You are grading these guys against expectations not against each other. The Rockets come and go with Yao and you are rating Mo. T, Cato, and Mobley ahead of him? Ridiculous. He is a B compared to the superstar he can become but he is already the most dominate player on the Rockets
becasue of one good game, he isnt a superstar. If he is 7-6 he should be clearly the most dominant player on the rockets, but that isnt even the case. He still isnt the leading scorer on this team, and is not even the leader.
YMing - (B+) Yao still only flashes of what he would be if the Chinese National Team would give him a break in the offseason. Hasn't become unstoppable, but clearly established as the second best center in the league. SFrancis - (C-) Seems almost inevitable that he must eventually leave for this team to evolve offensively. It is a shame that he can't seem to grasp what truly separates elite players from ultra-talented ones. More than anything else, the team needed a leader, and Steve has failed to do so. CMobley - (B) I've actually been impressed with Cat's acceptance of a lesser role, but again, he and Francis have consistently dissappointed with their immature, selfish approach to being a professional athlete. MoT - (A) Mo has been, along with JJ, the most pleasant surprise on the team. His scoring off the bench, to supplement Yao, has been invaluable. JJackson - (A) Other than occasionally streaky shooting, he is our most consistent player. The glue that holds the team together, and a great example for Yao and other young players. Cato - (D) He tries hard, but he just is not a power forward. If he could concentrate on backing up Yao, his production and overall play would warrant a higher grade. Unfortunately, for a starter, it doesn't. Bench: Boki - (F) Expected much more from him by now. That's now two coaches who won't play him. MJackson - Good for certain times, but can't play enough to effectively backup Steve and Cat. Pike - Playing time has dissappeared.
Francis - C He has definitely struggled under Van Gundy having to change the way he shoots and handles the ball. However, over the past 15 games, his turnovers are down, his assists are up and his shooting percentage is improved...a little. Mobley - B Frankly, Mobley has been the most consistent shooter and scorer on the team. He went through a bit of a slump a couple weeks back, but he seems back on track. There have been plenty of times in the past I'd have traded him in a heartbeat, but he has been better than I thought he would be this year considering he gets fewer touches per game. Cato - B+ Considering his conversion to power forward leaves him incredibly vulnerable on the defensive end at times, Cato has been terrific. He is still an offensive liability at times and struggles against smaller, quicker line ups, but his is one of the most improved players in the West. If he learns to consistently knock down 15-foot jumpers in the offseason, he'll be extremely valuable. Jackson - A All the guy has done is come in and provide rock-solid stability for the team, scoring beyond what most thought and accuracy from behind the arc. He's a great team guy despite his reputation as a "locker room lawyer." Maybe the most underrated free agent acquisition of the year by anyone in the west. Yao - B+ He's improving and getting more aggressive and that is about all we can ask for his second season. He still needs to get more consistent with his conditioning and learn to grab the ball instead of tip it on rebounds. He also needs to learn to not give up the ball so quickly when he is in the post. But, for his second season under immense pressure, he's about as good as could be hoped for. Bench - B- On most nights, our bench is better than the opposition. Taylor is, arguably, the best sixth man in the league. He has really benefitted playing against the second string of most teams. Scott Padgett was a quality acquisition and has provided some good minutes. I still think that the Pike and Griffin acquisitions will pay dividends down the road and Mark Jackson has been solid as a back-up and mentor to Steve. Even Boki has had a moment here or there. Overall, I think that this group will change a lot in the offseason. There's not one solid rotation the coaching staff can pull from there and it creates some chemistry issues at times. But, overall, they've been solid. Coaching - B- Defensively, Van Gundy has been as advertised and better. This team has a chance to set the record for opponents' field goal percentage and is second in the league in opponents points per game. He is also clearly skilled at making adjustments both in-game and between games. On the other hand, his offensive schemes seem to be MUCH slower to adapt than his defensive schemes. He didn't figure out until halfway through the season that his big man preferred to be on the move when he got the ball rather than locked on the box. He demands passing but hasn't done a very good job of situationally setting the players up for success. I am also not a fan of coaches calling out players in public. I know some people find it refreshing, but, IMO, the same ego that has him popping off to reporters has guys like Steve making dumb comments. It wouldn't kill him or the team to be at least mildly more upbeat when warranted. Player/Personnel Staff - A- The signing of Padgett, JJ, Mark Jackson and A. Griffin will or have already paid off. The Moochie trade has been helpful with Weatherspoon starting to contribute. The Rice deal is still semi-incomplete considering we have a big trade exception available to us until late this summer. Most importantly, releasing Eddie Griffin, while painful, was clearly the right thing to do. Judging THIS YEAR'S PERFORMANCE ALONE, the personnel staff has executed well. Overall - B- The team could be better but it also could be a lot worse. They've avoided major injury thus far, held their own in a tough conference and are still well-positioned for the playoffs. Guys like Jonathan Feigen, who seem to be dead-on with predictions, thought the Rockets would win 3 or 4 more games this year than last year and they are right on that pace. They have enough talent to be better - particularly on offense - but as frustrating as the up and down has been, they are in decent position to make a run at the postseason.
Yao Ming- C+ - Plenty was expected of Yao for his second season. Maybe a bit too much. Still inconsistent and reluctant to take over. Showing flashes of brilliance. Kelvin Cato- C+ - Although he has done extremely well given the circumstances, it is often the lack of shooting touch that allows other teams to lock our offense down. Is he the long term solution at power forward? Probably not. Jim Jackson- A -Better than I expected. Not only a great player on the floor, but he is serving as a leader as well. My only concern is that the Mobley shot selection bug seems to infect him at times. Cuttino Mobley- A- -What a wonderful thing it is to see Cat play a controlled game. We saw flashes of his defense last year, this year it has been fantastic. Combine that with a much improved shot selection/fg percentage, and you have a strong starting two guard. If he continues to improve on this pace, we will have a tough time ever trading him. Steve Francis- C+ -If you had ever seen Steve Francis playing defense before, it certainly wasn't his last four years as a Rocket. Yet with Van Gundy, we have seen Steve turn from a defensive liablility into a guy who gives solid effort. We have also witnessed Steve moving from being a shoot first to a pass first point. While this process has been slow and erratic, it has been very rewarding at times. His most disturbing actions this season stem from off the court issues which have never troubled him in the past. Seems the tough love from VG has made Stevie a little more sensative. Bench- B+ -We went from having almost no bench last year, to having a bench which can give us various looks on offense. With a stong passer in Mark Jackson, a strong scorer in Mo and pure shooters in Padgett and Piatkowski. Look for the bench to be improved even more by next year. Coaching- A+ -I was never really in favor of bringing in Van Gundy, but with Brown landing in Detroit, I didn't want anything to do with Dunleavy. With that said, Van Gundy won me over quickly with his brass tactics and frank candor. Say what you will about how he handles his issues, I believe he gets results. And while records may be similar from this years to last years, the product on the court is trained and coached much better. I look for Van Gundy to push the Francis issue under the rug and to bring the team together to make a strong second half push.
