I do look at both ends. Houston, while not a top tier defender is solid and consistant. Mobley is a good defender but sporadic. I don't think Mobley's D holds enough of an advantage over Houston's to outweight the offensive advantage. Its close. But I think Houston is a better option at SG than Mobley.
mobley is not a good defender. don't mistake him limiting allen iverson to bad shooting to good defense. iverson just isn't a good shooter period. houston definitely sucks at defense. he has a better outside shot. but he doesn't have mobley's quick penetration skills. "Sprewell > Posey" having watched both play, sprewell is the better overall player, but posey is more athletic. alley oops are more common with posey. "Johnson = Griffin" griffin better shot blocker than johnson, johnson was also injured and past his prime. "Camby = Yao (Camby had superior stats, but Ill call it equal here)" you do realize that the rules were different back then right? would you trade yao for camby? camby was also injury prone. "Thomas > Taylor" mo taylor is a much better offensive player than thomas. thomas relies on open jump shots, taylor works against tough defenders and still manages to get his hook shot off. "the 2000-2001 Knicks were much more talented than we were." not more talented. they had good role players, none of them were really superstars. the rockets have two players who could eventually develop into the best at their position. the knicks never had any players who could dominate so much that they would be double teamed or triple teamed. conclusion, the rockets are a more athletic and talented team than the knicks ever were.
Posey more athletic than Spree? lmao Ok sure. Even a hurt Johnson put up better #s than Griffin did. EG is a better shot blocker, but Johnson was better (even injured) in all other facets. I am not talking about potential or who has better trade value. I am talking about what player had the better production in each season. Camby blocked more shots and rebounded better. Yao scored a few more points. I don't get it. A player's shots are all wide open, he hits them and you penalize him for it? Unbelievable! Thomas is a better overall player than Mo, hands down. If you don't see it, then I don't know what else to tell you. Again, you are saying "could develop". I am talking "as is" here. As is, the Knicks had more talent 1-8.
i did mention that the rules were different back then didn't I? put yao in camby's place in that era when rules made it easier for centers to score, and yao's stats would be even more dominating and he might have even rebounded better if the rules were like the old ones. and you do realize you're comparing a rookie to a veteran right? would thomas be able to hit shots if he wasn't wide open? i don't think so. also mo taylor is a much more clutch player than thomas. taylor is also more talented. also kurt thomas from the old days was not as good as the kurt thomas of today. i think you're confusing how well coached the knicks were with their actual talent which is what we were talking about. the rockets are in fact more athletic which means they are more physically gifted and talented than the knicks were. also the rockets had two all stars on the starting team. can any of knicks team say that? NO!
Zone rules have zero affect on rebounding and blocked shots IMO. Scoring, yes. But Camby isn't much of a scorer to begin with. And yes I am comparing a rookie with a veteran. That is what we are doing right? Comparing the production of a 2000-2001 Camby with a 2002-2003 Yao Ming. Who cares of Thomas can't hit shots when he is wide open. He was wide open and he hit them. EG doesn't. Would thomas be able to hit as many shots if he wasn't wide open? Of course not. Silly question. And you think EG would??? lol Mo is more clutch than Thomas? Name the last time Mo hit a clutch shot to win or tie a game (not saying Thomas has, but don't say one player is more clutch than another when there is zero proof). How can you say Mo is more talented than Thomas when Thomas is superior in every single statistical category (with the exception of scoring and Thomas is much better % wise) than Mo? So being more athletic means you are more gifted and talented? This is 100% false and you know it. So being voted in as a starter in the All-Star game means you are the best? Since when? I guess that means Yao is better than Shaq. I guess that means Steve is a better PG than Payton, Nash and Stockton. Is this what you are saying? All-Star voting is a popularity contest, not a judgement of skill and talent.
