You know how you sometimes see a movie that's pretty good...but it could have been excellent except for a couple of stupid plot twists or something else that didn't quite work? Somehow, it's less satisfying than a movie that was just average overall. That's how I feel about this year's Rockets. Frustrating. Not that they were particularly bad, and compared to the preseason predictions they did pretty well. Much better then ol' what's his name rockie of the year's team did in PHoenix. But somehow, they seemed to play just below potential. Jeff's grades are pretty spot on. And i really enjoyed the post season. But dayum....i kept thinking they were so close to being so much better.
I gave Boki an A for the regular season because he hit that three to clinch the game in Seattle! That was all I needed!
1. You think Weatherspoon had a reasonable contract? 3 years - $18 million for 17 minutes per game? He makes as much as Cuttino Mobley. Absurd. 2. I never mentioned James Posey. Yes it was good to get rid of Moochie's contract but who gave it to him in the 1st place? worst Rockets signing in the last decade. Yes it was good to cut Griffin loose but who picked him? Yes it was good to get salary cap relief by getting rid of Glenn Rice but who traded for him and gave out these ridiculous contracts? Got nothing for Kenny Thomas Traded for Glenn Rice and his $30 million contract Because of above, had to give up our #1 pick to get rid of Rice Gave terrible contracts to Moochie, Cato, and Mo Taylor Because of above, had to take Weatherspoon and his ridiculous contract Dafted Eddie Griffin - complete bust The only really good thing they've done was win the lottery (that was sheer luck). Giving them good grades for completely screwing up and getting 50 cents on the dollar back is not my idea of good management.
I said at the beginning of the season my wish was for the Rockets to return to the playoffs. Anything more was icing. Of course I was disappointed with their play and the fact that they were so close in two of the losses. That said NEXT season I will be VERY critical of this team. Youth and lack of experience will no longer be an issue. I hope this team is tweaked and I expect to see a one or two new faces on the team. I also hope Yao has some time to reflect on his bad play during crucial games. I know he can be a dominant player, I just hope he realizes it someday.
Exactly Jeff the Team reached its goals for the 03/04 season and as JVG said at the beginning that he would not move any of the essential parts of the Team till he was able to experience them for the season.
Well, we are talking about giving them grade for this year, aren't we. They made countless stupid mistakes in the past several years, no question about it. But this year, they did well. About Spoon for Moochie: when the deal was done, it was over mid season (correct me if I am wrong). At that point, there were 2.5 year left on Spoon's contract for about $15 mil, and there were 3.5 year left on Moochie's for about $13.5 mil. so moneywise, these two contracts are about same. I don't care about the extra one year on Moochie's contract. even he committed his lifetime for that money, it wouldn't make a difference because I absolutely didn't want him to play for one single minute. We throw in 1.5 mil, and turned a dead weight to 2.5 year service from Spoon. Isn't that a great deal? Sure you didn't mention Posey, but the argument of "not getting anything for KT" is basically about Posey, right? Seriously, it would be better if they didn't trade KT and resigned him for a reasonable price. question 1, KT would have asked at least as much as Posey did, most likly much more. question 2, who would foresee the self-destruction by EG? EG has to share the blame on this. Blaming CD for drafting EG is similar to blaming Bull's management for drafting JW. Again, whatever in the past put aside, they did a good job this year given where they started last summer.
