This game in Utah was winnable. If we made our FTs like in other games, we would win. If our players were fresh, they would get more rebounds, we would've had a better chance to win the game. Utah is a good team, if we made mistakes and not as energetic as our opponent, a loss can happen. In the playoff, games played in a more even ground, against Utah, I think we are the better team, we can win four games first in a 7-game series. But other than those avoidable problems, we have one real problem, the weakness in our PG position. The PG situation is just not convincing for the Rockets. Brooks can't control the tempo of the game and weak in defense. Lowry played not enough for us to know if he is better than Brooks to be the starting PG. Can we play Barry 8-10 mins a game as the PG with our best bigs? Is he capable? Brooks is a bit wasting our big guns' time on the court somehow in the offensive end. Also as the weaker part in defense, our bigs are exposed to opponents' penetrations, and that caused needless fouls. Lowry is better at least in defense so far. Maybe we can give him some more time with our starting lineup other than Brooks. Even one or two more stops will be great help. Or sign a veteran PG? Not sure about how that will help. Right now seems this PG problem will be the Rockets' biggest problem in the playoff, yes, I think, it is a bigger problem than Yao's foul trouble. How the Rockets solve this PG problem will greatly affect the playoff outcome for the Rockets. Don't let it stop our amazing run.
I really think starting Lowry would help. AB is looking to shoot more than creating for others and thats why most of the time he looks confused. He wants to shoot but if he is off he just doesnt know what to do with the ball. We have enough scoring in our starting lineup, we dont need brooks to score big. Just run the offense. Get the ball to your go to guys. I think he was best when he was with the second unit. He is just not ready to start.
I'm still scratching my head as to why the PG problem was addressed/handled in this manner. Were they seriously going to expect going deep in the playoffs with a 2nd yr PG? No? Were they seriously going to expect going deep with a bench player from a bad team? No? Then what the hell were they thinking? Can anyone else name a team that switched out their starting PG this late in the season and made a serious championship run? It's almost like when McGrady went out, the entire organization gave up on the season and are now using it as organized practice for next season. I still think the Rockets were unable to make a deal they wanted to make. That simply has to be the only logical explanation for the state of our guards. Wasn't our FO supposed to be brilliant? Hmm. In fairness to Lowry, I do like some of the things I see with him. Same with Brooks. It's just, damn, there's no way a team with legitimate championship aspirations puts it all on the plate of these two guys. I don't think either one are bad guys, I just think way too much is being asked of them at this point.
it's funny how the point guards are always blamed when we face FUTURE HALL OF FAME point guards like Rose and Williams. I guess it's their fault Boozer had 13 first half rebounds and houston was outrebounded like 27 to 9 in the first half. That was the true reason they lost. Utah had ike 19 turnovers, but they made up for many of those by getting extra rebounds.
Morey has explained this before. Houston's issue has been scoring. It's always tmac having to create or score. What happens everytime Tmac goes down?? Rafer shoots 3 for 20 and houston cant score in games. Even when Tmac is playing, and he plays well, but the rockets still lose, what's a major problem? Rafer shooting 3 for 20. That's been an ingoing problem. At least for Yao and Tmac it's an issue of health mostly, but Rafer is healthy all the time and he still has issues showing up. They needed to solve that weak link. This was the perfect time to do it. For 2 big reasons: -With tmac out the rest of the season, they were gonna miss his scoring and ability to get his shots, disrupt the D with his drives. Who's the next best at that? Brooks. With Rafer int he way, Brooks couldn't play big minutes. -Rafer is like 3 years older than the core of this team. He's 32, and he's going to decline within 2-3 years. The rockets window of opportunity for a ring is probably like 4-5 years, maybe a bit more. Imagine if houston got to the secnd round this year. Then conf finals next year. then 3 yrs from now they are the top championship contender, ready to make that run, but wait, Rafer is showing signs of age, and he's not the same player anymore midway through the season. Would you like to replace rafer (and change up the offense ) then?? No way, that's a huge disruption. It's not so much that they lost hope of winning a ring this year, it's just that going forward, this year (hopefully) is the least likely for Houston. From here on our chances are suppose to increase. This was the best time to replace Rafer. Could they have waited until the summer? Maybe, but a good deal presented itself. If i remember correctly, the trade was last minute, Houston hadn't been shopping him, it just kind of came up. It involved the guy they've been wanting (lowry), and they only gave up the player they wanted to get rid of (Rafer). It was just perfect timing and the perfect scenario, you can't pass that up.
