Great thread! A couple points: 1. Shandon isn't as good as Mobley on offense, but this doesn't mean you should ignore him, as Verse seems to suggest. Versatility on offense is an important factor for any team, and the Rockets have very little right now. 2. Sort of forgotten in dreamshake's post: It seems that Francis MAY be running a "buddy system" offense to an extent. Sure, I can understand Anderson not having shots in a couple of games... but his #'s are RIDICULOUSLY low. It really makes oen wonder... he never had trouble getting open last year. I'm really wondering how seriously Mobley and Francis are taking being the "leaders." Mobley's comments can be scary. 3. Anderson, after the all star break, was quite good on offense. We know he *can* score given the opportunity. he's not getting it. Sure, he could get points in transition... but he didn't get them last year, and he still scored. 4. I agree 100% with previous posters here: Anderson is our best (or 2nd best) defensive player. It's hard for any player to consistently be overlooked, and remain positive. Making sure Shandon gets a few more shots every day (say, instead of Mobley taking bad shots) wouldn't hurt anybody. ------------------ Shandon Anderson rocks. The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001.
Great Thread.... I spoke about this in another thread. Well I have a question for everyone on the board. If you have played any type of BasketBall no metter if it's pickup games, Semi-Pro or whatever. You know the bad taste you get in your mouth when you bust your butt on defense and do all the dirty work; and then you are forgotten on offense. How about when you play at the rec or at the park and you play with someone who never pass the ball. And lets not forget the friend play; when friends are only passing to friends. So think about what Shandon is going thru right now. Trust me people it's not fun and it should never happen at a professional level. DS stated this earlier "It is Rudy T's job to straighten this mess up". HP - I understand that Shandon had a bad game in LA. And the stats that you have can prove that. But agian as I stated above remember when you played ball in the same situation that Shandon is playing in. You start to force shots to try to get yourself involved in the offense. Am I saying this is right, No I'm not. But Rudy has to find a way to get everyone on the floor involved; not just 2 or 3 people. This is only the beginning of bad things to come if Rudy doesn't step in and fast. Let's think about it, if Shandon is starting to get upset with what's going on. Then who will be next? ------------------ When we win the fans are behind us. When we go thru a re-building process they dog us out..
Lets look at Shandon a little closer. Last year was his first year in a new system, with new teammates, with a whole new coaching philosphy, so throw out his first few months as he got accustomed to all these aspects. From that point on, lets call it the 2nd or 3rd month of the season Anderson had a few 30 point efforts, a few near 30 and almost always shut his man down. To look at what he did after the first 1/3 of the season and claim he has no offensive skill is fundamentally wrong. Ability to beat your man off the dribble is not the only qualifier for a decent scorer. For as much as people want to down Shandons offensive abilities for not being able to dominate one on one, Ill challenge you find Mobley back screening, setting picks, rolling high and low on pick and rolls, slashing to the hoop in transition or making the move on a backdoor cut. Mobley does none of these things well, but because he chooses to shoot more and outside the flow of the game, he's deemed a better offensive player? Does anyone realize that Shandon could probably be the one jacking up idiotic shots from 18 feet, fadeing away, with 4 people open, while he was quadruple teamed? Lets also point out that before Shandons accused blowup point, the Laker game, he had scored 25, and 19 in a 4 game stretch. The math isnt hard to figure out here guys. Complain during the laker game, and since then get snubbed. Leading to 3 shots a game, and falling fast. I will not accept the "notion" that Shandon Anderson has no offensive ability. Shandon was coming into his own that last season in Utah, and was the only reason (on offense mind you) Utah pulled a series win over Sacremento. After getting acclimated with his new team, he still managed to score 15 points a game, while sitting almost all the 4th quarters the rox played. He started off this season very well on offense. If you dont count his very first game, after his mothers death, up until the Lakergate he was averaging 18 points per game. The man has offensive abilities. Problem is Rudy doesnt have the ability to run a motion offense. Instead he beats one horse to a number of wins, and sticks with it till hes forced to change. Two people dictate the flow of offense for a team. The coach, and the Point Guard. And if indeed Francis is snubbing him, and we all know, love him or not that Rudy just isnt capable of coming up with elaborate offenses that includes the entire team, then that is going to be why Shandon isnt scoring. And isnt putting up shots. Shandon Anderson may not have better ball handling skills, but is way way better the offensive player that Mobley is from a team aspect. It just happens that Mobley shoots everything that comes his way, and his dribbling dribbling, clear out fits in with Rudy's simple game planning. ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink [This message has been edited by Dreamshake (edited November 20, 2000).]
