Reading the front page headline, Clutch says this is a loss that needs to result in some significant changes. My question is, what significant changes can you really make at this point? I don't really see the solution as starting this guy as opposed to that guy. It seems it's a much bigger problem of not having much talent, not having much intensity, and having an offense that relies on individual talent to score as opposed to an offense that gets people open for shots without having to break their man down every single time. Aside from that are we going to move Rudy out of here midseason? Probably not. What are the significant changes that will turn the team around!?!?
-Start Tierre ahead of the shot clock killer Mooch -Post up Rice and call plays for him more often -Torres should get 25 min a game -When they iso it wouldn't hurt to have the "big" men get into position for a rebound -Post up Eddie and play him more with Cato -Bench whichever guard is responsible for us not getting off the correct play in the designated 24 seconds -no more iso's for Kevin Willis -someone inform Rudy that post opens up the drive not the other way around -pass the damn rock -play a man zone
couldnt agree more with you flagrant1...i would also like to see lanky get some earlier minutes...tmo looks lost out there and id rather have lanky get the pt...calvin mentioned that he is really hampered by injuries and isnt 100%, this could just be ego soothing for riding the pine, i dont know but he cant be worse than williams...
There are no changes you can make. The Rockets lost to a more talented team, on the road, on the second night of a back-to-back. People just need to get used to the fact that the Rockets aren't talented. Nobody outside of Houston thinks Moochie Norris is better than Greg Anthony. Nobody outside of Houston thinks a less-than-100-percent Cuttino Mobley is better than Ron Mercer. Nobody outside of Houston thinks Glen Rice has anything left. Nobody outside of Houston knows who Oscar Torres is. Nobody outside of Houston knows who Tierre Brown is. Few people outside of Houston think Kenny Thomas is better than Charles Oakley. Brad Miller is better than any frontcourt player the Rockets have. You could go on and on. The fact is, "one of the worst teams ever", as Clutch says on the front page, has more talent than the Rockets right now, and the Rockets were on the end of a road trip, on the second night of a back to back. What the Rockets need is a healthy Steve Francis, a healthy Mobley, a healthy Mo Taylor, and MORE TIME. They also need the fans of clutchcity.net to lower their expectations, and realize we don't have a good team.
I could give a flying fu(k what people outside of Houston think about the Rockets. What people think doesn't equal the product on the court if that were the case the Wizards would have the best record in the league.
Considering we've only made about 110 out of 341 three-pointers(32%) benching the first player to shoot a three-pointer would be a start. The three point line has run this team into the ground. Also, considering that we've outscored our opponets in only three first quarters all year, changing around the starting lineup would be another understandable change. And how long can a coach keep playing aging vets(Willis, Rice, Williams) -- who shoot a combined 40% from the field -- over young guys with much more potential. It seems that something has to give in this area as well, especially when from the look of things we'll be heading into the lottery anyways. Can't help but agree with Flagrant on some of his ideas as well. I'd like to see less of Kevin Willis in the block and more of Eddie Griffin. Willis is a terrrible low-post player as it is, while Eddie on the other hand seems to have an array of moves that lead to much higher percantage shots. It'd be nice for the guards to recognize this and give him the rock down low.
Is it just me or does anyone else cringe when Willis gets the ball on Offense? Jesus Kev, just pass the ball for god's sake!
I don't mind so much when Willis gets the ball close in. But when he gets it past 10' I know hes gonna take that fu(king jumper that he never makes.....ahhhh that pisses me off. And by the way, does Rudy have any control over what this team does on the court? I see him yelling and freaking out every other minute because of something the Rockets have done, but I don't see them stopping. Half the time the players aren't even paying any attention to him. Has he lost touch?
It's a good thing the Rockets aren't run by someone outside of Houston cause we'd be in damn big trouble!! Agree with you Flagrant on some of that stuff. Torres is a player and needs to be out on the court as much as possible. Moochie's dribble dribble dribble is definitely a problem. Rice isn't anywhere as good as he once was but I think he can definitely be an effective player down in the post. At least that would free up some shooters off of double teams if Rice can hit a shot or two down there.
