Your thoughts / comments / suggestions at the 20-game mark?

He didn't last night with those big shots and pretty solid play to get the win... He wasn't the only reason, which by the way, is a good thing!

I agreee his game and JVG's seem divergent, but that is JVG's fault for being an absolutely lousy offensive coach.

 

I didn't see the whole game, but I did see some "no-brainer" turnovers, a standard for Francis, and some really bad "point guard" decisions. I also some of his typically "brilliant" play. This is what makes watching him so frustrating. But, overall, he looks "downcast," "frustrated," and "distant" from JVG on the sidelines.

 

You are correct. I would think They will come to a head at some point. Probably after they lose a playoff series due to JVG's insisting on a bone head offensive set to end the last game - one that doesn't involve SF....

 

The biggest change has been the Steve Franchise intensity also here and there he is beginning to trust his team-mates. Still too much one on one play and not looking for the easy shot like JVG wants.I like the idea of Mobley going to the basket and the fact that he has almost stopped taking the very low percentage shots of previous seasons.Mo Taylor,coming along so much so that JVG must be doing a merry dance.I do wish that Nachbar could get some playing time so he could develop his 3 point shot. Just fancy having him Mobley and Piatowski all on the arc at the same time with Yao Ming passing out for the open jumper.
JJs experience is making a significant contribution but could be more consistant. Yao Ming seemed to develop Stamina over night and is a regular contributor to the Team. Kelvin Cato is still playing out of position , he just cant guard Power or Small Forwards, I would like to see him under the basket. We play the three Guards why not a two Center line up, Cato under the basket and Yao Ming Playing the weak side getting passoffs from the Guards driving to the basket. Overall I see that the Rockets are shooting for the Stars and they are on their way. I just hope that they leave a trail as they go into warp drive , so that Eddie might find his way and avoiding the black hole as he glides through the planets on his return to the Toyota Center.

 

Choke City.

We continue to fall in the 4th. We've been lucky the last few games that we won. But we turned potential blow-outs into 2 point games.

 

It seems lots of people are thinking rox are going in a good direction this season. However, comparing with the stats, current 13:7 against last season's 12:8, and both with 9 home 11 road games, there is no huge change.

 

Tied for the number 2 seed and tied for the 3rd spot in the west, I am certainly not surprised especially when that Toronto game could have left us with only 6 loses. In many ways this record does not do us justice. Today if we had to go over our seven loses, we would reduce that figure by 3 for the Toronto, Seattle and Utah(away) game. Those are the breaks.

To win in this league you have to control the paint we have to be considered top 4 in the league in that category. I do not expect that to change. In fact we will only get better especially as Ming's technical execution of the jump hook is much improved. The mistakes we are making on offense are probably the best kind of mistakes. I see alot of rushing in the passing game which I expect will improve.

I do not like the length of the rotation and now that the consistency is there I would like to have Boki back in and when and if the Griffs come back, hopefully both by the All-Star break. There is alot of energy being used on defense and so it does not hurt our offensive efficiency and willingness to run, I would lenghten the rotation.

The team's margin for error is larger now that it was at the start of the season and that would be the fuel to keep us in the top 4 spot. I maintain that we are on par with the Kings and I maintain that Dallas, Spurs and Wolves, over time have nothing on us. After 20 games the Lakers are the only lock for a top 4 spot.

 

I believe that our biggest issue is focus.

If we can correct the mental mistakes, while improving our passing, time will make this a better team.

IF!!!

 

That's sad! You are one of those people that never accepts the blame. You always pawn it off as "somebody elses fault".

Man up!

 

Positives:

* More passing/ball movement, less reliance on one-on-one
* Aggressive swarming defense

Negatives:

* Too many TOs
* Other dumb plays like bailing out a player by fouling him late in the 24 second clock, shooting too early in the clock, walking the ball down the court and starting the offense too late in the clock
* Poor FT shooting (may be fatigue, since they miss more Fts late in the game)

Overall I believe the team is responding to JVG, so that is perhaps the biggest positive

 

We need a PF.

We need a PG.

We need Francis to move to SG.

We need Mobley come off the bench if we get a PG.

That's about it...

Don't believe me? Just wait until the playoffs. You think the turnovers drive you crazy now?!?!...heh....

 

IMO, after 20 games:
Yao: A-, 17pts on 50%FG and 10 boards is good. Need to cut down on TOs and play more agressive.
Cat: A-, 17pts on 45%FG, the best in his career. Need to keep up the smart play.

