I think Steve's career may be at an end......he seems to have lost more than a step. I hope I am wrong and he can bust his tail and get back to his high flying self, but Aaron Brooks is a better passer and much quicker and I honestly like having him as the backup PG. DD
Old and out of shape (James and Francis) VS. young and energetic (Head and Brooks) Doesn't seem like a tough choice to me. Francis and James are the odd men out.
here's an interesting stat. francis and james both have a high of 7 assists this season. francis got it during 27 mins against phoenix (his supposed breakout game), and james got it during 25 mins against utah. brooks plays for only 17 mins and records 6 assists, one shy of james and francis' season high. i missed the game but i'm gonna take a hunch that brooks looked more comfortable in the offense than francis has looked all season.
The question is, when it comes down to the playoffs, can those young guys handle the pressure? Last year, Head had a great season but choked in the playoffs. AB is a rookie so we'll see what he can do. I think Francis and James can really help in the playoffs with their mental toughness. But if they keep playing like they have been, there is no reason for them to get more time ahead of Head and Brooks.
it's not that we need insurance. if brooks and head keep playing like this then francis and james are basically dead weight. why not trade them and get some players that can actually help us, like bigs to solidfy our front line?
Brooks looked good. Not sure if he's more comfortable in the offense. He's MUCH quicker with the ball than Francis. And the game was very fast-paced and the Rockets were hitting shots. So Brooks gets a good assist total. For the season Brooks is only 1-9 from beyond the arc, but he's been able to convert 8 of 11 inside the arc. To me, that's a good sign. We know he's a dead eye shooter, so once his outside shot comes around he should be a good scorer for us.
i don't think Yao got enough time to wait for a rookie to grow up, you know such a giant would suddenly become doddery but then, rocket does really need the blue collar who has stable performance and body than a super star always left the court in the midst
Yeah, but RA runs a pretty small rotation. Usually its a 8-9 man rotation. How would you fit in the new guy we traded for? I mean, if we are just going to give 5mins to somebody, I rather have that big guy be Carl Landry. Skip TMac Battier Hayes Yao Bonzi Head Scola Brooks So far thats the rotation. If we make a trade for somebody, then one of those guys will lose their spots. I don't see that happening any time soon. One of those guys have to be traded too if we want to make a trade for somebody that can contribute.
i think brooks and head are capable of being solid contributors throughout the season. however im not completely sold on head, and brooks is just a rook. i would love if we could package francis/james/snyder for someone like jordan farmar or eddie house because they could crack the lineup right away.
I just hope we fooled enough teams, or really just one team, to trade for Wafer and give us a decent player!
We should try to put a package of Battier + First Round pick + any of Francis, Snyder, Head, Novak for Artest. If don't do a move like this, we will be out of the playoffs.
I don't think Rick Adleman's rotation is set by any means. I think he'll keep playing guys and exploit matchups as seen fit. If the other team has big guards, then James/Bonzi/Francis will get the nod. On the other hand, if he's playing a team with quick pesky small guards then yeah Brooks gets in. I think Mutumbo gets more minutes and Landry will get some burn over Hayes soon. Adleman got a lot of players to work with. At Sacremento, his teams were not so deep. James and Francis will eventually find their shot. They both are better than this.
So, can I take it that you are nailing the lid shut on the SF3 coffin? Yes Brooks is younger and faster but that's not his problem. His problem is his height and slight stature which makes him a real defensive liability because I just don't think he'll be able to defend against bigger and stronger PGs. I want to see how he handles running through picks and I also want to see him get off his shot against bigger and stronger defenders because that's what he'll see in the West on a nightly basis.
I think James is the most likely to be traded or become a full time benchwarmer. He has not hit his shots, and the ones he takes are usually not in the flow of the offense. As terrible as Francis has played he isnt taking bad shots, hes barely taking any shots. Plus James has the higher salary which we obviously are trying to dump. Honestly, I think both Francis and James wont get any significant minutes on this team. Both might get dealt, with James being the higher priority.
Francis has played in only 10 games this year. He's had some good games, he's had some atrocious games. His shooting percentatages are down across the board from last year. Up until the Golden State game at the end of Nov. He was putting up decent assist numbers and pretty decent shooting percentages. Then game December and the injury. He hasn't been the same since. A lot of it is still probably trying to play within the system. Not a natural trait of Steves as he'd rather be crossing his defender and dominating the ball.
well the chron has a rumor about the rockets interest in jason williams. you can check it out on realgm.com sending our odd men out to the heat would be a good deal for both. the heat need depth, the rockets need to clear a logjam. it's a long shot, but it's something to discuss.
