What Shandon has to do to earn more time. I mean his D is great. No one is (oops I should say "was", being how long a layoff its been for him) scoring on him at all. In the first quarter hes hit all his shots, grabbed a few boards and dished a couple of dimes. I mean do I really have to watch Drew struggle at the end of the half, when Anderson was off to such a fine start? Anyone who could even speculate as to why, Id seriously appreciate it. No kidding. [This message has been edited by thedreamshake99 (edited December 15, 1999).]
answer=Rudy T I've said how I feel about it before.....Time for Rudy to become the GM after this season.......and I'm as serious as a heart attack. [This message has been edited by Hardwood Hammer (edited December 15, 1999).]
Im also serious about this too. If Mobley has to get traded for Anderson to get playing time then, TRADE MOBLEY. Anderson is the second best offensive scorer and he is smart and knows what to do at end of games. I dont know what rudy is doing, I like him ALOT but he doesnt know what he is doing at the end of games. ALSO ANOTHER THING.... HOW HARD ARE FREE THROWS!!!!
TDS99, Since SA is the person on the roster who has played in major minutes in NBA playoff games, Rudy should have him on the court more. I acknowledege Matt B, but he is a specialist. Composure (nerves) in the fourth quarter is what is hurting them. With CB4 gone, SA is the next person up with crunch time experience. Mango
Mango. Good point, I never would of even thought of that. Anderson is the only person with any real playoff experience. But its like Rudy is set on sitting this guy regardless. Look Im all for getting other players in the game, but Francis and Anderson should of played at least 40 mins. Whats the problem here. Cato aint going to learn if he's sat at every opp. You would think with Hak., Bark., and TMAss out Cato would be loggin big minutes to grow into his role of eventual starting Center. The guy cant get off the bench long enough to get any kind of flow going. [This message has been edited by thedreamshake99 (edited December 16, 1999).]
ds99, I agree, it's a good question. Here's the one that's been bothering me: Steve Francis completely takes over the game at the end of the 3rd quarter and has the Rockets up by 9. So why sit him down for the first 6 minutes of the 4th quarter and let San Antonio get back into the game? We're not going to win a close game with the Spurs, so why not just go for the kill at the start of the 4th?
Steve Francis completely takes over the game at the end of the 3rd quarter and has the Rockets up by 9. So why sit him down for the first 6 minutes of the 4th quarter and let San Antonio get back into the game? We're not going to win a close game with the Spurs, so why not just go for the kill at the start of the 4th? aelliott - I was thinking that Rudy was going to leave him in, judging by how he's coached in years past. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw him start the quarter on the bench. The past couple of years, Rudy would never use his bench, always leaving his starters in the game the entire 3rd quarter and the start of the 4th. Then, the game usually stays close, and our starters get tired. With the game still close, Rudy is then afraid to pull his starters. We eventually end up losing the game because he is either forced to take out key players at crucial stretches, or our guys are worn out at the end of the game and have nothing left. I was happy to see Francis start the 4th on the bench, so he could come back in after a few minutes and be fresh for the rest of the quarter. I'd rather have him sitting at that time than when there was only a few minutes left in the game.
I think if Rudy was sitting people to keep them fresh, we would of seen Francis earlier. He didnt need any more rest. Are we forgetting that this kid is 21? He had to sit just about the entire 2nd quarter then had the halftime on top of it. Francis didn't need a breather. I guess Anderson needed that 4th quarter breather right up until the next game then.
Why would Rudy even think about using THam and Thomas as our big men down the stretch. People forget, both those guys are rookies. Rodgers did a wounderful job on Duncan and we're certainly not paying Cato for his offense. Instead, Rudy used an unfavorable mismatch with Thomas on Duncan, and the imobile THam on the extremely mobile Robinson. Oh yea, I forgot, Rudy has made his career out of foolish substitutions. I've always respected Rudy and always will. He's good to his players, good to the organization, he has a great eye for talent. However, I truely believe his time has past, and now is a great opportunity to bring in some new blood with new ideas about how our team should be coached. Make Rudy the GM, but not the coach.
Maybe the fact that Anderson and Rodgers were the primary culprits in the Rockets poor free throw shooting (you know, one of the main reasons the Rockets lost) had something to do with their place on the bench in crunch time. My guess is that Tomjanovich was looking for a spark from anyone besides Francis, who was being double-teamed every time he touched the ball in the fourth. Anderson wasn't creating much on his own offensively, and when he did, he missed the freebies. Cato was doing his usual bite on the pump fake routine, and Thomas had shown more aggression inside than any of the other Houston big men all night. The substitutions really aren't that hard to figure out. I would take issue with Rudy on the use of Mobely, though. If I was coaching this team, my first task would be to tell Cuttino that the next time he tries to make the simple look spectacular, his butt would be on the bench for the rest of that game, maybe more.
Biggest proble is we have 2 guys for one position. I think until we make the committment to play small ball and move anderson/mobley to the 3 that we will always have this problem. Anderson is a good player on D, and he has had 2 great offensive games when Francis was out, but Mobley is a good offensive player (even though he had a bad game last night). I really like both of these guys and would rather see these guys & Francis get as many minutes as possible.
