What was the atmosphere like around here right before the Francis/Mobley/Cato trade?

So I read the trade broke by somebody overhearing a cell phone convo? Or was that the second time we got Francis? Backstory?

 

Thank you.

This is how I felt, and still feel...

 

So how's Francis been playing lately? I can't seem to find any stats on him ...

 

Rocketsfan34 overheard a cellphone conversation at a mall a guy was having about Francis coming to the Rockets before it was made public and posted it on here. This was when he was traded to us from the Grizzlies as a rookie.

 

yea. .. cause we went ssssooooo much further in the playoffs with McGrady

Rocket River

 

yeah me too. its like i grew up reading this site.

 

I was not a big fan of the trade, but it was obviously a great trade for the Rockets. Had Juwan not gotten injured in the playoffs in 2005, we could very well have one more championship in Houston.

The Rockets mistake was not the trade, but giving TMac such a huge contract after the trade.

 

I strongly disagree with the bolded statement. Where do you think the Rockets were going with the Francis/Mobley backcourt? Please explain...

Francis started to decline massively soon after he was shipped out PLUS he had HUGE health issues that made him miss way, way more games than McGrady. Francis was basically done as a player when he went to NY in 2006. McGrady averaged almost 25 PPG for us at that time.
Mobley had one more really good season after he left the Rockets and then steadily declined with the Clippers while being paid close to $10M IIRC.
Cato...well, not much to say about him, he was never a factor and was out of the league in 2007.

Look, I'm no McGrady fan at all (I am quite the opposite) and it is okay for me to say that we should have pursued other options than getting McGrady for Francis/Mobley. But with the issues I mentioned in mind, I think history absolutely confirmed that it was correct to trade Francis (and Mobley). It is therefore beyond me how you can say that the Rockets "were on a upswing".

 

I didn't visit ClutchFans back then so I couldn't tell you the mood around here, but I wasn't to happy. I thought the Rockets were on the up swing, and Francis and Mobley hadn't reached their peak yet. I've never liked JVG or his coaching style and felt like it was a slap in the face. Yao hadn't even come into his own yet and I've never cared for Tracy and learned to "hate" him over the years, as some around here would say. I would say it did catch me off guard, but I lay all the blame on JVG. He just didn't like Stevie and I thought it was a power struggle between the two.

 

Personally I'd had rather "lose" with someone who would go down fighting and loved the city, take pride in himself and the fans., than to "lose" with someone so selfish and willing to so easily quit on thier team.

 

You were lurking lol? So you lurked for 6+ years before you made an account this month?

 

I remember everyone on the board being very excited. I think I also remember SF3 trying to do something to block the trade can't remember what. i think it was something like him saying he wouldn't show up to Orlando if traded. Also, for the record, I shouted from the mountain tops for us not to trade for TMac. Although he eventually grew on me and I shouted from the mountain tops last month to play TMac.

 

It was also very good to FINALLY get from underneath Kelvin Cato's contract! That guys STILL owes us $42 milion or 15 and 10 for one season! $49 Million or 20 and 12 if you compound the interest!

 

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:-(

I actually went to his news conference along with about 5k other fans. Everyone was excited and believed many championships were on the way. Oh well....

 

To those who feel vindicated that they did not feel good about the Francis - TMac trade - don't be. Both sides basically benefited short-term and then both failed long-term.

I don't think we would have gotten any farther with Francis than we did with TMac. TMac was the much more versatile star that we needed for those underpowered 2004-2006 teams to have any hope of scratching into the playoffs.

To sit here now and say "well I was opposed to the trade," is just silly. Neither side was a clear winner, sadly.

 

To be fair I lurked about 3-4 years before I made my account.

 

RR, there are 29 failed experiments every year in the NBA. The Rockets were thin after the trade, but better. Unfortunately, CD was the master of the blockbuster, but couldn't fill out the roster afterwards.

 

This is not about Francis Versus TMAC
it is about Francis's Team Versusn Tmac's Teams

SF - CM - JJ - Cato - Yao
was a squad that had finally grown into its own
and
IMO would have benefitted INFINITELY under Rick Adelman
[I may have mentioned it at the time. . or as soon as Rick became available]

Here is the simply Truth
OF ALL THE TEAMS THE ROCKETS LOST TO IN THE PLAYOFFS
[not including last year]
that Laker's team was by far best
we lost more IMO out of inexperience [and a few refs] than anything else.

Cato was a GOOD PF . . .sucked as a Center
Cato was there for DEFENSE and REBOUNDING . . .he was not THAT BAD
[well he was BAD for the price maybe]

JVG traded 3 of our starters then ran off a forth [JJ]
then
wanted to replace them with the over the hill gang

long story short we traded 3 starters for one
PG - SG - PF for an SG
and
all through TMAC's tenure
we lacked those other two spots
PG and PF

Rocket River

 

Im new to clutchfans but I remember that I was excited about the Rox trading away Francis and getting T-Mac. Had the Rox somehow figured out a way to keep Mobley, they could have beaten the Mavs in that playoff series. Watching Stackhouse shoot over the top of David Wesley each time down court made me sick.

Fast forward to 2010 and the Rox cant give away the ghost of T-Mac in a trade. Looks like Orlando and Houston both came out losers in that trade.