we have good players but they don't/can't do what they are needed to do. except for the center and 2guard positions. yao and deke are excellent. tmac and now barry are excellent. PG - needs to be a 3pt threat, good creator off the dribble, solid defender. we have - a good rebounder SF - needs to be a 3pt threat, good rebounder, lock down perimeter defender. we have - a shooter, and a defender, but not the same guy. PF - needs to be a good rebounder, provide interior defense, able to hit a jumper. we have - jumpshooters.
i'll call myself out. i expected the uglyball, that is after all, a signature feature of JVG's teams, lottery bound though ... nah, even in the tough tough west i believed we were talented enough to make the top 8. i still believe we're good enough (talent wise). Feigen can write another zillion articles on player intensity but no objective critique of our woes can absolve ole man grumpy. when good, previously productive players, are all suddenly struck with the same ineffective malady the atmosphere/system/philosophy/blah gotta be examined. ALL DEM THINGS ARE UNDER GRUMPY'S PURVIEW. when yah admit that you inherited a team that played with passion, and further admit that the team yah developed has no passion, yah jes' can't escape responsibility.
Talent is an over-blown term in NBA. Like JVG said the other day, everyone get talent in this league, 'cause you won't make it at this level without some serious talent. The thing separate stars from wanna-be is the system and opportunity. Remember J. O'Neal, who barely got off the bench in Portland, and Dirk who was regarded an average Euro player without D when Mav drafted him? O'Neal got his opportunity in Indy, and became a legit all-star; Dirk became an-all-star because he was lucky to play under Nelson who has maximized his offensive skills. Can anyone image what Dirk would be like if he was drafted by Knicks with JVG as the coach? He probaly would be out of the league now. Same thing with O'Neal, who would be another too-immature-highschool kid sit on the Portland's bench if he wasn't traded to Indy. This team has all the talent it needs to compete with any other teams, it's the coaches' job to find a system to maximize everyone's ability, hide their weakness. Still remember how Lue got his big contract? P. Jackson made him look like a legit PG in his system in LA. Remember the century old B. Shaw, R. Harper, H. Grant? All of them looked good in P. Jackson's system. Even L. Walton, K. Rush looked like the NBA starters uner Phil Jackson. I still want to give JVG more time to improve this team, but he has not been doing a good job so far this season. Don't use the chemistry, or talent as the excuse because more than half of the roster have his stamp on them, Yao and Talor are the only ones he inherited. If the team fails this season, then JVG fails as the coach, and his performance needs to be evaluated at the end of the season.
so true! if you judge JVG on this ability it'd be hard to ignore how unsuitable he is for the task he's been given.
The talent of the supporting cast is more than enough if you have a superstar player like Duncan, LeBron, or Garnett as the centerpiece. Unfortunately, this team does not have a superstar player on the roster. Yao and Mcgrady were supposed to be those superstars, but they’ve both played more like top 20 players rather than top 5 players. So unless those two take their games to the next level, we’re going to have to significantly upgrade the talent level of the supporting cast and practically have an all-star at every position like Phoenix, Dallas, and Sacramento.
No one in his right state of mind would think Yao is a top 5 player, at least not yet. I would say Tmac is a top 10 player and Yao is a top 20.
That's a proper assessment. The truth is the Rockets will outplay the SG and C positions most of the nights. However, they get their asses kicked at the PG and PF positions with an occasional ass kicking at the SF position if they play the Suns, Mavericks, Sonics, Nuggets, and a slew of other teams with athletic SFs. I've said before that Steve Francis was best off with a very strong frontcourt. Having Dwight Howard play off the ball with him is just perfect. I also said that Yao needed a deadeye shooting backcourt to keep the double teams off his back. This is why I wanted to see Ray Allen come here, and I want to see Vladimir Radmanovic come to the Rockets. I put Ray Allen ahead of TMac right now. I don't think it's just his contract year that is making him a potential MVP candidate.
at his position Yao gives us a matchup advantage most nights. truth is even with poorly balanced results you'd be hard placed to find (statistically) 19 centers ahead of him. excuse it how yah will ... ole man grumpy has no idea how to maximize his skills. not surprising ... JVG has NO idea how to make the most of any player.
That's how I feel. If we are winning and Yao and Tmac has the same stats as they do now, I'd put both of them in top 10. Good thing is, average age between Yao and Tmac is like 24. Everytime I'm down, I think about that.
Don't get me wrong. I love Yao and Tmac. I just don't think they are top 5 players in the league at this point of their career. Like every Rocket fan I hope they will develop into a player in that calibra one day. I know they can. Go Rockets.
GO ROCKETS! got no major problem with your evaluation. jes' think we could do better with two players that should give us an edge most nights. like you said, go Rockets!
They're both top 10 players. This team has plenty of talent - they're a top 5 team in the West. That's where everyone on this board predicted them to be pre-season! When you have two players that good, you're 'supporting cast' is not going to be as good as other teams, flat out. This is reality. Knowing that, everybody in the league would still take those two guys and take their chances. Juwon Howard, Mo Taylor, Mutombo, and Ming - there's not a coach in the league that wouldn't take that as their frontline any day of the week, except maybe Popovich, Flip Saunders, or Gundy's brother. There's plenty of talent here!
Hypothetically, if only superstars matter and you consider Yao a top 10 player, the Rockets should beat every team in the league because no team in the league has 2 top 10 players. In no particular order: Garnett Duncan Shaq Nowitzki TMac Kobe Yao AI R. Allen LeBron Even if you substitute Stoudamire for one of the spots, Houston would still be the only team with 2 top 10 players.
Exactly. People refuse to believe that Jim Jackson is not in the same planet as Ginobili, Juwan Howard is not the same role player as Drew Gooden, Bobby Sura is not Tony Parker, Sam Casell, Andre Miller or even Jeff McInnis, and the bench does not have a Bobby Jackson.
