thats all i keep reading, trade him 4 him and pick 4 him. Yes, i know we need a big man but look at ou possible line up. Cato Griff Rice Mobley Francis Im sry but thats a playoff team with the great bench the rocs have. The Rockets have the best bench in the leage. We really dont NEED a trade we NEED to stay healthy.
EG I really think it's time you proof read your posts before submitting them. I almost got a headache reading that.
Have you any comments about Fresno State's senior MELVIN ELY? Is the guy NBA material? Would the Rockets be interested if he'd apply in the NBA? He seems to put great numbers in terms of rebounds and blocks. Does Fresno State play good teams in college basketball? Or are ELY's stats inflated?
You want to see a deep and talented team? Here is a deep and talented team: Francis-Norris Mobley-Torres Thomas-Rice-Williams Taylor-Willis Griffin--Cato-Collier Griffin is the Rockets' future superstar big man, while Francis is our point guard for years, and Mobley is a good side-kick. They don't need to concern themselves with trades or free agent signings. The Rockets have all the talent they need to win a championship, it just has to be developed. Thomas and Taylor will be great role players, while that bench is what the Rockets were practically starting during the streak. All the Rockets need is for Steve to realize that he is a superstar worthy of taking 25+ shots, and for Eddie to bulk up, and gain a little experience. Also, they need to promote Rudy to his "natural position" of GM, and hire a defensive-minded coach. Once the Rockets embrace defense, they will be on their way.
zrb -- suffice it to say, i disagree. 1. that's a pretty small lineup..particularly with eddie at the 5. the idea of cato as quality depth (or quality anything) is laughable to me. 2. i don't like the idea of thomas as a 3. i don't think he's athletic enough to step outside and defend the more athletic 3s in the league...aside from that, i don't think rice has anything left to offer the NBA or the Rockets, so i think the idea of depth there is a joke...walt williams will not be a rocket next season. 3. i don't think that any team that builds its strengths around perimeter players will ultimately be a contender...this is my main contention with this team. 4. i don't think eddie is necessarily a superstar waiting to happen, though i do think he could blossom into a really good player. i hope i'm wrong on this one. actually i hope and wish i'm wrong on all of my points here! if they're so deep and talented, they would have been winning this year. yes, they've had injuries...but a DEEP, talented team overcomes injuries...they certainly don't lose 15 (?) straight. i also find it funny that anyone considers rudy to be anything other than a defensive-minded coach..particularly after years and years of berating him for not opening up the offense...and the fact his team kicked ass in defense for years and years.
dfbreyes, Here's what nbadraft.net had to say about Melvin Ely: Melvin Ely Birthdate: 5/2/78 NBA Position: Power Forward College: Fresno St. Class: Senior Ht: 6-10 Wt: 256 Hometown: Harvey, IL High School: Thornton Township Team Site Profile 2001 Stats Notes: Another big time prospect with questionable desire. Can look sensational at times, and uninterested at other times. Very good shot blocker with superb athleticism for a bigman. Has put on weight the past couple years and is harder to move around in the paint. Here's what another draft site had listed for Melvin Ely: Melvin Ely 6’10” 256 Power Forward Fresno State Bulldogs Senior Birthdate: May 2, 1978 Thornton Township, IL Strengths: Athletic big guy who has improved a lot over his career at Fresno State. Good leaper who can block and alter a lot of shots on the defensive end. Runs the court well for his size and has good quickness. Has put on some muscle and is a much better interior defender because of it. On the offensive end, his footwork and post moves have shown remarkable improvement. He has a nice jump hook shot and drop step. He isn’t afraid to get the ball off the offensive glass either. He has worked some range on his outside jump shot but he must be more consistent and learn to hit the mid-range jumper out of the high post or short corner. Weaknesses: Ely is still pretty raw on the offensive end. He needs to add a couple of new post moves and develop a mid-range game. He is less effective the farther he gets away from the goal and hasn’t learned to react to a double team and find the open guy. He will end to add some more strength to complete down low in the NBA especially on the defensive end. A lot of people have questions about his desire to be great and