In human biology, the appendix is known as a vestigial organ. That means it used to have a function in the everyday life of the organism -- in this case, digesting red meat -- but no longer does, because the organism's way of living has changed. We cook all our meat now, so we don't need the appendix. All it does, occasionally, is develop an infection and require removal. Now think for a minute about how the Rockets have changed since last year and two years ago. Think about players who made sense on the team we had two years ago but no longer make sense today. Two years ago, we had a scrappy, helter-skelter team with no inside presence. Any attempt to break down the defense had to begin with our guards from the perimeter. We couldn't run real plays with any reliability. We needed improvisers. Now we have the inside presence and can run plays. Now we need passing and consistent execution and good judgment and people who know where they're supposed to be on the court. In this context, which of our players have become vestiges? Moochie's performance today strikes me as a pretty clear example. You could make a similar argument, less convincingly, against Mobley. You could also make a case against Thomas. Other nominations? Elaborations? Disagreements?
I think it's more Rudy than anything else. Moochie Norris sucks. However, Rudy should know that. There's a difference between playing the hot hand and keeping all the same players on the floor while someone has the hot hand. Rudy played Moochie b/c he was in while Rice and Francis were taking over. What he doesnt realize is Moochie had nothing to do with it. Also, you can only milk the hot hand so long before you totally freeze out the other players. When Olowakandi left, Rudy shouldve fed the ball down low to Ming instead of having him pass from the top of the circle. When Ming was passing from the top of the key, he is not in position to rebound. If he passes from down low, he's in a much better rebounding position. Plus Ming was never in the flow of the offense once Rice and Steveie heated up. It's not necessarily the players, it's the system. oftentimes Rudy gets so caught up in the game, he has no idea what to do. That's why it's helter skelter. There's no cohesiveness or overall strategy. Rudy is like many other so-so X's and O's coaches. I have rarely seen Rudy call a good play following a timeout in a pressure situation. Almost everytime, someone is holding the ball til the last second and then throwing up a prayer. That's coaching. Finally, Kenny T and Cuttino can play. We just have to channel that ability. Moochie has no ability.
Nice analogy. But the decision getting rid of something that has been functioning for you for a while won't be too easy.
It's a matter of identity. Mobley doesn't realize what he should be, but he's a malleable player...just take away all his playmaking duties, situate him in Shandon's old spot in the offense, and he'll be fine. All of Kenny's recently acquired mannerisms, however, portend the makings of a malcontent. Granted, his disposition has always been pretty damn stoic, but there's a uniqueness in his latest behavior which reveals a kind of consciousness of the effect a deep frontcourt is having on his extension possibilities. It's still in the best interest of the team to milk a player of his quality all they can, but he's gone after this season, and both parties seem to know it. Moochie's fate....God willing....is a one way ticket to Cleveland if we get lucky and they get desperate in their search for a point guard. Milt Polacio anyone? At least you keep the wierd name appeal.
I'm willing to give Mobley another chance since he was playing hurt and he had similar results last year when he played hurt. Moochie/Rudy playing Moochie have no excuse.
I was wondering about the way Rudy is playing small sometimes. I get the feeling his trying to figure out who is the "dead weight." In fact, Francis's deficiencies are showing more and more as the year goes on, due to Yao (not that Steve is "dead weight.") I'm sure it's pretty intimidating for the whole team every time they take a shot (considering how accurate Yao's shot is). It's almost like even Francis would say, "There no way I could shoot as well as Yao, and I know it." Yao has raised the bar for the whole team. If they can't conform to the new system, then they will be gone next year.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm not sure Rudy is completely at fault (you need the talent that can execute those plays). But, I've rarely seen him call plays that are actually successful (last 5 seconds of a game). At least not with Francis on the team.
You are on to sometheing here, Will. Moochie was pretty effective off the bench replacing Francis, or Mobley under the old rules and system that favored isolation and off the dribble improvisation. He's pretty much always been a defensive liabilty. Where I question Rudy is why they have a back-up point guard who is unable to get others involved.
