Worst even though many will disagree. They now have no point guard to run there fast break. Mark Jackson is aging. Lue aint good. Gaines is young. They will have to take away from the greatness of tmac since they will be running the offense through yao. They lost two of there best three point shooters .They are becoming what the magic were last year only with a center. A team with no real back court besides for tmac. Though I think there front line will be good with howard yao and taylor. There back court mostly the point position will suck. The one thing you need to win out west besides a center is a point guard. Every team has a good one. Cassel, bibby, nash, payton,andre miller, and tony parker. You need one to win badley not to mention jason williams of memphis.
Better of course. Pure Skillz we dont have a PG YET! It's only a matter of time before we sign one. But I really wanted fisher to come over here
Better. I totally agree with the current lack of a point guard, but Steve Francis wasn't much of a point guard either. In my opinion, he hurt the team more than helped it last year, so they are better off without him. They need someone to get the ball to Yao and TMac. Francis played like he was getting paid by the dribble.
definitely better...this is an offense based around post play and inside-out activity...as long as the PG can bring up the ball, pass to the right people, play sound defense and hit open jumpers, it doesnt matter who it is...Yao, T-Mac and J-Howard is a better trio that Yao, Cat and Franchise, hands down...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Worst even though many will disagree. They now have no point guard to run there fast break. Mark Jackson is aging. Lue aint good. Gaines is young. They will have to take away from the greatness of tmac since they will be running the offense through yao.</div> I think Mike Wilks can be a decent point guard...the few games i saw with hiim playing actual minutes he did pretty good for coming out and playing frozen cold cuz he was sitting on the bench most of the game.
The Rockets will only be better if their commitment to Defense is the level of that from last year or at least very close. Sometimes when teams add offensive players they begin to think they can win games with their offense instead of the commitment to D. If this happens to the Rockets then I dont see them making a deep impact in the west. Van Gundy is going to try to make sure the level of defensive intensity stays the same But the Rockets D clearly wont be the same, losing Cato who was their best on ball defender in the post & Mobley who was a very underratted Defender on the perimeter. So I would say Defense will be a major key to whether this team will be successful.
Better...I've always believed that the Rockets' struggles stemmed from playing Francis out of position. With Francis in Orlando, and T-mac at the 2, the rockets finally have the opportunity to start a "real" point guard (granted not a very good one) ... I agree with Henacy that losing Cato was big, and defense will be a huge questionmark. However, I think Van Gundy will get the best out of T-mac's abilities on the defensive end, and Yao will only continue to improve.. Nonetheless, I would still rank San Antonio, Minnesota, Denver, and (maybe) Sacramento above them...
i think rockets s*c*k because they are not going to have a point guard that can give yao or t-mac the ball.And well pretty much they are not going to have a half court game because of t-mac.Because they are going to try to run on the fast break a lot.And well first if anybody thinks they are going to the playoffs u r crazy??????????????????????
the rockets will get farther than last year, I think they'll make 2nd round.. T-Mac carried a team on his back, and with guys like Yao, Jim Jackson and Juwan Howard, I'm pretty sure he's got enough help to take the Rockets to the next level. Even though JJ and Howard are older, that gives the Rockets 4 former all stars in their starting lineup.
yupz.. the new lineup is MUCH better. sure, the point guard spot is isn't looking good atm, but Francis wasn't really doing much as a PG... he wasn't making plays, he was finishing them. as for that guy who said that we've lost 2 of our best 3pt shooters? WTF? yes cuttino is an great from the arc, but since when was Francis ever a deadly shot??? Stevie's a slasher.. hes got quickness, and can split the defence on his drives, but his shooting is just above average. T-mac brings wat Franchise had, but bring much more. His defensive abilities are also underrated. Watch T-Mac improve tremendously this yr on defense thx to JVG.. Speaking bout D, i agree that Cato's departure is gonna hurt, but hopefully we can find replacements. BTW, i also think Tyron Lue is very much underrated. That guy has a bit of champ experience and has the ability to be a starter, but i'll admit he wont matchup to the other west guards mentioned earlier in the thread. my 2cents
