The primary reason that I'm starting this thread is because of the disarray the offense would fall into without Yao or McGrady in our three losses. Some of this is because of unfamiliarity and hesitation, but another part is that our guards were attempting unsuccessfully to break down the defenses using the dribble. I'm not very well educated on the NBA outside of the Rockets and who the Rockets are playing tonight, so I was wondering if someone who knows Anderson's and Alston's skills could post what they believe could be their future role on the team. I'm interested in how much of a role they can play in the half court offense by creating their own shots, creating shots for others, executing the pick and roll, etc. Last year Mike James may not have been the greatest chemistry guy, but he could assure that we scored some points without Yao or McGrady on the court. Since we traded James for Alston... and every basketball team needs a little instant offense sometimes: Did we get any of that in return? On the same note, I've seen Swift enough to know what he can do physically, and like everyone else, I know that he is a gigantic question mark as to how far he can progress. I doubt he will ever be a pivotal guy in the offense, but he could surely play an important role if he developed a natural place on this team. He is going to be the beneficiary of guard play (fast breaks, good passing, etc)... which takes us back to Alston and Anderson. Thanks for any info.
It's just too early to tell. Alston is passing up good shots and missing the ones he's taking, but I'm still high on what this guy can bring to the team. It still looks to me that he's thinking too much. DA does look to me that he's lost a step but I like his overall game and I do think he's still finding his way too. I'm one of the few that thinks the "reliable 3rd scorer" concept is way overrated. I'd prefer out team to end up similar to what it was last year when there was a different hero every night. We have depth especially with the emerging Head and I do think it's going to take JVG awhile to sort things out and for all of our players to get comfortable. Our turnover in the last two years has been extreme and continuity is just going to take some time.
you mentioned that alston thinks too much. i wonder if van gundy's attitude has something to do with that. it could take them away from their natural playing style because they don't want to disappoint vg. in some of the postgame swift interviews, it sounded like he was really worried what vg thought. i wonder if they are nervous because they dont want to let him down and suffer his criticism.
Can we at least let the team play together for one month, at least more then 5 games together, in regular season play before we start going after players and saying how they're not helping, JVG is making players nervouse and hurting the team and everything!?
I agree with you on Rafer and DA. As I said in another thread, from right now to the end of the season, Rafer has the most "improvement potential" of any player on the team. While not completely turning him loose like he did Tracy last year, JVG needs to loosen up on him some and allow him to do more on offense, like PENETRATE! Rafer can go around most players and create havoc but he rarely does. His assists to turnovers (5.2/1.4 = 3.71) is great but I want him to take more chances. It's good he is starting cautiously because it shows he knows his place in the pecking order. But it's time for Skip to show off his handles and speed a little more. His court vision and passing are fine. DA is much closer to finding his comfort zone. My only issue with him is getting injured. He would be an important cog in our playoff machine. I disagree with you on the need for a 3rd scorer. While we can succeed this year without one using the "different hero every night" concept, a clear 3rd option who can kill defenses consistently when left open would take us to another level. My "pie in the sky" hope is Luther can develop into this during his career. Maybe not this year. But just think for a sec, if he's this cold-blooded as a 5 game old rookie, what could he be next year (or even late this season)?
I was a big LH fan, but I'm shocked that I think he might wind up being a Casell-type rookie for us, but I'm starting to believe. Regarding the "3rd scorer" thing, yeah it's nice to have, but I believe we'll be fine if our guys in the roation shoot at their career pctgs, but looking back at the Laker's 3-peat and thinking back to our own championships the "third scorer" did vary significantly from game to game. There really wasn't a lot of consistency in who those guys were. And I also think Yao and T-Mac are a combo is a lot different than other duos since the legal zones have been implemented. There are plays to be made seemingly everywhere on offense and I do think ideally we'll develop a team that learns how to take advantages of those opportunities. Right now, I think JH probably comes the closest to taking full advantage of the space he gets, but I'm patiently waiting for others. Ironically I'm one of the guys that wanted SAR over Stro simply because he's going to score even we he plays badly, but right now I'm looking at the big picture and maybe JVG's "inter-changeable parts" mantra is the direction we should go. Either that or get really lucky in the draft.
I think you hit the nail on the head (no reference to Luther), but I agree it does seem more like we are playing "not to lose", rather than to win. The games T-mac was out, our team went into a "Houston Oliers Prevent Defense" in the fourth quarter and rather than going for the throat, we we're simply trying not to screw up and it does seem that some players are more concerned about what the coach thinks than going out and giving their all and not worrying about mistakes. I think there is blame for this on both ends, JVG needs to let the reigns loose and accept that there will be mistakes and let the players know that he expects them to make some mistakes. Likewise some of the players need to be less concerned about what the coach thinks and give it their all 100% of the time they're in the game and stop being paralyzed with the fear of making a mistake.
