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What might have been - Part 1

#1 User is offline   RedNinetyFour 

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    Posted 13 July 2011 - 07:53 PM

    We talk a lot about the Yao-McGrady Rockets and what might have been.  It's been beaten to death.  But what we forget is how much potential the first version of the 'Yao Rockets' had.  I am here to remind you of that and push you closer to jumping off that ledge.

    Let's start with Francis.  This was--at the time--a guy who at the least, was considered to be on the level currently occupied by Russell Westbrook and thought by some to be a legit superstar and the second best point guard in basketball.  Francis was Isiah Thomas in the making; he would only get better with age and already was pretty good. When healthy, he was carrying--by himself--teams that ran the likes of Walt Williams and Matt Bullard at the forward spots to respectable records.

    Move onto the other guards: Mobley made up the other half of what was thought by some to be the best backcourt in basketball.  Supremely competitive, a heady defender, and young.  Consider this: the '02 Rockets were adding a true center prospect to a core that included the best guard duo in the league.  That sick feeling in your stomach is returning. Moochie Norris is easy to crack on after having gained a good 75 lbs., but looking back, the then 24-year-old wasn't thought of too differently than how we now think of Goran Dragic - a damn good change-of-pace backup point guard who was only getting better.

    Up front you had Boki, the man who eventually only became known for his playoff duel with Karl Malone.  Nachbar was supposed to be some sort of cross between Peja and Hedo Turkoglu once he filled out.  A midseason trade of Kenny Thomas brought the 25-year-old James Posey, a perfect complementary swingman who would grow with the core and do the dirty defensive work that the stars/couldn't wouldn't do.

    At the '4', Mo Taylor got hurt but the real prize was Eddie Griffin.  This was the wild card.  The lottery ticket.  Looking back, this was where it was exciting.  Francis and Mobley were the sure thing.  Yao, to some extent, as well.  But Griffin--with the flashes he had shown the year before--made things interesting.  In our minds, with just the aforementioned players, the Rockets were at least guaranteed playoff success.  Eddie Griffin panning out puts you in the conversation for dynasties.  At 19, he spaced the floor and was enjoying games with block totals reaching 4 and 5 in amount.  Was this Kevin Garnett in the making?  Even if the offense never came, at the least, the springy forward would help Yao on the defensive end by protecting his weakside.  Rockets management thought highly enough of him that they turned down offers of Rashard Lewis (sign&trade) and Shareef Abdur Rahim (the then-All Star).

    Kelvin Cato was a dog--we still want our money back--but as a backup, you could do worse.  This concludes the Kelvin Cato portion of our program.

    Then we came to Yao, the man who was to make it all fit together.  When he was drafted, it was thought he would space the floor with his soft touch, creating room for the guards to operate.  Then one night, on TNT, he exploded in Dallas for 20 first half points and things....well, got interesting.  You had Francis and Mobley, sure.  And Griffin was in the backpocket.  But Yao suddenly turned out to be a lot better than expected and a lot sooner.  He was a legit low post force. He commanded double teams and had passing brilliance.  He was a franchise center.

    That team the Rockets had in '02 was what people now envy when they see the Clippers stocked to the brim with blue-chip prospects.  They were more than that.  They had three guys in Francis, Yao, and Griffin who they thought could be franchise players in each of their respective rights.  They had young role players in Mobley, Posey, Norris, and Nachbar. They had a core.  They just needed time to grow.

    As we all know, it didn't quite work out that way.


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    #2 Guest_Cuttino M._*

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    Posted 13 July 2011 - 10:32 PM

    Don't forget the unconscionably boneheaded Free Agent contract for Mo Taylor.* Back in the day, the Rockets seemed an attractive destination for Free Agents, though I'm unsure why exactly (whether Francis & Mobley's charisma, the Rocket's on-the-rise buzz, or the reputation of H-town's quality gentlemen's clubs were the reason for this I wish Daryl Morey could figure out and reproduce). If the Rockets could've spun that into veteran length/toughness at the 4 to back up Eddie Griffin's athleticism/potential, it adds another layer to the what-could've-been tragedy that is Yao's career.