regarding the two players, camby and yao, who do you think is more talented at center and has more potential. advantage: yao his weight and his height advantage and his passing skills should not be underestimated. he has also been on several occasions double teamed or triple teamed. can camby say the same? nah. zone rules do have an effect on rebounding in my opinion. eg is more talented and gifted than thomas. advantage: eg early scouting reports clearly indicated eddie griffin was extremely gifted, whether he develops his "POTENTIAL" is another story. with the proper coach who could drive him and motivate him, he could much better than he currently is and certainly more gifted than thomas. mo is a much more reliable offensive option than thomas, he frequently hits his hook shot. it's damn near unstoppable. have you been watching this season? he has the best hook shot on this team. it almost never misses even when he has a tough defender on him. he still scores. being more athletic does mean you have been blessed with more physical talent, which is not related to stats at all. and with the proper coaching, you could translate physical talent into point production , and etc. true, the all star game is a popularity contest. but yao and steve are both true all stars. yao's not better than shaq, and steve a'int better than kidd. but yao is better than 95% of the players at his position, and steve is better than most point guards in terms of raw athletic skill and one on one he's almost unstoppable. can camby say he was the second best center in the league? i don't think so. and can charlie ward claim to be one of the best guards in the league. i don't think so. can the knicks claim to have the two hardest positions to acquire filled with potential superstars? NO!
As someone who saw Van Gundy coach about 80 games a year for 4-5 years in a row, I can tell you without a doubt that if the Rockets land Van Gundy, they will win a ring within 3 years. He is a disciple of Pat Riley. They talk the same. They coach the same. If you ask anybody in the basketball world that know coaches, Jeff is highly regarded. I seen it live. I seen it on MSG for years and years. And his players would die for him when he coached. He teaches defense and discipline. Kinda what the Rockets need, eh?
JVG does not have near a good coaching record as does Mike Dunleavey. The Clippers want Dunleavey bad...but have decided to wait on him. Why would they wait on him? Because he asked for more time to wait on the Rockets situation to begin to clear. Should Rudy be unable to coach look for him to move up in the organization and not be canned all together. We'll know in 6 weeks.
According to ESPN, JVG is going to meet with Cleveland before the lottery. I wish Les would just come out and say that Rudy will be the coach next year so that we can stop all of this coaching change talk. Has Les given any indication that Rudy will be back next year? The local papers in Houston seems to think that Rudy will be back and all the insiders here say that Rudy will be back. But why hasn't Les said anything yet, ie. given his endorsement for Rudy, especially since there is alot of speculation that he might be gone?
i would bet money that rudy t coaches next season and the rockets watch the cavaliers make the playoffs before they did.
I agree. After watching the playoff teams and seein how insync the Dallas, SA, Detroit, NJ players are just in terms of moving without the ball, passing and just general unselfishness, I don't think that Rudy has the capabilities to run such a scheme. I'm sure he can draw it out in his head but when it comes to executing it on the court, I think he is lost. On some of the unfortunate occasions where I have watched the Rockets on tv, and when the Rockets are getting a blown out on a 20-2 run by the opponent, the camera will turn on Rudy and it looks as if he has no clue what is going on.
LOL. Last year, Rox ranked 28th in terms of oppontent teams FG percentage. How did Rox improve so much this year to #5? Go figure!
Last year, our offense was much more inept that it was this year. So I don't buy the "boring our opponents into futility" arguement. I give credit to our coaching staff for implenting the zone that was effective early in the season and for preaching defense to the players.
Isn't it obvious?? All year, he tried to make comments to the media about Yao and the Rockets. Somehow they got picked up by the Chronicle and ESPN. He was positioning himself perfectly. Remember when he said that the Rockets shouldn't fire Rudy T.? LOL! That was like a kiss of death or something. I saw it coming from a mile away.
But he couln't get the Knicks over the hump with the best team they had had since 1994.... As far as Pat Riley, his record (post Magic) is what? How many rings with the Knicks & Heat? I dunno, but it's a sad day for the Rox.....
Funny how Vecsey (and every NY basketball writer) linked JVG to Rox, then Friday's NYPost had Vecsey saying Cleveland is a done deal. Now? What's done is not done? Or what? And when?
