I just finished watching the two losses (ATL and NY) and today's win and I have to say that I am not THAT disappointed with what I see. Honestly, I see a team that has the right ideas, but just hasn't gotten the chemistry and timing down yet. We have 9 new guys on our roster and it will take a little time for them to get on the same page. JJ has been VERY impressive. He has had a bit of trouble with his shot this year, but as Bill Worrell said today, when the game is on the line, he makes the shot. TMac has been a stud offensively and defensively. The biggest problem with him right now is timing with the other guys. He is trying to get them involved and most of the turnovers I saw were of the variety that once he has a half season playing with this team, he will not make. Boki has played well, much to my glee. He is leading the league in 3PT% (may not be after the two bricks today), he is taking the role of the enforcer type and hustles after loose balls, does the little things. I see him developing into a Mario Elie type and certainly hope that he can achieve that level of play. Mo Taylor has also been very solid, making those 17-20' jumpers and even a couple of threes. I also seem to perceive that he is getting more rebounds and causing more problems on the defensive end. I haven't looked up his numbers, but that is what I seem to percieve. Juwon Howard is also just unfamiliar with his teammates and the system. He has shown over the past couple of games, particularly the games that TMac missed, that he can pick up the scoring slack when need be. He also sticks the 15-18' jumper and has a nice hook in the lane. Not so stellar defensively, but still a nice PF. Mutombo has been a monster when spelling Yao. Block after block and missed layup after missed layup. Yao has been having some issues, and am a bit consternated with refs that allow people to absolutely maul Yao while he gets ticky tack fouls left and right. I know Dream got snubbed by the refs early in his career, but I don't remember it being THIS bad. Still, Yao is drawing double teams and (for the most part) making good decisions when they come. Most of his turnovers are also due to unfamiliarity with his teammates and will improve in time. Weatherspoon, Padgett, and Bowen have all been solid in their roles. Bowen has impressed with his hustle, but still think that if I were the coach, I would be giving Boki playing time to help him gain confidence and experience hitting the three now that he has shown a measure of success with that shot. PG is where we are hurting right now and there were several times in the three games that I finished watching today where I thought that Sura would have knocked down the shot where Lue or Ward did not. I think Sura will be a MAJOR help and cannot wait until he comes back. All in all, I give us a 6.5 out of 10, but we are making the right strides, we have not been on the bad end of any blowouts, and have been very close or ahead in all of our games right up to the fourth quarter. As we develop chemistry and knowledge of what the teammates do well, we will improve dramatically. I am very optimistic and believe that we can easily compete for a fourth seed.
I thought the rest was good, but I disagree with this. Yao's turnovers usually seem to come from him bringing the ball down and getting stripped, or from him getting called for an offensive foul.
lol I agree good post. Very optimistc. I hope Bob Sura helps. I agree..more chemistry ...we'll definitely be a better team. Everyone knows that! And well I still hope we can get Antonio Daniels or Cuttino MObley...I agree Nachbar should play..but right now I would give minutes to all of them..Bowen is a good hustler/pest/defender...Padgett plays SMART and solid..and Nachbar seems to be improving and doing wel and should be allowed to develop.. Go Rockets! Yao...he can't suck like today the entire season
Good point. i've seen this happen regulary. he brings the rock so low that easy for Opposing teams to get alot of EAsy steals.
In fact,yaoming is improving in some aspects this season.He is not a body gifed guy except his height.We should respect his hardworking.
Good post andymoon. I agree with pretty much everything you stated. This season, so far, is reminding me an awful lot like Yao's rookie year. The team was trying to get accustomed to playing along side a new franchise player. Even though most of the team had been there, the team needed to gel with each other and learn how to play with and along side Yao. That team played up to alot of better teams and down to worse teams all season, leaving us with alot of close game no matter the opposition. This season, we have a new franchise player and almost a whole new roster and it seems as if we are playing to the competition's level; or playing above, getting a big lead and start to under-estimate the other team enough to allow them to come back. I'll agree with your 6.5 rating and say that with a little more playing time together to gel, and figuring out the PG situation this team will be pretty good the second half of the season.
Am I reading this correctly. Something positive for the first time this season?????? I must say i am impressed. I like to read these kinds of things. Its alot better then reading ridiculous trade ideas and the most recent one to come up, Fire Van Gundy! lol.
Excellent observations man. You're realistic and not emotional. My does this site need more folks like yourself. lol
I agree with what you said about Mo Taylor. Last season I couldn't stand him, but this season he has really taken his game to another level. When I saw him start shooting those threes my eyes went like this You know who MoTay is starting to remind me of? Antoine Walker.
But JVG still sucks, and they are still boring to watch unless you think nail biters against the worse teams in the league exciting.
Good post. I also see LOTS of positives, and not concerned about many of our many negative. It's coming along nicely. I like what I see in Lue. I know many on this board really don't like him and I don't see why. He plays great defense. Next to Tmac, he is the best at creating his own shot. He does not turn the ball over. That is a good backup in my opinion.
I always laugh whenever I read something similar to "Yao should keep the ball high", "don't bring it down", etc... A player can't just keep the ball high and walk with it, just in case yall don't know. All players, most of the times, will need to bring the ball down either to shoot or dunk to get that rythm or momentum going, and to dribble if you wanna get close to the basket . The problem with Yao is his relatively narrow shoulder and short arms, and most important of all, his SLOW reaction time. Be it jumping, rebounding, positioning, or even dunking, Yao is just too damn SLOW. The days Yao can DOMINATE the opening tips is the time Yao will start to dominate in the games.
what about his defense Andy...... his speed has really dropped off and he is regularly getting exposed.... i wouldn't mind seeing Boki start and JJ play that off the bench scoring role he did in Sacball the year before we got him
Yes, glee. I love Boki and hope that he gets a chance to flourish in this system. He will make a very solid NBA player (role player) and I just hope that we can keep our hands on him.
I wouldn't mind that much at all either (see my last post), but JJ still plays solid defense IMO. He is a little slower than some, but JVGs defense is based on helping and sending the man into that help. What you see as JJ executing slow defense, I see as JJ sending his man to the baseline where Yao, Deke, MoT, or JHow can help out.
Charlie Ward couldn't get off the bench for San Antonio last year and Jim Jackson has been a backup for the last several years before coming to Houston. Now these guys start for us and get major minutes. If they were young, guys up-and-coming that might make this surge tolerable but these guys have had a<b>re</b>surgance in Houston and that can't be a good indicator.