that isn’t a good trait to have when you have a lot of developing to do. He must improve his free throw shooting. Outlook: Ely is almost a lock for the first round due to his height and athleticism. With the lack of centers in this years draft, a lot of teams will be eyeing Ely. He probably is more of a PF, but he could easily get minutes at the C spot especially against teams without dominant centers. Don’t look for him in the lottery but he could be a very good mid-round pick. He has the athleticism and the size to have a long NBA career, just a little strength and coaching. WAC Player of the Year (00-01) 1st Team All-WAC(00-01) 2nd Team All-WAC (99-00) WAC Newcomer of the Year (98-99) McDonald’s All American(96-97) Statistics Team/Year G MinPG PtsPG FG% FT% 3PT% RebPG AstPG StlsPG BlksPG TOsPG Fresno St(98-99) Fr. 32 11.2 56.1 50.0 6.5 Fresno St(99-00) So. 31 33.3 13.3 60.6 66.2 0.0 7.0 0.8 0.7 3.0 2.1 Fresno St(00-01) Jr. 33 30.6 15.8 58.3 67.1 0.0 7.5 1.4 0.9 2.7 2.7
Bird's Celtics, Thomas' Pistons, Jordan's Bulls, and Johnson's Lakers might have something to say about this.
hydra -- i knew someone would try that!! bird's celtics?? how about mchale and parrish??? not exactly something to sneeze at! maybe the best frontcourt ever. johnson's lakers?? how about worthy, a.c. green and kareem?? hardly a perimeter team!!! byron scott was the sg on those teams...'nuff said. even magic himself was not a perimeter player. i'll give you the pistons...they were built very much like the rockets in terms of guard play...the difference was they had enforcers down low...we don't. the bulls are the exception to every rule in my book...m.j. made it so. the history of the nba shows that teams with quality big men win...teams with quality guards may or may not win. yes, you have to have perimeter players who can knock down big shots for you...but ultimately the game is about having big men who can score easily and repeatedly. that certainly seems to be evident in the powers of the nba today.
I did too mad max. Jordan if you watch now and in his earlier yrs get a lot of shots within the ft line and or 12-15ft. Its a huge difference betweena team getting 23ft shots and 8ft shots. Live by the jumper , die by the jumper. Thats the Rockets in a nutshell. Fans can look at Dallas, Milw, and a few other teams, but the difference is those teams have big guys (6'6 and taller) that can get a quality shot whenever. Looking at the past years, the pistons and bulls are the only teams to even reach the finals without an all star standing 6'6 or above. The Rockets don't have it and probably no team that reaches the final will either. A team need to have a good big guy who can get a quality shot in crunch time and we, the Rockets , don't have it.
exactly, lee...basketball is a game about big men...we don't have them...we played our best basketball last season when our big man got his game together...now we're entirely without a big man who can consistently contribute on the offensive end. good point about the bulls getting shorter shots...i never thought of it that way. i guess the triangle allowed for that?? my point was...put larry bird on a team without mchale and parrish and let's see how good his team is....put magic on a team without a quality big man and let's see how many championships he wins.
Max, You don't think Eddie Griffin and Mo Taylor have the potential to have similar impacts to players such as James Worthy and AC Green? if they're so deep and talented, they would have been winning this year. yes, they've had injuries...but a DEEP, talented team overcomes injuries...they certainly don't lose 15 (?) straight. Did you see what happened to the Lakers without Shaq? I think their only win may have been against the Rockets without Francis. Francis to this team is like Shaq to the Lakers. Yes, there are other players, but Steve's the guy that makes the machine go. With the exception of Mobley, most of these players feed off of Francis' ability to draw double teams, pass, push the ball in transition, etc. Kenny Thomas and Mo Taylor are more than adequate frontcourt players. Eddie Griffin is a potential superstar. We have enough talent... injuries have just held this team back. A healthy Rockets team is one of the top 5-6 teams in the West. the difference is those teams have big guys (6'6 and taller) that can get a quality shot whenever..... The Rockets don't have it and probably no team that reaches the final will either. Did you watch the Sixers last year? Surely Mo Taylor, Kenny Thomas, or Eddie Griffin has the same chance of scoring inside as Dikembe Mutombo. I've never seen an uglier hook in my life than that stuff Dikembe puts up.
