My 2nd Biggest Problem

Charles Barkley is my other problem. Barkley has put up the worst numbers of his career as a Rocket. This would almost be excusable realizing the number of touches he loses playing with Hakeem and Clyde, but I said ALMOST. Barkley has had a tremendous career, and at one time I considered him to be the best Power Forward in the game, but that time has passed. He admits to no longer being a "great" player. (Just a "good" player, he says) The stats that bother me the most are his shooting percentage, free-throw percentage and "shockingly" his rebounding. I realize Barkley isn't the player he used to be, but in the three years before he became a Rocket he shot and average of .494 from the field. Now as a Rocket he has shot a combined .485. This drop in shooting accuracy hasn't come from a lack of ability or chances to shoot, as he might want you believe. It has come from shooting STUPID shots. If he would just TRY to take smarter shots, he could shoot closer to .500. The free-throws really irritate me. I believe free-throws to be a immeasurably important part of basketball. Before Barkley was a Rocket his career free-throw mark was .738. This isn't great, but for a player who does so many other things it is very good. Now in two years as a Rocket he shooting a lowly .719. As one's career goes on most good players raise their free-throw shooting percentage, NOT LOWER IT. The last thing is his rebounding. If you listened to and believed Barkley, you'd think he was tearing up the league with his rebounding prowess. Well, he's not. Barkley's career board avg is 11.7, exactly what he averaged last year. All I hear him say is how much he's sacrificing his stats to concentrate on rebounding. Well I don't see it . He doesn't have to lead the league in rebounding, but man if that's ALL your trying to do, atleast avg 13 to 14 per game. I mean Kevin Willis once average 15.5 boards a game, and he played 81 games.(He also averaged 18.3 pts that year) Willis will never be confused as one of the games best rebounders either. It's not just the numbers that concern me, though. His attitude, although seemingly helpful at times off the court, is definitely not a match with the Rockets. He whines and complains so much it's irritating. Of course, I'm not even mentioning his poor defense.

*(What can I say about Chuck? He has managed to shoot his three worst FG% of his career in the three years he's been a Rocket. But, he has rebounded well at 12.4 per game. He's still shooting 71.9% on free throws, and his defense is worse than ever. I also believe the Rockets will never win a title with him on our team. That being said, if he wants to come back and forego retirement, I won't mind. There just aren't that many good power forwards available out there. All I ask is that he raise his FG% and FT%.)