    * I remember saying for years that we needed Isiah Thomas to bail the Rockets from Mo's albatross contract... it still puts a smile on my face that Zeke came through.
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    #3 Guest_Grayson_*

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    Posted 14 July 2011 - 04:07 AM

    View PostRedNinetyFour, on 13 July 2011 - 07:53 PM, said:

    We talk a lot about the Yao-McGrady Rockets and what might have been.  It's been beaten to death.  But what we forget is how much potential the first version of the 'Yao Rockets' had.  I am here to remind you of that and push you closer to jumping off that ledge.


    Let's start with Francis.  This was--at the time--a guy who at the least, was considered to be on the level currently occupied by Russell Westbrook and thought by some to be a legit superstar and the second best point guard in basketball.  Francis was Isiah Thomas in the making; he would only get better with age and already was pretty good. When healthy, he was carrying--by himself--teams that ran the likes of Walt Williams and Matt Bullard at the forward spots to respectable records.


    Move onto the other guards: Mobley made up the other half of what was thought by some to be the best backcourt in basketball.  Supremely competitive, a heady defender, and young.  Consider this: the '02 Rockets were adding a true center prospect to a core that included the best guard duo in the league.  That sick feeling in your stomach is returning. Moochie Norris is easy to crack on after having gained a good 75 lbs., but looking back, the then 24-year-old wasn't thought of too differently than how we now think of Goran Dragic - a damn good change-of-pace backup point guard who was only getting better.


    <!--more-->Up front you had Boki, the man who eventually only became known for his playoff duel with Karl Malone.  Nachbar was supposed to be some sort of cross between Peja and Hedo Turkoglu once he filled out.  A midseason trade of Kenny Thomas brought the 25-year-old James Posey, a perfect complementary swingman who would grow with the core and do the dirty defensive work that the stars/couldn't wouldn't do.


    At the '4', Mo Taylor got hurt but the real prize was Eddie Griffin.  This was the wild card.  The lottery ticket.  Looking back, this was where it was exciting.  Francis and Mobley were the sure thing.  Yao, to some extent, as well.  But Griffin--with the flashes he had shown the year before--made things interesting.  In our minds, with just the aforementioned players, the Rockets were at least guaranteed playoff success.  Eddie Griffin panning out puts you in the conversation for dynasties.  At 19, he spaced the floor and was enjoying games with block totals reaching 4 and 5 in amount.  Was this Kevin Garnett in the making?  Even if the offense never came, at the least, the springy forward would help Yao on the defensive end by protecting his weakside.  Rockets management thought highly enough of him that they turned down offers of Rashard Lewis (sign&trade) and Shareef Abdur Rahim (the then-All Star).


    Kelvin Cato was a dog--<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5HH8p8ZVn4" target="_blank">we still want our money back</a>--but as a backup, you could do worse.  This concludes the Kelvin Cato portion of our program.


    Then we came to Yao, the man who was to make it all fit together.  When he was drafted, it was thought he would space the floor with his soft touch, creating room for the guards to operate.  Then one night, on TNT, he exploded in Dallas for 20 first half points and things....well, got interesting.  You had Francis and Mobley, sure.  And Griffin was in the backpocket.  But Yao suddenly turned out to be a lot better than expected and a lot sooner.  He was a legit low post force. He commanded double teams and had passing brilliance.  He was a franchise center.


    That team the Rockets had in '02 was what people now envy when they see the Clippers stocked to the brim with blue-chip prospects.  They were more than that.  They had three guys in Francis, Yao, and Griffin who they thought could be franchise players in each of their respective rights.  They had young role players in Mobley, Posey, Norris, and Nachbar. They had a core.  They just needed time to grow.


    As we all know, it didn't quite work out that way.

    <a href="http://www.red94.net/part-1/7126/"></a></p>

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    #4 Guest_Grayson_*

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    Posted 14 July 2011 - 04:16 AM

    I finally agree with one of your posts, but you left out the most important ingredient: the defensive principals bestowed by Jeff Van Gundy. The Rox D has been on the slide ever since, and, in turn the team has become geared more for the reg. season as opposed to the post season, when things matter.
    This, of course, is why the Suns and Mavericks struggled to get over the hump....until Dallas got an interior presence.
    But I digress to reality...you're right and I've been screaming about "that" team being superior in the playoffs to our Adelman playoff teams since JVG's departure. Not that JVG was a Phil Jackson, b/c he wasn't. He simply understood that half-court D and an interior presence win in the playoffs period, and you'll never get there without them. Rockets players were actually quoted in year 1 of Adelman's tenure that they could still hear JVG screaming defensive assignments. I hated the Adelman hire, just as I would have Don Nelson or Paul Westphal or Mike D' Antoni. Defense gets you there. Just ask the 94 and 95 ROX. And did I mention that McHale is a terrible hire! Another day.
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    #5 Guest_Guest_*

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    Posted 15 July 2011 - 05:06 PM

    Heh, Yao just got Onion'd.