MoT: B+, 49% FG, even go to the board lately. Keep it up Mo.
JJ: B+, Solid all around, need to raise FG%.

Pike: B-, Steady, keep up the good work.
Cato: B-, Strong on the board, defense, Needs to improve on FG% and cut down the fouls.

Steve: C+, Erratic, some hightlight plays, some bonehead plays, needs to improve on FG%, assists, TOs...
Mooch: C-, Played OK last 2 games, useless earlier.
Others: I

 

Right now the team is on pace to win 53 games which would be a 10 game improvement over last season. I think when the dust clears, the top 4 teams will be the Lakers, Spurs, Kings and Mavs. After that, I think the Rockets will battle it out with the T-Wolves for the 5th spot. It sounds odd that a 53 win season would only get at most a 5th seed but imo that is the case with the West being much tougher this season, and the gap widening between the West and East. That being said, a 53 win season would be damn good and only 5 games less than the 58 win season the Rockets had when they won their first championship.

I think to sustain this pace, the team needs to continue playing the excellent defense it has played, and Steve Francis simply must do a better job on the offensive side of the ball. Mobley and Taylor are excellent right now as support players, and Yao is starting to show more consistency. If Steve Francis can start shooting the ball like he was last season, this team will be very difficult to handle.

Also, I agree with Sane on the PG bit. I think one name this team should look at closely is Mark Jackson. Jackson was on Best Damn Sports Show Period last night and said that he would definitely be open to playing again this year but only for the right team (not Utah). The plus with having Jackson is that he wont cost any talent to acquire and could be signed at the vet minimum. Even in limited mins, Jackson was still a very steady veteran PG for the Jazz last season. I like Charlie Ward as well, but at this stage, with this team coming together, I would not want to give up anything major for him. If Ward can be had by using the trade exception and a small contract ie Bostjan Nachbar, then I'd be ok with it.

 

The big difference between last season’s good start and this season’s good start is that this year they’re winning as a team.

At the start of last season, Steve was just playing out of his mind. He was getting 25 to 30 points a game. He was shooting at a very high percentage and carrying the team to victories. Basically, he was playing like Baron Davis is this season. Well, that can only last for so long before he and the team fell back to earth.

This season has been much more of a team effort. Everybody’s contributing: Yao, Cat, Steve, Cato, Taylor, JJ, and Pike. A much more balanced attack. This is how you get long term success, instead of the short term success last season.

 

Well said...that's very true.

The team carries you most of the time, the stars carry you on those "home run" plays, which are not very common (end of games, playoffs, etc...).

 

Even with a winning record this team is hard to watch.

Boneheaded turnovers, a total lack of a fastbreak and Yao's failure to dominate in the paint on the offensive end leave me screaming at the TV.

 

Reasons...

Francis at the PG spot.

Mobley not knowing how to pass, even for a SG.

And Yao playing aggressively only when he's late for a practice (not every game).

We're near last in team assist.

We're near last in FG %.

 

Oh, yeah. And a real PF; we lack one.

 

Manal, can you explain the dust part? I am not sure what is so unclear now that you will need to wait for dust to settle. Where is the dust? Are you saying that we have peaked and other teams have not? Are you saying we are playing better than we are supposed to? Are you saying that our fundatmentals are weak and inferior to the other teams you are expecting to be in the top 4 when the dust settles?

Taking an offensive look...for Rockets, Wolves, Kings, Mavs and Spurs...we dunk the most....our jump-shooting % is second only to the Kings....our biggest deficiency is our close to midrange game where our shooting % is significantly below the rest in the group. The most telling reason is passing. Our effective fg% is 48% while for the others the lowest is 54% by the Spurs. How easy is that to correct? This is perhaps the single biggest difficiency, offensively, for the rockets. In overall shooting we are 3rd just behind the wolves.

On the defensive end, we give up the least dunks and force the most amount of jump shots and with the exception of the Spurs, the Rockets are clearly superior to the other in the group with Mavs and Kings in another class level completely.

So is it easier for the rockets to improve their close to midrange shooting game than for the Kings and Mavs to improve their defense of the close to midrange shots which they are allowing at 56% and 55%, respectively; while Rocks are at 47%? I am thinking that the play of MoT, Pike and JJ and the inevitable improvement is SF's play from here on out will give us a good chance to bring us closer to the group. At this point any improvement in this area will almost certainly be reflected in the wins and losses and hence my expectation that top 4 is in the cards.

 

Who appointed you my personal Siskel and Ebert? Besides, sparky, why would I be to blame for what JVG and/or the Rockets do?