Nows the tough part - what happens when you've been figured out

you can't go far in the NBA without guys who can dominate the paint in some form or fashion.

Rebounding, height...these things matter. Without Yao we will struggle.

But it's too early to say anything either.

We are 6-5, but keep in mind that only 2 or 3 teams were give-me's.

We have played the Lakers twice, Portland Twice, Dallas, Utah, and Phoenix. 7 of our first 11 games against very good teams.

To be 6-5 at this point is nothing to be disappointed with.

 

not much. we don't enough personnel to win enough games. our 5 starters' payroll total is less than most of the #1 guy's on the other team.

unless we make personnel changes, or this year we're gonna have to suck it up (or to put it nicely, this year is a "development year").

 

seems like we've been "figured out" like 5 times this season. Maybe we're just having bad games and losing, nah that would be too easy to explain.

 

It's tough to win consistently in NBA without someone who is unstoppable. Neither Ariza nor Brooks is capable of scoring at will when the other teams doubleteam them.

 

We had the worst schedule out of all the teams and we are 6-5 we are on a great track.
Scola is not being used properly and we have still a lot of ways to improve by trading T-Mac or Battier to get upgrades inside and out.
Landry is a good player but his defense is really below average. Look at his +/- tonight, even scoring a lot he had a -14. That's far from great.
I think we should start using a little bit more of Andersen/Scola or Andersen/Landry. This way you play with one good post up player (Scola/Landry) and a good shooter to play the way Scola and Landry played off Yao.
I think this would be the strategy if teams start doubling on Aaron and Ariza. Go inside a little bit.

 

O my how dare you talk the truth. :grin: . this suns team has won in BOSTON. this is not a cellar dweller. there a legit playoffs team. we did'nt lose to a bad team. we almost beat the most well polished offensive team in the league. we'll only keep improving.

 

Scola needs to see less minutes and landry more.

 

Uh - no.

We need our best rebounder on the court more.

 

This team is built for the lottery. no personnel to win.

 

lets see budinger start with battier on the bench.

brooks
budinger
ariza
scola
hayes

battier is going to the bench when tmac comes back anyway.

 

Hayes our best rebounder out there. thats besides the point. Against guys like Amare, landry does a much better job being active on both sides of the floor. on certian matchups, yes scola is better suited and vice versa

 

in chess, if you don't have the queen, it doesn't matter how you mix up the rest of the troops. it doesn't matter which knights or rooks you start/bench, you will lose in the end - if your opponent is a decent player.

we're right now in that knida situation.

 

I don't know how you get to that conclusion, but Scola is our best average rebounder, both per game (9.6) and per 36 (11.67).

Landry is 5.8 per game and 8.1 per 36, and Hayes is per game 6.7 and 9.0 per 36. They are not even close.

 

Too much talent to be a lottery team, Rox will compete for 7 or 8 seed because they play hard and have a good system.

They won't go much further than that though with a 6'6" center; their half court defense and their half court inside game is limited because they are too short. They also need a consistent go to guy who can create his own shot.

It wouldn't bother me if they ended up in the lottery this year since they would end up with a good draft pick next year while the young players have another year under their belt.

It is still mostly wishful thinking to rely upon the return of McGrady or Yao, they are just too injury prone.

 

i don't think brooks has ever taken a mid range shot this year. then again he's only 6'0 so why not take a 3 point shot when his defender would be further away from him.

 

Do you want to know how Scola gets so many rebounds... take a look at who he's playing on the court with... then look at who is boxing out when he jumps for those rebounds.

Chuck boxes the other people out of the way and Scola jumps in to get the ball.

Don't get me wrong Scola works for some of them too, but like everything else Chuck does, unless you are watching him you don't notice it happening.

 

LOL, only clutchfans would expect the Rockets to go 82-0. We lost, get over it. Nobody has "figured" us out yet. You win some, you lose some. This is a 7-8 seed, or 40-45 win team without TMAC.

 

What's this figured out ****? It's really easy to see everyone elses game plans, that doesn't mean it's easy to stop though. Everyone knows everyone's game in the league, that's why they have scouts. There are certain things they can do to limit the effectiveness of a style or player, but you can't stop them. They had a sloppy second half tonight whilst the Suns had a great half. The Rockets had their foot on the Suns' throat but let off before the end of the first half like they did against Dallas. I said it before against the OT loss to the Lakers, if the Rockets are going to beat good teams consistently they're going to need to get a lead and hope it doesn't dwindle away in the last few minutes. Without a go to guy, when the pressure is on and the defense picks up, the Rockets will struggle to win close games.

 

We will live and die by our jump shot. If we shoot a high percentage we win, if we don't we lose. That is not going to win you a Championship. All it takes is a streak of bad shooting we are done.

We need to get to and finish at the bucket. I'm not talking about on the fast break, in the half court game.

Scola, Brooks, Landry and Lowry do it sporadically, but are not consistent at it.

That is where we need to improve. Scoring inside consistently.

Saying that, we have exceeding my expectations so far. I thought it would be a difficult start to the season, but we are doing well.