They had an interview with Shandon last night on the news talking about his future. He said he opted out of his contract for business reasons, and wants to get contract from someone more long term (to get him into his 30's - he is 27 know). In talking about the Rockets he says, that he definitely wants to stay here in Houston, and doesn't want to move from team to team. He really hopes something can be done, and mentioned that to prove it he still wears his Rockets stuff. He also mentioned that next year you will see a different Shandon Anderson, a more offensive oriented player, if he has to take it into his own hands. That what he did offensively last year will not be repeated, and he will be much more assertive next year. So, bottom line, it really sounds as though Shandon wants to stay here in Houston. So how does this effect, Mr. Hey Pey's little bet?????? Will see.......
I think he'd be a stronger player coming off the bench to spell Mobley, or maybe going at the 3 if we play smaller, so it doesn't necessarily affect the bet that much. But that could just be me. ------------------ Founding Father of the Refs Suck Club
This is great news!! So, to recap, both Shandon Anderson AND Mo Taylor will be different,better players next season....so why the hell did they even show up THIS season!?! Yeah they'll be better, they'll be better because they will be REPLACED!!!! Yours truly, My Morning Vent ------------------ C-son * * *
I really like Shandon, but for this team to be playoff caliber he has to come off the bench for most of the season. He'd be a great spark off the bench playing behind Mobley and a little at SF. ------------------ Who needs teachers? I can learn my own self. DieHard Mock Time
Hopefully he can improve next year. I don't like to make excuses but with all he went through as far as his mother etc last year he seemed to just never get in a groove. It was a tough year for him playing wise last year and a even tougher year personally i'm sure. Hopefully he can have a good year wherever he ends up. He seems like a good all around guy.. someone i'd have to root for ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
Yeah, sure. I wonder how he hopes to perform this miracle. Unless he takes some time off to improve his handles and shot, no way that will happen on desire alone. The problem with Shandon is that he seems to think that his game is better than it actually is. I recall his saying that he mirrored his game after Drexler's! Sure isn't doing a good job of it so far. A defensive stopper of the bench, playing against the other team's subs and scoring garbage points? Fine. Sign the dude for the long run. But no promises and no way in hell he deserves as much as Cuttino got. My two cents. ------------------ Just ship Cato's ass outta town. Plain and simple.
Agree that he'd be a great backup SF or SG. He brings a strong defensive presence but is just not a good enough shooter when left open. Altho he is great with the ball in open court, he is not particularly skilled at breaking down defenses off the dribble one-on-one. And these two items will be even more important with zones allowed. What you have seen is what you'll get with SA.
The Rockets played their best ball when Shandon was the starting 2. They have yet to duplicate what they did at the end of the season two years ago. So they were in the playoff hunt virtually the entire season, but in order for them to make the playoffs next year, Shandon must come off the bench? Basically you're saying that Shandon starting is keeping the Rockets out of the playoffs.
What I'm saying is that the prototype SF is expected to put up consistent offensive numbers, usually with great shooting and/or penetration skills. If SA improves and get to that level, great; but I haven't seen it yet. He was AWOL way too much! In Utah he never started but was very effective coming off the bench depending on matchups etc...he killed us too many times.
TheFreak, Not only is that misleading, but I disagree about when we were playing our best ball. We played our best ball starting with the New York game this year, when Dream woke up and Mo' started feeling the groove with his new teammates. Are you really comparing an April meaningless run in a busted season to what we accomplished in a legitimate playoff run this year? Further, you make it sound like Shandon playing the 2 was a major factor in that run. If that is true, then it is also true that Walt's 60% shooting in that same stretch drive of futility was a major factor. If both those are true, then what is Mobley? A bench player? Your point is moot. Mobley was the starting 2 during our best play as a team, and Walt shooting 60% is what contributed the most to our April push in 2000.
I'm really growing to hate comments like these. Salary comparisons just don't work out right. In the same breath that people say Shandon doesn't deserve as much as Mobley, they say they don't want to pay Dream ALMOST as much as Cato's making. The fact that I make X amount of dollars has nothing to do with the contract my peers negotiate. ------------------ Founding Father of the Refs Suck Club
I can agree that April 2000 demonstrated the best ISO ball ever, but far from being better basketball. Mobley shot 48% and Walt 60% in that 2000 blip on the radar. Mobley never ran a pnr (I can promise you that), and Walt was simply nailing the double pick over and over and over in the 1st Q, to set up his game. The efficiency of those two fed off each other and adding to Francis made it a wide open game whereby opportunistic assertiveness from Shandon could also shine. btw: Mobley averaged a steady 33 mpg in that run, so it's not like Shandon played the 2 all game. Shandon played 39 mpg (as I recall calculated at one time), so his numbers would go up. That offense was small ball with 3 guards. Freakish and not something you can count on lasting very long in the NBA. To me, it was an experiment that can only work when Walt and Mobley show wicked efficiency. In the playoff run, we ran the most complex system to date with Francis. imo, that style of play was far different from the heavy dose of ISO and 3-guard small ball in April 2000. The only player of the starting 5 not clicking in the 2001 run was Shandon. Francis, Mobley, Mo', and Dream were all playing their best ball of the year, largely due to finally getting to play together. 4 out 5 starters running less ISO is a better team in my book, and we prooved it by being better in an intense western playoff race. Our April 2000 was ISO-initiated ball at our best from which we could build. We have definitely gotten better than that as a team, and to go backwards by benching Mobley as if Shandon can ever be a primary option to create for others is..... does anyone want to finish my last sentence for me.
btw: the run of Shandon and Walt really began around March 20th in the midst of a losing streak. Thats when Rudy said enough with the depressing 8-game losing streak, he was going to experiment with small ball.
