This article was written by RocketsFan111 or whatever he calls himself from this BBS, he's just angry because they replaced his boy Rafer with Francis and James. He was last seen vowing that Mike James would never be in a Rockets uniform and taking the "Alston all the Rockets Need" routine, and then getting clusterbombed by Clutch, among others, in the GARM for the past year. Anybody taking this joker seriously should also pick up a copy of Weekly World News in order to catch up on the latest alien/Hollywood celebrity abductions.
Getting Luis Scola was a coup. Bringing in Steve Francis and Mike James was also well done. In a fantasy-league sort of way, how I wish we could land Josh Smith, given all the pieces we could trade, IF Atlanta doesn't want to hit luxury-tax area soon. In the world of reality, we've done well for ourselves. Will we do better in the regular season? We might need time to jell, so that'll cost a few games. We might actually eke out only a few more wins overall. But we BETTER be rolling in the playoffs.
THE AUTHOR'S MYSPACE PAGE I can't believe people are care about a comment written by a 24 year old local sports blogger....we might as well go back to debasing ourselved by debating the alleged legitimacy of Bill the "Rocket Guy"'s articles
lol,I know that guy, he had a crush on one my friends. He was a complete goof ball in Dr. Calentine's lab. would it be wrong to post an APO pic? never trust a rattler with an objective point of view!
Our bench was atrocious last year, and I didn't like what I saw from MJ and Steve. Scola is an unproven rookie drafted in the 2nd round that's had success on the international floor, much like Spanoulis. Bonzi gave us nothing in his first year. Brooks will have to fight for PT against three veteran players. Jackie Butler was nailed to the bench. While I don't agree with the report, there are valid concerns that can only be assuaged by actually seeing this team play. We're not even that great on paper, so we'll need all the pieces to come together before we can be considered elite. That kind of distinction has to be earned.
There's a reason the Spurs have never gone back to back. They're just NOT GOOD ENOUGH. People put a giant target on your back after you win it all, and it's not just the Spurs. Look at Miami or Detroit in the years after they won: it takes a really really good team to go back-to-back. The Spurs haven't proved jack about being heads and shoulders over anyone, and I guarantee you they won't be seeded higher than 3 again this year. BTW, last year's championship was probably the most illegitimate one in the history of the NBA, what with Donaghy giving the Spurs one win over Phoenix and the NBA front office another with its BS suspensions. Rockets might not win it all next year, but if we get a taste of the late postseason, I'm calling the Rockets in '09.
replacing one good coach for another isnt that huge of an addition. Adding, at the very least a DECENT backup PG in james, more bench scoring in SF, and some solid PF/C in scola (assuming solid) and Butler is huge. just list the players in best to worst and compare last seasons talent to this seasons talent. big difference. of course its all assuming that some of the guys still have something to offer (scola) or something left (MJ, francis, bonzi)
great post. this guy is in LOVE with the spurs, or so it seems online. he makes them sound like they are the gods of basketball. only reason they won was cause horry is an a-hole. suns had it last year. owell, this year's for us
LOL i used to work with him at the Rockets back in 2005...he was "let go"...hmm maybe that's why he has an agenda against the Rockets.
Apparently, RocketsFan111 has no idea that the Spurs are a bunch of old experienced vets. I have always found his posts full of inaccuracies. The The Spurs old battle-tested veterans are alot better than a bunch of young players. Last year, they had an average age of 30.37, oldest in the league. http://www.nba.com/news/survey_age_2006.html The Spurs are also the most experienced team with 6.71 years. http://www.nba.com/news/survey_experience_2006.html
The Rockets don't need young players, the Rockets don't need old players. The Rockets don't need medium-aged players. The Rockets need good players. And they got good players in the summer. It's ridiculous to say you need players of a certain age group. Like Morey should turn down a Steve Francis because he didn't fit the age profile.
The rockets did get young players and they got some athleticism. Aarron brooks is a athlete,he's fast,he can get to the basket faster than tony parker,he can shoot the basketball.Aaron brooks is ready to contribute right now he will be way ahead of the many point guards and ideal athletes that were selected before him.Kirk snyder another young player is athletic who would been drafted if went to college and not come out of high school.Jacki butler is another young player with size and potential. The rockets did get some players who are vets who aren't over the hill and can come in and give you the veteran presence that you need to win right now.You win championships with grown men not athletic little boys who still don't understand the game and have to be seasoned in order to get to that level.Overrall the rockets improved and our on the level talent wise with the suns and mavericks two teams who haven't won anything yet, also two teams who didn't do anything to get better.The jazz are overrated and didn't improve plus Adelman's teams always beat jerry sloans squads.The spurs are the champs and the team to still beat.
All I will say is that analyzing the direction of this team is pointless without, at the very least, making mention of our coaching change.
Slightly OT.... But still Realgm related. Ever notice how their Free Agent Tracker page can't seem seperate their column marked "RealGM's predictions" from where the signed Free Agents actually went? This seemed to have happened with all the FAs this offseason. The best example I could remember is up to the day or even two after Stevie Franchise agreed to sign here, their Prediction column still have him joining up with Cat on the Clippers and few days later, they changed that so it appeared their "predictions" were right all along. Doesn't seem right for them to do this, it'll be like someone making a mock draft, only to later filling the mock in with actual results.
He actually contradicted himself pretty badly there. Those players ARE depth behind Alston lol, if they're to be considered 2nd and 3rd stringers. What the hell IS depth behind Alston, Howard Eisley? So what if they're just undersized scorers and their best years are behind them, they're both way better point guards than Luther Head and Lucas (and Spanoulis). I wouldnt say Tim Duncan and Ginobili's best years are ahead... He also said said the Rockets needed leadership and identity. Again cite Francis and M. James as at least the identity part. Everyone in the NBA and YMCA ball is athletic if Butler is considered athletic. He's not the big slug he appears to be but "athletic" is usually reserved for the Stromile Swift-Kenyon Martin type
I usually read these articles (and all the NBA articles on SI, ESPN, and Fox Sports), but never really give any serious thought about so-called predictions by the "experts". After all, these were the same people that handed the Mavericks the NBA trophy back-to-back NBA titles and we all know how that turned out. I mean you can make educated guesses about certain aspects of the game, but know one truly knows how things will work out. Most people were ready to call Yao a bust after he failed to score a point in his first NBA game against Indiana. In my opinion, the Rockets improved a great deal compared to what we were working with last year. Now, it's up to the players, coaches, and trainers to see how far the Rockets can go with this squad.