I'd take Bonzi's ISOs over Shandon's ISOs, too. Bonzi is a (slightly) better offensive player than S.A. But I don't think there's a vast difference between their abilities. As for Moochie, I didn't realize it was just 5 for the season. But that is still 5 too many. Heck, if all you want is a SG who plays defense and runs, then go and get Rodrick Rhodes again. I think Anderson is a pretty good offensive player, who has only scratched the surface of where he could be. Remember he's a young guy, and this is just his 2nd year as a starter. I think its way too early to pigeonhole his role. He needs the opportunity to develop: thats one of the reasons he came to Houston in the first place. ------------------
SamCassell, the stats I listed above only include the 5 games I posted ISOmetric stats for. (I have 4 more games on paper at home I need to post stats for)
anderson is a key to our rebuilding. Not only does he have the class-act and sportsmanship that our organization needs, he's a heck of a baller. Someone earlier posted that he's a smart player that takes good shot selection and during shooting slumps fills that gap up by getting the ball to the players that are. He also steals and plays consistent D. He ignites the group when needed and does a great job keeping his composure during his runs or slumps instead of dancing around like a child. I agree with someone's notion that loosing anderson will be 2 steps back in the rebuilding process. yet i would say make that 3 or 4 years back because we loosing our key to the defence and our class/reputation is worth more than two years. If we loose Anderson i'm personally gonna bash the rockets organization myself for loosing this gifted fella'. ------------------ "Wahooo"-homer
well, if we keep bashing Mo, he'll leave and then we can give Anderson an offer he can't refuse. Dreamshake,,,you know Anderson will stay, because he loves Rudy's focus on defense. Rudy will not allow someone starter minutes for a whole season if they are lazy. <font size="1">(Anyone who says Barkley was lazy will receive my relentless wrath for all eternity. There is nothing lazy about rebounding machines.)</font> I am sure Rudy has Anderson's upmost respect, and Rudy considers him irreplaceable. ...patience...people. The article was bogus. There is no problem. Shandon rox, and he will play a huge role in a maturing offense. You just cannot open a can of motion in this league, nor just say Run...Run...Run. It is a coordinated effort that few NBA teams can accomplish, and certainly not after a complete revamp of the starting lineup...geeze...patience. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 21, 2000).]
Heypartner. You and I are going to have to see things differntly on this one. I firmly believe that Shandon doesnt have Rudys respect. Try explaining why Shandon all year last year sat on the bench in the 4th quarter. When the Rox needed a run that focused on D. It was a lineup of Francis, Mobley, Williams, Bullard, and Cato on the floor. If he has Rudys respect why cant Rudy run 2 or 3 plays a half for the man???? Not a whole lot to ask. And dont tell me because Iso is his game plan. Every coach knows you cant run the same plays repeatedly. I dont need that article to substantiate what is going on on the game floor. Shandon is ghost on the offensive side of the floor, and its simply impossible for him to only take 0-2 shots a game. Dont forget, Anderson was grumbling as far back as last year about how the coach was not using him, and the comment being floated out there was something to the tune of "Never should of left UTAH." He should of. At least in Utah the coach demands team effort. Coachs a great offensive game plan, and he wouldnt be sitting in favor of a free wheeling, non defensive, shoot everything player like Mobley. Id be pissed If I were Anderson too. ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink
Ah cmon Heypartner. How am I sposed to get anyones attention without using such eye popping exaggerations like: "8 million times better" ??? ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink
Heypartner, I read most of your replies in the thread, and I have respect for your knowledge in basketball; however, I have to disagree with you and some other people too. Let's start by saying that basketball is a team game (NOT INDIVIDUALS, if you want to be start all by yourself play tennis or golf where your name is the name of your team). I do not like the idea of Mobley "hot hand" shooting every ball he gets. I do not like the idea of Francis pairing with Mobley and deciding that this is their offense, and that's the way they are going to run it. I do not believe Rudy is going to allow this for much longer. He knows that to win a Championship you need a good team, and not only two good players. Just think about what we would have done without Cassell, Mario, Horry, Smith, Thorpe, etc (During the championship years). They got their offense running too, and let me tell that when Mario decline in his offense, we got rid of him. SA is part of this team, and he should get involved in the offense too. I do not think that if Shanon is only a defensive player, then he should be an starter for the Rockets. Ha, If he does not plays offense, he should not be part of the Rocket. However, we need to get him involve, and let himself dictate if he is good enough to be a Rocket. Also, we need to make Mobley pass the ball and get his teammates involve too because he would never win a game by himself. ------------------
