Nice response. It's known across the board you bash JVG and credit RT every chance you get. No matter how much you whine, RT is not coming back. Sorry. Maybe he'll go coach another team and you can root for them. While nit picky, we DID win 2 more games than last year. We had a brand new system this year with a different coaching style and different faces on our roster. We battled one of the toughest teams in the NBA, and with a few breaks, could've been up 3-1 heading into LA. Make no mistake about it, this was Rudy's roster with the players he wanted. JVG hasn't had ample time to find the players he wants with his system. Add Eddie Griffin, our promising 4 of the future, losing his mind put us in a big hole before the season even started. Griffin is one of the main reasons our defense was good last year. Losing him probably was a big blow to JVG's plans for this year. Well, duh. Rudy had them as the focal point of the offense. Van gundy said from day 1 that Yao is option #1. Of course their numbers are going to be down. Steve is trying to get everyone involved and be a PG for once. He had a green light for whatever he wanted to do with Rudy. Discipline is what this team needed. All that said, I'm excited to see who JVG brings in this offseason.
I'd say Steve is a second-tier superstar, while Allen is a second-tier star, maybe even a glorified role player. The guy is as soft as butter. Bad trade. 17-9, while admittedly better than 16-7, is just not good enough for a number one pick. If that is as good as Yao will get, then the Rockets will never be better than a first-round team. The Rockets need Yao to be a "beast", as the guys on TNT put it. And as for every team needing shooters, I don't deny that. I'm saying that the Rockets need more PURE shooters. Guys like Matt Bullard who can come in and hit a few threes every single game. It was a nice try with Pike, but he was hit with the Rocket-shooter curse.
