Like many a Rocket fan, I was real encouraged at the beginning of the season. We lauded owner Les Alexander for his foresight in hiring Morey; and gave kudos to Morey for assembling, on paper anyway, a superior NBA product for this year. New coach Adelman was bringing in a great new offensive system (the nuances of which still seem to baffle some of our fifteen professional basketball players) - no more of those boring 84-80 games dominated by JVG's philosophy of defense first, offence second. Were our expectations too great or is the Rockets' cast just plain mis-cast? These last two games have been heartbreaking and frustrating. Sloppy ball handling, lazy passes, the resurrrection of the "matador" defence, an overall lack of hustle in rebounding missed shots on both ends, a seemingly lack of rhyme or reason in player and lineup utilization, and on and on. 15 intelligent and skilled professional ball players who still haven't picked up on Adelman's system yet? Failure to get the ball over the time line in 8 seconds? Inexcusable! We make average players on every team look like all-stars because we can't play defense or corral a rebound or allow players with 5.0 ppg averages go off on us for 20 points. Turnovers? Don't get me started on turnovers and points off of T.O.s. Unacceptable! Still struggling with entry passes into the low post? How many years have these guys played ball? The coaching staff is equally to blame. Rick and his assistants are all former NBA players but they seem baffled not with when to change the line-ups but who should be out there on the floor as a scorer, a stopper, an enforcer, whatever. After every game we heard the same old litanty of "woulda, coulda, shoulda" from players and coached alike. Then why not start doing something about it? Time to quit talking and put out some effort. Does this franchise even want to succeed or is it just about money and stats and being in a contract year? Do these guys - the GM, coaches, and players have the stuff deep inside to "right the sinking ship"? Les wants to put butts in the seats, but Les, let me clue you in. The honeymoon is over; the product has lost a great deal of lustre. It's going to take some deep down self-examinations by all concerned to set things right or pretty soon it's going to get awfully quiet at Toyota Center.
Why not write a new post on that thread entitled "This team HAS NO BALLS!". I feel that digging out that thread, and writing a new post on it after a rather pathetic loss by the Rockets, such as the one Tuesday night with the Philadelphia 76ers, is a lot like just starting a new thread describing their rather pathetic play. Well, here is the link: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=138181
The passes this team made so far has been "mechanical" and almost predictable. It's just unbelievable they way the pass, it's so hesitating and looked like a calculated pass everytime. Here's some of the descriptions The pass to Yao : The player (Rafer, Head, others) would looked at Yao for about a second, with Yao hands up asking for ball and sealing his defender, and usually a player is in front, our "passer" would act as if he is calculating, then a slow lob pass is made. If the opponent is athletic and can made a good vertical leap, he'll block it or if the opponent behind Yao is quick, he can strip the ball. The pass around perimeter (particular from Rafer to Head vice versa): Rafer, Head our AB would dribble and when cornered or when another opponent pressure them, they would made a pass, usually a bounce pass or a palm pass. It's usually not a very fast one in fact it should be consider slow as it is interceptable. They would attempt to fake once or twice or fake to drive but ran out when the paint is clogged (before they even move in they came out), then they would pass from one to corner to the middle then to the other corner until they are really cornered, hence losing the ball. These guys just pass around, hesitating to shoot even when slightly open, and definitely chicken out in driving in when the opponents crowd the paint. It's probably due to skill, as expected, sometimes they do attempt to shoot or drive but they missed badly or got rejected when trying to make a lay up.
The good news is the Rockets are starting to get Adelman's Sacramento offense down. The bad news is they are starting to get his Sacramento defense down too, and that is alot easier to learn.
good post. I agree with you. I also got a question for you. You said "Les wants to put butts in the seats, but Les, let me clue you in. The honeymoon is over; the product has lost a great deal of lustre. It's going to take some deep down self-examinations by all concerned to set things right or pretty soon it's going to get awfully quiet at Toyota Center." Would you take more pleasure in supporting this team, the way they are playing, or would you prefer to support a young team such as Seattle, Memphis or Philly who go out and play their guts out most nights. Id defiantly take the latter. Thats all i ask for. EFFORT. They give us EFFORT and we will give them RESPECT. If Tmac comes back and is lazy id be more than willing to give him up for someone who plays hard and with energy and passion every night, even if they arent as good talent wise. eg. Gerald Wallace, Richard Jefferson, Marion, Steven Jackson, Artest, Butler etc, Just my rant for the week
Someone please explain this thought process to me. Trade for a guy with less talent than Tracy simply because he screams after dunks or pumps his fists after making a big play? Fine, than you can take Ryan Bowen and I'll take Tracy. Just because he doesn't display his passion like other players do, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want it as bad. Look at Yao. Anyone who has been around the guy has said he is easily the hardest worker in the NBA, that his dedication to making his team and him self better is matched by no one. That’s a passion for the game. It's not as "loud" as say Kevin Garnett who wears it on his sleeve, but he wants it just as bad. I'm not some big Tracy supporter and wouldn’t mind trading him as well, but come on, you want a guy with less talent because he “plays hard” ... doesn't seem to make much sense to me.
We haven't progressed in part because our organization is a revolving door. WE DO NOT BUILD CONSISTENCY. Look at the championship teams with the exception of Boston. Do you see revolving doors at the Phoenix Suns, Spurs, Mavericks? Why can't we just get our roster down and build good chemistry and teamwork. That's on the Rockets front office. Yeah I'm calling you out Morey and Les.
problem with your logic is that no one has ever questioned yao ming's lack of dedication or passion to the game even with his lack of emotion on the court. people have called him "soft" but no one has ever questioned his work ethic. countless numbers of sports writers and analysts have questioned tmac's energy, passion, and HEART. if it looks like a rat, smells like one, and acts like one, then it's probably a rat.
Sure, I wish Tracy had more heart ( or at least gave us more reason to think that he did) I'm simply saying that even with all the questions about his desire and energy, fair or not, its not smart to trade him for someone with much less talent that we have decided does have heart and energy like some of the players he mentioned.
