ESPN Rockets Fixer Upper

Don't know if this has been posted yet, so I'll go ahead and post it.

http://espn.go.com/nba/s/2002/0821/1421135.html

Rockets' biggest question: Yao or later?

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By Chad Ford
ESPN.com


Editor's note: ESPN Insider's Chad Ford breaks down what last season's NBA lottery teams need to do to get to the playoffs. ESPN.com's "Fixer-Upper" series continues with the Houston Rockets.

General manager Carrol Dawson's work was really done for him on May 19, when the pingpong balls of fate landed the Rockets the most coveted big man since Tim Duncan.


Even Yao Ming admits it'll take time before he gets used to the NBA.
Yao Ming is coming, and everything else in Houston takes a back seat.

After a year where everything that could've went wrong did, the Rockets seem to have Lady Luck in their corner. They are young, talented and surprisingly deep for a lottery team. Were it not for a slew of injuries afflicting everyone from Maurice Taylor to Steve Francis, the Rockets would have challenged for a playoff spot last season.

But fate has a funny way of turning good into bad and, in the Rockets' case, bad into good.

Like the Spurs in 1997 and the Magic in 1993, the Rockets not only stole the No. 1 pick away from more deserving teams, they reaped a rare windfall by nabbing one of the few franchise-type players to come along in recent years. Add another mid-first-round pick in sharp-shooting Euro Bostjan Nachbar, and the Rockets appear to have all the pieces in place.

Just when things couldn't get any better, the Sonics and hometown boy Rashard Lewis start fighting, and now the Rockets are in the hunt to make another huge free-agent acquisition. But fate won't stay on their side forever. Rockets team sources indicate that their only real chance of landing Lewis is through a sign-and-trade deal. The Sonics want second-year phenom Eddie Griffin as part of any deal. Even with Griffin in the deal, the Sonics are balking on the inclusion of players, such as Taylor, who are in the last year of their contracts. If Lewis can't get a sign-and-trade, he'd opt for the Mavericks' mid-level exception over Houston's. In other words, don't count on Lewis playing for the hometown fans next season.

Will the Rockets catapult themselves into the playoffs in the wild, wild West? ESPN.com poured over depth charts, trade rumors and salary-cap information and even sought the advice of a few NBA general managers to give you the four things the Rockets must do to get into the playoffs this season.


Step 1: Move Mo Taylor if possible.
The Rockets seem to have played all of their cards right the last few years. From the deal to acquire Francis from the Grizzlies to letting players such as Shandon Anderson and Hakeem Olajuwon ruin someone else's salary-cap situation, management has made mostly right moves. But signing Taylor to a whopping six-year, $48 million contract hurt them. Just weeks later, Taylor went down with an Achilles injury. By the end of the season, he reportedly had been on the Shawn Kemp Twinkie and Kool-Aid diet and was weighing in at a whopping 300 pounds. Taylor is playing basketball again and has already dropped 20 pounds, but his days are numbered. Both rookie Eddie Griffin and third-year pro Kenny Thomas more than held their own in the post last season. Thomas actually put up better numbers than Taylor did the season before he got hurt. Griffin, in another four years, might turn out to be the best player in the class of 2001. Better to dump Taylor now before he sees his playing time disappear. The dilemma, of course, is where to move him. Few teams are excited about adding an undersized, under-rebounding power forward with a weight problem coming off an Achilles injury (if only Taylor had Kemp's agent). Still, there are deals out there. The most likely one is a straight-up swap of Taylor for Indiana's Austin Croshere. Croshere is in Isiah Thomas' doghouse, and Rudy Tomjanovic has always liked his inside-outside game. Taylor is more of a low-post player and would be a better fit in Indiana's system. Jermaine O'Neal's ability to play center should free up plenty of minutes for Taylor. Croshere and Taylor basically have the same contract, so the trade has more to do with change of scenery than anything else. Right now, both teams are looking.


Step 2: Bring in Bryon Russell.
The team's backcourt depth is shaky. Francis and Cuttino Mobley missed stretches of last season, and the team had only Moochie Norris and rookies Oscar Torres and Terence Morris to back them up. If they are going to make a run at the playoffs, the team needs a veteran who has been there. Bryon Russell is coming off a terrible season, which basically tanked his value. Russell, at this point, is willing to play cheap. The Rockets may be his best chance for redemption. Just two years ago, Russell put up 14 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He has Finals experience, is a strong defender and would be a nice quality backup for Mobley.



Step 3: Go slow with Yao Ming.
The pressure on Yao is enormous. By his own estimation, it will take him a few years to get used to the speed and physical nature of the NBA. I usually advocate throwing young players into the deep end of the pool. But with Yao it's different. There are too many critics poised to declare him a bust. A rough start could shatter Yao's confidence, sending him into a Shawn Bradley career death spiral. I never thought I'd say this, but the Rockets finally have a reason to hang onto Kelvin Cato. They should split the minutes at center between the two. Next to Cato, Yao will look like a super star -- even if it's all a big illusion.

Those moves would give the Rockets this opening-day roster:


Point guard: Steve Francis, Moochie Norris.

Shooting guard: Cuttino Mobley, Bryon Russell, Oscar Torres.