OK, I can accept it, as long as you tone down the exaggerations (e.g., "Francis is 8 million times better" and "Shandon is way, way, way better"). I'd like to start a thread about motion this weekend, and give my first assessment of our 1st and 3rd quarters (the starters). Join me, I always like hearing your side. But do me one favor: watch the 1st and 3rd quarters more closely and tell me how many plays (if any) you see. Take a renewed look at these quarters, and tell me what is right/wrong with Francis and Dream. Watch Dream in the high post.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, Cat is pretty bad at passing (relatively), and he cannot coordinate a set. Most of Rudy's headaches likely come from that. Cat is NOT a PG. He's an excellent SG; nothing more, nothing less. Steve is also a natural 2 Guard, but given his ability, he makes for a pretty good PG in a pinch - what we're doing now. He could probably play any position except for C. Actually, Mooch is probably a better true PG, as he is both unselfish and has no desire to challenge the elites for records... Anyway, Cat is a pure SG. He can carry the ball for short stretches, but normally he just scores. If he'd just work on his outside shot, he'd be a lock for BBHOF in 8-9 years. Not often that a 40+ draft pick is even considered for that, that early. But I have to repeat this: Cuttino is NOT a PG. He can only play that in short stretches. We want him to be a shooter, not a general. ------------------ [This message has been edited by treeman (edited November 22, 2000).] [This message has been edited by treeman (edited November 22, 2000).]
well treeman, you didn't see last night's game then. Mobley just needed a pick. After the timeout and the Francis alley-oop play, we went to a high pick-n-roll getting Mobley to the middle. He proceeded to score or pass for 16 of our last 19 points. 16 of 19. 4 assists. At crunch time. Rudy just needed to give the guys more practice. Mobley is willing to pass, but he needs a pick into the middle to really produce. This require team coordination, which just wasn't there yet. You can not open a can of woop-ass 4 out 1 flex without practice. Note, what we saw last night, won't work all the time. Indiana clearly was not prepared. Teams that do stop it, we will still resort back to the 2 Shakes crutch. But I am definitely thrilled with what Rudy is producing here...piece by piece. Rudy caught Indiana off guard (pun intended) and Mobley executed perfectly. He had a great 4th quarter at crunch time last night. bask in that, will ya. Quit bashing our team with tired ass commentary while ignoring the team's ongoing development. watch the games!! <font size="1"><font color="> [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 22, 2000).]
HP: I won't deny that Cat is one of the GoTo men on this team - put the ball in his hands in clutchtime and he'll usually create on his own, and score 2/3. But the 4th quarter is not the game. I don't have stats on his performance-over-quarters, I just know what I see. I do not see him controlling the ball well over the first 3 quarters. Granted, that's not his job - that's Steve's job - but I just don't see him as a good ball handler (aside from those 4th quarter shots we love to see him make - when he makes them...) You've got to admit, his job is to score. And score when necessary (usually in the 4th). And he does it well, despite those stupid "in your face" bricks he puts up every game. I just can't help but think that if he was more consistent, we wouldn't be put in a position where he'd need to make a clutch play in the 4th in the first place. I'd rather he hit his shots in the 3rd or the 2nd - when they're not so loud, but they count just the same. BTW, sorry if it sounded like I was "bashing" our team. I didn't mean it to sound like that. (I am an idiot, after all) I have never had anything but high hopes for the Rox; ever since I learned what a basketball was they have been my favorite team. Also born/raised in Houston - I've never known any other loyalty. I'm a bit insulted that... Aw hell, never mind. Doesn't matter. But Cuttino is still not a PG. (that was my only real point) ------------------
I apologize to you. Sometimes I start a post by talking specifically to someone's post, but finish by making more general comments about the whole bbs without considering that I'm still really talking to another person. I didn't really mean you personally in the end of my post above. Sorry for not making that clear. In recap, I was specifically addressing your comments that Mobley doesn't pass or can't run a set by explaining what I saw last night and what I know a 4 out 1 flex can do once a team has practiced it over and over. It won't be that hard for Mobley to execute a set in the 4 out 1, once the team as a whole is well practiced in it; Mobley is perfect for it. By the end of the post, I was mainly addressing the whole board by saying "bask" don't "bash" and saying "Mobley doesn't pass" is "tired commentary" up against what we saw last night. cheers treeman and I apologize again for insulting a true rockets diehard. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 22, 2000).]
No problem. I think we all do the same thing. I'm usually juggling at least two different boards myself, and I often forget who I'm... Well, you know. I'm somewhat surprised when I get a single post right. That's why I'm constantly calling myself an idiot - just in case... ------------------
