That's true but I don't think that's an unfixable problem. These guys will get it and become a very good team.
[crickets chirping] I think it's hilarious how Francis & Yao got 2 years together (the first 2 years of Yao's career, and only 1 year of Grumpy-ball no less), and they had supposedly already gotten as good as they were going to get. The trade was a no-brainer, but thinking the Rockets had reached some sort of ceiling pre-trade is silly, IMO. They would have improved as much as Yao Ming improved.
Right on! It was a trade you couldn't pass up, it seemed so good. I mean...Tmac...come on....TMAC. But there is no way that last season was the best that SF and Yao would be together (considering if they still played together).
You sound like Orlando fans after the Boston blowout yesterday. Our team DOES look bad, but how many championship teams still look great when they are in a slump?
of course they don't look like champions!!!....NO ONE HAS SAID THIS TEAM IS A CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER TEAM AS IT IS CURRENTLY BUILT!!! that's my whole point. they didn't make other moves this offseason. I can only presume they will add real pieces next season. I guess this is a forum for freaky Rocket fans...I'm cool with that...I just can't imagine how any of you would have thought this team would look good right off the bat with the pieces they have. This is nowhere near a championship team. Nowhere near it. They have zero depth. Contrary to what RocketRiver thinks, this trade is not to be judged based on the depth of the Rockets the season after the trade. Let's see where we are next year...and the next. Those are the telling signs for this trade. they put the two pieces to the puzzle that are the hardest to acquire...two legit players...well, one and the hope that the other one develops. look, if yao doesn't develop, all of this is for naught anyway. there's no doubt of that. what would you do differently??? are you for or against the trade??? you're kinda hard to pin down on that.
yeah...because comparing the Rockets of last year to the T-Wolves and the Spurs is a good comparison. give me a break. i thought i was a homer.
I'm saying they don't look like potential champions. Hakeem always played like a champion, Jordan always played like a champion, even guys who didn't win championships played like champs. There has been nothing about this teams play to get excited about. Maybe a couple of games. Its easy to say, "yeah they aren't expected to win 60 games now" but should we expect them to be over .500. Should we expect them to try to get a rebound? Its not just about the wins and losses, its the way they are losing, especially the last two games As far as the trade is concerned, I think given the fact that the Rockets were not going to trade Yao, and given the fact that McGrady on paper that this was the best move for the Rockets. I agree with ThFreak that the notion that this team had reached a peak is sort of ridiculous, and that reasoning for the trade is flawed because you traded the only player who played well in the playoffs. When McGrady became available and he wanted to come here, the Rockets almost had no choice. But to say that they had to break up just for the sake of breaking up is just wrong. I
Never!!!!!! Dear Orlando Magic: We were just kidding about the Francis trade, can we have him back now? Sincerily Rockets fans /not good at writting letters //cant spell sincerily
I still think the trade was probably the right thing to do, and I didn't think it would make us instant champions, but I do think their is a lot of room to complain about this team. The game against Detroit tonight was horrible. If they put that kind of effort into games it doesn't matter what they have planned for the future they will be lucky to contend for the 8th playoff spot. In previous years the Rockets often made similar mistakes over and over again. This season the lack of effort is has been repeated over and over again, and it is a worse mistake than our team repeated in any previous year. I will always support the gamble on a chance to go further with our basketball team, but we are not on the right track with this gamble so far. It could definitely change but what signs have we seen that this team will put forth the effort to make a difference?
This team playing with absolutely no heart or desire has nothing to do with how long they've played together. I'd take Francis dribbling the ball for 23 seconds then jacking up a shot over this crap any day of the week. At least it won't be Lue doing it.
Great post, I also thought we were close to being a contending team last year and that we should have built around the nucleus of last years team. I wonder how many of those T-Mac trade supporters would have supported the trade if they knew then that we would be 6-10 and looking like we will finish with a sub .500 record and not make the playoffs if we keep playing like this. I for one would have preferred to go the route of keeping last years team and acquiring someone like Rashard Lewis instead of losing 3 quality starters and go through a rebuilding year.