Agreed. It's definitely a problem when Yao is the player with the highest number of assists in the game. I'm definitely predicting a huge upgrade in the PG position next season. We just can't continue like this unless we upgrade it. Drop one of the two -- Kyle or Aaron -- for Rip Hamilton, Billups, ... BDiddy? This move has to be done or, mark my words, there won't be a point to moving up to the playoffs... we will just get eliminated before conference finals.
That's a knee jerk reaction...If our point guards consistently played badly i'd agree, but Brooks especially has shown he can handle it. It's just a matter of being more consistent, given this is only his second season, it's illogical to assume he's not going to keep improving when he has improved drastically every year since he's been here. Yao having the most assists could just mean he was passing out a lot. It means nothing unless its consistently happening. And by the way, Rip isn't a point guard, and baron is mostly a scoring guard, so he's not going to consistently get assists.
No one will give up Rip,Billups or even Baron for any of these guys. We will have to look for a player in free agency when McGrady's contract expires.
Once upon a time in a land not so far away, a rookie point guard took over PG duties in the middle of the season. Some people said his head was too goofy-looking for any fans to like him. Others said a rookie point guard, why, golly-gee-willikers, that never works out! A good many folks asked why not the experienced veteran who already has proven what he could do. But that ol' ball coach, well he figured he knew a right bit more about the game then the yokels that occassionally filed into the stands whenever the Lakers came to town, so he just went right on ahead and did whatever he pleased. He said to himself, I know this kid's alien head might come in handy somehow, and so he decided 'bout halfway through the season to give the kid a crack at it. Well, it turns out the kid knew a thing or two about basketball, which of course meant that the sly ol' coach knew a thing or two about basketball, and it all worked out okay in the end. Who was this mystery man? Why it was little old Sam Cassell. Just in case you weren't alive way back in nineteen hundred and ninety three, it's pronounced "Kus-el" not like "castle". And that's the story of how the Rockets found their point guard, and how the alien got its rings. The End.
Yao, as most would agree, isn't really one of the best passers in the league. He is mediocre/average at best (which is still good, knowing full well that this is the NBA we're talking about). Brooks or Lowry should have had more assists. Even Artest had more assists than Brooks. I know Rip and Baron aren't really PGs, but they would most likely perform better all around. At minimum, BDiddy's beastly enthusiasm would be enough to motivate the entire team. Did you see Rip's assists against the Celts? We need to upgrade Guards. TMac is out w/ a career-ending injury. Von Wafer is inconsistent. AB, Lowry are both not starting player-caliber. Brent Barry is good, but he's definitely lacking the full-scale hustle and spirit. I do notice, guys, that none of these players I mentioned (IE Rip/BDiddy) are obtainable at the moment. I just think that, next season, a move should be made to acquire somebody to, in the least, see if improving the starting line-up would help us. I can think of more Guards.. Rip/BDiddy would be ultimate. Get Andre Iguodala and I'll be really happy.
An infinitely easier task when Olajuwon is your big man. My point wasn't really IF this has ever happened, it was more "this is a rare thing" and certainly not a "smart thing" that a FO goes with unproven talent at PG when trying to convince fans they're serious about a championship. I still believe the rest of this season is a scrimmage for next year.
Aaron just has to be aggressive. It's like at times he gets aggressive and everything clicks...then he tries to slow stuff down and it's just...meh. Aaron is going to take his lumps though but Lowry...Aaron...one of these guys can be good. They both show flashes. Don't worry though...Nash hasn't stopped anyone his entire Career so people will be back on the Aaron bandwagon Friday night
The problem with Aaron being too aggressive is mainly because he is turnover prone. We can't have Aaron just running all over the place. He has to learn how to play controlled basketball. Aaron is a viable PG off the bench, but as a starter, not so much. We need Lowry to solidify the starting PG position come playoff time.
There is an solution for PG problem, start Lowry with Artest, Battier, Scola and Yao. And AB comes in with Landry, Wafer to play up-tempo game with engergy and speed.