All I'm saying is that the Rockets played their best ball in the Francis era during that April stretch, and Anderson was starting. heypartner, quit trying to diminish that April stretch to make a point here. You mentioned it countless times during the season to back up statements. So now it's conveniently a "worthless stretch drive". Nice. Look at our record against the top teams in the West this past year, and compare that to the April stretch. Sure, we were in a playoff run, but we weren't beating the top teams. The point is, Shandon would still be our starting 2 if Walt did not suck. Mobley didn't play himself in to a starting job, Walt played himself out of it. With Walt shooting well, Mobley would still be coming off the bench, and Shandon would not be the scapegoat of the entire BBS. I'm not saying Anderson is a better player than Mobley, I'm saying that our team played the best when Mobley came off the bench. Also remember that was at a time when we had no Mo, and no Hakeem, which makes it even more impressive. That April run was "mindboggling".
TheFreak, I don't feel like I have ever diminished it. But I've never wanted us to continue that style of ISO small ball, either. Did you? I have tried to use that success as an indicator of how Rudy coaches. He first makes the defense know what his primary strength is,,,in this case, our guards in ISO. I thought the ISO ball that flourished in April was a confidence builder for the team and a lesson for the league. I have always used that simply as a explanation for what Rudy was trying to accomplish, and to further explain how it was not reasonable to expect a drastic change from that success come Nov. But, Rudy had a plan to build on April. The new style got delayed in roll out due to injuries to centers and Mo' having to play center. When that settled down, we started clicking. The team with Mo in the playoff run was playing better team ball, imo. I have never said the April ball was greater than that, nor did I ever advocate continuing to use it. On the contrary, I kept saying over and over that the April ball was a crutch to fall back on as a way to continue winning while rebuilding the team around better team ball....I kept say "patience" because of it. April ball was ISO-initiated small ball. We have since learned to play better team ball, with more complicated ball movement.
This bit of Freakish logic ignores history. You are making it sound like Shandon played himself into the starting line-up. So, Mobley didn't play well in '99, and Rudy benched him, because he wasn't good enough to make the transition from PG back to his natural position of SG. huh? No, Rudy and CD made a promise to Shandon that he would start as a condition of signing. Mobley was enough of a team player AND a flexible player to go to the bench, yet he is the one who became the "scapegoat of the BBS" (as you say) for over 1 1/2 years, when much of the entire BBS presumed Shandon was the better player...Shandon was never a scapegoat for the whole BBS like Mobley...that is Freakish exaggeration. Rudy knows who his starting 2 is now. And Shandon will never be our starting 2, again. Your Freakish logic to explain that we will forever be better with a solid SF, Shandon starting and Mobley off the bench, can never be taken away from you. I'll give you that. My point is April 2000 success was based on a heavy dose of 3-guard lineup. Francis at 39mp, Shandon at 39mpg and Cuttino around 33-34mpg. Calling that Mobley off the bench is misleading. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 26, 2001).]
I would love to have SA back. I think he is a very good backup and great defensive guard. I am still not sure who will be the 4th G. Its looking more like Coleson all the time. There has got to be a way to fit him, Mo, Cweb and Hakeem under the cap. The newbies seem to have a formula. ------------------ "Chucky who? I thought we were talking about basketball?" Charles Barkley
heypartner: I think TheFreak's arguing that Mobley coming off the bench is a case of comparative advantage. Anderson isn't a great "spark off the bench." Mobley's a terrific one, and compliments the lack of a scorer in the 2nd unit well. Mobley's better than Anderson. Fine. That doesn't mean the Rockets are necessarily better off when he's starting. I think it maximizes our personel when Mobley comes off the bench, as well. ------------------ Newbiehad... coming to a bbs near you, October 31st.
haven, so Francis at 39mpg, Shandon at 39mpg, and Mobley at 33-34 mpg in April is "Mobley off the bench". That is not the best way to describe that offense. The whole season featured Mobley starting all of the 2nd and 4th quarters. At typical bench role is for Mobley to play the 2nd and for 10 mins from the 3rd-4th Q. That is not it. There are 12 more minutes to account for. That is not what it was. It was a 3-guard line-up, just like this year! Just like always. Making Walt the scapegoat for Shandon losing the 2 spot, should conversely mean Walt should get high praise for April success. You can say Mobley off the bench is a comparative advantage, especially since Rudy says it is a luxury. That's fine logic, and becomes a matter of opinion, of which I don't agree. Just don't explain April as anything other than a 3-guard, ISO-initiated attack, with a primary weakside weapon in a 60% shooting Walt, with Shandon as the oppurtunistic 4th option. Shandon does not make other players better. In a "comparative advantage" logical argument regarding basketball, you must look at the advantages of increasing a playmaker's role (Mobley). Using Mobley better as a playmaker makes everyone better. Leaving him an ISO player-only and featuring Shandon more is not going to improve this team. That pretty much sums up my "comparative advantage" logic. Your vision of Mobley seems to be a status quo player ISO-ing off the bench like Vinnie Johnson or Tony Delk. I don't share that vision. Mobley is a playmaker who you can build a team system around. He was never really a typical 6th man; he was always the 4th Q go-to guy once Barkley went down. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 26, 2001).]
