I leave for Spring Break and the whole system breaks down. Too lazy to read through all the pages: who is hurt? Cato or MoT?
Stupid, stupid, stupid! There are better free agent PF's out there, no doubt. Not this geriatric bag of crap who won't contribute anything except ugliness and paycheck-cashing abilities.
All I can say is a signing of this type was long overdue and I'm happy. The bottom line is, compared to all the other playoff teams in the West the Rockets (at their best) are very soft down low. I agree that Yao's the next big thing in this league but right now he's getting thrown around like a punk on both ends of the floor and nobody's got his back. We need an enforcer.
Well thank you very much for the lecture on the need to compete at any price. Last time I looked, the Rockets were beginning to gel into a very good team - one that played with the fire you mentioned (on most nights). They did not have to resort to thuggish play in order to cover up their inadequacies. They were letting their skills do all the talking. Only someone who cannot compete will have to resort to the style of play that is Oakley's forte. That's all Oakley has left - the ability to hurt people. And that's just not the Rockets I want to support. I want to be able to celebrate their achievements on the court and not apologize for their brutality. They do not need this guy. Their shortcomings on the court this season have not been due to a lack of toughness but to a lack of focus, commitment and intensity. Adding this goon will do NOTHING to help them in that area. Look, I know full well how tough the Western Conference is to play in but in order to compete, this team does not need to resort to neanderthal basketball. SA won it all last year and they did not need to resort to any "devilish competition". Instead, they won it all the right way by raising their level of play (look at how they took out the Lakers) and let their basketball skills speak for them and by showing tremendous desire and will to succeed. It truly hurts me to write this but I am forced to agree with FranchiseBlade - this is a move that makes me like the Rockets less and seriously impacts my ability to root for them as long as Oakley is on the team.
Mark Jackson's only real negative was that he was old and out of basketball. He did not come to the team with the toxic reputation that Oakley drags in behind him. You are damned right about my dislike of Oakley and what he stands for. If you'd read my posts carefully, that much should have been obvious. I have given concrete reasons why I feel that this was a stupid move by the Rockets who find themselves in a bind due to the incompetence of the Rockets organization. The facts show that had they not shot their wad 3 years ago on EG, this does not become an issue. This year the EG fiasco blew up in their face and left them with a gaping hole to fill on the front line. Well, boo hoo hoo, this is what you get when you conduct your business in a stupid and dumbass manner. At some point, everyone must pay for their mistakes. I find it interesting that folks like you who cannot offer reasons and facts to support their position often resort to personal attacks in order to butress their posts. If you truly feel that this is a good/great move, then why not explain yourself and list out your reasons why for all of us to see. Try doing that next time and leave my balls out of the discussion.
You guys are missing the key point here: the most hilarious play in the history of the NBA. Imagine Mark Jackson running a pick and roll with Oak. Imagine glaciers moving in winter. Imagine the TNT control room editor screaming "quit running slow mo! We need to cut to a live shot!" Imagine the shot clock expiring before Mark clears Oak's pick. It will look like two old coaches with hip-replacements trying to carefully demonstrate the pick and roll to a summer youth camp for the developmentally challenged. Be part of something big! ... And cranky! ... And slow! At least we know that Oak isn't doing this for the money. Since he played Treebeard in LOTR for a tiny percentage of gross, he's been swimming in cash.
Nice! Now that was a comeback. We're 16-10 for a .615 winning percentage since adding Mark Jackson versus 23-17 for a .575 winning percentage before Mark Jackson. Adding more veteran influence isn't that bad of an idea. I just can't see Oakley poisoning this team in 10 days...he's not Rodman.
Is this supposed to be funny or is it your assertion that this was a deliberate act? It's plainly clear to see that this was an accident. Rest assured when Oakley goes out and decks someone during a game - THAT will not be an accident - THAT will be a deliberate, premeditated act.
We are talking about two different things here. If thats what this is really about then I share your same feelings. But I just dont think that is the case. I give JVG and CD more credit than that. These are not stupid people we are talking about here. They are smart, good men(at least Cd seems to be) who know what they are doing and I have not the least bit of doubt that they brought in Oakley for other reasons than the one reason you suppose. Surely Oakley is no daisy but he does play a tough old-fashioned style that is in your face. There is no cunningness to his style of play. He is not out there leg swiping and karate chopping people to the head. Look, I trust Doug Collins opinion when he says Oakley is one of the most intelligent players he has ever coached. And I trust JVG and CD are bringing him into be a productive player in the limited amount of time he recieves. I just do not believe that he is just here to be nothing but a bullying thug to intimidate and scare everyone around him. But we'll see...
