Our guards are all about looking pretty in the box score, but not about playing winning basketball. They huff and they puff, and they do the fancy CRAP, and they lose.... HELLO !!!! Earth to Francis and Mobley and Norris, sometimes the safe pass is the RIGHT pass. This is very frustrating to watch them trying to consistently dribble through the double team, IT MAY work once in a while but it is a bad...BAD play. Down 2 with the ball and Francis screws around with it in the corner tosses to mooch who diddles with it on the edge then tosses up an ACME that is pure NBA...(Nothing But Air) This team is pathetic, the High Pick and roll works if you LEARN how to pass it to the open man....I am just about ready to ship Cuttino out, and move Francis to the 2, this experiment is just not working. DaDakota
You can visit any playground and see the same kind of basketball. And best of all, you don't have to pay to watch.
It's apples and oranges but I watched the first half of the Sacramento-Memphis game and it's just a joy to watch Sacramento execute on offense. There were a couple of boneheaded things, but they did some nice makeup plays on D. A couple of times you have to just say "whoa" in response to watching them. As an aside, Gasol showed a nice shooting and passing touch and he played D on Divac for part of the game.
This team will go NOWHERE until someone other then Francis or Mobley is the primary option. Having those 2 knuckleheads responsible for the teams decision making process is assanine. EG is our only hope !! DaDakota
Did anyone else notice that the guards were just passing among themselves early on. The team had the lead for a while, but I knew sooner or later playing in this manner would start to hinder the team. DaDakota, your right, EG is our only hope. At such a young age, he already has more poise and court presence than both Steve and Cuttino.
12 turnovers between 2 players...there is our game...sloppy ball care! I did not see any...I mean any turnovers that were forced by Atlanta. We controlled that game and gave it away. I saw a lot of shot clock violations, trying to pass out of double-teams cross court..typical Rockets stuff....bad game..we all have one....
Francis is fine. The offense goes stagnant when Moochie or Cuttino run things. At least Francis makes an effort to get others involved.
I've lost count of how many times I've seen Steve drive the lane only to toss a lob to no one that results in a turnover. And how many times have you seen Steve cross someone over only to stand there and try to cross that guy over again and again instead of driving to the basket on the first crossover. What the heck is that about? There is definitely too much style over substance out there.
ZRB, You are joking right? Francis is the MAIN man, and thus needs to take responsibility for his actions, and lead this team. Right now, he is too busy yelling "and one" each time he shoots, or turning it over an alarming 4 times a game. Heck, I could deal with 4 turnovers a game if he was getting at least 8 or 9 assists. Francis is a super talent, who does not know how to win, and lump Mobley in there too. DaDakota
Honestly, I think it is more the ineptitude of Steve's teammates than Steve himself. He has had a bad couple of games, but I think you can attribute that to his inability to play consistantly, more than his own lack of basketball intelligence.
I am not certain of his 5 game stats, but he has to be about a about a 1-1.5:1 assist to turnover ratio.. could be the headaches or something else, but this cost us heavily...all assists were wiped out on the other end when tos are converted and the turnovers were not forced...just bad judgement. this is a good thing, because this can be fixed...I would be more concerned if the tos were forced.....
To answer the question... it's as a sort of safety valve in case this evolution-into-humans things doesn't work out. So far, I'd say it's touch and go.
EG is awesome, but he's too young. And he will never run the offense. That will always be someone else's job (Steve's now). His job will always be to shoot, block, and rebound. Defend and score - not run the offense... I am hoping that Steve's recent play (TOs) is a result of his migraine problems. At least he's not a selfish PG - we all know where those lead. This team will have two superstars. Will it still be fair to call Steve "The Franchise"? I think we'll go back to "Wink" when EG makes an All-Star team...
THREE TRENDS WHERE THERE HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY NO PROGRESS THIS YEAR: * culture of selfishness. The team simply doesn't make the extra pass or trust teammates. More turnovers than assists vs. a team as beat up as we are * in your face commitment to defense...where is it with our quick, young, legs? Look at our opponent's FG %, highest in the league I believe. And look how few steals/game. DISGUSTING. * very few easy baskets because we don't really push the ball every possession. We don't take advantage of our speed, quickness and youth! Look at Jason Kidd, they move the ball upcourt quickly even after a made basket, and often with the pass (guys, remember what a pass is??) I don't know where things are breaking down, but either this group is uncoached or uncoachable. Don't tell me "they're young," most college teams have better discipline than the Rox. Someone please help me, 'cause this is not getting better and it's no fun to watch
Dallas Rocket, 100 % correct, this team has regressed considerably this year. Steve Fancy and Cutturnover Mobley are the main two guys, and until they step up and lead in a positive manner the Rockets will continue to lose more often then they should. DaDakota
Dakota and Dallas Rocket are right. This is a BAD basketball team. Our defense is pretty much non-existent on most nights. It's pathetic that we can rarely get a fast break because our guards are to busy out rebounding our big men. There is very little trust between any players outside of the guard trio and Eddie Griffin. Do I even need to bother to mention how painfully boring it is to watch 48 minutes of ISO's and high pick-n-rolls??? I think the first step to changing this trend is possibly dealing Moochie or even KT(Jamaal Magliore?!!!!) just to shake things up and hopefully restore a sense of urgency.
