http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6257328.html Rockets can't get pieces back together No one knows how to make something out of cracked season By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2009 All the king’s horses and all the king’s men came out of another film session with still no way to make an omelet out of their Humpty Dumpty season. “Who knows?” said Ron Artest. “I don’t know,” said Shane Battier. “I don’t know how to answer that,” said coach Rick Adelman. “We don’t know what we do,” said Yao Ming. Calling Dr. Phil So after another great fall in Milwaukee on Monday, the Rockets will face Sacramento tonight in their final game before the All-Star break and then perhaps spend the weekend searching for solutions in ink-blot tests. “We asked, but Dr. Phil’s busy,” Battier said. “Maybe we need Oprah next. Get everyone on the couch, shed a few tears and maybe that will solve everything.” Only if Oprah and her buddy Gail can hold a crash course in cutting off dribble penetration into the lane and playing help defense. In their past five road games, the Rockets have surrendered an average of 109 points and have given up at least 99 points in nine of their last 13 games overall, including the collapse that resulted in the Bucks scoring 124. “Obviously, it’s not pretty,” Yao said. “It’s pretty ugly, those defensive efforts we had in there (Monday) night.” Bad habits “We’ve had other games, especially on the road, where we just have not come out with the intensity we need to come out with,” Adelman said. “Teams are jumping on us early on the road. We just talked (Tuesday) about commitment and playing harder and having an attitude of how we’re going to play. And we don’t have that.” These Rockets also have not had a leader who has been able set a tone, lay down the law, take ownership and staunch the bleeding a la Michael Jordan with the old Chicago Bulls, Magic Johnson with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s and Kevin Garnett with the defending champion Boston Celtics. “We’ve got a bunch of guys who do it in different ways,” Tracy McGrady said. “We’ve got guys who do it vocally and guys who do it out on the basketball court and in practice. There are just different ways that different guys lead our team.” “We have a lot of voices,” Battier said. “We have guys who want to do the right thing. "We have a lot of guys spouting their opinions. As far as one singular voice, no, we don’t have one.” Artest believes every team needs that one voice barking out commands and encouragement. Who's the leader? “Unless you have people identically the same, you’ll always have one leader,” he said. “I think people will accept one person as the leader. …Even in Boston. They have many leaders, but I think everybody looks at Garnett as that guy, because he’s always the one out there as the vocal leader. “I can’t see it being multiple leaders. There can be multiple vets. But it will always be that one guy that’s the leader, because he earned it thoughout the season.” Who, then, is the Rockets’ leader? Or should be? “That’s not something appropriate for me to answer,” Artest said. “I’ll let you make your judgment.” Rafer Alston is not shy and willing to take on the role. “When the leaders are trying to lead and everyone else doesn’t want to be led, of course, it’s easy to say, well, we don’t have a leader,” he said. “But you have to want to be led. Not Yao or McGrady “You would assume there would be a leader there (from among Yao and McGrady). It’s so easy because we ask those guys to do the bulk of the scoring. …Sometimes it doesn’t come from those guys. “I don’t mind being the leader. I’m the leader by position anyway. I’m the point guard. … Again, you've got to want to be led." So the Rockets continue their quest for leadership, consistency and an identity. "We're still searching and that's the toughest thing I have a problem with after 52 games and some of us being in this league almost a decade and beyond," Alston said. "We're still searching for ways to compete and try to find energy. That's hard to believe."
like it or not rafer is the closest thing we have to a leader on this team. he knows how to play the right way.
we need a real superstar, someone everybody respects and listens to. i'm sure players like yao and admire him for his work ethic, but he's not a leader on this team. yao is not an alpha male type of player. he's more fit as a 2nd guy. let's either make a trade or plan for a superstar sometime soon. my god. and while at it, get another coach. what kind of coach always answers questions: "i don't know, i don't know..." JVG would be throwing things right now just to throw some fear into the guys.
