Hardly giving up yet, just curious which of these players would you consider the most valuable this season. Myself, I’m not going with the obvious choice, I would say Jimmy Jackson has brought the most to the table this year on a consistent basis. I know most of you may not agree but just my 2 cents, what do the rest of you think?
Yao and Francis were both horribly inconsistent. Ask yourself this question, without the acquistion of Jimmy Jackson where would the rockets be? just imagine for a second Eric Piakowski as our starting small forward
My vote is for JJ and his consistency. You could argue that w/o Yao, we wouldn't have made the playoffs, but the same case can be made with JJ. Having to start Pike, AG, or Boki at the SF this year would have made us lottery bound...I love Boki, but it's the truth.
JJ, hands down. He is the only guy on the Rox who did what he needed to do night in-night out. Yao/SF have been inconsistent all season long.
It's Cat. Has anyone else noticed that how great efforts he has made? 1)Once he was one of our BIG3 when Rudy was in charge, while he adapted himself to fit JVG's system as a role player without any whine since JVG came here. That proved he's unselfish guy indeed. 2)He adjust to JVG's mode rapidly which's better than any other Rox players, right? 3)He's also got 2nd stats in FT%(81.1%) and 3PT%(39.0%), 3rd in PPG(15.8) with 3.2 assist & 1.34 steals per game-- really nice stats to a SG with a bargain contract! 4)What's more important, he's much willing to bear the burden of hard works, and play a tough game with a hard 40.4 minutes. UNBELIEVABLE! To sum up Cat IS 'Rockets-MVP for the 2004 season' out of question in my mind. Kudos to Cat!
Sure JJ was good. But I'm going to make an argument for Yao, who lead the team in points, rebounds, and FG%. Yao anchors the interior defense, forcing altered shots and allows the perimeter defenders to gamble. Yao draws consitent double teams on offense opening up three pointers for JJ and Cat... it's not really a coincidence that they've shot career numbers of 3 pointers this season. This is a vote for the 82 games of the regular season right? Somebody come up with variance on efficiency for each of these players and then we'll see who's more consistent. I think it would have to be Yao.
I voted for J.J. as well but am suprised that Mobley hasn't gotten more votes. Cat has been nails on defense and has embraced JVG's system when everyone thought he would have the toughest time adjusting.
also, it's dangerous to commend Yao on the board these days don't you think? i just don't mind being labeled a YOF, because being a fan of the game and the team also, my conscience is clear.
If I could cast a first place vote and a second place vote I would vote for JJ after Yao. JJ has worked hard on his rebounding, converts at the line, and consistently makes intelligent basketball plays. Cat has been a solid contributor this season. But with him it comes down to some questionable shot selection. Sometimes JJ will put up 20 shots and you go, why did he do that? But ever single game there's one or two shots by Cat where upon release, you go "there's no way in hell that's going in." For JJ, you don't really see any really BAD shots.
I had to go with Yao. Take away yao and all the open threes we get for cat and jj are gone. If you guys really think about it, Yao gets doubled or triple teamed constantly creating open shots everywhere. The key thing with yao is that there are not enough movement on offense imo. If we ever move without the ball like sacto, we would be really dominate. JJ really has the benefit of playing with two great players in yao and francis therefore eliminating him from mvp considerations.
Yeah, CAT is IMHO, is the re incarnation of Vernon Maxwell. Good to great defender and a streaky shooter, some of his shot selection just make me cringe, mostly from 3 point range – see game 4
