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Rockets Report Card - 2002-2003
 Although Yao had a great 2002-2003 season, several of his fellow Rockets didn't. (AP photo) |
Rockets Report Card: 2002-2003
| CENTERS | ||
| Kelvin Cato | B+ | Probably the most improved Rocket from last season thanks to an improved work ethic. Someone who has struggled big-time in years' past drawing the ire of Rocket fans, Cato seems to have found himself a niche, perhaps inspired by Yao's presence. His rebounding average per minute is one of the top averages in the league. His shot blocking ability is impressive, and his penchant for slamming home alley-oops contributes to a very high field goal percentage (52%). He even showed around the basket nice touch on jump hooks this season, which was totally unexpected.
We still think Cato could show more hustle on defense, and he has a scary mental temperament at times that makes you think he's going to blow a gasket one day. But maybe that's what the Rockets need right now. Like most people, we still think Cato is overpaid for being a backup center, making close to $7 million per year (OUCH!), but that's not his fault. However, Cato is much more marketable for trade discussions this year than ever before. It's unlikely the Rockets could get a better center in a straight-up trade, but if they find one on the free agent market, or can acquire one through a package deal with other players, the Rockets could unload his big contract. If they keep him, it's not such a bad scenario given the improvement he made this past year. The combination of Yao and Cato was recognized by many sportscasters this year as being one of the top center tandems in the league. |
| Jason Collier | Inc. | Collier showed some improvement this season in the limited game action he had (13 games), but he was not able to break himself from the injured list (he claims he was not injured most of that time) due to Yao and Cato's success at center. The Rockets didn't pick up the option year of his 3-year rookie contract, so don't expect him to be back. We're frustrated Collier joins the long list of Rocket rookies who Rudy touted highly on draft day, only to have them whither on the vine without having much of a chance to prove themselves...or just not being very smart with their pick (i.e., Rodrick Rhodes, Mirsad Turkcan, Bryce Drew, Dan Langhi, etc.). In the same 2000 Draft, the Rockets bypassed Hedo Turkoglu, Desmond Mason, Quentin Richarson, Jamaal Magliore, Speedy Claxton, Jake Tsakalidis, and Michael Redd. What a waste if they get rid of Collier.
Don't be surprised if Collier is replaced with a savvy veteran who can come in and bring some much-needed leadership to the team. Remember Charles Jones during the mid-1990's championship runs? |
| Yao Ming | A | What else can we say about The Man that we haven't said already? Yao has exceeded all expectations. It's hard to believe at one time so-called experts were calling Yao a bust (see our 'Expert' Hall of Shame). Here at YaoMingMania.com, we knew he would be good before he landed in Houston, but not THIS good. Yao has it all: great touch, incredible shot blocking skills, defensive intimidator, awesome rebounder, great work ethic, outstanding court vision and anticipation, nice free throw percentage for a center (81%), respect from his teammates, and he's only going to get better. The Chinese get a bad rap for not having the best training and instruction for their basketball players, but whoever mentored Yao in China to get him to this level deserves an assistant coaching job in the NBA.
Let's talk about the pressure he handled:
Amare Stoudemire is a great rookie talent, but Yao deserves Rookie of the Year by a nose. Forget the fact the Suns made the playoffs and the Rockets didn't. That's not all Yao's fault. The main area we see where Yao can make an improvement is to slam home buckets around the rim instead of opting for layups, which he missed more than we would have expected. We also hope now that his rookie season is over, he will be able to take on a bigger leadership role on the court (and off) next season since the team is severly lacking in that area. |
| FORWARDS | ||
| Eddie Griffin | C- | Griffin didn't show much improvement from his rookie season last year. For some reason, the Rockets coaching staff are okay with him shooting as many three-pointers as he does (28% of his shots), which is not something you would expect from a power forward shooting, especially from one shooting 33% from behind the arc.
