I have to say, I've been looking things over and I just don't see a very bright future for this team. I'm not gonna run through the Francis problems because they are being discussed quite a bit. But what can we do? If we keep him and nothing changes, we are screwed. If we trade him, we most likely won't get equal value back. Some people think it'd be addition by subtraction, but I seriously doubt that. Next years draft looks pretty weak and it means starting over if we opt for that rout. So we have to hope that if he stays, that he can improve his game, but his recent immaturity makes that seem highly doubtful. Ming has shown flashes of brilliance, but hasn't been consistant. When he should have stepped up in Francis' abscense and shown that he's being held back by Steve, he only put up an ok game. He'll never be a team leader, he just doesn't have it in him. He doesn't have to be though, especially if he puts up monster numbers, but I'm quickly losing confidence that he'll be a GREAT center. I wasn't so big on Van Gundy at first, but then I warmed up to him. Lately though, I started looking into his stats and I'm not so impressed. He's been to the finals, but the guy he replaced has been there twice and won both times. His carreer winning % is .588 and the Rockets this year have a .563 winning percentage. The difference is only one win. Now, we should also take into account that he did that in the Eastern conference which has been and still is a joke during most of his tenure as the Knicks head coach. The team he took to the finals only had a .540 winning percentage btw. What's sad is that this team is basically performing at the average of what Van Gundy's teams have done. They're points allowed are better than the average of the Knicks during his time and the points scored per game are lower than the average of the Knicks during JVG's tenure. God seen from these 3, I'm not sure we have a championship team knows what the future of this team will be, but from what we'veon our hands.
That last line should be " God knows what the future of this team will be, but from what we've seen, I"m not sure we have a chapmionship team on our hands.
I've heard this a lot, so I aks. Just what is "fair" value for the Franchise anyway? Can anyone really come up with a list of comparable players? Steve's certainly not a star and won't bring in the likes of McGrady. Is he worth a Mike Bibby? Or perhaps a #1 pick? Or perhaps a good player(Mobley-type) plus a low level lottery pick? Just something to ponder. Also, I'm someone who thinks that it's WAY too early to judge Yao's potential ceiling at this point. I mean, the guy's only been in the NBA for 1 1/2 years. Foreign players in general don't have the fastest learning curves around. Now I'm not saying that Yao will definitely reach our expectations, but it's too early to say he never will.
There is one possible option that I hope for. Hopefully Steve plays hard and he plays well. Hopefully Steve has learned his lesson and acts in a professional manner for the rest of the season. If the team can just forget the past, and move on from here in a winning way, with consistent play from the team then this will be one bad memory just like when Bullard and Horry were breifly traded from the '94 championship team. When most people think about '94 the thing they remember is the Championship win and not the turmoil when Horry was initially traded. As an afterthought people might say to themselves, 'That was strange, I'm glad that didn't work out.' and then smile about the winning. Winning is the best thing that Steve and the team can do to make this whole thing go away. I'm not saying that they have to win a championship this year or anything, just that the team needs to look like they have a cohesive offensive plan, and that they are all on the same page on the floor. They win some games and have an exciting playoff series in which Steve and the whole team plays well. If they do that people will be so excited and eager to make some fine tunings for the next season to see if the Rockets can be real contenders. There are a lot of 'Ifs' but it's still an option.
why do u want rudy t as our coach still. The team was out of control with him, unconditioned, and undisplinced and everyone knew it.
Good lord, when did I say I wanted Rudy back? Still though, things were nowhere near as bad as you say and the fact that they have nearly the same record at this point as last year doesn't help that argument.
What a sad.sad situation, I hope these guys can be men and put whatever differences they have behind them and move on. Things I would do. Limit the time Yao and Cato are on the floor together b/c Cato offers yao no relief from the constant dubble teams. I know JVG wants to reward Cato for his play but the yao/cato front court does not help yao. Let Stevie score; and bring in a pg by trading Mobley or Cato Better coaching on the offensive side, the spacing in the half court set is very bad and it pains me to watch it run so badly after watching past rox teams do it so well.
I think it is being assumed that we are screwed in any trade we attempt involving Steve the Former Franchise thanks to his jacked-up attitude. But that won't be a problem. Washington, Atlanta, Miami, maybe Chicago, etc., would take him. Think: Steve/Mo/Pike to Washington; Kwame Brown (GA native) and Brevin Knight (exp contract) to Atlanta; Gilbert Arenas and Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Houston, maybe adding in Jarvis Hayes. Of course there are simpler scenarios but plenty of teams don't have that sort of ticket draw. Steve would pack'em in at Washington. We don't have to give him away in any case. We have a couple weeks to sift through deals, then strike when the All Star game is over. Otherwise wait until the summer. The trade exception will come in reeeeeal handy.
17.8ppg 4.9apg 4.9rpg 4.05TO Arenas is just a cheaper Francis. And Rahim has never played for a team with a winning record. I want a guy who has been in the playoffs at least.
Saw this trade idea somewhere just thought it was interesting Francis - Golden State Cato - Golden State Dampier - Memphis NVE - Houston 1st round 2004 - Houston 2nd round 2005 - Memphis 1st round 2005 - Houston Swift - Houston Battier - Houston Tsalkaledas (sp?) - Houston
We have incredibly cocky and underachieving players, agreed. We will start winning when Yao gets Cat's heart, intensity, and aggressivenes, and Francis and Cat get Yao's humbleness.
