Where's the Wizard when we need him JVG must feel like he's pushing rope. D D is right, we're so close, but the pieces just aren't right - ultra-low basketball IQ more than offsets our athletic talent. I'm convinced that no amount of "pushing rope" will get us to Oz. Whether we muddle into the PO's or not, look for some major off-season changes. D R
I think this is a completely fair criticism. You guys know I'm a Steve Francis backer but that jump shot he took when they were down by one was stupid. STICK TO THE GAME PLAN. Its the reason you got back in the game. They bring themselves back in games and then they choke. You're right, they are so close, just need to learn to finish.
The Rockets are the worst passing team in the league. Yes, Steve turns the ball over, but how many times do we see Jim Jackson dribble the ball off his foot or throw a lazy pass.? Don't be surprised to see this team blown up in the offseason, with Steve the first one out the door. I have been pretty happy with Cuttino on the whole. He's playing solid defense, and getting most of his shots within the flow of the offense. He's making 3's at a 38% clip. I never thought that I'd see the day when I miss Kelvin Cato.
But isn't it true that a great PG is more instrumental in winning close games than the big guys? Or is it more often that the guards win the game at the end? It seems that Kobe won many more games for Lakers in the last minute than Shaq even in year 2000 when Shaq was at his peak.
I agree Yao is turning the ball too much but one of the reason is that nobody in this team can make a decent pass to the low post. Actually, Mo Taylor is the best to pass the ball to Yao. He gives passes high enough for Yao to get a good handle. All our guards try to five him bounce passes or passes too low for him. All those passes end up in turnovers!! We need to trade SF in the offseason and get a true PG.
When Steve was shooting and scoring, people said "We don't need a Point Guard that shoots. Who cares about his offense, we need him to be an assist machine." When Steve concentrates on passing instead of scoring, people say "Yeah, he got 12 assists, but we need him to make shots!" What is it? You want a traditional point guard or a scoring one?
Most of Yao Mings turnovers are due to bad passes. Some are directly Yao Mings fault.Proof-just look at the tapes.
They just want Francis to go. SF is the most valuable player on this team. He can score, rebound and assist. When one of things did not work out, he can make it up in other catergories. I still remember the days we went 2-20 when he was injuried. You think we were depressed, we were in the hell at that time.
Yao has played poorly of late. He needs a bolt of fire in his bones. Steve has played this way all season. Critical breakdowns. Not what we need from our franchise player. Think of it this way: if Steve is our Garnett, if Steve is our Shaq, if Steve is our Peja, if Steve is our Duncan. Then we are a struggling team trying to hold on to the playoffs, cause he is not carrying us. Yao is our future, (maybe) but he is not carrying us right now. Hope one of them get it together soon. Like Tues. night at GS. I think there's more of a chance of Yao breaking out for some big games than Steve. But I would take Steve getting on fire from the outside right about now.
The whole team is downgrading ... Jim Jackson begins to pass balls like crazy. Yao is making more and more stupid mistakes: terrible passing, unnecessary fouls, turnovers ...
The Rockets' play towards the end of this season mimics how they play towards the end of games. It is sick that they are 3-7 over the last 10 games - worst performing team in the West. If they don't beat Utah and Denver then they do not belong (or deserve to be) in the playoffs. Offseason - trade Steve and Mo T for Iverson and a pt. guard
3rd Quarters have been a problem for this team for a few years now. Why can't these guys get it together in the second half? I think if the starters can't produce then you have to go to your bench more. Maybe riding the pine to start the secound half is what needs to happen and bring the starters in after a few min. What do you guys think??? Htownrocketfan
The problem seems to be in many areas: 1. Ball movement- in the past when we have moved the ball around we tned to blow teams out, and when we decide to dribble, well you know the story.... 2. Passing into the low block - what is so freakin' hard about passing the ball to a 7'5" guy in the low post? Bring back Robert Horry please! 3. Spacing - it does no good to drop the ball in to Yao if everybody crowds him and makes it easier to double or triple team him. 4. Turnovers - you cannot average almost 20 turnovers per game and expect to win against the elite teams in either conference of the NBA. 5. Using Picks - why can't SF use a pick set by Yao? Every time Yao sets a pick for SF he dribbles the opposite direction and subsequently into the double team and then to compound matters he picks up his dribble. Mobley seems to use them well... 6. Executiion - in the final minutes of close games, we do not have any set plays to run (at least it doesn't appear that way). I am not sure whether we do not have the plays or we just decide to not run them, your guess is as good as mine. 7. Closing out teams - why can't we put teams away. Time and time again we have a nice lead on average teams and we let them sort of hang around, gain some momentum and some times the beat us. WTF? There are many more I could list but my fingers are getting tired and we have covered all of these in various threads before.... Anybody want to buy playoff tickets? They are on sale now!
Seriously though, I think this can be classified as the dumbest team in the league. The Bulls may be a bit dumber. But that's debateable. I seriously think were literally one of the dumbest teams in the league, easily top 3. I'm being completely serious, no sarcasm, not bashing just for the hell of it. But between Francis, MoT, and Mobley we have some really thick players. JJ has years of experience, otherwise I clearly remember him being the prototypical "he can score" player, not enough brains to be among the elite. He makes up for it though. Yao is young, so I'm ok with him making some mistakes sometimes. Cato can clank a few shots, he's lpaying out of position and one of the best rebounders in the league. Weatherspoon does what he's physically able to do,. and exactly as he's told. The rest are just stupid though.
Is Yao lazy? Or does he need to know that Cato and Mo are there to prop him up a little? He's played well until the Lakers game, and has been decent otherwise. But having two confused All Stars? Not gonna cut it. And, since you don't trade a player who's 7'6"..... Oh, if we could somehow flip Steve and another player into Ray Allen. Would the Sonics take Iverson if they know RayAllen won't come back?
