Remember when DaDa wished we got Novak in the first round so that he would be under our control "on the cheep" for years to come. We would of saved a ton, now the Rockets will have to pony up and pay the man when he becomes a free agent
I suppose 80% people on this board are expecting Steve Francis from 2002 and Mike James from Toronto. They will never be the same but can be important x factor but they're still not showing it yet. I think James has worse percentage fg than Rafer,sad but true.
I don't even know what to say about this post. Have you watched james play? You do realize KG had him benched last year for hogging the ball right? Talk to Chris Bosh about James being unselfish. Why was he moved out of here in the first place? Francis is simply done for the most part. He's not his old self and he never will be. You just have to accept that. If anything you should trade James. Brooks is a much better player for us already. There is a reason James is glued to the bench.
I wasn't expecting 2002 Stevie but nor was I expecting such a drastic downgrade. I was ambivalent about bringing Stevie back to Houston. I didn't think he would fit into the system but at the same time I never anticipated Stevie to be a big part of the team. But I was expecting a lot more from James.
Boom is not a good sound for takeoff; how about W-H-O-O-S-H? Do you think these guys have been pining over JVG? As much as the fans were weary of his style of play, it seems the players always and still do love him...
This is a good team only when T-Mac is taking it to the rack. That was the difference between the 6-1 Rockets and what we are looking at now. As Traci goes, so go the Rockets, period. Look at the record when he doesn't play. Unless Traci stops settling for jump shots, the Rockets are first round fodder at best. If we somehow play well enough to get in the playoffs and T-Mac sustains an aggresive, go to the hole attitude we could get hot at playoff time and cause some noise. That being said, I don't think T-Mac will sustain that type of effort for extended periods. I have been a proponent of trading him for the last 2 years only to be continually ridiculed in this forum. Now he is virtually untradeable. We are in for a long 3 years, unless some idiot gm will give us a bunch of expirings for him.
DD- Now that Van Gundy is fired you are pretty close to a championship guarantee. I think this team will sink or swim with the one and only TMac. He is the only player that can carry the team against playoff defenses. Sooo I don't see where it is any different than last season.
I wish you would stop saying T-Mac doesn't but into the system...he was LOVING it early in the season. Unfortunately when the other players were sucking Adelman went back to old JVG sets to get them more involved...T-mac's production went down the tube as a result because he had less driving lanes and had to take longer jumpshots. When he is coming off ball and getting those iso's on the wing, he is the 29PPG on 47% shooting player that he was pre-elbow injury and before Adelman went to the JVg pick and roll. The guy has praised the system from day 1 and, next to maybe Bonzi, has been the only guy to really show signs of having a big year under the system (of course injuries have ruined that thus far, although he is shooting his best FG % since becoming a Rocket). And that's another thing...after Adelman sampled the old sets and went back to the new system, T-Mac was once again on fire until the Philly game when he got the first of his 2 leg injuries that are still lingering.
I was surprised the other day when a loose ball passed not too far from Hayes and he didn't even make an attempt. Maybe that comes w/ extended minutes, but I never expected him to lose that hustle. It was just one instance, but I think it may be indicative.
Novak = Bryce Drew Result Bye Bye Novak! Francis is not done. He'll play while T-Mac is out. He just needs to get his head screwed on straight and play the way he knows how. James 12 ppg career average and he's still scoring at the same rate he always had even at Toronto. So if you think he sucks then kudos to you for recognizing he's an average player at best. He sucked while at Toronto which gives creedance to the claim that if you put an average player on a bad team you can turn him into an All-Star just by giving him minutes. Brooks, yeah play him more. I'd like to see the emergence of a new Monta Ellis or Speedy Claxton. Head is a streaky streaky guard. No handles. Bonzi, post player and still classified as a guard lol. I shudder to think how Bonzi would do trying to bring the ball upcourt and set up the offense.
It's going to get worse before it gets better, I believe, this season. Buckle up.....hold on tight, it's going to be a scary ride with many emotional ups, downs, and plenty of knee jerk calls for Adelman's head on a stick ala Lord of the Flies "Piggy."
