I don't know... I think maybe we should keep Mobley. We can't trade everyone all at once. And Mobley is a league average shooting guard. As long as he doesn't jack up shots, which he won't when Francis is gone... he's valueable. Jackson is solid... Spoon is solid... but I mean they are role players, you trade or get rid of them if you can do better, but if you can't it's not like they're hurting you. I think the tradeable peices are Cato and Francis and Nachbar, those are players that other teams will take and give you back real players for. PG that can take care of the ball, and athletic 4 to rebound and defend. I'd be happy with one, estatic with both, and pissed if we get neither.
Not quite sure who is considered the "core," but change is coming for sure, no matter how we do in the playoffs. But that doesn't mean players have to be traded. 1. MJ and Oakley won't be on the team next year, that gives us 2 spots to fill with FAs. 2. Maybe Charlotte will take one of our big guys (Cato, MoT, Spoon). This gives us a potential of 3 open spots on the roster. I think for the most part, we are in need of a real PF. A guy that rebounds, defends, and can score. No more one-dimensional players (Cato, MoT). 2nd, I think its a toss up of a big SF or a PG (backup or starting). 2 guys that come to mind are Barry and R. Lewis. Offseason WishList: 1. Rasheed Wallace- FA this offseason, could stay w/ Detroit. Gives us defense, scoring, and toughness around Yao. 2. Brent Barry- FA this offseason, could come at a nice deal. A smart, JVG type player that can shoot the lights out. Barry could have field day w/ Yao in the paint. 3. R. Lewis- Must be traded for. A big SF that rebounds well and can shoot, could be a nice complement. I think these 3 guys are good, smart players, that could complement Yao's game. Don't forget the 6M-trade exception!!
rockets-#1, you gotta be the most clueles....ahh, forget it...Let's just say you'll be waiting around for a LONG time if you think this team will be anything more than mind numbingly mediocre...
JVG should refuse to have any player that [a]cant play on both ends of the court. Cant or doesnt pass the ball to the open shooter. [c] Cant be submissive to the direction of the coach.[d] He should not go through the impossible struggle of trying to mesh players who are not complimentary to each other.[e] He shoulde not overplay players over 82+games. JVG should select players that fit the above format and will play a significant role in an overall plan. This required tweaking of the Team is a mini rebuilding.
This season has gone almost exactly the same as last season. The team got off to a great start and just completely unravels toward the end of the season. A young team gradually getting worse as the season progresses is not a good sign. It’s usually the other way around. I was hoping at the start of the season that this team would take themselves to the next level and they're pretty much where they were last season (first round fodder/late lottery team).
I say, give us one more season without breaking up the core. See what JVG does after one season of coaching these guys, see what he does over the summer, and see what we're like next year. If we're not contending for championship next year, we should break up the core. -- droxford
That was the case last year...Hell, that's the case every year..."one more season" Pardon my French, but F*** one more season! One more season means this team is one more year older and one more year dumber. Yao is the only person that is off limits this summer...
As much as I'd hate to agree with A-Train, I think he's right that there is no reason to give the group another season. Not that I want to break up the team (I don't), but I think Van Gundy has already had a summer and a season with the team. He knows as well as he's going to who should stay and who should go. This summer is the time for him to get rid of people he can't get production out of and bring in people he can get production out of.
I wouldn't have agreed with this at the beginning of the season, but things have changed. We've seen that these group of guys are talented, but not complements. We know where our weak points are, and to be the best, we need to get rid of them. I'm not saying who needs to go and who needs to stay, but change is coming. Except for JJ and Pike, the Rockets have remained relatively quiet during the offseason lately, the Rockets need to seriously make some noise this summer.
Depending on the deals out there, no way in hell we keep this core together. Yao is untouchable. But we can afford only one young, struggling-to-dominate player. Watching this team fold under pressure game after game after game----watching Steve dribble toward the basket and then flip it mindlessly over his shoulder to the waiting hands of, say, Doug Christie----watching.... Never mind. This territory has already been mined. These leads have already been exhausted.
i agree with A-train; everyone keeps saying they need time to gel, etc; but how long is everyone gonna keep saying that sh~t.
We need a true banger at the 4, & a better 1. How that happens, I have no idea. Again, I don't hateSteve ... just think we could maybe get another all-star type for him, & hopefully lure a decent free agent here!? Hell, I don't know. Something just doesn't gel right when it comes to Steve. I like him, & think he's OK, but we need better pieces/parts from the 4 & 1. We should be good enough to be a 3 or 4 seed, at least. Not a 7 or 8 ... & keeping these 5 as our starters, I don't see us getting that much better in the next couple of years. My opinion.
