Offseason Moves

Our present Team doesnt get it because a selfish standard was set right from the start of the season. Ask yourself how many times have you seen a ball passed out from the big men and it returned to them in a more favourable position, by the Rockets in this season? ZERO!

 

Don't say big men and don't say individual. Just say Francis and Yao, just like you mean.

 

Well sure.

We just need more experience...in a couple of years....most games will be looking like yesterday's game.

But it would be nice to add a shooter on our team.

Our backcourt offense is very good...but sometimes inconsistent. Usually one is sick or injured. When they are both fine...we do pretty well....as long as they don't get out of control and take good shots...and make them.
Our front court...has plenty of offense. Yao Ming is of course with us. We also have Mo Taylor. Who is Instant Offense...when he is healthy. Terence Morris can play...if we keep him...we can train him and he can improve his shooting. He will be a good third stringer. Eddie Griffin...he just needs to get stronger and work on his shot...patience. Glen Rice can still shoot. Bostjan Nachbar is just...unknown. KELVIN CATO is a rebounding machine. He is great...

Our defense is average...Yao Ming and Eddie Griffin can block shots. They just need to get stronger and play more together. Mobley is a good defender...but we gamble too much. We always leave someone open. And it must be a curse, because that person makes the shots.

WHAT WE NEED IS A SHOOTER. And maybe an assistant coach...

 

Oh yeah.......PLEASE REPLACE MOOCHIE.

Moochie can be Tito Maddox. And we can waive Maddox.

But please get a new backup.

Hint.......JON BARRY!!!!!

 

Yesterdays game is still far from what I would like to see! Team Basketball was only played for brief moments!

 

Just cant see this team improving by getting younger... with guys like Ford or Crawford!!!!Crawfords a 38% shooter whose career highs in every catagory aren't much better than Cats career averages..and his career one game highs ..18pts and 7assists, were two years ago in his rookie season. Hes a 2nd stringer on a bad team. And we dont need Alvin Williams.
Rebuild the Rockets ? Relax. this is a fun team to watch, leave the general managing to CD and the coaching to Rudy, let these guys play together a year or two and develop into a real team.

 

You definitely have too high expectation. I don't even expect Rockets make it to the playoff this season. Nobody is sure how Yao Ming will adapt to the NBA. A lot of people bash him, and some people who don't bash mostly think Yao is a good project.

 

1) The Rockets won 45 games two seasons ago.
2A) The Rox had no Taylor or Rice last season but were .500 when Francis played. (Projected 42-42 without the migraines).
2B) Mobley played hurt last season.
3) The most conservative estimates of Yao were Rik Smits like - 10-12 ppg, 6 rebs, 1.5 blocks.
4) Griffin received value experience during MoT's injury.

I'm dumbfounded - how could you not expect the playoffs this season?

 

1. We dont't have a rejuvanated and experienced Dream we had during that 45-win season.
2. Rice's injuried for the most parts this season.
3. Mo Taylor is healthy but didn't contribute much until recently.
4. EG statistcially didn't improve at all.
5. That projected record of last season was BS. Do you really see us making the playoffs last season even if Francis/Rice/Taylor were healthy all season?
6. Whether you want to believe or not, we overachieved in that 45-win season. But you can't expect overachievement every season. We are on target this season.
7. The West conference is much improved (at least tougher than 2 years ago). There's no weak team in the West except Denver.
8. You may expect playoffs but certainly no 5/6 automatic seed. Lakers, Kings, Mavs, Spurs and Blazers are all more talented teams than us on paper not to mention with a lot more experienced. We are exactly in the position we should be i.e. fighting for 7/8 spot.

 

Houston's offseason moves will depend partly on salary considerations, but mostly on the trade value of its players -- namely Rice, Norris, (Morris, Hawkins, and Collier).

For the most part, the team is set at most positions:
C Yao, Cato
F Taylor, Griffin
F Posey, Nachbar
G Francis, Mobley
G Maddox

What are they missing? A starting-caliber/game-tested PG, pure shooter, and (maybe) a rebounder.

What may be available? Parker, Sura, and Jason Williams.


