The problem I saw from last night's game is simple: we lack team chemistry. And more importantly, the players do not trust each other. Cases in mind: 1.) We had a 2-on-1 break, and Francis decided to keep it himself and chanllenge Dirk, but Boki was wide open on the other side. I think it is more of lack of confidence in your teammates than anything else. I am saying this because that on another possession, Boki worked very hard to get a good post position (excellent, I must say) and the guards (Mobley or someone else, I could not remember) simply ignored him. That's got be frustrating for Boki. 2.) With the shot clock down to 5 or 6 seconds, Fancis decided to go for a tough shot, while he could have given it to Yao who was covered one-on-one (not a great position, but decent). You could sense Fancis were struggling with the idea of feeding the post or not. I would say Yao more than likely would get a more decent shot that the shot Steve got. Given Fancis is an amazing athelete, he could make some tough shots, like the two that he made in the game. But you play the percentage to win, that is that simple. 3.) We had three seconds left on one possision. When the guard inbounded the ball, he gave the ball to Yao on the last second, as though he just ran out of options. By the way, Yao scored from 5 feet out on that play. Yao certainly struggled last night, but it just shows the players lack of confidence in other teammates. It just makes you realize that we have a long way to go...
Agreed. The chemistry still needs to develop. Players are still unsure of what they should be doing./
Some people are gona jump on you 4 this one, but i think its tru seen the game they dont turst each other as much YET but they will just need more time to jell
Dead on! SF and CAT think they are No.1 option of offense. They are very reluctuntly to give the ball to teammates, even though it results a better shot (they always think they have better chance to put the ball in hoop than teammates, why pass the ball) and don't tolerate other player missed shots, though their shots could be miserable as well. Rox guards don't trust their teammates but themself.
I agree with this thread one hundred percent. Do you think some people are going to come in here and argue that Francis should not pass to Boki when he is wide open on the break? He is either blind, selfish, or for some reason just really doubts Boki's ability to finish. However Boki has shown in the preseason that he can finish on the break with authority.
It's not because he is blind or selfish! Why do you have to attack the man's character? It simply was a poor decision, nothing more. Many players do it. He probably thought his man would slide over to Boki.
I don't care if they take as many shots as they want but the bottomline is you have to go through Yao in the post more and try to build a lead first...and once you got the lead then the other guards can do whatever. It's stupid to see them not to use Yao when they're behind.
Yeah, i'm not trying to insult his character. I know he's not blind, and i know he's not selfish. My statement was just vaguely implying that he doesnt trust Boki. Also, what you call a bad desicion i call a disgrace to professional basketball. I thought Steve had turned a corner on the fast breaks, only screwing up a couple earlier this year, but he sure erased that idea from my mind last night. A 2 on 1 fast break is the easiest play to score on in the NBA, and any college point guard knows how to run one. I get the feeling that the coaches are not trying to teach him how to run it, because of his status as an allstar player, or whether he is incapable of learning.
Well, the fast break is one of his glaring weaknesses, I agree with that. I don't know if he doesn't trust Boki, because he screwed up a couple other fast breaks where Boki wasn't involved. It's his 5th year, if he hasn't learned it yet...
I do think JVG was right in the beginning of the season saying that SF was trying to hit a home-run every time. SF shows that he has that tendecy. It is likely not really that he did not have a single bit of faith in his teammates. But unless hist teammate is wide open, I mean, wide open, I see he is reluctant to give up the ball. He was right to believe that he has the better skill than anyone on the team. It is just that he fails to realize that a slightly open man now can lead a wide open shot a few passes later, just like what you see from the Kings often times.
It's either one of the two: Either he doesn't trust Boki or he wants to show the audience he's dA MAN by challenging Nowiski. Either way, it's not what you want to see in a PG or one of the leaders of the team. He's supposed to distribute the ball and make better decision.
How can you guys are so naive to think all the pro athletes put the teams above their personal interest? Been around pro athletes a little, I’ll tell you no one is that way. No one! They all want to get their shares before anything else IF THEY CAN. You don’t see teams be successful with two ball-demanding stars unless you have a strong handed coach. Spurs had Duncan & a faded Robinson; the Rockets had Dream & nobody; the Bulls had MJ & Pippen, but MJ was much established than Pippen, plus they had P. Jackson; t was the same with the Lakers; the Pistons had Thomas & some good players. When you have two guys who need their share of shots to be happy, then you have a problem unless the strong-handed coach can have them change that. I don’t believe the chemistry thing is such a big deal in pro sports. It’s important, is overstated. If you do the right things the coach told you to, the team will always be fine. You don’t need chemistry to score 2on1; you don’t need chemistry to pass to an open man instead of driving into the crowd. The hope of the Rockets lies squarely on JVG’s shoulder. If he can command the attention of his troops, especially Francise, then the Rockets will be fine, otherwise, we’ll watch a replay of Rudy T. era of past four years, and JVG will quit as he did with the Knicks. --daoshi
daoshi, you may be right about other players. But for Steve, who is a point guard, you have to think that an assist, count equally if not more than two points. Assists will give SF the glory. Think about Jason Kidd, he draw so much interest and deserved the max pay, not becuase of his scoring, and everyone is raving about him. Why can't SF go for that? He did not appear to be a too selfish person either, from the previous games. It has to be chemistry.
Most of them are totally new to the whole chemistry BS. Boki played none last season. We added Jimmy to the mix. We have a brand new coach who see's things differently then Rudy T. did and everyone has to adjust to that. Yao has had 3 different coaches in 2-3 years. I'm sure his head is about to explode.
There's no reason for frustraton. It's basketball, not rocket science. Unless they had some sort of psycho coach who taught them everything wrong and brainwashed them then they should have no problem playing as a team.
Nap! Kidd was billed as a pass first PG, so there is no problem with him not shooting, just like Stockton. Francis is a different story, he is labled as a non-traditional guard, namely, pass first guard. I don't think he considers pass more important than scoring. There is nothing wron with Francis's scoring. Heck, you don't want to change his game to take away his strength. We only need to take away his weakness, which is ball handling, decision making for the team. --daoshi
