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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Rockets: Stevie Franchise leads the way
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Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 34-48, sixth in Midwest, 11th in conference
Coach/VP: Rudy Tomjanovich/Carroll Dawson
Arena, first game: Compaq Center (16,285); Nov. 2, 1975
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,331-1,343/2
Notable: 2nd time in team history top two scorers were Gs
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THE TOP EIGHT
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Pos
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Player
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Key Stat
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Skinny
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PG
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Steve Francis
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18.0 ppg
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He's already a top-five PG, at least |
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SG
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Shandon Anderson
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12.3 ppg
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It wasn't a bad season, just not enough
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SF
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Walt Williams
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10.9 ppg
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Nothing special, but hits his threes
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PF
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Maurice Taylor
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6.5 rpg
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We know he can score, but can he board?
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C
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Hakeem Olajuwon
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44 games
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It looks like he's pretty much done
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6th
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Cuttino Mobley
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15.8 ppg
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Might be the best sixth man in the league
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7th
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Kelvin Cato
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1.9 bpg
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Big man of future, future might be now
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8th
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Kenny Thomas
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6.1 rpg
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Led team in total boards. Ouch
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The Rockets are a young team that can run-and-gun with the best of them. The problem is their mainstay in the middle, Hakeem Olajuwon, is getting a little long in the tooth. He is not as effective as he once was and the Rockets' interior game has deteriorated. They play a perimeter game from the outside in. The Rockets won their titles on the strength of an inside-out game with Olajuwon manning the post. Houston has to find that interior game again if they want to recreate their success. They have to play a game that compresses the defense, that makes a defense honor someone in the post. If that's the case, the Rockets' outside shooters will be free to catch the ball, dribble and score, especially off of defensive rotation when the ball swings around, or take open shots.
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By Marc Stein
Special to ESPN.com
The Good
Point blank, Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich and personnel chief Carroll Dawson are among the best in the league at their jobs. How else to explain Houston's reasonably problem-free transition from pound-it-in to run-and-gun? Helpless to stop the retirements of Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley, and Hakeem Olajuwon's health woes, the Rockets have commenced the relaunching process in a hurry. Not to the point that they're ready to return to the playoffs just yet, but this team is certainly ascending rather than descending. Steve Francis is a future All-Star point guard, Cuttino Mobley is a fine backcourt sidekick and perhaps no executive in the NBA has done more with the $2-2.25 million mid-level exceptions than Dawson. The past two summers, those exception slots have been filled by Shandon Anderson and Maurice Taylor. If Olajuwon has anything left to give in what will almost certainly be his final season, Houston has a solid first five to compete in an unforgiving conference. Credit, too, to Rudy T. for so quickly chucking the Dream- and Chuckster-inspired reliance on low-post play and switching to the run when the makeup of his team changed suddenly.
The Bad
After all the names you know, there isn't much there for support. High as the Rockets are on rookies Jason Collier and Dan Langhi, depth is a major trouble spot. Walt Williams, Kelvin Cato, Matt Bullard -- deep they ain't. Moochie Norris, the backup quarterback to Francis, will be counted on to show better decision-making than the unveiling of his Ladies Man hairstyle. Kenny Thomas showed flashes at power forward, but also wound up shooting less than 40 percent from the field last season. And, with so many young players, the Rockets understandably struggle at the defensive end. Olajuwon is no longer an every-night intimidator and Cato is too inconsistent and foul-prone to count on. Olajuwon, furthermore, remains a health risk who depends on asthma medication to get by. If Dream is sidelined for another extended period this season, Cato becomes even more pivotal. Uh-oh.
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THE BIG QUESTION |
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Taylor is also at the heart of the Rockets' biggest uncertainty. And, no, we don't mean the finger he broke last week. Namely, will this merely be a one-season pit stop? Or is Taylor willing to split the Rockets' expected 2001 salary-cap space with Anderson and stay with all the other promising young guns in Houston? If Taylor starts rebounding like he has scored in the past, you can bet that he won't be signing for $2 million-plus next summer.
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Whose team is this?
Surely you've heard the proper way to refer to Mr. Francis. That would be Stevie Franchise. He will always have critics after the messy divorce from Vancouver, but Stevie's on-court capabilities are a constant source of wonder. He gets to the basket with ease, sets up his teammates off penetration and welcomes the responsibility and pressure Olajuwon, Barkley and Drexler used to shoulder. There's no shortage of confidence, either: Francis is convinced that he's A) already All-Star material and B) should have been Rookie of the Year instead of sharing it with Chicago's Elton Brand. No argument here on either point. He is also one of the most fiercely competitive kids around. How did Francis react when his buzzer shot bounced in and out in the Rockets' exhibition opener? By stripping his jersey off in frustration and running straight off the court and into the locker room without stopping. Irresistible.
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| Francis |
How they'll play
The Rockets want to speed up the game whenever possible. Tomjanovich and Dawson love the to-the-bucket capabilities possessed by Francis and Mobley and urge them to get into the lane and make things happen. Houston also tends to field small combinations at crucial times to create matchup mismatches and give their athletes a better chance of finding themselves in an up-and-down and/or perimeter war. In the glory days, Olajuwon simply dominated the paint and forced the opposition to search for openings around him. Not so anymore. The Rockets get in trouble when they can't get the tempo right.
Projection
Landing Taylor in free agency was a massive coup, especially for such a thrifty price. It's a move that almost guarantees Houston will field a better team than it did in 1999-2000. Trouble is, you might not be able to tell when the records are reviewed. Thirty-five to 40 victories is the realistic target, but the Rockets (34-48 in 1999-2000) will find that goal a much more challenging climb than the numbers suggest. Thank you, Western Conference.
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