I've got to run to a meeting so I'll put down here as much as I can for now: I didn't know about the 99%-done Yao Ming thing until I got there, but Rudy said he was thrilled that they were very close. He was very happy today. He also said, and I found this interesting: that the plays and things they are doing now are <B>not</B> for Yao, or not designed for playing with Yao. He talked a lot about the human factor -- that they really won't know what it will be like playing with him until he gets here. That post-ups are simple ... "we've been doing that since, what... Naismith?" and adding that will not be hard, but being out of training camp will hurt him some. But he's a very smart player, humble, doesn't get frustrated. In fact Rudy said he was much more frustrated watching China play/lose than Yao was. Rudy is the coolest guy to talk to on the planet. Gives the goods as far as info about the practices. Neither Mo Taylor nor Glen Rice played today -- so that puts that in to perspective. Mo sat because they wanted to be precautionary.... had a minor glitch yesterday or something (scar tissue?) that Keith Jones said was normal, but they were taking it a little slower. On Rice, they said "same thing". I saw Nachbar shoot today - that was a plus. He missed a three. But a little later he made a gorgeous backdoor pass to a cutting Torres for a layin. It was a nice pass. Francis had a gorgeous move in the part of the scrimmage that I saw and Mobley made a nice jumper. He was unloading screams at his teammate Pete Mickeal afterwards though ... don't know why? (missed a pick or something) Mobley and Cato b**** they were fouled on every play. Every one. Terence Morris continues to work hard on his shooting after practice with the coaches, and today Collier did as well. Word I heard last night is both players are on the bubble.
I'm glad to hear Mo sat out today(was it his choice?). The last thing I want to see is him getting knocked out for the season again. How did Tito, Eddie and KT look today? I'm glad to hear that T-Mo and Collier are on the bubble. T-Mo could still earn himself a spot, but we aren't going anywhere with Collier.
Two #1 picks on the bubble. Whoa. I dunno if that's a good thing that we have so much talent that they're on the bubble or a bad thing that we wasted two #1 picks on guys who can't play.
So they are just using the early camp days to get the rust off of everyone, not working on new plays yet...suspected as much. No use runnin new center oriented plays without a real center in there.. How did Snackbar do other than missing a 3? Did he hit his other shots, or was that the only one? Hmm, Cato complaining every play? Tell me something I didn't already know.. TMo and Collie on the bubble huh...who else could we get if they let Collier walk?
I don't feel bad about the Collier pick because that draft was so god-awful, but we probably could have done a lot more with the T-Mo first rounder we traded.
Clutch, could you ask Rudy or Steve how do you practice or teach ball movement to players. Also as a wrinkle, how do you teach player movement to be targets of this ball movement? Also please reference: http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42236 Thanks again for all the juicy info...
I read somewhere that they were still playing the ISO in practice. I hope they do away with that when the season starts. I never liked it and would rather see some play action that gets the whole team involved. How else are they going to build team chemistry? So keep us informed if they have any new offensive schemes.
Francis signs his extension, and next thing you know, Morris is officially on the bubble. Imagine that.
Nice to see that Rockets.com has improved there content over the past year. Now I feel like I actually get something extra out of visiting both Clutchcity.net and Rockets.com. I think ClutchCity has forced Rockets.com to take their content seriously and make it more enjoyable for older readers, instead of the 10-15 year olds it was originally targeted for (IMHO). B
By: Mark Swanson, Rockets.com correspondent Eddie Griffin will enter the 2002-03 season with a little extra muscle after undergoing an offseason workout regimen. Day Two: October 2 NEWS & NOTES Glen Rice and Maurice Taylor sat out the morning practice, instead working on their injuries. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich wasn't concerned though, saying that both were coming along nicely.....Rookie Bostjan Nachbar has started to show his outside touch, hitting five jumpers in a row during transition drills.....Terence Morris looked the best during defensive drills, forcing several turnovers and getting one block.....Steve Francis has continued to become to go-to man and looks comfortable doing it, both as a scorer and as a leader.....Eddie Griffin looks like he's put on about 20 pounds during the offseason.....The team worked on a more motion-oriented offense during the morning session, although it needs some more time learning it.
rockets.com probably hates CC.net, because CC.net blows it out of the water. Rockets.com needs to add more historical/almanac type stuff. I should be able to access stats from the entire history of the franchise, not just the last 5 years. I guess it's to make sure people spend 50 bucks or whatever on a Media Guide or something.
Here is what is exciting me: Eddie Griffin took the ball to the basket on numerous occasions, getting either a dunk, layup or foul virtually every time. http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rockets_Training_Camp_2002-54293-34.html Eddie will be the man this year!
You are so negative. The preseason media guide is free and rockets.com has actually improved A LOT during the last year. I agree with B on that one.
