This team isn't going to be as bad as I thought, but there are serious question marks. Namely, will we have enough offense? We scored a lot because of our pace but this team will have to slow it down without Parsons and Lin. And those two guys were key in McHale's offense. Who will be the 2nd unit? Right now it looks pretty ugly. Dmo, an aging Terry, Daniels, Adrian?, and Dorsey? That team will get run off the court pretty badly. Who will create open shots for others? The ball is going to get a lot stickier with Howard and Harden. They can't playmake all the time, and when Harden is on the bench who will penetrate? Ball movement is going to be key, and McHale hasn't shown he can master than as of yet.
All the bench needs is one scorer, a Jamal Crawford type, to become a better unit than most others in the league. Could Papanikoulauau be that guy? He has an outside shot. Daniels has an outside shot. Canaan has a spit-into-a-shotglass-from-5ft-away kinda chance. Who knows. Maybe at the deadline we make a trade for an expiring slasher, like Marcus Thornton on the Celtics or JRich on the 76ers. I'm just throwing names against the wall, but you get the point. The bench could be very good by doing a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1.
Just want the Rockets to atleast make the 2nd round. If rockets lose in the first round again or dont even make the playoffs, I will be highly disappointed.
Not really. Most of these new faces will not make the team. Some we already seen before - Ariza, Adrien, Smith, Dorsey, plus one whom we all hated a few seasons ago. Also, a new style of play? Let's see when things get tough during the season.
Totally. I've actually said that before wait until 15 games into a season to get a feel for the team. But just looking at the roster and talent we have, I see that we will need to be more of a defensive team to have success since a high paced offense will no longer work so well now that we don't have as many ball handlers.
I said the same thing once Lin and Parsons left but was dismissed. "Offense wasn't our problem, you." Well obviously. But it might be an issue this year. Harden's offensive burden will be greater than it's ever been, and people are still going to flip their s*** when he gives up a lay up on defense.
Was a lot more excited last year. This year I'm not very excited cause I'm a little stuck on what could have been.. Happy to see how the new faces play, but I'm tired of developing and having 'assets' instead of a group of players who are just ready for the finals.
Defense wins games, offense wins championships. Seriously, how is Ariza not a win-now player? He may not get HUGE numbers like Parsons and his 16.6 points per game (OMG that can't be replaced!), but 14.4 ain't bad. Dwight and Harden might be good enough to pick up the slack on that 2.2 ppg. Let me check really quickly. …yup they said they can each try really hard and get 1.1 more ppg each. Especially with the extra touches they think they'll get.
I think you missed my point of what couldve been this season (Bosh). I'm not a fan of Parsons or Lin, actually I am very happy we switched Ariza for Parsons, but last year I had higher hopes for the team. Outside of the main core, there is a lot to still be desired.
You sound like you think this squad as zero shot at winning it all. All teams have more to be desired. Hell, Miami needed more than 3 of the best in the game to win it all. Good role players can get you there. Hell, Hakeem won it with 4 role players starting next to him in 1994.
Again.. I had more faith in the team last year. I'm not looking at hindsight of what happened, but the feeling at the time it happened. Lets say we basically got the same team as of last year... We seen how that ended up. By the way, no one on this team can be compared to Hakeem.:grin:
To your point: Slow it down ? I see us pushing the pedal without the hair brained turn overs. Ariza,Bev,Harden,Daniels,Canaan,Terry will be ripping up and down the court if anything. And Mister Black apparently. With Papa K making the outlet after a rebound !
We can't really miss Bosh as it appears he had no real intention of leaving Miami. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