Here is an artical from ESPN for Yao and his teamates to think about. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2004/columns/story?columnist=bucher_ric&id=1791364 Wednesday, April 28, 2004 By Ric Bucher ESPN the Magazine LOS ANGELES -- The way Yao Ming sees it, Karl Malone's 16 seasons of experience over him made the difference in the Lakers' overtime win in Game 4. He's right. Over 18 seasons, Malone has developed the persona of someone who gets his way. It's a mixture of knowledge and arrogance and talent and intimidation, and even though he's backed off to make this year's alliance work with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, he knows how to turn it on when need be. He did just that all night long in Game 4. Contributing 30 points and 13 rebounds was only the start. Who else would knock Bostjan Nachbar off his feet as he came down from a dunk, pretend to have done nothing wrong and not get fined by the league later? Who else would rage at the referee when Nachbar then fouled him while making a clean play to block his fastbreak layup attempt? Who else could evade the NBA fashion police -- who are not above making calls during the course of a game to have a uniform violation enforced -- to wear a jersey ripped in the second quarter the rest of the game? So was there any doubt what he'd do when he saw Yao, saddled with five fouls, between him and the basket in overtime and the Lakers down by four and fading? You could practically see Karl twitch with excitement at the opportunity. I don't know if Malone also glanced to see which referee had the play, but I wouldn't put it past him. In any case, he quickly drove directly at Yao and muscled the ball up as if he had to fight through Yao's arms. It didn't matter that Yao tried to pull his hands back and avoid touching Malone. The mistake he made was not anticipating what the Mailman had in mind and keeping his hands clear. Instead, referee David Jones thought he saw contact and blew the whistle for Yao's sixth and final foul and a momentum-turning three-point play. (Among NBA officials, Jones is one who never seems affected by time of game or situation. My guess is if crew chief Joey Crawford had been on the baseline for that play, it would have had to be a no-doubt foul for him to make the call.) Malone, in short, has carved out a sense of entitlement that stretches league-wide. Yao needs to do the same. First, of course, he needs to establish one that encompasses his team. It's coming, slowly. After the loss Maurice Taylor mentioned how the team can't afford to be without its "best player." And Yao acknowledged that his fouling out was "the turning point." Right now, Yao isn't getting the calls of a franchise player. But that'll change. The next step, of course, is for all the Rockets to understand that their collective "turning point" will be when they fully utilize their "best player." Granted, in the regular rotation only Jim and Mark Jackson recognize the instant Yao has a mismatch or solid position, but too much has been made of the limited court vision of Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley. They're not the first scoring guards with an impaired sense of when to make an entry pass and how, but Yao could help them by being more demonstrative. Whether it was Kareem or Hakeem or Shaq, big dogs in the NBA don't get their bowl filled -- not properly, anyway -- without barking. Francis and Mobley miss, on average, a dozen chances a game to get Yao the ball deep in the paint or with a defender sealed, but I guarantee they'd be down to three or four if Yao let them know about it. Instead of talking, though, Yao listens. It's an admirable trait and perfectly understandable for a good-natured, unselfish second-year player, but the adage of too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen applies to both broth and the growth of 7-foot-6 centers from China. "His next big step is to stop listening as much," coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "He's got to have selective hearing. You can listen to your coaches and your teammates, but at some point you have to decide what you need to do and let the rest roll off your back. The more he listens, the slower his feet get." Van Gundy is waiting for Yao to send him a message, as well. There will be a timeout with a game on the line and Van Gundy will feel a tap on the leg as he sits down in front of the team. The tap will come from Yao and he will say, or gesture, to give him the ball. "That," Van Gundy said, "has never happened." There are signs, though, that it's not far away. Yao's already gotten over his reluctance to shoot after missing several in a row, and his confidence in taking and making 18-foot jumpers off pick-and-pop plays is growing with each game. The 19-footer he hit in overtime in Game 4 to put the Rockets ahead by one was huge. But developing the persona Malone has goes far beyond the ability and willingness to take and make big shots. Someone on the Rockets with Karl's moxie would've realized that Malone had a technical foul from the exchange with Nachbar and would've been agitating him in hopes of drawing a second or being so careful not to get a second he would've been strangely un-Karl-like. Yao is learning how to speak his mind off the court when decorum isn't observed, as when someone forgot to turn their cell phone off in the postgame press conference and it rang. "You're not a rookie anymore," he said to the cellphone owner. Yao, neither are you. An oncourt point of decorum: There's nothing impolite about a team's best player growling, "Gimme the damn ball." Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. Also, click here to send Ric a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
