What to Do When Your Team is Loaded in the Wrong Places

I dont think our current role players are good enough. Also I think we should load up 3 pointers on the floor while Yao is playing

 

I disagree with the notion that we’re lacking a bruiser at the 4. It has not been the bruiser power forwards that have been beating the Rockets. It’s been the tall lanky athletic 4’s that have been killing the Rockets (Bosh, Wallace, Odom, Garnett, etc.). They’re facing up against Taylor and Howard and either nailing their open jumpers or blowing right by them. We MUST get more athleticism in the front court. Someone tall and athletic enough to keep up with these type of 4's.

When Van Gundy has to bring in Padgette because Taylor and Howard can’t keep up with Odom, you know we’re in trouble.

 

guys like Korver would be very ideal for us especially in hitting open corner shots..

 

Wow, another insight piece from Jeff. The diagnosis is right on, unforatunately however, we can't at this moment afford the drugs you prescribe. The root cause for this problem is that the past few years, we have traded away most of our first round picks. We are not a club good at cultivating talents as some other teams do (eg Utah).

 

I hope you know he is in Philly's long term plan. It will be hard prying him away from Philly.

What I think we need most is another guard that can shoot or simply score. I assume not much can change now but I expect the weaknesses to be addressed in the off-season. Like Jeff mentioned, we have many redundances on our team now. It will be nice if we could package Boki and Juwan for one solid player or two more fitting "specialists".

Sura coming back will definitely help us. It might take him until January to pick it up but if he stays healthy then he will go a long way in arresting these glaring limitations and holes.

Health, health, health. We can get by with the team we have now and leave a good mark in the playoffs but we have to stay healthy from here on out. If Sura or Tmac ailment linger, we could be in some trouble.

 

I remain convinced that Howard is the key - as he is the single most tradable - for quality - player the Rox would move.

I do not understand Jeff's fascination with that dog, Cato. Mutombo, at 58, is still better than Cato ever was as a Rock.

Sura, being healthy and quickly fitting in, is the best real chance for this season (and thank goodness the back up plan includes holding a #1 in June's draft JUST IN CASE).

In the interim, please NO POINTS. JJax and TMac should initiate the O and the two clowns can sit around. The same two 1s who combined for something like 3 - 16 points tonite.

 

Hmm..I don't think they are clowns..they are pretty good to me..they had to force some shots..I think they would be good as off guards..just shoot open shot..or make the passes..theier defense isn't that bad. You make them sound like they suck

 

Bottom line is that the Rockets just aren't using guys the right way, in my opinion. I agree that Howard or Taylor need to go because they overlap too much. Other than that, I just think the Rockets are going with the wrong strategy. They need to establish Yao more, then the other guys will have an easier time. To me, that's been the biggest problem in all these games. They don't go to Yao early enough. By the time they try to ride Yao by feeding him the ball consistently, it is too late to come back all the way. They get back into the game but can't finish. If they had started off the game going to Yao they wouldn't be in a position to have to expend all their energy getting back in it. They would be in control of the game and be forcing the other team to actually play defense, making them the more tired team at the end of the game.

 

So Howard's bricklaying days are over in H-Town, damn I was so looking forward to seeing TC 2 on the cheap.

On a more serious note, All 3 players we got extra from the trade have all proven to be a bust, Gaines is somewhere in the bleachers area getting a nose blead while Lue needs to grow another 7 inches to make a decent pass down low (as he practises playing frisbee with the passes) and

Howard's still fat contract won't get us much in any deal, at least we'll have the pleasure (if he can't be traded this season) of watching him getting the offensive rebound after his own brick shots. That's a talent you rarely see in the NBA now.

 

One thing we desperately need is a great 3 point shooter. A guy that can hit the open 3s most of the time. So many times this season, guys get wide open looks for a 3 and missed. Imagined if we have Steve Kerr at his prime.

We also need a good perimeter defender.

 

After watching tonights game against the Lakers, Im beginning to wonder if we would be better off with Padgett starting and bringing MoT and Juwon off the bench as the second line for Yao and Padgett. Padgett can definitely spread the floor and he does a better job guarding the 4s with range than either Mo or Juwon. He also looks like he goes to the boards better than both of them. Im thinking we might need to start Boki and Padgett at the forward spots, with Van Gundy having a quick hook if it is obvious that someone is overmatched on the defensive end. Let those 2 open up the floor to TMac and Yao and get some offense going early. Then our bench comes back with JJ, Howard, and MoT, down low with Lue at the point. We would still have a good scoring second unit with the rule changes it looks like offense has a much higher priority than years past. It is obvious that we need a big banger, a 3 point shooter and an upgrade at the point.

 

Good point.

 

Not sure how much better you want them to shoot the 3, but both the team and Nachbar were 2nd in the NBA in thier respective 3pt categories before tonight's game. Though I agree with your Steve Kerr coment.

TMac is pretty good. He is certainly underrated defensively.

I really don't understand why everyone keeps saying this. I just can't imagine a GM wants a 32 yr. old, average PF, making pretty good money with 4 yrs. left on his contract.

I actually think Spoon is our best tradeable asset at the PF. His contract ends after next season, so he has value to a team looking to cut payroll in the next season or two.

I actually think JJ is the Rocket's best tradeable asset overall. I would believe most teams would love to have him one thier roster. I look at a team like Denver where they would view JJ with alot of value. They need wing help and his veteran leadership would help that young team out. I could see a JJ for Nene swap. Of course this would all depend on if the Rockets felt that Boki could handle the starting role.

 

good analysis,

to add to the point that many of our players have the same strengths, many also have the same weaknesses while also having no major strengths. Howard and Mo are subpar rebounders, and although Mo does have more O, its only above average. Bowen, Padge and nachbar are all also subpar rebounders (padge being average) and subpar defenders. All five of them are average or below average passers, none of them are particularly fast, athletic, and none are good shotblockers nor good at steals. I agree, we need diversity, and we need to keep some of the roleplayers and get some guys with some specific strengths.

 

Badiane is coming. Have no fear-- not much anyway....

 

One thing I think needs to happen is that Jackson either needs to go to the bench or improve his game this season. His decision making has been atrocious as has his shooting. Boki has actually been playing better than Jackson this year IMO but because Boki has no real history and Jackson has a long history Boki has a very short leash and Jackson has a very long one.