Kudos to Charles, respect given to his game on the court. With that said, Im not terribly upset (as a rox fan, not a certain players fan) with whats transpired tonight. What I mean is that, I firmly believe at best the Rox would of gotten a low seed in the playoffs, and been an early exit. As I believe Clutch and Cabbage put it, "If your not in it for the Title, what good is just making the playoffs?" What this does do is finally force Rudy to make changes to playing time. We will actually start seeing TMass in games again. Once Dream comes back, Cato should be starting beside him. Maybe Rudy see that Williams is not beneficial to the Rox in a starting role, and puts Anderson at the 3 spot. I know earlier in the year I posted that I didn't think Anderson should play at the 3 for defensive purposes, but hell, could he do any worse than Walt? Finally that would mean starting Mobley. Allthough I hate Mobley's shot selection, and the regularity of his shots, maybe starting he won't feel the need to impress so much, quickly. With this starting 5, the Rox will finally have whats been lacking since Barkley came to town. DEFENSE. Cato and Hak patrolling the lanes, Mobley and Francis stuffing the back court and Anderson brings it on D every night. All hail the return to a Defensive mind set. I'd rather score 59 points a night and lose by one, than scoring 120 pts a night and lose by one. Offense comes and goes with how hot your players are that night, but Defense is stead fast. You either have it or you don't. This starting 5 will also be fast enough to run, and have just enough post presence to get the job done every night. But most importantly, well hopefully, Rudy puts the team in the hands of the future. Francis, Mobley, Anderson, and Cato. Instead of taking secondary roles this year, and getting major roles as Barkley and Hakeem retire, they now have to step it up. Making the transition to title contenders sooner than later. Give the young bucks the creative flow earlier in their careers, and by the next year or two the Rox players should have a solid chemistry built barring anymore 11 player deals. Now I appreciate what Barkley brings, and I don't believe the Rox are better without him, than with. I expect the next few weeks without Hakeem will be a tough stretch, but they are not a scrum of the league team. Out of the playoffs, probably...but not a bad team. But next year things might just be grand. BTW. As some posters like Clutch, Popeye and I noted. Does anyone else NOW realize why you maximize your roster to include the IR? The Rox are going to have to suit 9 players for a while. One more injury and it could turn disasterous in Houston. Again, bad move. GO ROX