We are getting banged up down the stretch. We will miss Cato, and are already having problems with Mo and Weatherspoon not around. I think having Oakley at this stage won't hurt us if he is motivated to play hard although it may not make a big difference.
Bruce Lee: "A flying side kick to the head is no accident!" Van Dam: "I would have used my highflying 360 degree ballerina split kick instead!"
Bring Patrick Ewing out of retirement. Get Spike Lee a courtside seat. Charles Oakley, puh-lease. Oaks only chance for a 36" vertical is if he jumps off a 3ft box.
I'll wait and see before judging Charles Oakley. He is veteran after all. But wouldn't resigning Torraye Braggs or Alton Ford have been a better bet? Charles Oakley, as good as a rebounder as he is, is already old. As long as the team chemistry isn't disrupted or the Rockets do make the playoffs, then the Rockets' signing of Oakley should be ok. But damn, losing to Phoenix and Golden State. Things aren't looking good for the Rockets with the season in the homestretch.
OK, that it. Nobody wants to be objective around here anymore so fine. For all of the folks here who think that this was a good move getting our very own goon, fine. But remember two words: Kermit Washington. Once upon a time there was a player just like Oakley who brought "toughness and attitude" to his team. For the benefit of those with short memories, here's the gist from sacbee.com posted on January 27th. I apologize for the length of this post: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, he defined the power forward position in the 1970s. The NBA was a dangerous place in 1977. There were 41 fights that season, and the league was being compared to the NHL. Teams talked of having "enforcers," basketball's version of hockey goons. Strong and aggressive on the court, Washington was regarded as a gentle, sensitive family man off it. But on a team that featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Washington was considered the Los Angeles Lakers' enforcer. And on an icy night in Houston, two weeks before Christmas, Washington earned the label. In a typically physical game, Washington found himself embroiled in a tussle with Rockets forward Kevin Kunnert when he noticed a blur out of the corner of his eye. It was Rudy T, who had sprinted from the Houston bench to break up the fight. In a moment of sheer instinct, Washington turned and crushed Tomjanovich with a vicious right hand that Lakers assistant coach Jack McCloskey called "the hardest punch in the history of mankind." Tomjanovich suffered fractures of the face and skull. His nose was broken, and he suffered a separated upper jaw, a concussion and lacerations around his mouth. He was leaking spinal fluid into his nose. In an article on the incident, Sports Illustrated reported the "bone structure of his face was knocked loose from his skull." Doctors compared the injury with hitting a windshield at 50 mph. Tomjanovich spent two weeks in the hospital while nurses and family kept towels over the mirrors to hide his face from himself. "When I was (in the emergency room), I wondered if I would ever play again," Tomjanovich said. "I thought I was gonna be the Elephant Man and have to be put away and, 'Oh, my God, look at the face on that guy.' " ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was living in Houston then and had personally met Rudy T at pickup basketball games at the Wheeler Ave YMCA. There is simply no nicer guy you will ever meet in person. I cried for Rudy all that Christmas season. l saw the punch played over and over and over on TV. There was a point where nobody thought Rudy would live let alone ever play basketball again. That finished it forever for me. Basketball should be a sport that celebrates physical power tempered with athletic skill, finesse and speed and not sheer physical brutality which is all Oakley has left. But it's all good, right? When Oakley clocks someone, it'll be for our side so that will be different because he's doing it for "us". He's just what a 7-foot-6-inch 350 lb. guy needs to "protect" him on the court. Like I said, it's all good but folks here should be forewarned to be careful what they ask for - Oakley just might give it to them. Just remember one thing: When you dance with the devil, the devil don't change - the devil changes you.
HillBoy, I agree with you about Oakley, but how can you say this was an accident? How can jumping with your feet forward into the face of an opponent be an accident? Can you explain to me what the guy was supposed to be trying to do that would be allowed under the rules? He sure as hell wasn't reaching for the ball, because you do that with your hands first, not your feet (at least in basketball).