Fully agree 100%. This is my huge concern with today's game. This team needs to establish an identity which would be that Ming and Francis are the main options and everyone else needs to complement their styles. They made strides in that area in the Wizards game, but today was a HUGE step back. It is absolutely ridiculous that Ming was standing 18 feet away from the basket feeding KT and Rice repeatedly in the post for a certain stretch of time. One good thing is that Rice was atleast making his move real quick or kicking the ball out; it wasnt a black hole situation like KT. In the long run, it is to the benefit of this team if Ming is operating with the ball in his hands and setting others up for scoring opportunities. It is really not a good idea to send the ball into the post to a player like KT and have him isolate while others watch and realize its not coming back out. The method of success should be ball movement, team play, shots in the flow, etc. not trying to constantly search for an opportunity to find mismatches for complementary players. KT's defense overall has been very good and his rebounding has been solid as well. I wish he would just be content with standing on the weakside and letting the offense flow to him. In some instances he can run screen and role effectively. The isolations with the ball disappearing into a black hole really have to stop. As far as Mobley's role. Did anyone watch Hawkins movement off the ball today? He got seven wide open looks in the flow of the offense due to his ability to move w/o the ball. Sadly he clanged 5 of them, but these were uncontested wide open shots. This is the type of role the 2 guard has to fill in this offense. If the offense is running through Ming, and the ball is moving, there should a good 10-12 uncontested shots within the offensive flow for a player like Mobley. If he is able to nail close to half of them and be effective in this role, he could possibly fit under certain conditions. His scoring average will probably drop to around 15 PPG or so, but that is what its going to take. Mobes then better seriously increase the defensive intensity and make himself useful in other areas b/c 18 plus shots a game is out of the question. As far as Mooch goes, there is no hope for him with this team.
Is it me, or does it seem like the Rockets are talkin with another team. A possible trade maybe. I just have a gut feeling we're talkin to the knicks for a possible trade scenario give they only have 7 or 8 days left on the mid-level exception. Mark my words.
Moochie hardly fits anymore. The point guard has to pass up the ball quickly and to penetrate and dish to the open man. Francis needs to get better at it,but Moochie just doesn't seem capable of it.Mmanal has described KT perfectly,his defense was very good.It was lack of defense that kept Griffin away from the court tonight.Mobley still is useful in stretches when he lets the ball come to him for shots.His defense is inconsistant but he does try. Chip123456 I don't think a trade is in the works but you never know.
I think we will need time to sort it out. The insertion of YM is so fast and sudden that other palyers may find it hard to adjust. At the moment, Rudy might be diverting messages to players about the future tandem (SF-YM instead of SF-CAT, if he think so), and let the others adjust. Let's us wait for 20-30 games and see how the chemistry develop. See how Rudy work it out, players are going to be confused.... KH
Mobley of course would have had the same 7 wide open looks and had them consistently last year. Fortunately he doesn't clang 5 of them, even though the other team is contesting him as best they can and not basically daring him to shoot like they do with Hawkins. Hawkins is good on defense, but there is probably a reason he is a 29 year old role player trying to make it as a rookie. There is a reason eveyone in the NBA realizes that Cuttino and Mobley are one of the top backcourts in the NBA, with Cuttino being a near all-star. It's sort of like the Ming situation. There is a reason why just about everyone in the NBA is right, (players, managers etc.) and many of the clutchcity.net posters and journalists are wrong when evaluating previously Yao's talent and now Mobley's talent.
I would say let's give KT another year to work on his offense. But the presense of Moochie doesn't make sense anymore. He doesn't have the body or quickness as a guard and the court awareness. I would have someone like Avery Johnson.
Mobley was 0-8 the last game before he went to the IR. On a shooting level, you go with Mobley every time. I think Hawkins is the better defender and a tree stump is a better passer. "Cuttino and Mobley". lol ... that's hysterical. I realize that was a slip, but so true how some people think this team should be run. A lot of clutchcity.net posters believed in Yao Ming and a lot of players did not - pretty misleading statement. I don't think there's any question if you were to choose between Hawkins and Mobley you would choose Mobley ... but for this team? I'm not sure Hawkins is the right choice, but I'm also not sure Mobley is either.
There is a reason: 4.3 point per game in 23.9 minutes per game. But, hes an exellent defensive stopper..And an energizer off the bench. His skills fit this team perfectly..as a spot starter and back=up.
