disclosure: this post does not intend to elaborate on "what ifs" but to act as a litmus tests of recent Rocket personnel moves. For several years, I put up with the ISO duo of Francis/Mobley. It wasn’t the most elegant of styles, but at least the guys showed passion and heart on the court, an intangible that’s always welcomed. With the acquisition of Yao, I thought that we would be contenders in two to three years. Things were looking quite cherry for a while, right guys? Then came Gundy. We reached the playoffs for the first time in a long time. Gundy, however, was not impressed by this feat. He wanted to make this HIS team--not necessarily a better team. And before the Yao+Francis+Mobley trio had reached its potential, he broke it up. Then came McGrady. McGrady's sheer offensive power coupled with Yao's potential greatness = dynasty. How far we have sunk. I ask, then, have we really progressed? Would the 2005 team of Yao/Swift/McGrady/Alston outdo Yao/Cato/Mobley/Francis? In the end, Gundy broke up Rudy’s team of Yao/Francis/Mobley to create his team: Yao/McGrady/Swift. Guys, this is the Van Gundy team; this is the team he always wanted. And guess what, it ain’t much better than the one he had when he first got here. Which team would you rather have now? Which coach?
I guess you can't argue with results, but yes, T-Mac + Yao >> Francis + Mobley + Yao Inequality Math leads to: T-Mac >> Francis + Mobley
The Francis trade was a good trade for Houston. T-Mac is that much better, but T-Mac may not prove to be a durable player. The one thing Francis does is he plays every night. He's a durable player. The roster looked great on paper this year right now it looks like a bust. As far as coaches go, when you have young guys they need a hard nosed guy like JVG to guide them, but older players who know their roles play better for a guy like Rudy.
In an ideal world, we wouldn'tve had to give up anything to get TMac. But unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Typically, the team who gets the best player in the deal gets the better end of the deal. So although I sincerely miss Cat & Stevie & Cato, I think it was a wise move by the organization. That said, wouldn't it be nice if we still had either of those guards on this current roster?!? Damn!
No necessarily. People forget that with SF/Cato/Mobley we also entered into playoff 2 years ago and had competitive serious with the Lakers. I don't really think the current roaster is better than that one. TMAC > SF + Mobley appears to be a false statement to me. TMAC > SF, yes TMAC > Mobley, yes TMAC + someone above avg > SF + Mobley, likely yes TMAC > SF + Mobley, no
The only thing I think people overestimated is Tracy's ability to will a team to win. As much better of a player Tracy is than Francis, he's still a perimeter player. His value over francis comes in at the end of games but for a whole season, he doesn't have much more impact over wins and losses than francis does. very few perimeter players do. we are now seeing what an extended time period away from shaq does to wade. kobe, arguably a better player than tracy can only carry a weak laker team so far. all three guys are better than francis, tracy kobe and wade, but it doesn't amount to much impact in the wins column. other than jordan, magic, and to a lessor extent isiah, this is a big man's game.
I think people are being too harsh on Tmac. Look the guy has been injured all year. Before the season started, it was far and away the consensus that we ripped off the Magic. Do people really think it was the Christie-Mobley trade that got Weisbrod fired? When healthy, T-Mac is a truly astounding player. In our system, he is primarily a perimeter player. But if you go back to when he was in Orlando, he very frequently posted up, and dominated doing it. IMHO, he is a great defensive player, too -- look what he did to Dirk. His rebounding, steals, and blocks are also all very good for a guard. Of course, Tracy has had chronic back problems, so we can't completely evaluate the trade until some time has passed, and we see how he holds up. But I am way way happier to have TMac than Francis+Mobley+Cato. With those guys, you could tell by watching that they simply HAD NO CHANCE to ever win a championship. Despite so many people pointing out his ball-handling issues, Francis' turnovers have still not come down. Sure, he is fun to watch, but you don't beat the Spurs by breaking away for a dunk and then turning the ball over on the next possession. With TMac, at least we can hope that our team is going to make it someday. What our team sorely needs is some tough guys who can fire up the team. TMac may not be as good at this as Francis. But it's a lot more difficult to get talented players on your team than it is to get inspiring role players. Otherwise, the old Rockets would have had to trade Hakeem to get Mario Elie.
For my 2 cents worth the move was done for money: Tmac sells more jerseys then SF3, Cat & Cato put together and generates more "interest," but I didn't like the deal at the time & now the downside is starting to show. We have little heart on this team & nobody to be an "enforcer" down low. It is what it is and what it is is DONE! I am disappointed that we went from one of the youngest teams in the league with a ton of potential to one of the oldest teams in the league, butting heads with the salary cap & luxury tax leaving little wiggle room and the most boring game this side of mid-90s-Phoenix with Chuck. I Love our current team, but I Loved the old team too and I disagree with those that say the SF3 rox had no chance to win: they were never given the chance (Sad too, we had a small chance at having a group of players to "carry the torch" like in the Calvin Murphy, Rudy T days: somebody who would be proud to have "(my) Heart, A Rocket." The loyalty the Rox have now ends when the paychecks stop....Sad, but GO ROCKETS anyways!
redo the logic T-mac + 3rd year YAO > Francis + mobley + 1st Year Yao maybe in talent but not in passion Rocket River
actually. . .yea They were on there was to the playoffs before the trade afterward they spireled to lottoville Rocket River
My thoughts Exactly The Rocket Team that took the Lakers to 5 games IMO would dismantle the team that got dismantled by Dallas [Dallas team last year was FAR inferior to the Laker team the year before] The west was weaker last year than the previous year [Seattle and Pheonix were top teams for goodness sakes ] Remove the T-mac Trade and made a decent draft pick maybe a free agent aquisition . .. the Rockets were in the 2nd round but that is water under the what ifs I am bothered by this. . NEED TO JELL crap no one can jell when we break up the team ever 3 months if we gonna keep going in this cycle. . . keep the JELLING crap to yourself because it is just an excuse Rocket River
I know it's stupid. But since you mention this ... in my every wet dreams I always imagine a lineup of: SF+CAT+TMAC+CATO+YAO. Couldn't CD just sent everyone else to Magic for TMAC at that trade?
Put a sock in it. ...and rednene, this is for you. Gosh, when is sanity going to return? Come on winning streak so that these silly and puerile posts will stop. God please make them stop.
fantasy trade propoisition --- wesley + anderson + pick= francis + bad player and then alston + swift= mobley
I agree with you to a certain extent but a team that is trying to win a championship cannot do it with those guys. T-Mac is an ingredient that every team with championship aspirations need. The role players are what we are missing.
I disagree. The motorized rotisserie wheel on this model is a definite upgrade. As for the roster, you really need to approach this from the standpoint of that old and tired construction metaphor -- TMac + Yao = rock-solid foundation. The combo of Francis, Mobley, and Cato is like a straw hut built on a bed of bark nuggets.