We got nothing for Kenny Thomas. It's pretty clear. Think of all the different scenarios. If we didn't like Posey, we could have traded Kenny Thomas for a 1st round pick (which is what Denver got out of it). We obviously wanted Posey. Then we decided we didn't want to pay Posey more than Piatkoswki and Adrian Griffin. Fine. The ultimate result was we got nothing for Posey or Kenny Thomas and signed Piatkowski to a 3 year deal. No matter how you want to splice it, that was not a good series of transactions. The Jim Jackson signing was a good move so they should get credit for that. However, as I have stated numerous times, we couldve signed Jim Jackson regardless of anything else that happened. There was no barrier to signing him other than the luxury tax. The fact we had a luxury tax issue prevented us from having an adequate backup at the SF spot. JJ had to play way more minutes than he should have. How did we get to a luxury tax situation? From all the bad contracts. As far as Eddie Griffin, what else could they do other than release him? "Good move" getting rid of a moody, lazy player wielding a gun at his girlfriend? What else could they have done? Trade him? To whom? Give him a contract extension? (beyond absurd) It's difficult to just concentrate on a 1 year report card because everything you do in the past has overreaching ramifications. Imagine if this team had a Zach Randolph or Carlos Boozer (both of whom we couldve drafted). The only potential saving grace from all of this is our sign and trade flexibility. If they get a good young player, it will help minimize all their previous screwups.
with hindersight, you are like the smartest guy in the world. Drafting EG was considered a great move at that time. It was EG who ruined himself and hurt us deeply. My point is you cannot blame the management for what happened with EG. Again, about KT: we got nothing for him, but were we about to get anything? we were loaded on 4, and if we kept KT, he would have ask for more money we would want to offer. Do you think we would even offer him MLE when we have EG and MoT? So KT was on the course of leaving the team any way. Hence they decided to trade him for someone who is more useful and more likely to be resigned. That makes getting Posey sensible. But unfortunately he got a fat offer from Memphis. But I don't think we lost anything because we were set to lose KT any way! Sure you said we could have traded him for a pick. But how does that work out moneywise? And we were deep in trouble last season and needed a guy who could play rather than a pick.
Just like Tiger Woods had to do with his golf swing, JVG has had to do with Stevie Franchise and this team. You have to break it completely down to be able to build it back up the way it is needed. Unfortunately, the offseason isn't long enough to do all the work needed in the offseason so the fans see some of the results. But I like SFs progress. This team is headed in the right direction and I am looking forward to next year.
Jeff, you silly silly man, how can you give Jim Jackson anything other than an F? He had a freakin' turnover and missed a jump shot in the freaking playoffs, ass. Jackson: double-F-minus. He should be shot. In the kneecap.
Jeff- great grades! Let me give a comment about all the Jeff Van Gundy opinions, Van Gundy- expects fewer turnovers and fewer stupid plays, we shoot ourselves in the foot way too often and it was our biggest downfall this season. His offense should be very effective and is when it was executed, but because he incorporated good passing, with ball movement in the offense it plays to the weakness of all the players. The offense also has the vital low post focus which was hampered by Yao's struggles handling the pass, getting good position, learning to seal off his man and the fact that our passers were not good at getting the timing of the post pass correct. Our offense is run very similar to the Spurs- feed Duncan in the post, run pick and rolls (high and low), space your 3 pt shooters, break down the lane with good guard penetration (Parker and Ginobali) and crisp passing and ball movement. This is a good offensive system when you have players like Duncan, Bowen, Ginobali and Parker. We have Yao, JJ, Cat and Steve. The Spurs don't make alot of turnovers (unforced errors), they have good passers and they have good ball movement. When the Spurs beat the Rockets in two close games, Van Gundy set the team down to watch the tapes, he told them this is how to execute the offense. Van Gundy has a good offense that fits our players except for the obvious-- Our guys have not improved their passing, ball movement, discipline and poise enough to be consitantly as good as the Spurs. How do you adjust an offense to compensate for poor passing, and poor ball movement and spacing? Answer- run ISO or reduce the dribbling and also highly limit the fancy stuff. This is one way to cut back on turnovers when your team is not imporving in those areas. Give Van Gundy a high grade for putting in an offense that would have been very good for this team if they had cutdown turnovers over the course of the season. Where did we finish in the league in turnovers?