The 3-pointers aren't hurting us -- or, at least, on a shot-by-shot basis, they are worth taking (what they do to the offense more generally, I won't comment on). The Rockets shoot 32.3% from the 3 point line. But, they shoot 44.7% inside the arc. So, for each 2-pointer they attempt, we get 0.89 points. For each 3-pointer we take, we get 0.97 points. The 3-pointer is giving us a bigger payoff than the 2-pointer. As for Willis, Rice and Williams -- they don't shoot as badly as our 'young guys with potential.' Griffin is shooting 29% and Morris is shooting 11%. In fact, Kevin Willis is shooting better than the team average (43% vs. 42% for the team) so I don't know why you'd lump him in with the misfiring SFs, other than that you just don't like him.
This can be attributed to Rudy as much as the players. He has always run offensive systems that set up open 3 pointers, and he encourages players to shoot them. This is why you don't see EG benched when he launches a 3 (he hits them, and Rudy WANTS him to shoot them). Any change in the amount of 3 point shots we get would have to come from Rudy first, and I don't see that happening. While I do think that Willis should stop posting up, I don't see EG as better in the low post right now. Everytime I have seen Griffin post up, it has been turn around jumper, turn around jumper, turn around jumper. He shoots them decently, but you need to go to the middle on the post ups at times. I have yet to see EG go to the middle of the lane on a post up. Willis, however, needs to seriously stop getting post up passes. If he shoots his jump hook, he does so too far out, beyond his range. If he decides to face up, he will shoot the jumper (often out of this range) about 95% of the time. I actually release a sigh of relief when the opposing team decides to send a double team to Willis, because that is just about the only situation when he will pass out of the post. Willis is old, and you can't really teach an old dog new tricks, so I don't expect any of that to change once he gets the ball in the post. But we really should stop passing it to him there.
We need OLAJUWON back... maybe the retro jersys... yeh the jerseys too... Ok Olajuwon in classic red jersey would do the trick
What worries me the most about this time without Mo Talyor and Francis is that some of the young guys and new guys are going to get alot of playing time, and they are going to score some points. The next thing we know, we are going to have Tierre Brown and Oscar Torres signed to long-term, Moochie-Cato-like contracts. I am so tired of overpaying average to poor players and having them locked up (see Brent Price, Kelvin Cato, Matt Maloney, Moochie Norris, and nearly Jim McIlvane).
Oh yeah...Rudy needs to go to some sort of coaching clinic. The guy couldn't diagram a play to save his life. I have never seen so many shot clock violations following timeouts. How does that happen? Kenny needs to STOP thinking he's a 3-point shooter. Mobley needs to stop thinking he needs to outdual the other team's leading scorer (and then whining to the officials when he doesn't score). Rice needs to start hitting some open 3's, that's what we got him for. Moochie needs to get out of the NBA. He should be in some sort of kids dribbling and trick shooting expo that goes from school to school doing tricks and telling kids to stay away from drugs. As for our expectations, we need to face the fact that what we are putting on the court right now is equivalent to a CBA all-star team. Its pitiful. I refuse to watch a game until Steve comes back. Not because I am a fairweather fan (which I am definitely not) but because this team is just painful to watch. I think Duke or Maryland could beat us right now (that I would actually watch).
Juan Valdez, A 7ft big man that is shooting only 43% from the field is not very good. Hell its not like Willis is firing away from the outside. Willis is missing too many inside shots; shots that are supposed to be high percantage shots. This team can't afford that right now. Don't make this a personal issue with me and Willis though becuase I like his hustle and energy out there, always have. But the fact is if he can't make theses inside shots he likes to call for then he needs to suck in some of that pride and get his ass out of the driving lanes or out of the low block and allow Eddie Griffin a chance to work the post. I don't know what Griffins exact percantage within the arc is but so far it seems that the rare times he's recieved the ball down low with his back to the basket he's been pretty solid.
there are some here who think Anthony is clearly better than Mooch. some here think that defense is important, the rest of the league seems to know it most of the league seems to agree on the general role of a front court, a role which seems the polar opposite to ours. mmmmmm Brad Miller
