make the playoffs. It might take 47 wins minimum to make it last yr like 2 yrs ago when the last place team had 47 wins. With the improved talent of the other teams , can the Rockets inprove enough to get at least 4 more wins?
Well, if you're talking about no trades... here's what I would do. Keep Francis at the 1, try to bring in a cheap but solid backup pg from the fa market, if not use Norris. Start MoT at the 4 and bring in Griff as the backup. Yao/Cato combo works well already, no changes needed here. Let go of Posey, start TMo at the 3, bring in Nachbar or possibly pick up someone to play backup if Nachbar really really sucks on D, and sit Rice (damn expensive bench warmer though). At the 2, start Hawkins for D and spot up 3 pt shooting, but Mobley still gets the bulk of the minutes. Francis Hawkins TMo MoT Yao ?/Norris Cat Nachbar/? Griffin Cato This gives a good balance of offense and D. Francis and Hawkins can both hit the 3, TMo may in time develop a three, but if not he's very good at hitting jumpshots inside the arc. There's three ppl to throw it out to, and if needed Francis can create for himself. MoT and Yao are both decent post players, but both can hit the jumpshot as well, this gives some nice versatility. Hawkins, TMo and Yao provide the D. On the second team Cat and Griffin will probly be given the bulk of the offensive production, and Cat and Cato both have good D.
I agree with your assesments as well, and the chances of the Rocks getting at least 4 more games *with the playoffs on the line* are slim and none, and were almost out of slim. Still, we can hope that the lines Rudy gives us about improvement will actually happen this year(fast breaks, d, motion, etc). We can hope Ming and Griff get better. We can hope there is a roster shakeup that brings in guys who mesh as a unit. I think it's safe to assume Utah will fall off this next year with Malone, Stockton, and Sloan gone. I mean, who would go there as a fa? Dre? Kandi? Stack? Not brand, as he's restricted. Even with a couple of good fas that team will crumble w/o their leaders there. Maybe GS will hurt losing Arenas in the offseason, but somehow I doubt it. The rox need to get their **** together in the offseason if they want to make the playoffs, and merely deciding to give Nachy playing time and proclaim him as our draft pick saviour this year ain't gonna cut it.
Personally, i think this team has run its course. Someone has to go either the coaching staff or some players. The staff will never change the offensive system to hide its players weakness and maximize their stregnths and some of the players will not change their games. Its just a bad mix right now.
The thing is, Utah has enough money this yr to go after Brand and miller. Sloan just resigned a extension and Brand and Miller are the few young player he wll actually like to coach. After Malone leaves and with the retirement of stockton, the Jazz can off 12mill to Brand and 8 mill to Miller per yr. I doubt the Clipps would match that offer.
Rox by position: Center-We have the bomb. Yao/Cato is one of the best center combinations in the game and will continue to be for as long as they are both with this team. Yao will continue to bulk up and improve his overall game and will also be a sophomore, negating some of the rookie calls and non-calls. Cato will continue to get on the boards and in the faces of opposing centers. I wondered often this year why we didn't run Yao/Cato at the 4/5 this year, but who am I to second guess Rudy? Power Forward-I still think that Griff will be one of the better players at his position in the next couple of years. One more year of bulking up and playing against the best 4s in the game night in and night out will help Eddie to move into place as an excellent PF. He will have a breakout year in '03-'04 as he shows the league the talent that the Rox drafted him for. Mo came off his Achilles issue with flying colors this year IMO. For someone playing competitive ball for the first time in over a year, I think he did as good a job as could be expected, and he turned into a force late in the year in 4th quarters. Small Forward-This is where we have our biggest issue, although Posey changed that a bit the last 4-6 weeks of the season. As he got more comfortable, he started putting up great numbers on the offensive end and was also a fabulous defensive stopper. Rice will continue to be a deadly shooter for the few games he plays. Nachbar is a question mark. I don't know how he will impact the team this year. Shooting Guard-Mobley continues to have trouble passing the ball, which is why I contend that he belongs on the bench as a scorer with the second unit. Personally, I think Steve belongs here as he would be a monster if his primary game was as a scorer. Mobley could come off the bench with Steve at the 1, making Steve the PG when the opposing second unit is in. Of course, all this would necessitate acquiring an above average starting PG. Point Guard-Steve seems more comfortable as a scorer, but he could remain at the 1 if he spends this summer looking at tape of the games we won. In those games, he passed as much or more than he shot. I think Moochie had a bad year because of the lack of minutes as much as anything else. What I would do: 5-Yao/Cato - Stand pat 4-Eddie/MoT - Stand pat 3-Free agent (Odom, Redd, etc.)/Nachbar - acquire a SF to start ahead of Nachbar 2-Posey/Mobley - Move Posey to the starting lineup 1-Francis/Norris - Stand pat Alternate 5-Yao/Cato - Stand pat 4-Eddie/MoT - Stand pat 3-Posey/Nachbar - Stand pat 2-Francis/Mobley - Move Francis to starting 2 1-Free agent (Kidd, Payton, etc.) with Francis backing up the 1
Andymoon, your right on target BABY .The rockets just have to bring in a starting small forward or a starting pg. when we let steve play the two.Is posey a fg?HI TEXANS FANS AND ROCKET FANS.
andy, you have to take into account the peices around Steve and Yao. Do they fit or compiment them??? Can they ever fit and compliment them??? If you look at the Spurs roster, everybody besides Robinson is there because they compliment Duncan. Personally, I don't think some of there players would be nearly as good if they played on another team (aka. Jackson, Ginobli, etc.). I don't want to trade the entire roster, but I do want to start putting the right peices around Steve and Yao. Mobley isn't or shouldn't be the starting on this team, and we need a banger,enforcer type PF, which EG or MT don't. You can have EG or MT come of the bench, but neither should be starting, they simply don't compliment the players we are building our team around. Imo we have to get a PG and a bruiser type of PF, or we will have the same results as we have had the past 4 years next year.
I am also skeptical about totally dismantling this team as well, but I am very curious to see Steve unleashed on the league as a shooting guard with a tall point to defend the bigger 2's. He already gets his calls and he won't have to worry about pleasing everyone else, just put it in the bucket. Also I think we have invested too much in Eddie to just let him go. Actually I would like to see Eddie sit the entire 1st half of the season and earn his way back into the line-up. At 21 Kobe was still jacking 3's and being selfish, now look at him. At 23 Eddie could be a legitimate double double pf. While I have never had faith in Cuttino as starting sg, I think he would be a hellacious 6th man as he has shown in the past but I don't think his ego can take it. Getting better without trading will be difficult but I do think that NBDL MVP and Rookie of the Year Devin Brown deserves a look. I have seen him play and he is well rounded, shoots high %, plays D, and is not selfish. Sounds like a great role player and he is young with something to prove.
