It's all on the guards, they're just not getting it done (i.e. making shots, which is the #1 task on any guard who plays on this team). Seems to me the only guard who's fulfilling that role is Head, while everyone else is bricking every shot they take. The bottom line is if the guards don't make shots, we will lose game after game even when we play superb defense as a team (which we have done for the most part, keeping opponents' scoring pretty low for the most part). Guards don't make shots, Yao will face double and triple teams and will be easily taken out of his game (which happens everytime pretty much he's fronted). Oh, another thing, we need to cut down on the stupid turnovers, you know, those unforced ones that we make about 4 or 5 of in every game.
I couldn't agree more. Alston is not using his quickness to his advantage. He is not penetrating, leading a fast break, or pushing the ball as much as he should. For all of Wesley's shortcomings in the games previous to the Piston's game, the Rockets had more transition offense with Wesley at the helm. Since the Sacramento game the Rockets have been in single digits in fast break points in every game ... in the Piston's game the Rockets had 14 fast break points. Wesley gave the Rockets Sura numbers ... 14pts, 6 assts, 9 rebs. I hope Alston took note and production from the 2-guard position wouldn't hurt either. It would be nice to see the guards going to the basket to draw fouls when their shots are not going in.
I disagree that its JVG. So far its Rafer Alston, Tyrone Liu and Charlie Ward played better than Rafer up till now and nobody was saying that Liu and Ward needed more time learning JVGs system, they just didn't have enough talent. Time will tell but so far RA has been a bust.
Some of you guys' posts sound just like some of these media guys/broadcasters on game day. "JVG's system is a slow-it-down system" "JVG wants to pound the ball into dust" Give me a break. The reason why JVG's system seemed like a grind it out system early last season was because Yao was the focus. What do you want him to do? Say "Yao - run with these guys all game long"? It was when he found out that Yao just wasn't going to be a great low-post player (yet) due to his stamina and inability to hold position that he said "we're going to make TMac the focus of our offense now". Yao, go bulk up, increase your stamina, and we'll try you down low again this year. Of course this year, Yao has issues with foul trouble. It kind of sucks when one of your Dynamic Duo is only in the game an average of around 30 minutes. JVG is no more "back to his old ways" this year than last. He's trying to incorporate people into the offense and see who fits where doing what. That's kind of difficult to do when everybody and their mother is shooting bricks. Great topic btw, because I agree with its premise. I think Alston is at a point where he may very well be scared to make a mistake but he's trying to adjust to finally being given a role. I don't think at any point JVG has told him to stop shooting the ball. Maybe stop shooting when Yao and TMac are open. No one has told DA to stop shooting the ball. He's just bricking his shots. You can't be a "balla" in this offense - you have to be a "player". You have to think, you can't make mistakes, you need to be fast above the shoulders, not just below. I think the difference with JVG is you will get an earful and then some if you constantly fail at doing this. This is the same thing that happened last season. People eventually found their roles - they adjusted. We won. It should be interesting this season to see who can adjust and who can't and what the repercussions are. I still hate the fact that DA has given us nothing, and for me, that's the biggest let down. He was supposed to be the offense that could replace a Mike James, but that sure hasn't happened yet.
From what I have seen with the Rockets, I believe you are right about this. I don't know how this parallels his time in New York though. Last year's offense proves that with the right personnel, JVG can coach a successful offense. It's pretty much impossible to diagnose the problem at this point, but I'm giving JVG the benefit of the doubt for now. JVG earned massive points in last year's playoffs with his officiating scuffles! Just a pet peeve that is only slightly on topic, since we are talking primarily about the new guards.... why do all the guards think the 3-point line is a force-field? When they bring the ball up the court they all stop or pick up their driblle at the 3-point line. Keep going! You don't have to be running a break to do this! Alston especially. He has great dribbling skills (apparently better than any guard we have had in a long time), so he should be able to run right into traffic without turnovers. It seems to me this would increase the pressure on defenses by a huge factor, and really open up all sorts of passes that aren't available. I don't like seeing two types of passes... post entry and swinging around the perimeter. These stagnate the offense.
Detroit didn't take long to get used to Larry Brown - championship first year. Players should not have to adjust to a coach; it should be the other way around.
That same Detroit squad had been together for a while and was coming off a conference finals berth. This year's Rockets squad and last year's has/had to not only get used to JVG but also each other. It's a bit different.