Griffin did show a little improvement by not being as afraid as last year to venture into the paint and shoot over defenders, and he continues to be a good shot blocker. But he was rarely able to match the stats of the other starting power forwards he played against. Granted, he's only 20 years old, but marked overall improvement must be made next season or the Rockets will be forced to make a decision on him. They cannot afford to have him shooting 40% from the field like he did this season. Hopefully he can show the Rockets made the right decision by relieving the logjam at power forward earlier this year when they traded Kenny Thomas instead of Griffin. Kenny racked up pretty nice numbers in some of the games he played at Philadelphia, so now even more pressure is placed on Griffin to show he was the right guy to keep. More heat also gets applied as the Nets' Richard Jefferson, one of three draft picks the Rockets traded to get Griffin, has shown he is one of the league's rising stars. We're not counting Griffin out yet. If Cato can turn things around like he did this year, so can Griffin given how young he is. |
| Terence Morris | B | Morris improved tremendously this season. We used to think he made the team because he was Stevie's boy from Maryland, but this year he showed surprising shooting accuracy from the outside, sometimes at unconscious levels. He's also decent around the basket. Look for Terence to get more playing time next year, and hopefully avoid being thrown on top of the Rockets' "wasted pick" heap. |
| Bostjan Nachbar | Inc. | We would have loved to see more of Boki during the season, but hopefully he'll get that chance next season. For being a mid-1st round pick, he deserves that chance. If not, then shame once again on the coaching staff for touting a player so highly after drafting him, then not giving him much of a chance in real game action. Can you say, "Dan Langhi?" |
| James Posey | A- | Probably the best trade the Rockets have made in years. Acquired in a three-way deal between Philadelphia and Denver for Kenny Thomas, Posey can start fast breaks off defenisve steals, finish fast breaks on spectacular alley-oop slams, play great D on his man, slash to the rack, and has even improved his range from behind the arc. He could be the best big guard/small forward the Rockets have had since Clyde Drexler. Now a free agent, let's hope the Rockets can sign him. |
| Glen Rice | B- | The Rockets are still paying for the Shandon Anderson acquisition (and debacle), who they traded to get Rice for about the same amount of money as Anderson.
We thought Rice was going to be a waste this season after he went on the injured list once again, but he managed to come back and provide some much-needed three-point accuracy. We're disappointed that Rudy's expectation of him becoming the "veteran leader" (with the only championship experience on the team) hasn't panned out as expected. The Rockets can surely find another 3-point specialist at a much cheaper price (can we bring Matt Bullard out of retirement?), but it will be difficult to move Rice with his exorbitant contract as he enters the final year or two of his career. |
| Maurice Taylor | B+ | Mo responded from last year's Achilles surgery and played to the form we expected from him when he got his big contract. There were games this season when Mo's scoring kept them in the game, or was responsible for a victory. And he isn't just a one-dimensional scorer; he showed the ability to pass the ball with accuracy, and didn't seem to be selfish when Yao was in the game and was open--he got Yao the ball on many occasions. Less important, we liked Taylor's quotes to the media: he didn't sugarcoat the failures of the team nor buck the responsibility of being a professional. |
| GUARDS | ||
| Steve Francis | B | Francis continues to improve, and along with Yao is virtually untouchable when it comes to trade talks this season. Francis is an incredible player, and continues to improve; however, we still think Francis needs to step up the decision-making part of his game, and since he is the team leader, needs to kick some teammates' butts when they show a lack of effort or poor decision-making on their own. Reducing his high turnover count is also imperative.
The Rockets need to make the playoffs next season or Francis will be expendable: If Gary Payton can get traded like he did this year, so can Francis. It's also conceivable for the Rockets to consider doing what the Sacramento Kings did a few years ago by trading the unpredictable Jason Williams for the steady-and-solid Mike Bibby, especially by looking at the great results the Kings because of that trade. One wild scenario of the Rockets doing the unthinkable is to trade Francis for a bunch of no-name players, cutting all of them to free up salary cap space, then going after free-agent Jason Kidd. Although Kidd had more turnovers per game than Francis this season, you've got to think Rudy T. and Carroll Dawson salivate on the thought of Kidd playing with Yao, and you'd think Kidd would love the idea of playing with Yao. Kidd has some of the best leadership and decision-making abilities in the game. I know it has a miniscule chance of happening, but hey, I'm entitled to at least one wild prediction, aren't I? |
| Juaquin Hawkins | B- | Hawkins got off to a good start, earning extra minutes behind Mobley as the backup shooting guard. He played well defensively, but soon his shot went south and became a liability on the offensive end of the floor.
He got some minutes later on in the season and his shot seemed to improve. However, we really never saw him play the minutes we thought he would get at the beginning of the season when the coaching staff touted him as a tough, hard-nosed Mario Elie-type battle-tested in leagues around the world. Looking back on it, it would have been nice if Hawk had been given the opportunity to inject more of his toughness and heart into the playing rotation. |
| Tito Maddox | Inc. | Not enough information to assign a grade, but he definitely didn't do himself any favors by skipping a trip to San Antonio. In fact, we were surprised Maddox wasn't cut after that stunt, so he must have some talent for the Rockets to keep him around. If Moochie is gone next year (see below), Tito will have a chance at winning the back-up spot.
