Yeah, it sure was. People were griping incessantly about how boring Rudy's offense was. They were saying that all he did was isolate Francis and Mobley and let them dribble, dribble, dribble. Still others were saying that the game had passed Rudy by and that we needed to get more players to run up and down the court and play face up basketball instead of the "old style" post up game with the shooters spotted up around the arc. Some people were all over Francis' jock strap and others wanted to trade him while most of them wanted to fire Rudy because he had lost it.
Didn't that team have Bob Sura and Mike James on it Can you name Two players not names T-Mac and Yao that is as good as those two . . . Name two players on our squad that could beat those two in a 2 on 2 game Rocket River
I doubt that, anyone who really watches and understand basketball know that last years teams was racked with an extremely high number of major injuries. Once we get closer to the season I think a lot of pundits will be picking the Roxs as a surprise, just because of our lousy record last year, team of this upcoming season
It's a cumulative effect. It's been downhill ever since T-Mac got injured at the start of last season. The combined frustration of T-Mac's injury, Yao's toe injury, Rafer's injury, Jon Barry's injury, Derek Anderson's injury, Deke's finger injury, David Wesley's injury, T-Mac's second injury, Stro's pinkeye, Richie Frahm's injury, Yao's second injury and the avalanche of bricks that were laid along the way has worn people's patience so thin that they're generally on the verge of being suicidal. It hasn't been a good 9 months for Rockets fans. They're desperate for some good news ... something to cheer about. And it's not forthcoming (at least in most people's opinion ... most have become jaded cynics at this point who can hardly see the positive side of anything). Unfortunately things are likely to remain this way until the season starts and we start winning games again.
Did you see Alston, Howard play last year, they were terrible on D and even worse when shooting from outside. The 2001 Shaq is much more of a dominant force than Yao.
BS Folx could taste the playoffs until Rudy was put on the DL Everyone just KNEW we had turned the corner Rocket River
We've been blessed with two bonafide NBA superstars and a squad full of class individuals. Nobody complaining about salaries. No thugs. Nobody talkin' about practice. Are we good? Not really. Can I get behind this squad, even at their lowest? Absolutely.
I understand the disappointment that many Rockets fans feel about the team, but getting McGrady meant that the Rockets had much less depth, cap space and pieces to trade to build around Yao. CD had limited options Even with McGrady's injuries I would still make that trade every day. CD's moves since then are hardly awful.. It's not like anyone was annoyed about getting Swift, or Anderson with those reasonable contracts. The moves to get Sura, Wesley and Barry worked out. The Mike James trade has been unsuccessful so far but it wasn't insane. It's nowhere near as bad as Toronto's supposed genius Collangelo trading a young big man coming off a great rookie season like Villenueva for T.J. Ford, an undersized point guard with spinal chord issues who can't shoot. I think Dawson's plan is pretty clear. He's looking for complimentary pieces with reasonable contracts. I'm glad the Rockets are being sensible about the contracts they give out. The Rudy T. era's contractual-love-fest really hurt the franchise Van Gundy's teams will compete every night and play defense. Even with all of the crap they dealt with last year they always showed up and battled. Adding a player like Battier is a really, really positive move. The idea that the Rockets fell behind the rest of the west does not hold up to inspection. Yao Ming has taken the next step. He is a much better and consistent player than he was even two years ago. If McGrady stays reasonably healthy you have two unstoppable players who can win close games in the 4th quarter. It's not that complicated. The Rockets will be in every game because they play great team defense and they have two bonafide studs that other teams have no answer for. There is no doubt they need to add some more pieces, but some people on the board act like Dawson kicked their dog and traded Yao Ming for Joe Barry Carrol.
Screw that, next year's Yao has the power of Shaq in the paint, ALONG with a great jumpshot and excellent free-throw shooting. Shaq's flaws are Yao's strengths. And to top it off Yao is much taller and has a better IQ.
can clutch update this list http://www.clutchfans.net/players/ it still looks horrible the Bowen pic makes me cry every time I see it what happen with Brunson, he still with us?
The success of this team in 2006-2007 doesn't depend on Rudy Gay or Mike James, or Stromile Swift. It depends on TMac and Yao staying healthy. If those 2 guys can stay healthy throughout most of the season, this is going to be a good team. If they don't, it's going to be another 2005-2006. Nothing that happened (or could have happened) during the offseason is going to change that.
No truer words have been spoken around here than these Thanks for bringing some common sense to the situation, about time.
The majority of your posts, I agree with. Can't do so with this one. "Success" totally measured by TMac and Yao's health says nothing. If they aren't healthy, we've got big problems that a player with future upside (Gay) or a backup for Yao who isn't 40+ (Stro) can help aleviate. Of course, if they aren't healthy VG will be fired, Dawson will be retired and it's Morey's Lotto pick to $Ball again. But that's another story. If Yao and TMac are healthy, the Rockets are a playoff team. If you made trades and FA signings that don't get you into the second round, why did you make the trade/signing? It was "Win-now". Most of the time, opinions expressed by fans are just that...opinions. And hard to determine who is more accurate. This off season is not like any other I can recall. With MEM in our divison and MINN in our conference and both being 2nd tier playoff competitors, it will be very easy to see who did the better job of re-loading. Right now, I don't think it's the Rockets.
BS - They high-watered after beating the Lakers in OT ~Jan 14th. They had a losing record from there out under Rudy.