    'Nation To Always Remember Yao Ming’s 22-Point, 8-Rebound Game Against Milwaukee'

    HOUSTON—Since Yao Ming’s intention to retire from the NBA was first reported last Friday, basketball fans across the country have been reflecting on the player’s nine-year career, with nearly all of them agreeing the Rockets center will forever be remembered for his 22-point, 8-rebound performance against the Milwaukee Bucks during a regular season game in 2007.

    “It was just classic Yao,” said Rockets fan Nate Dula, adding that everything about the contest, from Yao’s softness on defense to his early foul trouble, would forever be part of NBA lore. “The 4-foot turnaround jump shots where his feet barely left the ground, the 9-for-22 shooting performance, the single offensive rebound. We were watching a legend in the making before our very eyes.”

    “Everyone knew it was a special night when he got dunked on by [6-foot-3 guard] Charlie Bell,” Dula added. “But when Bell did it again in the fourth quarter, that brought the night from great to unforgettable.”

    According to fans, Yao’s vintage performance ranks with some of the all-time greatest individual achievements in basketball, including Michael Jordan’s 63-point playoff game against the Celtics, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point night, and Magic Johnson’s baby sky hook to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Had Yao tallied more than one offensive rebound, fans said, it would have easily been the greatest performance in the history of the sport.

    Fans also cited Yao’s 4-for-7 shooting from the free-throw line and his complete vanishing act in the last five minutes of the game as evidence of his play during the midseason contest being “truly epic.”

    Moreover, many maintained that the game’s signature image—that of Yao Ming limping off the court following a second-quarter foot injury—would never be forgotten.

    “The way he awkwardly dunked with one hand so that it almost looked like he couldn’t jump high enough to dunk a basketball gave me chills,” Houston resident Gary Udall said of the 7-foot-6 Yao. “And, you have to think of the context, too. A regular season game in March with nothing on the line against the fifth-place Bucks? That’s when Yao really came into his own.”

    “I think he may have even led the Rockets in scoring that game,” Udall added. “Actually, wait, no. Tracy McGrady also had 22 points.”

    Though most fans agree Yao’s 22-point, 8-rebound effort against the Bucks was his greatest game, some argue the best was his 21-point, 6-rebound game against Charlotte in 2006; his 22-point, 6-rebound game against the Bulls in 2004; or his 22-point, 7-rebound game against Memphis in 2007. However, many contend that considering Yao was only two rebounds shy of a double-double and had only one blocked shot despite being a foot taller than nearly every player on the court, the Milwaukee game is the performance in which Yao the mere player became Yao the legend.

    In addition, Rockets fans claimed that when Yao wasn’t on the floor during the game, the crowd experienced that “classic, unspoken feeling” that dominated the entire Yao Ming era: the sense that maybe the team would be substantially better, more efficient, and, on the whole, more exciting without Yao on the court.

    “I was actually at the game,” said Joe Laskowski, removing the ticket stub he keeps in his wallet. “The energy of the crowd was… Well, it was nowhere close to how electric it was when Hakeem Olajuwon played for us. In fact, I think Kenny Smith was more fun to watch. And so was Steve Francis, when I come to think of it. Also Scottie Pippen, even though he was way past his prime when he joined the team. And then there’s Luis Scola, who is a pretty underrated player. Oh, you know, we had Barkley there for a bit. Drexler, too, of course, Clyde the Glide. Who else… Let me think here. Oh, yeah, Robert Horry. Big Shot Rob. That guy helped us win a couple titles.”

    “But none of those players can say they helped the Rockets reach the second round of the NBA playoffs before going down with a career-ending foot injury,” Laskowski continued. “Not one.”
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    #6 User is offline   FEntropy 

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      Posted 15 July 2011 - 11:45 PM

      HOORAY FOR THE ONION!
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