I think most of our players want to win at this stage, and TMac and Yao have the humility to lead in that department, so I'm really not worried about all the egos coming together. Adelman should handle them pretty well, which is not something JVG was good at. What I worry about is health. Yao is nursing a shoulder injury, TMac's back, Stevie's knees, Wells weight, Deke's age (if we sign him) and James age (why did he disappear last year?). It also seems like everyone has an issue that could hold him back from succeeding. Beside the health issues mentioned, Battier disappeared in the playoffs (I think that's because he gives his all during the year, and there's not another gear to go into) and with the emphasis being more on offense, will have less value, Hayes is too short and has little offense, Scola has to deal with adjusting to the NBA and American culture, Novak has no defense, Rafer is probably gone, Snyder has low IQ, Head lost his clutch in the playoffs and is redundant, Butler parties too much, Landry looks totally lost, and even though I'm impressed with Brooks this summer, he's still a rookie and really short. Add to that, a new coach, a new style of play, new plays, new teammates ... that's a lot of change and adjustment. I think there will be a lot of expectation from management and the fans, and I'll bet things will take awhile to gel ... and there's a lot that can go wrong ... too many things ... the odds aren't good. I am excited about this year, and hope we have another good trade or two coming, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much.
i think luther head is a game closer type of guy and hes still a great asset to the rockets and he shouldnt be traded
I trust both Yao and TMac to close games. I'm on the fence about trusting sf3 with the distributing, but I think inevitably he will be making many crunch-time decisions. James SHOULD be able to, and no doubt he has the balls to step up and be agressive, but I'm not sure he will be the clutch factor some here are claiming. IMO, he'll have a solid season though (maybe 14ppg?)
Mike James and Steve Francis both have the cajones to want to control a game late. Mike James himself (oh so suprisingly) said he has a takeover mentality. Don't discount an in-shape Bonzi. An inside scorer can be very valuable when its time to convert a basket, or get a foul call. McGrady can get you 13 in 35, or he can dish the ball off to Yao in 3 pt territory deep in the corner with under 5 seconds left instead of creating his own shot attempt Mike James is fierce and a great outside shooter like a Chauncey Billups. Thats who I'd trust. Or we can put Rafer back in with his guts and marksmanship from the field.
When I think of clutch, I think of individual player that can make those tough shots in desperate situation. Like Jordan, Kobe, Wade...etc. Clutch time is when star players stepping up and show that they are superstars and can make those impossible shots look so easy. Clutch shot = player When I think of closing game, I think of the coaching staff. Closing game means we are down/up by few points and there are minuates left that can change the outcome of the game. This is often time when coach asked for a timeout and gather around for 20sec to discuss what needs to be done, which often time means clutch time for players. JVG - certainly wasn't the coach that can draw up offensive plan in closing moments. This is why we lost so many closing games. Our ex-coach sucks. Closing game = coach obivious, some of you may argue that if we got a clutch player, even with no closing game plan we can still win. that's not true. i think it is a 50-50 split on it. remember all those moments when jordan, wade, or kobe made those clutch shots? they were all if not most single coverage defense. not in our case, most of the time both tmac and yao were double team. good game plan gives the player a single coverage opportunity or open look, clutch player will shoot the basket in most diffcult situation. better the closing game plan, higher the percentage of the clutch shot.
What worries me is the team chemistry. As one wise man said, "You can have one donkey on a team but you have more than one, they'll start breeding" We already have the bad apple or donkey in Bonzi Wells, now add Mike James and Stevie Francis. I'm afraid they'll create malcontent together through selfish behaviors that are detrimental to the team.
Well, he does have the 'tude and the skill but his size will always be an issue. In a wide-open, uptempo game, he'll should be OK but if the game slows down and goes half court, then his height will work against him particularly on PnRs which have been the Rockets' biggest Achilles heel for the past few years.
Tmac admitted that he was physically drained for the final quarter of Utah game 7. I know we like to think that "the best players rise to the occasion even when their bodies are broken," but we do have to remember that McGrady went into the game with a bad back (physically and figurativly for carrying the load of the team for long stretches). This coming year should be our year, if any that is. McGrady will not be forced to push his body too hard through the regular season. James, Francis, Bonzi, Head, Scola, Brooks, Yao, and Battier will take a lot of the scoring load off his shoulders (as opposed to last year where it was he, Yao, Head, Battier, and to a very lesser extent Alston). I mean, look at Duncan. He puts up nice numbers in limited time because his supporting cast is so good, and when the playoffs come around he is capable of becoming a monster playing almost the 40 mins (assuming that the Spurs aren't already up by 20 in the 4th). If Yao and McGrady can stay around 35 mins a game and we still get 50 plus wins, we should be ready for a long run in the playoffs.
T-Mac will forever be our go to guy, unless Yao shows he can step up in clutch situations. This past playoff series, i think T-Mac had to do too much on the court. He's suppose to be our primary scorer but you also had him running the offense and setting up his teammates. This year, he's not going to have that problem and will be ready when the time calls.
I still choose Tmac. He's done it and he won't always be successful, but I trust him the most in those situations to make the best decision.
Good thread. What you're fearing is the result of a poorly conceived offense that JVG utilized that relied heavily upon our superstars to perform at a high level all game. With Adelman, the offense will be spread out and Mac & Yao will be far more fresh for the late game stretch where you need clutch shooting. The idea is to get them both to the 4th quarter without being too physically drained to make a big impact. That was always the problem with JVG -- Mac would be dead tired from playmaking and scoring throughout 3 quarters to be superman in the 4th. Expect to see a rejuvenated Tracy come clutch time.
I think some of us are putting to much emphasis on Brooks, a guy who has not played one minute of NBA basketball yet.
wow, u want a rookie, that even hasn't played 1 game, to take the last shot? your saying, if we're down by 2 or 1 against the lakers (first game of the season), you want brooks to handle the point, and either shoot or pass? u crazy. everyone who says brook is crazy. furthermost, tracy is the one who has most expirence on clutch shot, so i go with him. but hey, if brooks is like brandon roy, then ya, you can prefer him, but we don't no yet. if stevie got his A-game back, then he can too.
exactly. and brooks played well in the summer league v. SCRUBS. durant sucked major in the summer league i believed shooting like 30% and was more of a ballhog than anything. but he looked great in the US scrimmage game. so calm down. i doubt brooks will be a major contributor considering u want francis/james to talk all the mins at PG (considering alston will be traded).
2 Reasons why I dont think its a problem. 1.I think the fact that Tmac had too much responsibility on his back to score and at time defend, showed that he, as he himself put it, got exhausted at the end of the games. That should no longer be a problem with all the scorers in this team. He will be able to put it in another gear when the game is on the line. 2. JVGs offense made it so hard to score that it seemed that you had to grind it out for every two points. Ricks offense should make it easier to score.
The way I see it, I think that with the supporting cast that we have, T-Mac can be the go-to guy. Remember the 04-05 season, we had a team that had several scorers, and that allowed T-Mac to play more to his style, which is taking that mid-range jumper when he's feeling it, and driving to the hoop when he's not. Last year, we just didn't have the scorers to compliment T-Mac's game, which caused him to not only be a scorer, but also a playmaker. Typically, in the waning moments of a game, you need a facilitator to distribute the ball to the scorers....but when the same person is doing both tasks, it's hard. This year, we have people like Francis, James, even Brooks, who can dish the ball out and let T-Mac hit that mid-ranger.
