I'm not either, Francis was playing great defense all season long, offensively he struggled but on defense he played great. I was making this arguement all season long to dudes like you who obviously don't notice defense, those coaches who voted for him just gave them guys a little crow to eat. So, those coaches know less than the fans? Please, they get paid to know how to beat opposing players, they watch more video than any of us, a couple obviously thought Francis' defense had few flaws in it, especially last season. The only PG's I remember working the Rockets over were Cassell, Bibby, I'm sure there were a couple more, but not many that I remember as clearly as those 2. We had one of the best defenses in the league last season, Francis' and Yao's contributions were the biggest IMO.
I said "lock down"defense, not "shut down". And you basically describd T-mac's great defense in your following post. Which is "lock down" defense, playing the lanes, while covering your man at the same time and blocking shots left and right. And I must've missed a game or two, because I dont' once recall Cat "shutting" down any 'elite' player. He's played good defense against 'elite' players, but never once saw him 'shut' any of them down. As for him not playing D in orlando, it really doesn't matter, considering who our coach is, considering T-mac knows who our coach is and WANTS to play in Houston. And also knowing, that he won't have to focus his entire energy on O, because he'll have what he's never had for a second option, Yao Ming. Not to mention good shooters, JJ, Padgett, Boki and comming soon maybe, Brent or Fisher.
Tracy hasn't played that kind of defense since he left Toronto... What happened to Kobe in the playoffs? Cuttino played better defense against him than Bruce Bowen did. What happened to Tracy the last time he played Kobe? He got 25 points scored on him, in 1 quarter! Van Gundy isn't going to make him break a habit he's had for most of his NBA career, at least not immediately. Tracy is going to have to be the Rocket's playmaker, unless we find a PG capable of making plays for him he will spend a lot of his energy on offense. It's fine that he has those shooters, but shooters don't make plays, they make shots and rely on playmakers to get them the ball.
If they are a coach in the NBA, that doesn't necessarily mean they know more than these hardcore fans here who watch every minute of every game the whole year. Lets say if you're an eastern conference coach who play us only twice a year....how much video do you think they personally watched SF playing defense last year? Give me a ballpark figure.
I have no idea, but I know that they don't need to watch every minute of Francis' season to know he plays good defense, they're NBA coaches, not NBA fans.
You keep pointing at Tracy's seasons in Orlando, where he was the only reliable scoring option, as the base for your argument that Cat's d is better than T-mac's. And then you make that argument even more flawed, by stating that Van Gundy isn't going to make him break a 'habit' he's had for "most of his NBA career", which equates to 2yrs of that 'habit' that you speak of. I believe, Cat had 5yrs of playing no defense, and did indeed change immediately in ONE year due to, that same Van Gundy you claim can't get a T-mac who is capable of better defense than Cat, to play even better defense in ONE year after only 2yrs of 'old' 'habits'. As for your "T-mac's going to still use all his energy on offense as a playmaker" argument. Uhm, have you forgotten we have the second best center in the game? Who not only has a diverse offensive game for a big man, but has great passing skills not to mention more than adequete court vision? There's no way T-mac's taking the brunt of the offensive side of things, like he had to in Orlando. He'll be the first option, absolutely, but by no means will it be in orlando, burden like proportions. Not with a center such as Yao AND all those shooters.
T-Mac and BB would make one of the toughest back courts to stop in recent memory. -6'6 & 6'8 -average 5.8 and 5.2 APG -average 4 and 6 RPG -average 1.4 SPG each -average a combined 40 PPG we are talking about hight (helps post entry passes), ability to force TO's instead of being responsible for them, possibly the best rebounding back-court, one of the best passing back-courts, and one of the best shooting back-courts (and they will be open thanks to yao). this makes a LOT of sence...if we have a chance to get him we must take it if we want to be a contender in the next 3 years.
Barry has some game. I don't understand all the people who want Derek Fisher. The guy is average at best and the times he did score is because Shaq or Kobe set him up.
Do you see where I'm getting at? In general, a coach is more knowledgeable than a fan obviously, but not in all cases. 1 or 2 coaches voted him to the 1st or 2nd team out of 30. That doesn't mean crap to me because it's just a small fraction. The majority of us in here who follow the rockets religiously will say steve is a below to average defender last year. That means more to me that what 1 or 2 coaches who don't follow the rockets closely say.
Agree. I also hope Reece Gaines remains in the trade picture so JVG can have a year to teach him the ins and outs of point guarding. Then, instead of coming in to give Barry a breather, their roles will gradually reverse. Gaines was not drafted to become a shooting guard -- he has said in news reports that he believes his future is in the PG position.
hmm, I'm kinda torn on this issue. At first glance I'd say Fisher, as he is the perfect role-playing pg that only lacks the ability to push the tempo and create nice fast breaks. But BB would kind of be like a Kenny Smith++. I guess I'd be happy with either. Even if he were available, I'm not so sure on NVE. Attitude, his knee and his need to dominate the ball would make him not the ideal fit imo.
Why does it matter if he was the only reliable scoring option? Jordan was defensive player of the year during a season when he to was the only reliable offensive player, so that's just a bad excuse for his laziness. Mobley played good defense in 02-03, it seemed like Bill and Calvin would point that out every night, they even showed a graphic of the poor shooting nights dude's he was guarding would have. Van Gundy improved the Rocket's team defense, but individually, Yao, Francis and Mobley played good defense for Rudy as well. Mobley was probably influenced the most defensively by Scottie Pippen. I didn't say all, I said a lot... True he does have Yao, Kobe has Shaq, Kobe still made a lot more plays than Shaq, Tracy will make more plays the Yao too. Those shooters, besides not being that good, aren't going to make plays, Tracy and Yao will be making plays for them.
Brent Barry's been a 2 guard most of his career and is a poor defender. He's also been on losing teams his whole career. Fisher is a bona-fide PG who has alot of playoff experience and knows how to play with a center-dominated offense. Fisher is also 3 years younger than Barry.
In general? Not in all cases? Those are insults, try all the time in every case, especially NBA coaches. 2 out of 29, not 30. The majority of the fans in here think Francis should be moved to SG, so why should I believe them?
Brent barry as our starting PG is laughable. Granted he does have good court vision and a high basketball IQ but what he lacks is the essential skill in a van gundy system defense. Why didn't we see much of Pike or Padgett? Was it because their "shots" werent falling? No. They weren't athletic enough to play Van Gundy defense plain and simple. Nachbar mixed with his energy and athletic gifts got playing time near the end of the year and during the playoffs bc he played defense. It's a no brainer, you go hard after Fisher. He's the guy you hate playing against. Plus, his longetivity might be as long as Mark jackson. Not mention how much his outside shot is respected. Put him with JJ i have no problem with them launching treys.
I agree with Smoothie, Brent Barry and T-Mac would be nasty. Any defensive weakness Barry has is more than made up for by his ability to score, his height, and Van Gundy's ability to get good defense from bad defenders. I mean, there were times last year I though Mo played good D. If Van Gundy can make that happen, well, I'm not worried about our defense.
2 out of 29 is a small percentage to label someone as being 'great'...or even good IMO. Fans are maybe a bad example. How about announcers, analysts and writers for the rockets that get to watch them all 82 games. If you survey them, there will not be one person that labels steve a 'great' defender....I can guarantee you that.
I can also guarantee you that we won't ever see a survey like that done, so lets not assume, what we do know is that a survey was done among NBA coaches and 2 NBA coaches had him among the top 4 defensive guards in the league. It's not as bad of an assumption if I said a few other coaches thought he played great defense, just not great enough to be ranked among the top 4.
