Now that the Rockets are officially out of the playoffs...

yep, that caps off the season off pretty well

When memphis gets both Carmello and Lebron, Jerry West can buy the Rockets management dinner.

 

I blame this on managment as much as coaching. If we didn't overpay so many players, our roster would be more flexible and whole lot better. See those franchises which hardly ever missed the playoffs. They spent their money wisely while those franchises which missed playoffs for a long time usually are the ones who overpaid talent too much. Great franchises at most rebuilt for a year or 2, cleared up the salary space and picked up 1 or 2 good value big free agents and then came back to playoffs again. But we seemed to join those lousy franchises who seemed to "rebuild" forever.

 

If we're going to be a bad team, do it with a draft pick + cap space in hand. We have neither of which to show for.

It'll be a pain in the ass to restructure this team. We are stuck with what we have.

 

Kid , not really. I think with the right combination, they can get the players they need.Taylor has shown he's back and probably at least effective.Mobley is a adequate scorer and personel will still beleive in the "p" word for Griffin. If Baker and Kemp can be moved, I beleive the Rockets can make a move.

 

Baker and Kemp both got shipped for garbage in return.

At best, we'll get a Jose Lima for Dave Mlicki type deal. Where both teams say, "F--- it, we might as well trade our scrub for another scrub, who knows what will happen."

 

lets boost up yaos stats so he can be solidify his role as roy, at least we can have a happy ending in that...

 

Mobley sounds, as he has all season, like a guy bein' shoved out the front door. I won't be happy to see him go this summer, but it'll be for the best.

As for the rest of the team, maybe I'm missing something you guys aren't, but I was pretty happy with the way our season panned out, this week's dissappointment non withstanding. Not only has Yao exceeded expectations, but Cato showed up and Mo Taylor looks like he's finally rounding back into form. And Steve, well, he's getting there. We certainly have some needs that need to be addressed (ie.shooters) but there will be a few on the market, and we do have Glen Rice's contract, which'll open up some breathing room for some other money strapped chump willing to part with a gunner.

I liked Feigan's idea of adding Malone and though I don't think that's likely at all, its definitely something to think about. Veteren leadership is something this team will need -- Glen provides it now but I think that he would be better put to use in a trade package (his contract status being so valuable).

Stability has been the only thing that has kept us from plumbing the depths of the aforementioned franchises. Go down the list -- almost every single one has seen a revolving door of coaches, GM's and would be saviors. Its hard to build anything when you keep knockin' it down and starting over. Patience people.

 

I'm glad theres at least one optimist here besides me.

 

Welcome to life in the NBA. This is the reality that MOST organizations deal with at some point. It's unavoidable. Look how long the Kings were out of the playoffs. Or the Mavs. Look how long the Bulls were out of the playoffs before they won 6 championships. Gee, I guess they're a bad organization again. Just because the Rockets got lucky and landed Hakeem Olajuwon, doesn't mean it's always going to be roses from here on out. You also fail to mention that the Rockets are most likely going to have a winning record again, just like they did two years ago. There are only a couple of teams that have had more winning records than the Rockets over the past 13 years. You also don't take into account that the Rockets have FINISHED REBUILDING and are on the way UP. Most of those teams listed have no clue what they're doing or what direction they're going in for the future. Another funny thing about your list -- guess who contributed to Golden State being at the top of that list? That's right, RICK ADELMAN, who's suddenly a good coach again now that he's at Sacramento.

 

But that's the fact..

 

I posted this on another thread. Seems to a good reply to your post.

Rebuilding a franchise for LONG-TERM success starts from the very top and requires a great deal of vision. And to be very honest, I am not very sure if our managment team has it or not. In my opinion, the main key is to DRAFT well. But look at our draft history for the last few years, there was hardly a pick which we could really claim as a steal apart from maybe Mobley in the 2nd round. Another key is NOT to overpay talent but we did just that with Cato, Taylor, Norris, Anderson and Rice. Those decisions hammered or at least limited our future.

We're in the "rebuilding" process since Hakeem retired. I understand it. I expected to take a while but FOUR YEARS and counting? And our current roster is not even complete yet as many of you pointed out that we still need trades this summer.

Look at the other teams. Spurs changed from Robinson era to Duncan era without ever missing the playoffs. Pacers too completely rebuilt their roster now from the Reggie era without missing the playoffs. Not to mention the Lakers, did they ever miss the playoffs? Magic changed from a Penny led team to McGardy led team missing the playoffs once. Suns changed from Kidd to Marbury missing playoffs only once as well. Mavs and Kings now became powerhouses only after one to two "rebuilding" years since the new managment team came in. Those are some examples of well-run franchises. Then, why did we take ages to "rebuild" without any success?

I know that you might want to point out Hawks, Wizards, Warriors etc who did worse than us but come on I think we are inspired to be one of the best franchises in the NBA. So we need to compare to the elites, not to those crappy franchises. Especially we used to be a franchise which was winning or at least challenging for championships. Missing playoffs for so many consecutive years HURT.

 

News flash -- there are 4 elite teams in the NBA. 4. The Rockets won't be joining them anytime soon. Unless you know something I don't about Tim Duncan getting traded to Houston next year. There are NO changes that will make the Rockets an elite team again anytime soon. NONE. So looks like you better be willing to put up with it as well, or find a new team.