Small forward: Glen Rice, Bostjan Nachbar, Terence Morris.

Power forward: Kenny Thomas, Eddie Griffin, Austin Croshere.

Center: Yao Ming, Kelvin Cato, Jason Collier

Step 4: Playoffs or development?
Like many teams, the Rockets have a tough choice to make. Is this the year they give big playing time to their future stars? Or do they use their veterans to propel the team into the playoffs? It's a difficult choice. The Rockets should have the firepower to grab a seventh or eighth seed in the West with Francis, Mobley, Rice, Thomas and Cato taking the majority of the minutes. However, in the end, Griffin, Nachbar and Yao are the future of this team. Would it be better to use Rice, Thomas and Cato in supporting roles and give Nachbar, Griffin and Yao big minutes now? It won't translate into wins this season, but down the road, when Rice and Thomas are off the books, it could be the difference between a string of first-round exits and the chance at something truly special.

Chad Ford writes the daily NBA Insider column for ESPN Insider.

 

ESPN also has the Rockets as the team to watch in the Midwest division.

http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/misc/1421100.html

Healthy Francis should give Rockets a boost

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By Marc J. Spears
Special to ESPN.com


Editor's note: This week, ESPN.com spotlights the "team to watch" in each division, continuing with the Houston Rockets in the Midwest.

Choosing who will win the Midwest Division this season is an easy Texas two-step decision between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. But another team capable of big things in Texas is the Houston Rockets due to their potentially awesome offensive arsenal.

So what is the major reason why the Rockets are the team to watch in the Midwest? Look no further than their backcourt.


Steve Francis needs to involve his teammates on offense, too.
When you mention the NBA's best scoring duos, i.e. O'Neal-Bryant, Robinson-Abdur-Rahim, Pierce-Walker, Nowitzki-Finley, Davis-Mashburn, Webber-Stojakovic, Miller-O'Neal, Iverson-Van Horn, one would be sorely mistaken by not including the Rockets' dynamic backcourt duo of Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley.

There's a reason Francis is called the "Franchise." The Rockets will only go as far as the all-star will take them. While injuries plagued them in a disappointing 28-54 campaign last season, the thing that hurt them the most was Francis' absence.

Francis played a career-low 57 games, many in pain, due to an inner-ear disorder that caused migraine-like symptoms. He was also plagued by a right shoulder injury that demanded offseason surgery. The high-jumping, 6-foot-3 Francis, however, is recovered from the shoulder injury and has learned how to handle his headache-causing condition called Meniere's Disease.

A healthy Francis will mean lots of broken ankles for opponents. He's an unstoppable scorer who averaged a career-high 21.1 points and 8.65 free-throw attempts per game last season. While Francis is a proven scorer, his biggest challenge will be making his teammates better, which is a must for Houston to become an upper-echelon team.

One player who can help Francis look good is Mobley, who showed last season that he is a quiet offensive assassin in averaging a career-high 21.7 points. The flamboyant 6-4, 210-pounder is also quite durable, having missed just 10 games the past three seasons and ranking second in the NBA in minutes per game (42.1) last season. "Cat" showed he is more than just a one-on-one player, too, proving he can hit the spot-up jumper.

Think about this? Combined, Francis and Mobley are capable of scoring 50 points per game. Not many other duos in the NBA have that power.

So what about Francis and Mobley's teammates? Well, the supporting crew has the potential to either hit it big or crap out. But if the Rockets can get healthy and the young players can give some strong production, the Mavericks and Spurs will be looking over their shoulders.

As strong as the Mavericks are offensively, the Rockets have the potential to run with them.

If he gets his weight down and his Achilles is recovered, power forward Maurice Taylor has shown in the past that he can be a tough scorer in the post. Swingman Glen Rice, without any knee setbacks, could be the strong third scorer that Houston has been seeking. Forward Eddie Griffin showed flashes of stardom during his rookie season, and forward Kenny Thomas (14 points per game last season) is an under-rated offensive player.

No. 1 draft pick Yao Ming might have Pee Wee Herman's strength, but he stands 7-5½ and possesses a deft shooting touch (as evidenced by his perfect performance for China in an exhibition against Canada last week). Forward Bostjan Nachbar could be one of the NBA's surprise rookies. He can sink the mid-range jumper, run the floor and play above the rim.

While loaded with offensive scorers, the Rockets have questions on defense. Houston allowed an NBA-worst field goal mark of 46 percent last season. But there is some hope defensively in the decrepit Compaq Center in the shot-blocking skills of Griffin and Yao.

The road for the Midwest Division title definitely goes through Texas. Whether the Rockets will have a say depends on whether they can overcome all those ifs and live up to their scoring potential.

Marc J. Spears covers the Denver Nuggets and the NBA for The Denver Post

 

I think he was referring to the fact that Mobley isn't really recognized or appreciated by people around the league. When people talk about the best 2 guards or best scorers in the league, the name, Cuttino Mobley, generally doesn't come up (other than on this board of course ). So by "quiet", I'm assuming that they're trying to imply that he's a terrific "assassin" or whatever that goes unnoticed for the most part.

I'm delighted that the Rockets are finally getting some respect and recognition as one of the top up and coming teams to watch.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Tom Gugliotta tore both of his achilles. Never been the same since.