You are right. We need some change in 10 days. I always think we need a good PG. I also prefered to trade Tracy for Kidd. Then the team will get better.
tracy's not gonna get traded. at least not this year. i don't know why the organization still thinks either tracy or yao can be a leader. JVG proclaimed THEY'RE NOT a bajillion times during his tenure here. he always said we need to put bulldogs around those guys. so i'm at a lost why we either don't put guys who are more vocal around these guys. but yet, here we were, still at a lost for a leader. that used to be JVG and he relished that role b/c he kept tracy and yao in check and motivated. but here we are having adelman, a players' coach, who doesn't do anything. but hey, at least rafer wants to step up. hooray. our worst shooter!!!
"Michael Jordan with the old Chicago Bulls, Magic Johnson with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s and Kevin Garnett with the defending champion Boston Celtics"...............Rafer Alston with the Houston Rockets......LOL this team isn't going anywhere.
There was a leader once on the Houston Rockets who wasn't very vocal, but everyone followed him to the promised land. His name was Hakeem Olajuwon. I'm not saying there isn't a need for a vocal person on the court who can inspire the team,but they are rudderless right now. Trading players is harder than changing a coach. Adelman wants the players to figure things out but it's not working. JVG's many problem was micromanaging things, but he did instill discipline. We need a coach who can do a better job than either of these coaches, but that won't change things much. It's up to the players to get the job done and that is not possible with this bunch. Blowing up the team isn't an option either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ-rEpM6OhQ Follow the Leader If Yao was African American he would lead this team no question, because he readily leads the Chinese National Team, but his culture forbids "guests" from leading the "hosts" and he considers China his home and himself a guest in America so unfortunately he'll never lead the Rockets.
Dream would throw down for the Rockets would anyone besides Ron do that? <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TMonqfh69J4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TMonqfh69J4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
rafer wants to be the leader and he wants others to "want to be led"? lol. this leadership thing is one of those overrated and overused in the nba.
Im sick of a guy who is consistantly one of the reasons why were losing games calling out everyone for poor effort. Thats not leadership. Leadership is not trying to prove to everyone on the team that you're the most frustrated and disapointed one when you lose. Leadership is about sacrificing for the benefit of the team. Recognizing what you can do more or less of to help the team win games. This team doesn't need more talk. It needs production on the court. Shut someone down, get a rebound, get a steal, score, get to the free throw line. Stop thinking that things are going to change by talking about the problems. If you see someone getting burned on defense, help him out. Communicate with him. I dont see that from this team. Right now I just see guys who want to point the finger. Blatantly calling guys out and blaming them for whats wrong with the team is only going to create a tense environment from which nothing positive can come out of. Rafer especially needs to STFU. No one has called him out for his poor shooting since he's been here. He is not the leader of this team. Yao is. When Yao plays inspired ball, he makes everyone better. I dont know what is bothering Yao this season, but he has had some really awful games. I'm starting to wonder if he can ever sustain a high level of play for an entire NBA season. It seems like such a physical and emotional grind for him. He's our best scorer, our best rebounder, and our physical prescense in the paint. That will wear anyone down especially a 76 310 pound guy who has battled back from injuries. I wish mcgrady would pick up his play to lighten the load on the guy. We'll see what happens. Tonights game is critical.
I wonder if McGrady has Artest in mind when talking about "doing it vocally" and himself when talking about "doing it out on the court". L.O.L. Or maybe he's saying "there are different guys trying to lead the team in different ways but I sure as hell am not going to lead it". Well, if so, then how about playing like you are a part of the team and not above it?
Its ridiculous. Who wants to be led by a guy who has never been an above average player at his position. The guy has been consistantly terrible since we picked him up, and now hes calling out the guys who have covered his a$$ for the last 4 or 5 years. Give me a break. Please rafer, just play your roll, knock down a few jumpers and focus on defense. Stop trying to be something youre not.
