Well I was going to post this a few days ago, but for some odd reason I couldn't access the bbs. Anyway, What I would like to know is why aren't we using Dream down the stretch of those 2 games? I understand the fact he isn't in "game shape" yet but he's been out of the 4th quarter majority of the time. I would have used Hakeem down the stretch instead of Pig because he brings that defense intensity and he can also make more free throws. Don't get me wrong, Miller has been playing great basketball for us. There would have just been another option down the stretch for us. Something we could have mixed up with the post-up and run-and-gun offense to keep the defense off their game. I was screaming during the Portland game with 2 minutes left for Rudy to put in Dream. We could have easily lost that one. I would have liked to see Dream in those situations. If we did lose, I know this would have been brought up, but we didn't so I guess it doesn't matter much. Atleast he would give us that "safety net" we had when Barkley was around.
Dream's tired. Did you see him during that Portland game? He was dogging it for like the last 3-4 minutes he was in the game. He just about collapsed when the Rockets finally called time out. I'm sure Ramadaan (sp?) has had some affect on his conditioning, but it sure looks like he wasn't using the Pig Miller 'spinning' approach to conditioning prior to returning. He'll be back into game shape in no time. The man is an athlete and knows what it takes.
In both the Portland and the Denver games, I saw that Dream walked up the court as he looked at the bench, desperately and tiredly, requesting a timeout or a sub. That's not a good sign. I once have asked the same question, "Why didn't Rudy put Dream in when the game was down the stretch?" Now I realize (I should have!) that Dream is not yet in game shape, and that he can only play for limited minutes. Hakeem said in an interview that he wanted Rudy and the team work him into game shape little by little, and that Rudy would take him out when he's out of gas. Also, did you see his free throws? I think he has been making like 50% of his FT after his return. Yes. He has had only like 4 to 6 attempts. Then both tell you he's not as effectively on the offensive end, and that his FT wouldn't help much in close games. I mean just NOT YET! When he's in game shape, he would probably get 8 - 10 free throws per game, and his FT% will be up. You know, Dream's my man, and he's not gotta let us down for very long! As Michael Murphy said in the <A HREF="http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/rockets">Rockets team report</A>, Dream will soon put up a 25-plus scoring night for us Dream's fans! Watch out!!!