Will, Maurice went back to the lockerroom again with a "tweaked" achilles, and didn't finish the game. We can all agree that the Achilles is not a vestige. We can also agree that Eddie Griffin is not very strong. Muscle mass is pretty important when you are trying to defend Brand. If you are going to discuss what we need, at least make reference to what the coach and the entire team said first off their lips in camp.... defense The smartest, most fundamentally sound defensive player on this team is Kenny Thomas, and Hawkins is joining him, although Hawk got headfaked by Piatkowski...oops. I guess I just love defense. It has been obvious since that time KT bodied up on Duncan as a rookie that his defensive footwork is impeccable, and he has the strength to go with it. Now he's translating this to zone defense, and watch him follow the swing passes in their recent 2-3 zone to leave the low post man and get out to the corner shooters. This is why he gets the minutes. This is why he is not a vestigial organ unless you just don't want to emphasize defense as a #1 priority. Eddie Griffin right now is a pushover power forward defender. I love Eddie, and I'm not protecting Kenny as many might think...but he's defensive positioning just plain looks bad, like he expects to be able to play off his man and get a block anytime he wants. I consider him a small forward that Rudy is trying to keep near the ball for his blocks. But his man defense leaves a lot to be desired. Every other coach so far considers Eddie a small forward offensive player, as well, because Kenny continues to draw the PF defenders. Kenny is filling a nice role.
<blockquote><hr>Originally posted by tacoma park legend All of Kenny's recently acquired mannerisms, however, portend the makings of a malcontent. Granted, his disposition has always been pretty damn stoic, but there's a uniqueness in his latest behavior which reveals a kind of consciousness of the effect a deep frontcourt is having on his extension possibilities. It's still in the best interest of the team to milk a player of his quality all they can, but he's gone after this season, and both parties seem to know it.<hr></blockquote> This is contrived. I love fast players with footwork and love the undersized underdogs. The stoic onese. I have been watching Kenny closely since we got him, because I love him. I don't see this change in persona at all. I think statements like this are contrived. Kenny has always looked mad and grumpy on the court. I am actually seeing him smile more...with Rice, and he and Mo are showing up with good chemistry the last two games. He certainly has not had any trouble passing to Mo,,,catching him for a couple cuts for slams recently. "malcontent" pfft. If it happens trade him, but these preemptive strike trades (or using Will's metaphor..."preventative elective surgery") with warnings of spreading disease are based on nothing noticeably wrong concerning team comraderie. Have we seen him yell at Francis like Shandon did? Question Rudy in the media like Hakeem did? I mean, maybe if he was a max player and you want to hide the malcontent behavior before his value drops, you might do preventative medicine ....but not Kenny at $1m salary. He's a steal and would be very easy to move. You'll never get equal value back, but a preemptive strike trade will not make any difference wrt value back...not at $1m. just remember, Mo "tweaked" his achilles again and couldn't finish the Clipper's game. We need both kidneys.
This is one of the few things I think we agree on this season. In the summer, I think many remember may long diatribe about how a tandem of Eddie and Yao would get pushed around in the post. Well Yao, has been doing a good job of holding his own, but Eddie continues to get muscled. I was naive enough to believe that the fronting strategy would work with Eddie, but it really isnt. Eddie is not making the committment in the zone to consistently front his man so that the weakside help can come over. The Rockets finally slowed Brand down when Kenny and then later Mo as well were making a committment to sealing off and fronting Brand. KT could work fine for this team if he would just stop calling for those damn iso's. I dont really care if he has a quickness or size advantage on his man, its just not good for the team to watch him take 5 plus seconds off the clock to make his move knowing the ball isnt coming back out double team or not. KT could have a very solid role on this team if he would just be content on concentrating on rebounding and defense and playing completely off the ball on offense. He could average 6-8 PPG or so with a very high FG pct on putbacks and passes within the offensive flow, but no 13-7 like last yr. He could possibly be content with this if he didnt have to play for a contract. KT can be a valuable commodity for this team, but he simply MUST change his offensive role. Eventually, the Rockets will have to pick 2 out of 3 from Mo Taylor, Kenny and Eddie. Playing Mo and Kenny together at the forward spots is just not working for the overall offensive continuity. Sure Kenny can draw a mismatch, but it is not good for the overall offensive concept watching Kenny iso-iso-iso-iso while everyone else gets frozen out.