Every year the Rockets 3rd point-guard spot seems to be a revolving door, so don't be surprised if Maddox is gone. Guards who have been in his shoes in Houston with very short-lived careers as Rockets include Tierre Brown, Sean Colson, Bryce Drew, Emanual Davis, and Randy Livingston. It's easy to envision the Rockets bringing in a veteran point guard (like Avery Johnson?) to add some maturity and leadership to the team, and just slot that player in the third point-guard spot. |
| Cuttino Mobley | C | This is one of our most difficult evaluations. Cat is a gifted athlete, but he takes way too many shots and is still too inconsistent. There are so many expectations placed on shooting guards, mainly because the league is loaded with very good ones who are also team leaders. Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Michael Finley, and the list goes on-and-on. But we can't put Mobley in that same category yet, thus warranting the grade we're giving him. In order to make a run at a championship ring, the Rockets need someone of that ilk.
Mobley showed a relatively new dimension to his game late in the season by focusing more on defense for a few games, and he did a good job. If Mobley is going to stick around for another season, he will have to sacrifice shots, let Yao shoot more, and raise his shooting percentage from this season's 43%. We're just unsure if Cat would accept such a diminished role, thus hurting team chemistry. |
| Moochie Norris | D | We loved Moochie a couple of years ago when he brought a spark to the Rockets offense. He received a long-term contract because of it. Last season he showed his toughness by frequently playing hurt when Francis was out with his shoulder injury and bouts with Meneire's disease. But this season he wasn't able to rid himself of "dribble-itis" (combined with jacking up poor shots), multiple shot-clock violations, and turnovers. Decision-making was not Moochie's strong suit this year, and it seemed to hurt the second-unit when he commandeered the ship. He also only shot 40.6% from the field, and a free throw percentage of 68% is unacceptable for a point-guard in the NBA.
Moochie is trying, but there may have been a reason why he bounced around all over (Milwaukee, CBA, Vancouver, CBA again, Seattle) before getting his big contract in Houston. We wouldn't be surprised if the Rockets package Moochie in a deal this off-season for a veteran PG, if they can get someone to take his big contract. If they can't, let's hope he worked hard during the off-season on the mental aspects of the game in such a way to get his teammates more involved in the offense. |
| COACH | ||
| Rudy Tomjanovich | D | It doesn't matter Rudy was out for the final few games because of his bladder cancer, we have enough information to give him a grade. Unfortunately, we believe this season was one of Rudy's worst coaching jobs. We estimate the Rockets lost over 15 games they should have won against inferior teams. Sure, the players were also responsible, but the buck has to stop somewhere. We saw no improvement in the team's mental preparation and fortitude whatsoever.
During training camp, he had promised there would be more movement in the Rockets' offense, but he seemed to abandon that strategy without a good reason. He also failed to use his players in the most optimal fashion. Remember how he decided to deploy Yao slowly when he was actually ready the whole time? It makes you wonder how much other talent is being wasted on the bench (i.e., Collier, Nachbar, Hawkins, Maddox, Morris (NOT Norris). Rudy also built this team before the NBA changed its rules and allowed zone defenses and more liberal hand checking. No longer will the one-on-one play he allowed Francis, Mobley and Moochie to do in previous seasons work as effectively, and he failed to change the team to fit the new rules. Rudy and Larry Smith also acknowledged and emphasized to the players that they needed to run the offense through Yao more when they finally realized that approach would win games, but they never seemed to get it through to the players. Because of his reluctance to not give enough minutes to Yao early in the season, and to not FORCE his players to make the offense go through him, Yao lost the Rookie of the Year Award to Amare Stoudemire. If you're mad about Yao losing the award (and we're sure owner Leslie Alexander is a little upset at the lost opportunity), you have to blame Rudy since Yao is clearly the better player. We doubt Rudy will get fired this off-season because of how bad it would look around the league for the Rockets to get rid of someone who is fighting cancer. However, next season Rudy is going to have to go-for-broke, start cracking some players' heads, and get off to a fast start. The first 10-20 games of the 2003-2004 season will be crucial. If the Rockets are playing .500 ball or worse, Les Alexander will surely replace him. Going 5 years without a playoff berth will be totally unacceptable, no matter what kind of Houston legend he is. |
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