There is not one player in the world that would make this Rocket team better unless our 2 main guards learn to share the basketball. We could have all the Mings in the world and if they don't touch the rock the team would still stink. Our 2 suppossed leaders need to prove to the organization that they are committed to winning. This is more then just gutting it out for 40+ minutes on a basketball court. This means committing to playing defense, committing to sharing the basketball, and committed to being on time and doing what it takes to be a professional in the NBA. We have 2 leaders who are still behaving like Allen Iverson did his first 3 years, but at least in AI he had a coach that would call him out. Rudy needs to get some tough love for his boys, or we are doomed to this terrible style of ISO basketball, where 3/5ths of the team does not get to touch it on offense, thus making those players less likely to play defense. You want Cato to improve? Here is an idea, give him some touches, same for Griffin...etc......and for those of you who think they can improve in practice...what do you think goes on in practice that is any different from the games? NOTHING !!! Our guards HOG the ball in practice too. Guys....I am a die hard fan, and I want them to win more then anything, but they will not win as long as our 2 leaders do not lead. As long as Steve and Cat are more worried about stats then winning this team is destined to be in the lottery. DaDakota
I agree 100%. You know, it's funny, any passing guard will do wonders for the offense. The idea would be to keep both Francis and Mobley off of the court at the same time.
Well, first of all before you can truly complain about Francis and Mobley's lack of sharing the ball, they need to actually have a player that they can trust to share the ball with. Let's face it, in a way, I don't blame Cuttino or Francis for not wanting to pass the ball to Cato, Langhi, Collier, Morris. The only player on that team who I think has actually earned their trust is Kenny Thomas, but he doesn't exactly share the ball either. And the only player that actually goes to the basket when Francis is penetrating is Cato, and Francis finds him usually every time he does. I think that just by having a good big man, Francis and Mobley would be sharing the ball a lot more. I don't think learning how to share the ball has anything to do with it.
DaDakota - 100% agree. If Calvin Murphy has to say "Pass the ball" that many times during one season, there is something very wrong in Rocketville.
Hey let's give a dollar each and buy us a billboard that says this .. . maybe the Rockets will read it and get a fricking clue My big thing is DEFENSE!! I think our offense is adequate. . . could improve no doubt BUT DEFENSE!!! I love blocks I love steals I love 24 second violations the ISOs ain't the problem . . .they are suppose to create space and open up assist but unfortunately more often than not the ISOer shoots instead of passes Rocket River Rocket River
I somewhat agree with you in that they need better players around them but Steve and Cat still need to learn to play team ball. Quite a few great players go through this, look at Detroit, good D and Stackhouse not trying to do everything by himself has done wonders for a mediocre bunch of players.
Actually, I kinda agree with DCKid here. Cat played 40 minutes a game on bum ankles and Steve played (when he played) 40 mpg with an inner ear disease. Why play them so much? Because the players around them a) are young b) are inexperienced c) suck (shouldn't even be wearing an NBA jersey) d) all of the above No Mo, no Rice. No low post player. The starting power forward also wants to iso, so no passing. Now, if they pull the same crap next year, then we have real long-term problems that will result in the organization pulling a Denver (dismissals, trades, etc.)
It is way too early to say our guards have "problems" with sharing the ball. Surround them with a good front court (even an avergae one) and then if they don't share there may be an issue. The obvious answer the the topic question is we will not get better until our frontline ceases to be the worst in the league on both ends. Until this is fixed I would hold of critizing Franchise or Mobley or saying we need a different starting 1 or 2. A backcourt of MJ and Magic couldn't have lead the current Rocket squad to the promised land.
I am extremely tired of this one on one game. Hopefully they stop worrying about stats and worry more about wins.
If you are suggesting that passing more to Terrence Morris, Eddie Griffin, Kelvin Cato, Dan Langhi, or Jason Collier would have resulted in more wins, I would have to disagree.
DCKid, Well it worked for Detroit, and I guess we will never know because we stunk with our 2 guards hogging the ball...how much worse could it get? My guess is that the rest of the team would pick up considerably if the Rockets played a team game. DaDakota
DC - If they aren't going to get the rock at all, what are they supposed to do? Watch the ISO? IMHO, they'll get better by touching the ball. Having plays run for them. Not ISOs, heaven forbid. Although we recognize the true stars and give them their due, it's a TEAM game. It's going to take the team to get to the promised land.