Other than Yao I don't think you can remove anyone on the team from trade consideration - we're going to have to make the best deals we can period. I snarled when the whold Rudy situated happened, but I'm kind of glad JVG's going to be involved in this overhaul. Do I think he's made a profound impact this season? Not really, but frankly I believe he'll be able to tell CD "I like this deal" even if on the surface it sucks. I think CD's ready to concede nothing's worked out, but at this pont I'm not even sure he'll hang around to do it unless his good name might get some phone calls returned. The good news is (silver lining here) is that the possibility exists we'll be a much better team next year even if we don't get exactly even value in some of the deals. Well the debates here will be lively this off-season, and I still say we may get lucky. There are too many bad teams in the East that may get their hands forced by players and/or owners.
I agreed with what you said. It's definitely not a good sign especially considering that Yao is improving substantially. Just look like the Memphis Grrizlies, they're also a young team and they play a lot better. I don't think they improved much in terms of individual skill, but they are becoming a team with identity and they play like a team. I don't know if that's the fault of players or the fault of coach not being able to mold them into a cohesive unit on the court.
That one more season is just about to end. Lets stop kidding ourselves its either A Yao Ming Team or a Steve Francis Team. Which ever one it is the other should be given a chance to play elsewhere , where they can play their natural game and be fulfilled.
rvpals: The Team cant jell because they have several directions and mind sets among the Players.We must make serious tweaking to get compatible players and must not be emotional about moving household names to other teams. Memphis has been very successfull this season with a deep Roster of Players that can play 10 deep on both ends of the court. They all trust one another and believe in a common goal, which I dont see in this Rockets Team.JVG needs to pick his own supporting cast but no New York Antiques please!!
I do not want to end up as another version of the Suns. They had a good thing, and when things turned a little sour, they tore their team apart by trading a loudmouth who couldn't play defense for a solid point guard and a budding star from a championship team. That did not work out as they intended, so they tore that team apart too - latching like vultures onto the choice cut from the carcass of the "Three J's". But no matter what pieces they placed around their new star, the team couldn't get far in the playoffs. Of course, they gave each piece perhaps a year or two(if they were lucky) to mesh with the star before shipping them off. I can't imagine why that didn't work. Then, they deduced that perhaps the star was the problem - a recent domestic dispute was an easy explanation for a trade - and they moved him for another star point, of a lesser caliber. They stumbled at first, but then happened upon an athletic, powerful forward - something they'd lacked since they started this mess. This team was fast, athletic and young. They had the pieces in place and even made a surprise push into the playoffs, and gave the eventual champions a series at least as tough as they faced in the Finals. All they needed was the patience to see it out. Not even halfway through this season - with the team struggling - they tore this team apart too. They did get some lovely talent for their star point - talent that will doubtless take a few years to mesh with their young forwards. Years they will most likely not get. Building a title contender is no easy task - you have merely to look at the Los Angeles Lakers - blessed with the best GM in the game and the afterglow of "Showtime" they made one last run at the Finals on the fading legs of the best point guard to ever play. After that, it took them five years to even get the pieces in place to contend again - and three more after that until they finally broke through and won it. And this was with a sure thing at center, who had already been to the Finals. Perhaps I missed something, but we have no player who will give us the dominant force the Lakers got when they signed that center - at present. Perhaps this group will never gel together to put a third banner in the rafters, but I dare say that judging them after only two years - years in which the star player on this team has been acclimating himself to a league radically different than anything he's ever played in - is premature in the extreme. In conclusion, I wonder - how many of you who voted no on this poll would've traded Akeem before he got the chance to become Hakeem and lead this franchise to two titles? After all, how many years of 42-40 and first round exits can a person take?
How can you even draw parallels to Akeem? Do you honestly belive that? Or do you just lump player(s) into a "greatness" before they've even achieved anything significant? (Akeem showed signs; Finals in 86). I mean, shouldn't there be signs? Evidence? Something? While it's true that Francis needs better talent around him than Akeem did... At the same time Francis doen't play well with others i.e., his game works better when he's playing an ISO style. Catch-22. That means that the more talent we bring in, the less Francis will utilize them. Why would you prefer that type of player? Look at is this way. It's not about "playing nice nice" and making sure we don't hurt Francis feelings. It's about keeping the presure on him so that it forces change either through trade or his game.