The Pistons were 50-32 when they shafted Carlisle to get Brown. Carlisle had already taken DET to the EC Finals. The current Pistons are smart enough and talented enough to learn Flip Saunders' motion offense already and start their season 8-1. Has Flip adjusted or have they had to learn his offense? It would appear that the Pistons are smart enough to learn under all 3. The Pistons are a stark contrast to the knuckleheads VG inherited. If you think we'd be better off with a total ISO offense, we'll agree to disagree. EDIT: Not to mention Brown was not screwed by those previously exchanging players and was able to deal for Rasheed at the trade deadline. The Pistons were 34-24 when they added Wallace and went 20-4 after his arrival. But then again, I guess Brown adapted to Sheed instead of vice versa.
I don't think Rasheed Wallace had been together with the Pistons for a while prior to Brown arriving.
I knew somebody would point that out. He's the only one they added. The rest of the team was set. As opposed to Houston who has 2 new starters plus our star player is playing hurt so the rest have to pick up the slack. Even further, Stro is also playing significant minutes. Houston has a lot of peices to sort out this season.
I don't understand what your point is. Larry Brown inherited a defending conference finalist, just as how Rudy came in and took the reigns of a quartet in Vernon, Kenny, Otis, and Dream that had been together for a while. I don't understand what exactly you are arguing. Is it a critique on this year's team or JVG overall? I will assume the latter given your track record. Last year's team and adjustment to JVG has been debated ad nauseum and the results speak for themselves. I don't know what there really is to complain about this year's results. There are some things that I don't understand (the use of Yao) but I don't think there is any way you can logically deny the premise that there is an adjustment period playing for JVG. Our superstar has been either sidelined or at less than 50%. We're not going to win without him. We are trying to mix in new parts into the system. This isn't exactly a "everyone stand around while one man ISO's on the left block" offense. This is a complex system which has proven results. See last year when guys like Howard and McGrady looked completely lost to start the year and then erupted by season's end. They weren's just beating teams, they were literally demolishing people before Howard went down. And you can't even argue that JVG doesn't adjust to his talent. The Rockets were regularly scoring in the 100's when healthy last year. They had a crisp, smooth offense and a suffocating defense. What exactly were we expecting this year without McGrady? I don't see how you can blame this on Van Gundy. Like, seriously. They are getting wide open looks. You saw what happened when guys actually knocked down those shots. They nearly knocked off the Pistons without McGrady. This thing is going to take time to get guys adjusted and it doesn't help that T-Mac is hurting. It's real easy to hang on to prior prejudices of Van Gundy to use as a critique when he's struggling. The fact of the matter is that all great teams have great systems because that is what allows them to have precision through repetition. The triangle offense and the Spurs defense took time to learn. When McGrady gets healthy, the Rockets will be fine.
I'm sorry..you were using Larry Brown as an example of what...oh yes, coaches adjusting to players...and when they do they win championships in their first season. How convenient of you to ignore that... 1) Carlisle had 50 wins with the same team. 2) Prior to Rasheed, the Pistons were 34-24. That's a 48 win season with 71% of the season gone. 3) With Wallace, the Pistons went an unbelievable 20-4 for the rest of the regular season. Now from the above, given what we know of DET before Brown, what Wallace was like in POR, what Brown was like with Iverson...you want us all to believe Larry Brown adjusted to Rasheed Wallace and that was the reason for DET winning the championship? That is an absolutely incredible stretch of logic to take a back-handed, "here's one for Rudy" swipe at Van Gundy. Pathetic and you know it.
And now we replace the #1 SF with the #64 SF and wonder why our production on offense goes down, especially when Tmac is the improviser on this team and all of Yao's early skills have been dumped and forgotten in favor of a predictable Ewing style repetitive play - where every team in the league knows exactly what is coming. Small ball might work except for the fact that Gundy needs a Tex to complement his defensive expertise.
I agree with the original post here, and really think that the first half of the season will be somewhat of a struggle, but if we stay healthy I think that we will round out to a highly competitive team by the midway point. Patience. Not that we shouldn't be looking at our options, refining the lineup, working on our spacing and positioning... but some patience is needed while those things are being worked on, I think. No, I didn't think they'd look this out of sync. But still I am not worried yet. I did hear Jon Barry this morning on 610, and they seem a bit at a loss from his demeanor, but I think some of that was just humility, and that they will hit the things they need to hit very hard. Obviously, with Tracy ailing, we're going to struggle more than we expected. We should be shooting better, but that should come up too.