Nothing will make the Rockets better.....unless they make ANOTHER deal with the Devil. The first one being Jordan leaving the League for the couple of seasons we won Anyway, it'd be nice to see what we can do with our draft picks and/or a couple trades, but our main problem isn't talent, but knowledge of the GAME and how to apply it.
DD, Like you I've been ranting about this year. I wish I didn't love the Rockets so much, 'cause they are hard to take right now. The team statistics more than speak for themselves. As I've said before, this culture of selfishness will lead nowhere good. And even with all hands healthy, we won't go anywhere without our leaders sharing the rock. Want a case in point: LOOK AT THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NETS AFTER JASON KIDD CAME OVER. Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, I am not sure that Rudy is more a part of the problem than the potential solution. I hope I'm wrong. Dallas Rocket
I think its hard to compare Detroit and Houston. The Pistons are a deeper team than the Rockets. What I wouldn't give to have a Jon Barry or Corliss Williamson coming off the bench. The Rockets this season were probably the uh...shallowest team in the league. And then there's also the whole eastern-western conference thing. The Pistons might have finished 7th or 8th in the west. Besides Stackhouse still took 17 shots per game while only shooting 39% and 28% from three this season. Francis also averaged 17 shots per game this season. Mobley averaged 18 shots per game and is quite simply a better offensive player than Stackhouse. He deserves to shoot more than Jerry. I would say Kenny got his share of the action on offense this season, so I don't think there is really an argument that he should have gotten the ball more. 14 points per game is pretty good. Terrence Morris. This guy would have been a lottery pick after his sophmore season. He couldn't even improve at the college level, what makes you think he'll improve at the NBA level. Morris is at best a 3rd string small forward. I don't think giving him more shots is going to help. This guy flat-lined three years ago. Kelvin Cato. All he can do is dunk, and I would say Steve did a tremendous job of getting him the ball in a position to throw it down. If you think there is potential of Cato becoming a good post player, then I guess that's your opinion. But I don't see that happening in a million years. Eddie has several chances to prove himself. He averaged about 9 shots per game, which isn't bad considering the limited amount of minutes he played. The only problem is he shot 36% from the field. I think for the way he shot the ball this season, nine shots per game is pretty generous. He just simply wasn't ready yet. However, if he's only averaging nine shots per game over the next two seasons, I would definitely agree there was a problem. Langhi and Collier and Torres. They had chances to prove themselves, but they missed their shots and made stupid mistakes. Anyway I don't think you can realistically believe that these guys are going to be good NBA players, regardless of how many times they touched the ball. These are the only frontcourt players that Cuttino and Steve had this season. Kenny and Eddie are the only two that I even see making it in the NBA as a good offensive player. I think Kenny got his fair share, and I think Eddie just simply wasn't quite ready. Face it, the Rockets personell sucked. I think if you'll notice last year when the Rockets had two good offensive options with Taylor and Olajuwon, you would see that Steve and Cuttino only took 15 shots per game. I seriously think if the Rockets had more options Steve would definitely share the ball, and Cuttino just simply wouldn't get as much shots. Although, the way Cuttino shot this season, I hope his field goal attempts don't go down too much.
So you're saying that replacing Francis with Kidd on the Rockets would have made the Rockets a better team? In my opinion they would have been worse. Well, at least they would have if Steve had been healthy all season. Jason Kidd only helps a team when he is surrouned by good players. If he had to bare the scorring load like he would've had to do in Houston, his absolutely terrible shooting would have killed the Rockets. Comparing the Nets to the Rockets is like comparing apples to oranges. The New Jersey Nets: Kenyon Martin (1st PICK IN THE DRAFT!!!) Keith Van Horn (2nd Pick in the Draft) Kerry Kittles (8th Pick in the Draft) Jason Kidd (2nd Pick in Draft) Richard Jefferson(13th pick in draft) The point is, that the Nets are a VERY talented team. Hell, even Jefferson seemed to be more comfortable as a rookie than Eddie did. I would have considered the Nets a failure if they did not finish in the top three in the pathetic eastern conference. While I agree that sharing the ball is a very important, I'm going to hold judgement until Steve actually has some teammates worth sharing the ball with. Then if he still does not pass the ball, I will join you in your bashing.
