Rockets need to stop playing street basketball and work as a team. Why the heck is Steve Francis and Mobley dribbling so much and forcing their shots? They have to shoot consistently to win! Also, they need to defend better and give Yao the ball when he's open..
Steve and Cuttino don't have a clue. BUT they actually didn't do too bad in the shooting department. Steve had an off night and limited his shots. Cuttino shot well by going inside. But they consistently bogged down the offense with their dribbling, poor decisions, and inability to get everyone else involved. They make the game HARD for teammates who have to constantly bail them out. They RARELY create easy shots for other guys. When do Steve or Cuttino ever give one of our big men an easy layup? When do do they show patience in letting an offensive play develop? When do they create a fast break opportunity? Rarely! Yao of course got some easy shots and looked for open men. Posey created some open court opportunities and did a good job feeding Yao. Mo played well in the post. But that's about the only positives (I don't feel like counting Cuttino's isolations on Barry at the end).
Have Rudy T make everyone shoot 200 baskets for practice.. then the Rockets might have a chance of winning.
It's apparent you dont know what you're talking about. This team plays nothing like street ball. In fact, street ball would be an improvement since it would be a offense. Dallas runs what is close to street ball on the offensive end. Street ball is an attacking offense in which you quickly bring the ball up the court. Street ball is when you move hard w/o the ball because you want your boy to pass you the ball. Street ball is going hard for a offensive rebound because you want to get an easy put back. Street ball is going hard for a defensive rebound or loose ball so that you can get back to offense. Street ball is an agressive defense in order to create turnovers to lead to easy bucks. So instead of trying to get a lot of replys, think before you write.
Francis and Mobley are exceptionally athletic, but they are very undisciplined, playground-type, one-on-one players. This is why Francis had an excellent All Star game. That game is a one-on-one showtime "no defense" egofest. It fits his style perfectly. Playing within a team concept (sometimes, I wonder if we have one) is more difficult, and after four seasons of little progress is starting to appear unreachable. (Brace yourself for the Francis "can do no wrong" apologists who will be on this thread shortly) I have said it before and I will say it again, I would not have signed Francis to a long term contract and if I were the coach he would not play for me, period. Even if you are an "all-world" talent, if you can't correct your mistakes, play under control, fulfill your role as playmaker, make good decisions, make good passes, and play defense, I would prefer that you be "all-world" somewhere else.
That is what gets them by at this point in time. I would hate to have these two guys on my team when their physical skills start to diminish, if they don't learn how to play smart before then. They've both been in the league long enough to have shown signs of maturity, but I dont think they've improved much.
What I also don't like about our guards is sometime, they show lack of poise and maturity at the critical moment of the game. For example in last night's at Detroit game. Late in the 3rd quarter. The Rockets seem to get a little momentum back after Mobley hits a jumper in traffic to cut the deficit down to 12pts. He b****ed at the refs for not giving him the and1, so the refs gave him the technical. He continued to yap at the refs after they called a foul on him on the defensive end. One of the refs almost give him a second T. Yao quickly came over to seal Mobley off with his body from the refs then gently tapped on Mobley's chest a couple time to calm him down. Yao has been getting so many hard fouls on him without getting calls over the past few games, but he never let that ruin his concentration on playing basketball to help his team win. If the rookie understands the bottom line of getting yourself thrown out because of a missed call by the refs is not a good bargain especially when you are one of the main guys, then why can't the so call elders of the team see that?
mobley should have a higher shooting % if he'd just catch and shoot. when the rockets move the ball, as soon as it gets to him 4 out 5 times he'll cuddle the ball and look at his defender's feet. WTF???????? it'll take him 5 seconds to decide to dribble through a double team. hell, if you already know you're gonna dribble, then dribble. at least, you'll save 4 seconds on the shot clock. this is why he doesn't see anyone open. making your initial move after staring at your defender's feet for 5 seconds does not make for good bball.
Give Yao and Taylor the ball period! Forget Francis forcing shots, his got me sick, running into the defence not getting anything. Just give the ball to Yao or Taylor their the guys that have been HOT!!!