University (Stage Hand) Blue

 

1 We have a contributor at the 5.
4 Why not?
6 So, Rox overachieved. Last year's SF healthy pace was 42 wins. Why not 42-45 wins this year -- or 45 - 50 based on both those years?
7 That is true, and scary. Golden State, Phoenix, Memphis, Clips, Denver all should be better next year. No reason to believe Lakes, Kings, Mavs, or Spurs will falter. Therefore, this team must take a leap forward -- to stay even. Think about that when it comes time to pay Luxury Tax next year. This team will need to do more than mature, they will need reinforcements.

Where will reinforcements come from, and from where? Rice's expiring contract is a good start. Cato's emergence into respectability and Cat's play and salary are the logical starting points, along with the 'exception'.

Improve -- or expect to contend for whomever is next year's Lebron.

 

I think we should get J. R Bremer from the Celtics he is a good finisher and he could dish them dimes. good player

 

J.R. Bremer. I like him too......but he's not available.

Arenas, Williams, and Kidd.....and Parker would be great. But we can't afford them...

And we are not all set.

Our small forward position is terrible....unless Terence Morris greatly improves over the summer, we need a shooter.

 

You're joking, right? Olajuwon was on his last legs and couldn't even break into Toronto's lineup the following season. He only played in 58 games in the 45 win season. I've had this disagreement before and I can tell you that on an availability basis for the last 20 games of that season Olajuwon, Taylor and Walt Williams were nearly identical in productivity. Yes, Walt Williams!!!

IMO, there is little difference in what Olajuwon was able to do at an advanced age and what Ming can do currently. Perhaps you don't recall the aged Dream getting stuffed by the rim? Anyone who saw the Rockets in preseason could tell that the combined stats of Yao and Cato should have been enough to make the Rox playoff contenders.

Glen Rice's availabilty is the difference between the Rox being a playoff lock and missing the playoffs?

Actually, for me when the season started I thought Rice being the starting SF could be a reason they wouldn't make the playoffs. There's this little known aspect of the game called "defense"...have you heard of it? You are giving Rice far too much credit...this is a player whose primary value to the Rockets is now his expiring contract.

You have conveniently ignored the Kenny Thomas factor. The Rockets started the season with 3 PF's. At the beginning of the season, Kenny Thomas was as productive as Mo ever was. KT is a productive starter for the hottest team in the EC right now.

But who know that before the season started? Did you? Our disagreement is whether or not the Rockets should have been perceived as a playoff team at the start of the season. Imbedded in that is a certain amount of improvement on the part of all of the players. That is not an unrealistic expectation for any fan.

The projection is not BS. It is a proven fact that when Francis was healthy the Rockets were a .500 team last season. That's 41 wins without Taylor and without Yao and without any player improvement. If 46 wins is a playoff spot, a 5 win improvment is not unreasonable with Yao and Taylor added to a .500 team.

I do not disagree. The 45 win team overachieved. But do you recall where they overachieved? They were 16-0 vs the EC Central.

While I certainly do not expect that to occur every season, why would I have an expectation of being .500 against the EC? This is a team which has gone from very old to very young in a short time but it's primary weapons were entering their 5th and 4th seasons adding the #1 in the draft.

If you want to tell me that you expected the Rockets to barely be above .500 against the EC at the start of this season I will accept that. A playoff 46+ win team could play .500 in the tough WC (26-26) and be 20-10 vs the EC. This is an unrealistic preseason expectation? Perhaps to you, but I doubt to 90+% of this board.

How would you prove this? Is the WC record vs the EC better than two years ago? It is about the same. And the Rockets have added a #7 and a #1.

For a moment forget Yao Ming. You are trying to tell me that if Steve Francis would never had migraines and Mo Taylor would never have been injured, the Rockets would still never have been a playoff team? In short, that is what you are saying. They would have hovered around .500 when not overachieving. That is what you are telling me is your expectation?

BTW, you may also want to include the Clippers in there with Denver.

I never said 5/6. My preseason prediction was 46 wins (if the search engine is working, it can be verified). That was my expection - #8 seed. However, the Rockets must go 14-6 to match my prediction. I am hopeful, but not optimistic.

In conclusion, if you did not perceive this team as a #8 seed prior to the start of the season, we will just have to disagree. There is nothing about the Rox at #8 that I found unreasonable in early November.