... is because he it utterly selfish! Face it. The Rockets are still 3-4 years away from being a contender. Now, they will likely make the PLAYOFFS next year if Francis is healthy, but they are still far from CONTENDERS i.e. Sacramento. Look at what happened to Sacramento last night... they are a more talented ball club, but they had never faced the pressure of a Game 7. A talented team must experience the palyoffs (and defeat) several years before they will win it all. Think of all the years DREAM's rockets flamed out in the playoffs, culminating in the painful Game 7 loss to Seattle in 92. I would not be surprised if the Kings win it all next year. Now Mobes claims that we need Odom and its "All over!" What a load of b.s. He wants to build for now bc he is 27 and entering his prime. The rest of our nucleus is a few years younger Francis, Griffin and god willing... MING. If we draft Ming, he will likely take 3-5 years to develop. Mobley will be in his thirties, have lost a step and be nearing the end of his contract. That is why he wants to build for now. If I were Rudy or CD, I would want to choke Mobley for his comments on The Best Damn Sports Show. Let's compare our Rox to the Kings and see how Mobes claims would stack up. Center: Cato & Co v. Divac Edge: Sacramento Cato is well... Cato, the tepid, confidenceless frustration of a player we have all grown to tolerate at best. Divac... while inconsistent and erratic. Is still among the best centers in the league (says a lot about the dearth of post-up big men in the league) and a nifty passer. Power Forward: Rockets The three headed Monster (Mo T, Kenny T, and Griffin) Griffin, if he is coached properly and displays a good work ethic, has the potential to be a SICK player. I remember watching him in the Rocky MOuntain Review, he had a nice fadeaway J in the post and ran the floor well. The three point range was something unexpected that emerged during that painful season we just endured. Kenny T - Explosive, undersized slasher. Good man off the bench, not as a starter. Mo T - Excellent jump shooter. Has a deep phobia of the post and banging on the boards. In short, a poor, poor man's Chris Webber. v. Sacramento Chris Webber - Gaudy stats. Impressive passing ability. Runs floor well. Mediocre post up game for his size. Not a good decision maker in the clutch. Not worth the max because he lacks a warrior mentality. Edge: Sacramento (for now) Small Forward Peja v. ? Obvious win for Sacramento. If Peja was healthy, he might have made the difference against LA. Maybe not because he is inconsistent in the playoffs and has Doug Christie Syndrome i.e tries to not lose instead of tries for the win in the clutch. Shooting Guard: Christie v. Mobley Hmm... tough comparison. Christie plays tough D and provides intangibles. Excellent role player. Mobley could do all that but wants the limelight instead and is a gunner. Not afraid to take and make shots in the clutch. Perhaps he can learn to play D? Edge: Rockets Point Guard: Bibby v. Francis Bibby makes all the right decisions. Nearly carried the Kings to the promised land by himself. Makes teammates better. Tries on D. Francis. The Franchise. Can score at will. Amazing athlete. Best rebounding PG I've ever seen. So-so decision making skills. Makes teammates better bc D has to focus so much on him, but is not an excellent passer. A sieve on D. Edge: Rockets Tough call. I even looked at their ages as a guide. Only a year difference.... Gotta give it to Francis. He is almost overly unselfish. HE would have made the difference if on Sacramento. Put Bibby on the Rockets and we are the Grizzlies. Bench: Sacramento hands down. May change if Rice is healthy and depending on how the offseason unfolds. ____________________________________________________ Adding Odom would not put us up with the Kings, let alone the Lakers. We need to build for the next three years. Draft Ming. Set a goal of making the playoffs for next year. And finally, give Mobley his wish. Trade him plus Rice for Odom. Mobley is a bargain and Rice's contract will expire soon. Make the Clips throw in the #8 and pick up a SF/SG in the draft or via free agency. We keep Mo T, Kenny T and Cato, giving us a solid bench for years to come. IF that happens, then "it's over"... in three to five years. Shaq will be gone, ushering in the MING DYNASTY. Rockets Sacramento
Rudy T & management are the ones putting up an air of stability and that's what's separating ourselves from the other NBA bottom feeders. I'm trusting them to deal with it, and not let some player (or players) have too much say on personel changes.
Young players wanting to win NOW is not "selfish." Wanting to get into the playoffs to learn, is not selfish. Hell, Les and Rudy want to win NOW!!! Have you ever played competetive sports. Wanting to win NOW, is simply....uh, wanting to win NOW! That is where the fun is, and that is what you live for. Same with us fans buying season tickets. I can totally agree with Mobley wanting Odom...NOW, but I can also agree with him saying if Ming is the real deal, then get him!!! So, we can win NOW!!! You did read Mobley's other quotes, didn't you? Now, being in your waning twilight years and demanding Turkscan, instead of Lewis...for one last hurrah...may classify as selfish. But a young Mobley (and Francis...don't forget Francis reportedly is in agreement, too) wanting to win NOW, may be silly and counter-productive vs taking Ming...but it not selfish. good grief, man. bad take...really poor.
