okay adelman explained why he benched francis. Why didn't he bench rafer? he was hurting the team with his shooting?
I agree that the defense has lost a little bit, but tonight but we played well a team that shot over 60 percent from field! We've only given up more than 100 twice (Memphis/Phoenix). Not bad considering we've played San Antonio and the Lakers twice, Dallas, and Utah. Jazz and Lakers are two of the top six scoring teams in the league. We'll be ok!
Exactly. We have a far greater chance of success as a top defensive team and a middle of the pack offensive team rather than as middle of the pack at both. Thus far the marginal improvements to the offense have not justified Adelman's hiring or jvg's dismissal. Hopefully that changes.
Rick should get at least a 100 day honeymoon. This is the unfortunate consequence of firing a 55 win coach. I wish fans would have cooler heads for the bigger picture. There'd be less embarassing moments like chanting for Steve during a key Rockets drive... I think the story is that Francis isn't playing to his potential and benching Rafer for giving it all would set a bad team precedent. It's not all about one player.
So this year everyone does know more than the Rockets coach? I am asking this in light of macfan comment you quoted.
JVG was a good coach I liked him but he is a good commentator. I like him for that too. Plus, the Rick Adelman experiment is not over yet. Give it some time. BUT! Jeff Van Gundy was a good coach.
Everyone can coach???? If so, why Shaq only got the rings under Phil Jackson?? I roughly remember Shaq dominated when he was in Magic for 4 years, and dominated when he was in Lakers the first three years... Why only one coach take him to the rings?
Well I beg to differ. McGrady not playing is NOT the major problem. The major problem I saw with the Rockets in the game with the Phoenix Suns is Rick Adelman should not have started Mike James and let Phoenix Suns control the tempo from beginning to end. And defense was definitely a problem, or else you would never have allowed the Phoenix Suns to score 69 points by half time, and enjoyed that kind of high FG% and 3-pointer%. By trying to compete on offense and speed with the Phoenix Suns is stupid and crazy. He should have instructed the Rockets players to try to slow it down, and played to their strength: half court O&D by focusing more on defense, and rely more on playing the inside-out game by passing the ball to Yao, and have Yao played more down at the low post. By trying to compete on offense and speed, they just fell into the trap of Phoenix Suns. All Phoenix Suns needed to do is to front and double-team on Yao Ming, reduce the damage the Rockets done in the interior and dare the other Rockets to shoot from the perimeter. To make matters worst, Yao Ming got 2 very quick fouls in the first 5 (?) minutes of 1Q, and the 2nd foul was totally outrageous with Steve Nash flopping.....And by asking Yao Ming to run up and down with the run-and-gun Phoenix Suns is just too much for him, particularly this is a back-to-back. And coupled with the fronting and double-teaming treatment, Big Yao just could not get into his usual rhythm and by 3Q, the game was virtually over.
Did you even watch the game yesterday? The effort to get back on defense and to guard people when we did so was barely half-hearted. There was no intensity at all, which is troubling. I was ready to forgive the 1st quarter because the Suns do that sometimes. But when we didn't turn up the effort level in the 2nd quarter that falls on the coach, who needs to light a fire under these guys. Tracy not being on the court didn't cause our energy level to drop.
And the issue is not just about yesterday. The writing was on the wall. This team has progressively gotten worse defensively. You could see slippage every single game. They started the season strong defensively, because JVG's defensive principles were still fresh to them. But you need somebody to keep emphasizing defense. Playing defense is not a natural act, so it has to be made a priority. However, it is difficult to make it a priority when the coach doesn't embody the defensive principles that JVG did. JVG breathed and lived defense. I will admit, the offense is more fluid and Adelman hasn't implemented his schemes yet (he has said as much). I have no doubt they will be an offensive machine by the end of the year. I just hope they make defense a priority right away, because you can't turn that switch on and off. Defense has to be part of who you are. Otherwise, you'll be playing a game in the playoffs and you'll allow 125 points and don't know what hit you. Everyone can score points in this league. We can't subscribe to the Sun's philosophy of let's outscore them. We have to differentiate ourselves by making defense part of the Rockets' identity, the same way it has been the last 4 years.
The reason Van Gundy's defense was so good was because he preached transition defense. He gave up offensive rebounds to get back on defense. With Adelman you don't have players in set positions on offense that's why it's much harder to locate your man and get back defensively.
That is part of it. Part of it is that Scola makes a lot of defensive mistakes and that is understandable. But a lot of it is that they are not playing with the same defensive intensity especially Bonzi, Tmac and Luther (Adelman said that last night).
macfan beat me to it, but the problem on defense isn't just scheme, it's EFFORT and INTENSITY. 69 points in the 1st half is a lot even for Phoenix. I wish that scheme was the main problem.
HEAD ，He does not have the brains Coach should let on him the time few spots chinese: 海德，他没有头脑 教练应该让他上的时间少点
it looks like a crazy idea...combine JVG and Adelman...in charge of defense and offense accordingly...but the possibility is approching zero?!
If you assume that a guy that stands/sits the entire game with his mouth open and says NOTHING the entire game knows what he's doing, I would have to question that logic.
