"I saw it in guys' eyes," Rockets guard Steve Francis said. "Some people were out there just to be out there. I don't know if they were shocked by the shots the Kings make. I don't know. This is a game everybody should want to come out to whip their (butts). They always beat our butts, always spank us, always blank us. They always skunk us." If the players surrounding Steve can't support his quest for playoff glory, then well, why should he stay? If his teammates aren't the most talented, fine, but how about a little HUSTLE. Rudy & Co. are great coaches, but they don't strike me as disciplinarians. That's what this team needs. A drill sargeant to get them focused. I say bench the starting 3 & 5 and put in the rooks. And KT, you're playing the 4, drive to the basket will ya?
Franchise is showing he's worth the pay check...but I thought he was responsible for some of the players playing on the team...
So, who do you think he was talking about? Mobley, Willis and KT are all fire/heart. Willis even came in and body-slammed Pollard for no reason other than to fire up the team. Do you think he was talking about more than Cato? Torres was damn sure hustling. Was he talking about the other rookies? Walt and Rice? I think his main point was about early in the game. Sometimes people use an all-encompassing "some of the guys" for political reasons to not point the finger at one person. Early in that game, Cato was the only one not hustling, imo. There is a good chance Francis was only talking about Cato and the rookies. As for the drill sargeant thing...I believe in the Larry Bird, Rudy and Van Gundy's methods over Pat Riley and Carlissimo. Everyone is now abandoning Riley, and where is PJ. These athletes don't need drill sargeants. They need coaches to challenge them, build systems for their skills, and have the guts to sit someone down in the doghouse, but no one needs to be yelled at and intimidated.
crispee: I do think he was talking about Cato and the rookies. I also think he's frustrated about the lack of contribution from Rice and just losing in general. As for a drill sargeant, I think the "Rockets" need someone to get in their face and light a fire under their ass. If it means yelling, then yell. If it means screaming, then scream. And by all means, PLEASE use the doghouse. But I agree, no one needs to be intimidated.
The Kings got more OR (12 to 7) on fewer misses with their only good offensive rebounder still on IR. They also got 10 steals to our 4. Despite being way ahead, they committed 22 PF to our 12. On most any stat hinting at effort, tenacity and desire to win the game, we sucked. Given our most recent game was an easy one 2-days before, and the Kings had 3 starters (including the ancient Vlade) play over 40 minutes in a tough loss the night before, the Rockets effort was very, very dissappointing. A loss on the road to a good team is understable, but being blown out and out hustled in that circumstance (it isn't like Sac is 5000 Ft like Denver or Utah either), again, is disappointing. The one silver lining is because they didn't extert themselves they should be able to give a 100% effort game tonight. I actually wasn't watching the game by the time Willis must have fouled Pollard hard (didn't see the play). I am glad he did though, at least somebody had some fire. I saw the Kings foul our guys (big guys included) rather than give up easy duces, I saw us play ole defense to the likes of weaklings like Christie and FT bricklayers like Pollard and Fundeburke (no excuse for not making the latter guys earnb their points at the line). Besides, Pollard had fouled Kenny pretty hard in the 1st half and we had gone on our business like nothing happened. In my mind, every game, win or lose, Willis shows how important he is to the team.