They are unavoidable if you have to rebuild. None of the teams you mentioned had to rebuild. Portland reloaded. Utah hasn't rebuilt OR reloaded. The Lakers signed Shaq. The Spurs had a down year and ended up with Duncan. The Suns have been mediocre since Barkley left, so not sure how they 'didn't miss a beat'. The Pacers play in the East, so not sure if they even count. Rebuilding means you scrap everything and start over, which is what the Rockets had to do when they lost Olajuwon, Barkley, and Drexler all to retirement (not exactly w/Hakeem, but virtually).

Are you saying that there are only two stages of development to a team, rebuilding and contending? Damn, I guess 25 teams are all rebuilding then. Of course the Rockets are finished rebuilding. They've got all their major cogs in place for the future. The next phase is watching those pieces develop.

 

There is no contradiction. They have all their MAJOR cogs in place, meaning Francis and Ming. Unless they decide to start over and move one or both of those guys. That makes the rebuilding complete. The next stage is for those two (mainly Ming) to become dominant. That's not going to happen overnight.

Of course they don't have their roster set from 1 to 12 for the next 10 or so years. No team in the league does. However, you don't win championships based on the play of your backup point guard. Posey and Griffin aren't good now, but that doesn't mean they won't EVER be good. What will determine the team's chances in the future will be how good Yao Ming becomes, not who the backup 2 guard is. Heck, just look at the Lakers -- they've had a different power forward for each one of their championships. Ron Harper was the point guard for their first one. Chicago had different point guards, power forwards, and centers all throughout their 6 championship runs. The Rockets had Maxwell and Thorpe one year, then Drexler and Chucky Brown/Horry/Chilcutt/etc. the next year. The point is your support players don't matter, what matters is how good your best players are. Once ours become great, we can just fill in the gaps on the fly from there. Nobody sets their entire roster (or even their entire starting lineup) years in advance.

 

how in the western conf playoffs do you guys think that the Rockets are better than? Talent-wise maybe Utah but that's it. PhX? have you watched their team? I would prefer the Rockets make some coaching changes but since that will not happen,only some fine tuning needs be added. First, start MoT. The second half of the season he showed he had recovered, with starter's minutes, he should be better. Second, have Eddie earn him minutes. If you're competing for the playoffs, it's no time for player development. Tmo was a much more consist player than Eddie but once Rice came back, he rode the bench. I dont want to hear he's a 3 while Eddie's a 4. Tmo appears to be a much stronger player at this point. I'm still waiting for Eddie's rebounding and defense to show up. He should be on the bench just like J O'neal was till his body catches up to his potential. Next, while I would be okay with Malone, it would be risky given what may need to be given up in a sign and trade. I would like to see Oakley take Collier's roster spot. He would come for the vet's min and he would provide that 5-10 min/game of toughness that is needed. Then, need to resign Posey to a reasonable contract. He has been what he was advertised. He hustled, then complain when he didnt get his shots, played good defense and towards the end of the seaon was an offensive threat. Then, get rid of Moochie, not that I'm a Moochie hater but he needs to go. By getting rid of him (either by trade or simply releasing him) it will send a good messege to the team that the NBA is a business. I would love to see a Mark Jackson, Avey Johnson or Kevin Ollie be the back-up point. Finally, reduce SF and CM minutes, They don't need to be over 40/per game, reduce both to around 37-38 which will keep both fresher, make Posey the back-up SG and give the remaining minutes to BN. Got to see what he has. Once Rice's contract expires, there will be some cap space to play with. If BN can play, then the small forward is locked up and mgnt can look elsewhere where help is needed.
Changes need to be done, with the exception of Denver, there are no push overs in the West, and Denver has a lot of cap room this off seaon and no telling how much improvement they'll make. Hopefully, Gilbert will go east which will slow down GSW. But the way I see it for next year, Utah's playoff run will be over so that leaves HOU,PHX,SEA,GSW fighting for the last playoff spot.
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Please Yao, Eddie, think weight room and protein bars and shakes this summer!

 

To say the least I am disgusted, not with the Rockets, but the fans. Believe me, I was as dissapointed as anyone here when the Rockets did not make the playoffs, but a complete facelift is not the answer. We cannot scrap the whole project just because of a few failures, and I honestly don't know why any of you are still posting, you have lost your faith. I am angry at how everyone's first impulse is to trade Cat, or fire Rudy, let me remind you, Rudy had been with this organization forever, and he is the only coach to bring us championship gold. No one else has done that for the Rox. How can all of you have such high expectations for a team of kids, we aren't like most teams, never have been, so why should we expect similiar results? Our problem is best stated by clutch, inconsistency, that is it. It is not cause our guys are to small, or that we lack talent, it is that we are inconsistant. Does anybody remember at the dawn of the season when we were seen as playoff contenders, hell (no pun intended) we were gunning at 3rd place. That is not because we were lucky, it was cause we had potential, and still do. I feel so strongly against trades and roster changes because that will only disorient the team more so. When we do well, we are amazing, when we do bad, well we've all seen that. The fact that we could contend against the three time champion fakers should show a lot of Rockets fans that the tenasity and spirit of a championship team is there. Patience is a virtue that most Rockets fans do not possess, and I am appalled at all of you. I am sick of these hatefull posts, and I am sick of these negative comments, objectively we have a team with great potential that will soon fill it, give it time. What does four years of not making playoffs mean, when in the end a dynasty is created. Think of the bigger picture ya'al, and support the Rockets. For me, being a fan is like marriage, through thick and thin till death do us part. I am a Rockets fan, are you?