The players don't mesh with each other and we're seeing it all break apart before our eyes. We have Yao who can only play half court basketball completely in the low post. Rick Adelman's offense needs a high post big man We have Scola who plays no defense next to Yao Ming. Something Yao sorely needs because of his lack of mobility Martin/Brooks can score, but when their shot isn't falling they are blackholes in every single way. Martin disappears in the 4th, and can't play defense to save his life. Brooks just gets abused on defense and needs to play at a fast tempo, something which Yao cannot do. Brad Miller is the worst contract the Rockets have given out in many years. All he can do is play the high post and knock down some 18 ft jumpers. The problem though is that every other thing he does is a negative. No defense, no rebounding, no shot blocking, no mobility.. Budinger has hit the second year wall and can't hit a shot to save his life. He'll eventually break out of his slump, but pinning your hope on a second round draft pick is a bit radical... Jordan Hill oozes potential, but still gets lost on offense (primarily because Rick Adelman's "offense" causes his players to run around like headless chickens) more often than not. Lowry is starting to reek of the typical player who gets paid and turns to utter ****. See: Elton Brand, Baron Davis, etc... Lee is decent and I think he is having some adjustment issues. It's not clear right now what his niche is on this team. I think he would do better if used properly. Chuck Hayes/Shane Battier are who they are. I think under a different situation these two guys would be invaluable to the Rockets. They are the only two on the team who actually know how to play with Yao. Though, one could argue that brooks does a good job as well, but I digress... What this team needs is a minor personnel overhaul. Brooks and Martin are redundant. Lowry is playing like moochie norris. Brad Miller is horrible. The rotation needs to be cut down to 8 players. We need chemistry and for the players to actually give it their all. The problem is: now, more than ever, we are caught between two playing styles and no one is able to figure out what they are doing. This brings me to the larger point. Rick Adelman's coaching style is not fit for this team. It has not been for many years. The offense isn't revolving around Yao. More often than not, the ball gets stuck in the hands of one of our guards (martin/brooks/lowry) and they try to force something. First off, the repost is non-existent nowadays. There was a time when posting and reposting Yao led to either an easy jump hook or an open 3 for a teammate. Why surround the big guy with 3 point shooters (martin/brooks/bud/lee) when you aren't even using the best strategy to get open shots? We literally don't even play team defense. Our guards rely on either Yao/Jordan Hill/Battier/Hayes to make up for their lackluster play. The only one who plays any semblance of defense is Lee, but even he has been subpar. We need an emphasis on proper rotations and balance. It seems like half the time our players don't even stay in front of their man... Offensively, "read and react" just isn't working. We need to run simple pick and rolls and run a million screens for Martin/Brooks(or lowry lately) to actually be open. It honestly just seems like the only two people actually running Rick's offense are Miller and Martin. Everyone else, just isn't picking it up properly. The point of the matter is I really think a few minor trades and a coaching change would do wonders for this team. This isn't knee-jerk. I've been watching the team slowly degrade over the past few years. It kind of sucks. Ok, that's a lie...it really sucks. Personally, I cannot wait until both Yao and Rick are gone and this team can finally start over. Let me put my flame suit on before the "rick the ruler" knows all posse jumps on me.
I dont care much for this season anymore, we are not a playoff team and dont have much of a core to build around, just a team with a bunch of role players who over achieved last year we are on our way to tanking the season and hopefully land us a lottery pick to build our team around
Why does he stop posting? He's still a rockets fan. People can't post honest opinions about their team? Or does everything have to be roses and sunshine?
I agree. We suck. When a team keeps making the same mistakes over and over and can't seem to fix them that means they are just bad.
Roses and sunshine nobody wants to face the facts. I believe most of us pull for them each and every game at least I do, but I understand basketball and will not sit here and be ignorant to say this team is a contender or even playoff worthy right now.
This team is only great with Yao because it was built around Yao....so without him, everything just fall apart. The lack of interior size is still there...Scola and Miller is not great athletic...there is no intimidator inside that block or alter shots other than Yao.
<br> Yeah sorry, blind homerism doesn't signify fandom This team deserves to be criticized and if you don't think so, you're the one who is the "fake" fan...
I have to disagree.... an offense that's centered around motion plus players that compliment it means this team is actually NOT built around yao (thankfully)
No one will admit it, but the Yao situation right now is T-Mac all over again. Except this time, no one hates Yao, because he's just so love-able. But basketball wise, the same exact crap is happening again. This team looks just as lost now as that team did back then.
You aren't critisizing, you went down the list, highlighted every players weakness and then cried a river about it. Thats not criticism, thats whining. It serves no purpose whatsoever.
We weren't this bad last year. In fact, we were a winning team. What we're watching right now is just ridiculous.
i don't care if our team is bad. but we're soft like charmin, and we don't play defense. that makes the team so unwatchable right now. this is not the rockets we know. the rockets stand for toughness and defense. this is like the sucky version of the kings: all offense (not as good) and no defense (worse). i rather us have a bunch of JVG players than rick adelman players
