So if Steve sucks for next five years, we should all follow him to the lottery for five years? Look, Steve is the reason I fall in love with the Rockets, but as a true fan, you need to always put the team on top. If Steve is not right for the team, a trade maybe good for both the team and Steve. A true fan should do whatever it takes to get this franchise to the next level.
I guess, just because I usually keep to myself. I never call in to the radio, I hardly ever post. I was frustrated the whole time just never expressed my opinion here. When I logged in yesterday, I saw this post praising Steve for his play. I got upset because of all the negative talk there had been before the win streak. I finally broke my silence.
Lighten up Mark. Of course we're going to rip into players when we think they are costing us wins and praise them when we think they are winning games for us. That's part of being a fan. Anyway if we just sat back and never criticised anything the Rox players, coach and management did this would be a pretty dead BBS.
No, I didn't mean that. This is his first year under Van Gundy, he hasn't even had a whole season to adjust his game. Under Rudy, he had to put the team on his shoulders. Under Van Gundy, he must get others involved. I just think we should give him time. We all know the player he is, what he is capable of. He's starting to show it.
Mark: If you live in Houston, never move away. If you do, get League Pass immediately. Otherwise you'll have to follow the games in chat and, while there are a few seriously great chatters and there's always great PBP, the haters in chat are even worse than the ones on the BBS. Or, at the very least, they type faster. As for your main premise, the YOFs are the worst. They're new to basketball and very new to the Rockets and there are no greater and no more annoying alarmists. I give a lot more rope to the ones who have been Rockets fans a long time and are understandably frustrated with the excuses and lack of progress these last five years. Some of them apparently thought the combo of a new, good coach and a second year Yao would be instant, magic bullet solutions. I'm actually surprised the Rockets have progressed so quickly this year in learning new, better habits and a new offensive system that required our veterans to chuck every single thing they'd had moderate success with in the past in favor of winning games. And they turned around their defense, formerly a major liability (remember all the folks here who said Steve and Cat would always be defensive liabilities before this year), almost immediately. I can see both sides here, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to watch a game with ninety percent of the board. Last night in chat we were up six with about a minute to go on our way to our longest winning streak of the seasn and, if you didn't know the score, you'd swear we were down twenty with our longest losing streak. In the championship years, Houston learned to love the team and believe even when things looked bad. In the years since, the city's learned to doubt even when things look good. I maintain what I believe is a healthy cynicism about the team. I've been around long enough to recognize the bad habits repeating themselves when they do. But I've always believed, even when things looked bad. Until we've been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs these last few years, I've always thought we had a chance to be there. And no matter how many points we're down, late in a game, until the final buzzer I've always believed we could pull out a win. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to be a fan, but I'd sure rather watch a game with you than most of the posters on the board. It's a hell of a lot more fun to believe than to b****. And anyway, there's time for b****ing in the offseason.
I think the important point to consider when discussing trading Steve is, will his loss = what we will get in return. No one can deny that he is an incredibly gifted player. We do have to ask ourselves whether we can win it all with our current team. I don't believe we have the depth of talent to do that. However, we could turn a great talent (Francis) into two really good talents via trade, or a good and potentially great talent (if we enter the draft). Unfortunately we don't have the picks or the cap space to seek any other real alternatives. If we do, I would love to know how? BC Melbourne
So true. BJ, excellent post. I too am surprised how quickly our team has adjusted, and I am surprised at how well they have too. We have not had a record like this in many years. I think it has finally come time where the city will once again start to be behind the Rockets night in and night out. If they fair well in the playoffs, (not alone make it) this season I think there will be many more fans next season who will begin (or once again) to believe in "ClutchCity". Where every game there is a good chance to win.
Batman Jones, Thanks......I've lived in Houston my whole life, and started watching the Rockets consistantly in the mid 80's......I'm young, but I love the Rockets, and I watch every game, if I can't go, I watch it on TV, if I can't watch it on TV, I TiVo it. I guess I was wrong for coming on here and questioning the loyalty of others.......It wasn't the right way to do things and I'm sorry, but I just feel that there are so many that only jump on the badwagon during the good times..........and when the team is down, don't even bother to turn on the game. The bottom line, if you take the time to come to a website and discuss the rockets on a message board, you're obviously a fan.
I've notice one thing since roaming message board and not just this one but all NBA fans are like that. Especially New York fans.
Mark I'm here win or lose every day in season or out of season talking Rockets and I've been following the team since before I could talk so you can kiss my ass for the above statement. I What idiot loud mouths like yourself fail to recognize is that opinions vary. Anybody who comes to this site for hours at a time each week is a Houston Rockets fanatic. Such behavior is not normal for what you call "fair weather fans". If someone on this board is critical of Francis, it is far more likely that they really believe that he is detrimental to the team's success whether you agree with them or not.
The NBA is a business. I'm just curious that if the powers that be...Les Alexander, CD & JVG...decides a deal for Francis with the Hawks is best for the Houston Rockets...are ya'all going to become Atlanta Hawks fans?
Deuce Rings: If you posted that before reading Mark's last post, understood. If you posted it after reading his last post, lame. Your frustration with the Rockets is not superior to his frustration with the fans. And in his last post he was softening his earlier position and reaching out.
What are you talking about? This isn't a SOF thread.... No way in hell would I be a Hawks fan. Rockets fan for life! I am not a SOF, I am not a YOF. If a player was to be traded or signed with another team, I would not follow them. (Even when the Dream went to Toronto I didn't follow him) My heart is with the Houston Rockets.
I don't know where you got the idea in this thread that anyone here was a Steve only fan. My guess is that Mark, for example, would simply become a fan of whichever Hawk(s) became Rockets -- whether they were thriving or not. I'd do the same as long as the new Rockets weren't Malone, Stockton, Sloan or Pippen. If any of those guys wound up here, that would be enough for me to find a new team.
You're right, I shouldn't have questioned your loyalty. I was upset and frustrated, but apologize for the above statement.
That's cool. After reading the post you made several minutes before my last post, I wished I hadn't come down on you so hard.
How is that ironic when you are attacking them? If you have REALLY been on this board all those years then you know how much support we've given Steve through all his ups and downs, but you can only give so much support before you realize the truth about his place on this team. Bashing us isn't going to make him turn the ball over less or shoot better. BTW, Steve Francis has been the best thing since sliced bread the past 4 years? You need to get out more...
I still don't see how not liking a Rocket player somehow makes one less of a fan. When the Rockets traded Thorpe for Drexler, I thought it was a great trade. This doesn't mean I didn't like OT, because he was my second favorite player then after the Dream. But we were playing badly that year and needed a change. Drexler was EXACTLY what we needed. Had the Rockets "stuck by their team" through the hard times that season, we would've missed out on a championship. Being loyal to a player is so much different from being loyal to the team. The team's success is just MUCH MORE IMPORTANT. The people who want to get rid of Francis only think so because they felt the Rockets will win more games that way. Are some of the things they say stupid or irrational? Of course. But you can't question their loyalty to the team based on that type of thinking.