let me guess we were supposed to win the championship this year and not getting booted out of the 1st round of the playoffs? our team was clearly better than sac, sa, la, and minn before the season started...right? we make it to the playoffs for the 1st time in 5 years....very deserving of an F. would the 2nd round of the playoffs given us a D in your eyes? come on...at least be realistic.
So, today, I'm not adopting the x-mission over-the-top style. If you haven't checked out his grades on children's art, you should. It's pretty funny, if you have a sense of humor. Honestly, I was disappointed they went into this season with this cast. I think that's proven to have been a mistake. EG blew up on us, when we could have packaged him and Rice or Cuttino for something. We didn't end the season really any better off for the experience and suffering. Do you think now our team warrents another "unusual show of confidence"? I think that was a bad decision. They should have gotten on with the work of rebuilding last year. Going into a new stadium, I expected more. Even if Francis' contract made him unattractive to move last year, why keep the other "core" guys? They weren't proving any better at team ball. This past summer some very good players were in play and we didn't try. I have to hang that on Les, first, and CD second. Even after the Rice-Amaechi deal, when we got the TE, we could have done something at the trade deadline.We could have used it then to try to make something happen. Nope. Nothing. Will that TE ever be used? There's a lot of expiring contracts out there, making that TE worth less. Yes, I was disappointed by you too, JVG. Maybe you do know what you need to do. I hope so. I hope you get a new set of charges. But you showed less than a deft hand as leader and communicator. You couldn't adapt to your charges. You didn't challenge yourself with new ways of coaching. You passed on Mario Elie, you insulated yourself in an ex-Knick cocoon. You had trouble with timeouts and in-game adjustments. Your game plan wasn't particularly creative. You didn't inspire. Results, as you like to say - results. You're no Hubie Brown. You're not Phil Jackson, Rick Carlisle, or Larry Brown. I don't like pointless suffering. I don't think it was particularly helpful to repeat the year that got Rudy the axe. So, being realistic, as you say, I do rate the season a failure - because it did not lead to better things. It was a repetition of suffering. The Real move to better ways is coming. Better late than never.
Are we really better this season or have the other teams gotten worse? -2 games better than last years record -Still very inconsistent -Poor offensive -Stellar Defense -Star Players struggled/inconsistent That JVG implemented a completely new system and we made the playoffs is impressive. I give JVG and staff a C+
Right on Jeff. SF deserves that grade. He had a dismal season. him having to change his game even more (zone, and now no more ISO) has brought down his numbers considerably. I am very happy what I saw from him in the playoffs though. As for Yao, he was brilliant at times. But then....he suddenly faded in to air. he was a non factor for a stint. I hope the playoffs passed on necessary experience to our players.
Word, though you are far too kind wrt the coaching. We are definitely too SOFT in the front court. I hold out no hope that MoTay or Cato learn how to be aggressive in their rebounding. Without an upgrade on front court rebounding, our guards will still have to hit the defensive boards and forgo the possibility of a fast break (since they shown they can not run a late break after getting the rebound). Another thought is that Cato is quite a capable backup 5, but his O skills are very limited (not necessarily a bad thing for a backup 5). The problem is that when Yoa is sitting the Rox can not run the same O since Cato can not do the things Yoa can. A trade may be in order to replace Cato with a backup 5 who has more of an inside outside game.
Great post Jeff. 5/5 stars. Grades accurately reflect season-long performance without being biased about one part of the season. Hey MacBeth, when are you going to post yours?
