What's simply amazing is how simple everyone thinks the Rockets' problems are. It is as if we should just be able to wave a magic wand and it would be all better. This team has a lot of problems and not all of them are fixable in the short term. 1. Injuries The best player on the team is out. The second best player on the team is hobbling. The third best player on the team is on the injured list until next year. Do the math. 2. Inexperience Everything from defensive rotations to anticipating passes to getting winded on the floor is effected by the lack of experience this team has. Take away Willis, Williams and Rice (three older, beyond-their-prime players) and you have a team that averages less than 24 years in age. That is ridiculous! 3. Lack of talent We have, essentially, no center. We have a power forward that wouldn't start on any other team in the league. We have a small forward that is well beyond his prime and coming off a debilitating foot injury. Our starting point guard is really a back up. Our back up point guard should probably be in the CBA learning. Our back ups at small forward and power forward consist of an inconsistet shooter who is well past his prime and a 19-year-old who needs a year of weight training. These are the facts. 4. Poor shooting If the team wasn't getting good shots, it would be one thing. But the team misses wide open looks on a consistent basis. Until that changes, we will continue to suck. Fire Rudy. Trade Mobley. Change the offense. Blah, blah, blah. It reminds me of when everyone thought our best option was to sign Kevin Johnson even though he hadn't played in a year and was awful in his last stint in the NBA. Try to face reality, if only for a moment. This team is not that good and it will take more than a wave of the magic wand to fix it.
<B>This team has a lot of problems and not all of them are fixable in the short term. </B> True, but some seem to be fixable. I think the problem many people have is that there seems to be no progress whatsoever in any of the correctable areas. For example, Moochie's dribbling (my personal favorite). There was at least one and I believe multiple occasions last night when the ball was dribbled by Moochie until there were 5 or fewer seconds on the shot clock (there were numerous others where he did the same for 10-15 seconds). This is something that's correctable in the near-term by the coaches. If Moochie refuses to listen, he should be benched. It's obvious that what we're doing is neither working nor improving. Yet, it doesn't appear that we have even considered trying anything different. I don't think people would complain nearly as much if there was some visible attempt at change. Now, there might be some things changing behind the scenes, but as fans, all we can see are the results on the court, and the same <I>correctable</I> problems continue to persist.
Major, you're obviously not watching what's going on over on the weak side. I'm seeing major improvements there.
Flat out horrible, last night. I'm embarrassed. TheFreak, am I becoming an extension of hating Rudy. lol. I agree with Jeff. There is no magic wand. There is no magic system elixir you can pour over the heads. It is tough. It is hard. We can't sustain anything. We suck. But I'm so glad we are not stubbornly having Mobley run the show in Francis's absence. I'd still rather everyone stay in their roles, and fail in their roles, Moochie or not. imo, this is no time for significant change, if you are simply going to switch back to the same offense to accommodate Francis. <font size="1">Not to steal Jeff's thunder, but I could see KT starting on many teams.</font>
I agree with what you say Jeff, but I thought the Rockets should have signed KJ when they had Barkley,Hakeem, and Pippen. That was our last shot and we were going for it all. Hakeem and Rudy didn't want him , Barkely and Pippen did. I agree with your assesment of the team in general. I never thought this team was very talented from the start, even with Taylor healthy. Basically Thomas is doing what Taylor would be doing and probably a better effort on defense. If you look at this team, they have 2 players that can start and have an impact on a team and thats Mobley and Francis. Thats one of the problems that they have is that they only have a couple of players with trade value so its hard to improve your team . If you look at clippers, golden st, and a couple of other young teams, they have some players that other teams would want. I still think its deeper than just hitting shots with this team. I know they're young and suppose to be exciting, but i don't see any excitement and the style of play is totally opposite with the talent. The constant walking up the court, running the shot clock down, and the amount of long range shots the Rockets take is whats contributing to the poor shooting and losses. When the Rockets were winning in the early in the season, but were struggling, everyone was thinking that once the offense comes around, they'll be good. I thought the flags should have be raised then because the teams and the victories were fools gold, just like last season. We did nothing to improve our team other than bring a few average players back and draft a potntial player in Griffin. Its hard enough to win in the west, but the way we got punished last yr at the 4 and 5 spots, I would have thought we would have done everything to improve those positions. Thomas is playing well, but our 3 spot is killing us also. I could go on and on, but people already say I'm not a fan or I hate on the Rockets, but the truth is I'm not a fan, I'm a student of the game and the Rockets hav problems even when Francis gets back and Mobleys is healthy.
<B>Major, you're obviously not watching what's going on over on the weak side. I'm seeing major improvements there.</B> Well, hell, I'm going to have to start watching just the weak side from now on. Nothing good ever happens where the ball is anyway!
<font size="1">no biggie. i was exaggerating to a degree. my point is that he is far from among the elite at a position dominated by some of the best players in the game. carry on. </font>
Bottom line is we look like a CBA team. Maybe we could get some advice from the mastermind of business himself: Isaiah Thomas. Seriously though, it looks like Rudy is going to have an ulcer the size of a big ulcer before this season is over (if it ever ends)..... Even drinking beer didnt help ease the pain of such a sucky performance last night and the past 7 games......
I'm not sure I get Jeff's points. We have a no talent, inexperienced team so we shouldn't blame Rudy who is largely responsible for compilation of said no talent, inexperienced team. We shouldn't change the same offense that we used last year even though we have new rules which crack down on iso play/spacing which basically were the biggest principles of Rudy's offense, and we have a former CBA'er as the catalyst of this same offense instead of Stevie Franchise. You have to mold the offense to the talent you have, not hide your head in the sand and pretend that Moochie/Cat can dribble their way through the middle like they could last year when zones were outlawed.
