I think it is also something along the lines of anxiety due to the impending trade possibilty. Sure, they have been scouted and what not, but offense hasn't been the major problem. Their defense has really slipped.
Everytime you lace them up, its a audition for all teams to see. Thats why its important you put your best foot forward because you never know where you might land. To me as a person, your work or word is bond. If you get distarcted by the possibility of a trade, then that shows means your mental toughness is not as strong as it should be. So what you get traded? 2 of the greatest players of our era, shaq and kidd has been traded multiple times and played in different places and it doesn't bother them. Your job is to hoop, nothing more, nothing less. Wafer didn't know what kind of contract he was going to get after last year, yet he balled. Just hoop and everything will play itself out. No one on the rockets should get rattled if their name is swirling. None are good enough to not be talked about being traded. Moses was traded and so was Hakeem.
i don't think that's the case. AB has been playing very well since tmac was exiled. ariza seems to be playing much better (within himself). let's remember. these guys are really "role players" who's playing together. nobody is expecting them to be consistently great, or really bad. some of these guys will play out of their minds for stretches, then good for stretches, then bad for stretches. that's the definition of role players. eventually, brooks will hit a lull, then lowry and landry will play well again and so on
and this is another point where it's not really trade anxiety. if it is, offense would be the major problem.
Another theory could also be a higher sense of job security, kind of the opposite. Mid season trades almost always happen with every team in the NBA. So every player knows there is a chance they will be traded close to February. That would be the case, regardless of TMac. As Morey says, "We are ALWAYS looking for trades that bring upgrades to the team"/ In the Rockets case, at the begining of the season, there were 9 players competing for 8 rotation spots. However, they knew that when TMac was back, one of them would fall out of the rotation. So they were playing really hard to be able to get playing time. Once TMac was out of the picture, they were all safe in their rotation spots.
I dont buy into it. 1.) I think we have been scouted. 2.) I think the players were mad at Tracy and didnt realize how good they had it till they had an Ariza experience.
People always look at the good side of trades. They fail to realize that there is a chance that a trade makes a team worst just as much as it can make them better. Not all trades work out.
As you know, Leeb, it wasn't a typical trade. Moses, a restricted free agent, signed an offer sheet with the Sixers. The Rocks matched it, but the ownership was too cheap to actually pay the salary, trading him then to those same Sixers for Caldwell Jones and a 1st round pick in 1983. It liked to killed me at the time. I never thought I'd see another center of Malone's size play as well, let alone play better, but Akeem managed it. All ended somewhat happy for the Rockets, however, with that 1983 pick becoming Ralph Sampson, who was considered, at the time (pre-injury), a once in a generation player at the 5 spot.
1) It was formally announced that TMac was on an leave of absence and would no longer be part of the team around December 30, 2009. 2) Dork Elvis made the comment about no one being untouchable on the team on December 31, 2009 in a 610 interview. Here are some offensive numbers in games before and after these announcements for some of our more "prominent" players. They don't necessarily prove or disprove anything and unfortunately I'm not sure how to attempt to prove or disprove defensive effort. As always, I'd appreciate if you point out any errors in my calculations as I just found about 3-4 of them in 5 minutes of manually looking at the numbers.
I'm in the "it's a combination of things" group. I'll be traded with T-Mac, the ballbusting schedule, tired leggs from all the hustle required, better scouting against us are all valid reasons for a minny slump now. There are a couple of things that have been alluded to but not actually said. After coming thru a tough streatch like our schedule, it's human nature to wipe your brow, relax a little bit & say "whew, made it thru that". Also with all the trade talk & the trade deadline in a month, we may have a "let's see who I'll have as teammates" complex.
eh, I just thought that in the beginning of the year this team was playing over their heads and now they have come back down to earth. Look at this team, look at our roster/lineup. They are becoming who we thought they were - which isn't a playoff team. Not anxious/distracted, just young, and not a very good team. Morey is right. A trade needs to happen if we want to be a playoff team. The current Rockets team is made up of role players.
I think the main issue is that defenses have become more focused on Brooks and Landry, but the Rockets make it easier by not playing them together enough. Battier, Hayes, and Ariza just shouldn't be on court together. Budinger and Landry should be moved into the starting lineup to give it some more firepower. Granted, I haven't seen too many games, but it seems the Rockets are down early way too often.
I'm not as worried about who starts but it's killing me to see Battriza on the court at the end of games. Teams are just packing the paint to stop Carl and Scola from having room to operate and Brooks from penetrating. Budinger HAS to be out there instead of either Battier or Ariza. This playing 3 on 5 is killing us.
I agree with Hayesfan's assessment but we're also severely outclassed and outmatched talent wise almost every night. This is no knock on our players but playing hard only takes you so far. When you play a team that's as equally motivated and has better talent we're going to be on the losing end. We have a world class head coach who's done a world class job thus far but we have no world class players and it shows. Trading Tmac along with other player(s) and getting past the trade deadline isn't going to change anything over the long run unless we get a legit star that can make a difference and have an impact EVERY NIGHT.
Like many of you have mentioned already... its definitely a combination of things. With the lack of practice times, we havent had the time to make the adjustments that are needed during the season. Thats what practices are for. You watch film, go over the mistakes and correct them. With such a brutal schedule, we havent had an opportunity to do that. Other teams have had more time to adjust to OUR game and how we play. People have caught on, you STOP AB and LANDRY and make the others beat you. With the lack of rest, everyone begins to get stagnant on offense AND defense. To play RA's system, you have to play with energy and must be continuously moving on the offensive end. Legs get tired, bodies stop moving, ball stops popping, offense becomes stagnant. Defense gets weaker as players get more tired. You play defense by moving your FEET and not just your body. If your feet and legs are tired, your defense is going to suffer.
End of games really don't bother me as long as Rockets are up. While it is nice being able to win a high percentage of close games, it is much better to be ahead in a high percentage of games. I definitely agree Battier and Ariza are not a good combo.