Thank you for saying that! I was pulling my hair out reading run-bdp's post! run-bdp if you want to ride Mobleys ass then fine but don't do it because he wants to win...please!
run-bdp I also think you were a bit hard on Mobley. That being said, I thought it was an excellent post analyzing the Rockets vs Sacramento and a good answer to those who think that another decent player or two automatically makes us contender.
So, lets take out Gasol for most of the season and see how many games you guys win... Rockets will never be compared to the Grizz. I hope... thats a low... You guys don't even have better post players - what you DID have was a better rookie... and even that is soon to change...
Since when is wanting to to get a multi-talented player to help win now being selfish!? What if Kevin Garnett said he wanted Gary Payton and that it would be "All over". Would that make him selfish? By the way, if we wait 3-5 years that would make Mobley about 30 years old, right in the middle of his prime.
I think he was saying if healthy we'd still be no better than Memphis with Bibby, but when healthy the Franchise made us an above .500 team last year (and last year's team had less talent). To say that we're Memphis now is obsurd. We had 5 more wins and were destroyed by injuries. Our starting PF and SF were virtually out the entire year and our franchise player/PG missed over 20 games. I think its fair to say that our team is better than Memphis. I know y'all like to live in dream world, but y'all had significantly fewer injuries to key players and the Grizz still lost 5 more games than us.
What? Getting Odom would TAKE shots away from him. How does adding another 20 ppg player mean more shots for Mobley OR Francis!? In fact it would take the ball out of his hands since Francis and Odom would probably primarily handle the ball.
1) the quote from heypartner (haven't figured out the Quote feature) ____________________________________________________ Young players wanting to win NOW is not "selfish." Wanting to get into the playoffs to learn, is not selfish. Hell, Les and Rudy want to win NOW!!! Have you ever played competetive sports. Wanting to win NOW, is simply....uh, wanting to win NOW! That is where the fun is, and that is what you live for. ____________________________________________________ I played Varsity ball and played Competitive IM thru college. I am as competitive as the next guy, in fact I am more. I want the Rockets to make the playoffs and I believe we would without Odom. We were only a few games away a couple of years ago, injuries kept us out this year. I am riding MObley bc if we trade for Odom we would make the playoffs but not have chance to go anywhere. You have to rebuild properly (no matter what delusions some of us have on the board, we are rebuilding.). Save Jordan's Bulls, most championship teams have a dominant big man (94-95 Rockets, Lakers with Wilt, LAkers with Kareem, Lakers with Shaq, etc.) or a slew of skilled or physical big men like the Pistons and Celtics of the 80s. No matter who we trade for save Duncan, KG, etc. we will not contend for at least three more years. In three years, MIng could very well be the best center in the league. (I doubt Shaq will play much longer than 3 years, maybe 5, in which case he will still be better than Ming). We do not need ODUMB. Championship teams are built around a couple of superstars and quality players who accept their "roles" i.e. play D, hit the boards, shut down the opposing teams best scorers. We do not need a trade to land Brand, Odom, and Olowkandi. We need to let Ming and Grffin develop and surround them with gritty role players. Think back to the championship years - the Mario Elies, young Sam Cassell off the bench, Horry, etc. Adding someone as pricey as ODOM will cause too great of a hit to our salary cap, and does not fit our needs - POST MEN. Look at what happened in Portland. NBA basketball is not your freakin fantasy league. Get a core of two and at most three superstars, and build around them. For us, that would be Griffin, MIng, Steve, and maybe Mobley if he grows up. I was not too hard on him, comments like he made on The Best Damn Sports show could effect our hand in trade negotiations and with the Chinese govt. What do you think the govt thought about Mobley's immature tirade? I hope they didnt see it.
He wasn't "hard" on him at all! In fact, he should have taken Cuttino to task! Since when did Cat become the GM? Since when did he become the "conscious" of the team? Since when did he "grow some" to basically call out RT and CD on national TV as to what the Rockets should do? If Cat fancies himself a "leader" on the team, why doesn't he "call out" guys like Cato(lazy), Steve(poor defender), etc. on national TV also?! It's so freakin' easy to talk smack when it's not face-to-face and Cat has proven that! Be a "real" leader Cat and address the current problems on the team BUT don't go around talking smack on national TV! That isn't being a leader; it's being a punk!
If I hadn't actually seen what Mobley said, I'd think he was an ass on that show. None of what you described, actually took place.
No, he never came out and actually called-out RT and CD BUT the implications(as subtle as they may have been) were evident. How can you get on a national show and broadcast to the world that you'd rather trade the pick and pick-up a "proven" player like Odom while all the while knowing that your organization is in "delicate" negotiations w/ Ming's people? How can that not be anything but disrespectful and just in very poor taste? I'd even go as far as calling it subversive! just my take on it, of course.....
