Unthinkable, I think not. Just sit Francis, Hakeem, Anderson, and Cato. Let the scrubs go at it, finish last and get the first pick in the lotto. Hell, if San Antonio can cheat, err... have a bad season, we can too! Mayur ------------------ In the tune of the Star Spangled Banner: Whose veterans and bright news stars, thro' the perilous playoffs, O'er the compaq center we watch'd, were so gallantly playing? And the ROCKETS' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our team was still there. - Long Live The Universe's Greatest Basketball Team!! -
You've got a point, although it isn't as easy to do this as it was when we did it to land Sampson and the Dream in back-to-back drafts. Instead of a 50/50 shot at either the first or second pick, I think it's possible that we could have some horrible luck and wind up with 13. [This message has been edited by AntiSonic (edited December 16, 1999).]
I think not like Spurs, but more like, can you say Cippers? ------------------ Rockets' biggest problem is not player talent levels, it is the coach's ineptitude.
Maybe that's what Rudy is trying to do...hence Matt Bullard and Bryce Drew in the game in the 4th quarters and Shandon on the bench.
Mayur, You are missing several key differences between the Rockets of today and the Spurs then. The Spurs had several veteran starters who had significant NBA experience. The current Rockets (excluding Dream and Charles) probably have less NBA minutes combined than Robinson has by himself. Watch the missed free throws and just poor decision making in the fourth quarter and you will realize that minutes on the floor matter. Sitting the current starters will not give them the experience that they need so badly. By the way, Duncan was the first pick in 1997 and won his championship in his second year in the league. MAngo
ditto Mango, The only similarity between the two teams is we are having bad years with injuries. It stops there. If the Rox can combine a high pick with nice free agent p/u and prepare for the retirement of Hakeem, then they might be in great shape for a run 2 years from now.
Mayur- I hate to disagree with you, but we will be in the playoffs next year, but we will not be contending for a championship that soon. Noone on this team knows how to win, except dream. Sure Anderson & Bullard have been far into the playoffs, but not as major contributors. A team must know how to win before it can fight for a championship. Difference with the Spurs were they had a very good team, then Robinson got hurt. They basically sandbagged the rest of the season. For Houston it is different. Even when Dream comes back it will be a tough transition. I honestly see us, even when Dream comes back as only being the 7-8 best team in the west for the last 1/2 of the season. Portland, LA, Utah, SA, Sacramento, Seattle & Phoenix all should be better than us. We may be playing better than Seattle and/or Phoenix by the end but we are still not a great team in the West. Even if we add a lottery pick I still see portland, la, & sa as having better nucleous than us, and possibly sacramento as well. We will get better, but I think talking about a young team, that won't make the playoffs as a championship conteder is reaching a bit too far, unless we can add a superstar free agent (Duncan-Hill, etc).
Like DaDakota said...there is no Tim Duncan coming in the draft. Unfortunately, K. Martin is not a Superstar. This upcoming draft is not a good draft year at all. Which brings me to another point. The days of the Superstar drafts like 1984 are gone!! Back then, you had so many superstars come out of the draft because those players actually GRADUATED or at least played 3 years in College. Today, these kids are coming straight out of High School now. It breaks my heart to see our Rockets Team sink like the Titanic because we have so much talent. We need a leader on the floor and off the floor. Unfortunately, a rookie from the draft is not going to produce a leader or someone who can take over games like Dream did. The worse thing is that the veterans out in the NBA that could be that leader, would not want to come to the Rockets with so much disarray. I love Rudy T. to death, but maybe these young players don't relate to him as much as we'd like. Young players today don't have the respect like the players we were used to seeing. As great as Rudy T. has been, maybe he is going through a little bit of what Tom Landry and Red Auerbach is going through. These young players don't relate to him and don't care. Maybe it will take a new young coach to get the most out of these players and future players. Coaches like Larry Bird, Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge, now Scott Skiles, seem to be getting through these young players. Maybe in 2 years, we should bring Clyde to coach our Rockets. Just food for thought. But again...DON'T EXPECT A TIM DUNCAN OR A GOOD DRAFT THIS YEAR-this will probably be a really weak draft class. Just our luck!!
Well I was suprised at the civil responses. I thought I would be berated with insults about my intellect and ignorance of basketball and of being "a good sport"</> Unless I missed the point completely...</p> Well lets start off with the obvious, my obviously sarcastic and blistering remark was well taken and started off a good debate.</p> First, about this clippers thing. I think that's irrelavant since the clippers suck and will suck, until, well... hell freezes over. Bad karma is to blame</p> As for not seeing another Duncan in the next draft, I agree. See my earlier comment about sarcasm. I simply mean to say, why make Hakeem play a season which looks to me is pretty much shot to hell unless Jordan and Bird ... and Magic . . . and Abdul-Jabbar sign for the rest of the season. I have been thinking hard, and I really am going to have to see that won't happen. I might though...</p> Anyway, thanks for the input, its great to instigate debates.</p> Mayur