the sixers are an anomaly...notice they're nowhere close to last year's performance...they played in an extremely weak conference with a lack of quality big men to exert their will. their heart was admirable, but it wasn't enough to be competitive in the nba finals. in the end, the sixers were not a championship team..we're trying to build a championship team, i suppose. no...i don't think eddie griffin and mo taylor have the potential to have the impact of ac green and james worthy...and even if i did think that, francis is not magic johnson! sorry! he's very good...but he's not great. i don't think he will be GREAT! yes, the lakers struggled without shaq...but the rockets quickly became the WORST team in the league without francis. they didn't just suck...they were playing absolutely the worst basketball in the league..we saw that particularly against miami. i disagree entirely that a healthy rockets team is a 5-6 seed. as someone else said, even when their record was good it always felt like a house of cards to me. the lack of a consistent frontcourt is killing this team.
I noticed someone said we need a defensive minded coach which is exactly the truth. I am very high on Rudy but I think it might be better to move him to a front office job and hire Van Gundy. Van Gundy was one of the best defensive minded coaches in the game.
Mad Max, You said no teams built around perimeter talent could contend. I would say those teams were built around perimeter talent. They added big men that were good role players and won championships. I think that Francis, Mobley, Griffin, Taylor, Rice/Morris/whoever, are as talented as Jordan, Pippen, Grant, Paxton, Wennington. All we need is time together and healthy. If we don't make the playoffs this year, we might be able to pick up a good SF like Dunleavy and then I would put the Rockets as top 3-4 in the NBA. It seems that our guys can take close shots too. That is not a problem of personnel, but of style. When Cat's ankles heal, you will see more shots in the paint from him. Moochie had basically a layup drill about a week ago. Any team that starts to settle for long jumpers will struggle, but you don't need all-star big men to play closer to the basket. Our guys can be very good. The end of last season and the start of this season should show that. Griffin getting more experience and all of our players getting healthy make us contenders IMO.
hydra -- no..those teams did not BUILD around perimeter talent...they did not have the best players on their team solely in the backcourt...those teams had some of the best frontcourts in the history of the game. mchale and parrish were NOT role players!! kareem abdul-jabbar was NOT a role player!! again...i think the bulls are unique...m.j. made it so...they defy all the trends of championship teams in NBA history. but i think you're delusional if you think francis/mobley = jordan/pippen. sorry..i don't see it, as much as i wish it were true. as lee said...if you live by the outside shot you'll die by it too..championship teams are made of frontcourts...you as a rocket fan should know that!!
Cat, they went 3-2 without Shaq. I knew someone would also bring up the 76ers, did anyone ever see the sixers play d last yr. They won because they played defense and everyone understood their roles. It was a team that greatly overacheived in a super weak conference. They had 1 star a good center Ratliff and Deke, and role players. That team played hard every possession and never got blown out hardly. I don't have a problem with that style of ball other than it keeps the games close all the time and your room for error is small. That can work in the east with a little man, but in a conference dominated by big guys, it will not work in the west. We lost what 5 games against the east last yr and got our asses whipped in the west. Even Denver finished .500 against the west, that should tell us something there.
I didn't say that. I feel that the other three starters for the Rockets are much better than Paxton, Grant, and Wennington though. Paxton and Wennington were a little bit above CBA quality players, Grant was like a bigger Shanderson. BTW, later in his career, Kareem was little more than a role player, and the Lakers were still winning.
kareem was still better than a role player when the lakers were winning titles...their frontcourt was still exceptionally strong. in absolutely no way were they a perimeter team...i don't know if you ever got to see them play, but they were anything but a perimeter team.
