Things that have materialized: 1. Yao became a Rocket. 2. Charles kissed a donkey's behind. 3. Yao started before allstar. 4. KT was traded. 5. SF plays smarter basketball. Things that haven't happened, maybe never will 1. EG contributes offensively. 2. More ball movement as a team. 3. Rice gets back his shooting touch. 4. CAT changes his style of playing. 5. Give Boki time to prove himself. 6. Build the offense around Yao. 7. Get to playoff. What would you do to make things happen as a owner of the team? Kruger = Rudy Fired!!!!
I am about to make a prediction that will not make Rockets fans happy. Yao Ming and Steve Francis will never win an NBA Champhionship. Just my prediction. And, there's nothing wrong with that. Many great players have never won an NBA championship. They will both have great careers, just not a championship.
You know, people were saying the identical thing about Shaq and Kobe back in 1999, after the Eddie Jones trade and another sweep in the playoffs.
Yao and SF should have the most touches in any game. Not CAT. But I don't think he would ever change.
Yep, getting rid of Eddie Jones put the focus on their 2 best players....I wonder if Rudy has the balls to get rid of Cuttino if it comes to that? DaDakota
I know this has been said in a lot of threads, but it might as well be pointed out now. All I heard all offseason is how we needed Cat to be more like these other SG's that "passed", such as Szczerbiak (3.1 asst last year), Eddie Jones (3.2 asst last year), Michael Finley (3.3 asst last year), etc. Apparently, these players did more than Mobley because they "did something besides score". And, Cat was never a good starting SG if he maintained the 2.5 apg range that was at the bottom of the shooting guards. Well, right now, Cat's at 3.1 apg (almost identical to these "efficient" shooting guards), and was at 3.3 apg before the last three games, where with the exception of Utah we couldn't shoot worth a crap as a team. He's raised his assist average to where most of you said he needed to... and surprise surprise, he's still getting griped at for the identical complaints. Who would've guessed it?
Dakota, right on target! CAT shot the ball 14 times (Yao 12), not a single FT. He should save his tank for defensive purpose or run the ball little better.
I gotta disagree with you on this. imo, the Lakers are a much more dominant team in the last two seasons if Jones is on the team. They didn't get rid of him to put the focus on Kobe and Shaq. They made a package deal (Jones and Campbell) for Glen Rice, a player who they expected to be a better scorer than Jones. The reason they made that trade was that they needed outside shooting, a facet of the game Jones didn't bring nearly as well as Rice. The downswing of Rice's career coincided with the trade to LA, but I remember quotes at the time from Laker fans thinking Rice would be the all-important third scorer and average 20-22 ppg. The Lakers didn't get rid of Jones to get Shaq and Kobe more touches... at the time, Rice was expected to command as many or more touches than Jones. If you think we need to trade Cuttino for another need (outside shooter, presence at power forward), then it's comparable to the Laker situation... but the Lakers did not dump Jones at all.
