ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 12/15/2007

I consider that we have THREE scrubs in our starting line up!

 

How? after Rodman kicked the camera man, Jordan/Pippen just left Rodman alone. PJ gave Rodman the longest leash. But Rodman was too much a competitior that he never screwed up any championship run.

 

BOX SCORES

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is there a link or post of adelman press conference after the game?

 

I think Clutch created a thread that was for game audio and video. You might wanna try there.

 

The team is not a 48 minute team. They can play 2 - 3 quarters then they just fade. Yao will give the team 20 - 10, T-mac is 20, 4 - 5 rebounds and 5 - 6 assist then it is lottery on who shows up to provide offensive support.

One of the most frustrating aspect of this debacle is that an open shot should be a high percentage shot. With the current bunch of Rockets except Yao, any shot is a low percentage shot.

 

I don't quite think that's the problem either. One can complain about how they faded down the stretch last night, but this was the same team that stepped up during the 4th quarter of Wednesday's game against Detroit, with Rafer, T-Mac and Yao all hitting big shots. They are just so frustratingly inconsistent, and worst of all, like T-Mac said in the radio interview the other day, they've lost their identity as a team.

We already know the obvious reasons. Then there is the leadership issue -- much has been said about Rafer's leadership on the floor. The other leader this team had last year was Juwan Howard. He was the guy that would motivate guys in the huddle, go out on a limb to stand up for his teammates and do whatever he could to lead by example. He was also a weak link as far as actual playing ability was concerned, but that's a different matter. Regardless, for all the buyer's remorse we're having with RA/JVG now, I'm starting to think perhaps trading Howard for James wasn't such a good idea either. (Of course, no one would've dared think this a couple of months ago.) At least Juwan consistently gave effort on defense even if his offensive game was off. Not having JVG makes matters worse -- RA is never going to be the fiery team leader that JVG was. He isn't even willing to stand up from the bench and coach from the sidelines when his team is struggling.

Yao has to be the one to step up to the leadership role now. He's already doing some of that -- voicing his opinions, leading by example. But he has to start learning to be more vocal - in the locker room, on the plane, in the huddle, on the floor. He has to demand the ball more, and get on his teammates if they don't comply. He is the only one who can confront T-Mac if he isn't shaping up. I think it's taken him a long time to get over the loss of JVG, but at this point he has to step up and realize that he is the Rockets franchise. He has to make this team his own. As it is, the team is like a ship with no rudder, and that's why you'll see them looking great one day and then getting blown out by scrubs the next.

 

If Alston is hurt, and Brooks is not going to play other than garbage time, then T-Mac is the best PG on the team. It's sad, really, but it's the truth.

I'm disgusted that they continue to play Francis and James at PG. They are undersized SHOOTING GUARDS, and they should be playing like they are SGs. If Rafer is out, then start Bonzi at SG and play T-Mac at the point. Francis and James should back up Bonzi.

At least we'd have a bigger lineup out there and we could add a scorer without sacrificing defense with Hayes and Battier. I'd go with Yao, Hayes, Battier, Bonzi, T-Mac as long as Rafer's out.

With T-Mac playing PG, it would inspire him to keep his head in the game, since he's always involved in the offense. He wouldn't be allowed to take plays off as the PG.

IMO, Adelman made a huge mistake in saying that he wants T-Mac to finish plays instead of starting them. He's realizing that now. Same goes with the whole Yao in the high post idea. Why would you want to utilize Yao's overrated passing abilities and under-utilize T-Mac's sensational court vision?

In fact, if anything, I would use T-Mac in the high post since he's by far the best passer on the team. Obviously, at the high post, he can do everything else he wants to like hoisting up jumpers and driving. Now it's easier for him to dish. If he gets doubled, someone please cut to the basket and he'll get open.

Scola's consistent lack of touches and shots has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season. I thought T-Mac's passing and Yao's presence especially would make him a better player and get him a number of easy baskets. Maybe the Spurs ended up making the right decision in trading him away and keeping Oberto. He had a huge game today against the Nuggets.

 

I think this one is entirely Adelman's fault. Scola has proven that he can be productive as an offensive option every time he has had the opportunity, and he has one of the highest +/- ratings on the team. But so far they have failed to create plays for him, and have relegated him to defense, rebounding and a garbage basket here and there.

I'm sure T-Mac would have plenty of opportunities to create shots for Scola -- the fact is that he doesn't create as much offense these days as he did last year -- the triple double the other night was more of an exception to the rule. Most of T-Mac's assists these days come off pick/roll plays with Yao, and his assist average has fallen anyways.

 

Which brings this back to my earlier point of Adelman's mistake of making T-Mac only a finisher and not a play-maker. I thought that was a horrible move to change T-Mac's role from last year. JVG had that right. The problem with last year was we had no role players that could score when T-Mac passed to them.

This year, we got a PF who could score inside with Scola, and we acquired essentially 3 shooting guards who could score in Bonzi, Francis, and James to go with Head. We finally got the role players that could score, but then Adelman decides to screw up the whole thing by ditching T-Mac's gifted play-making abilities. Instead, Bonzi is a bench player, and Adelman's forcing Francis and James to play PG, which is obviously out of position. They should be SGs and SGs only. Brooks is the only backup PG we have.

On Scola, that's not all on Adelman, besides the whole situation with T-Mac's role. Scola has looked horrible at times. Completely lost. I don't care what the +/- suggests. But when he is playing, there's no reason why he can't get at least 7-10 shots per game.

 

Gosh I hate these Dallas Mavreferees !!!!!!!!!!!!!

FBI! Please investigate this game! Full of evidence of gambling corrupt referees!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

we need to trade for someone now

 

I agree.

RA sucks.

 

Not only did the Mavs embarrass us and laugh at our crappy play during the game, they insulted us in their post-game quotes by calling us a "good team".

How is a .500 team a good team? At least call it like it is. We're an average team where all you have to do is shut down one of the two stars on the team. You do that and you win the game.

 

How much does Gerald Wallace make? He would seem to fit this description. Maybe him and another player (Hopefully not Morrison) from Charlotte for T-MAC.

 

Terrible game. Tmac is soft. Tmac still wants to prove to Steve that he is not the Franchise, which is why he scores as soon as Steve leaves. Steves also likes to prove to Tmac that he is not the Franchise with his lack of confidence while playing which results in him sucking.

Rick Adelman is more lost in his offense than his players. How can he sit on the bench and watch players not cut, not pick, not shoot and look lost; and he is just sitting on the sidelines barely giving any instructions?

I agree that Scola's development and use are being wasted because of how Rick is playing him. I guess the bright side is that he plays 10 minutes a game.

CALVIN MURPHY FOR COACH!

 

You and Van Gundy are simply wrong about McGrady. McGrady was forced to be the playmaker because we didn't have any other playmakers besides a stupid Euro who wasn't worthy to play in the NBA. McGrady enjoyed being the playmaker from the standpoint of getting credit for the team's success, but he didn't enjoy the role of being the playmaker from the standpoint of getting double teamed all the time. And it is too much to expect him to fill that role for 82 games plus the playoffs. He is NOT Magic Johnson. He is spindly, wiry, with a history of being injured, and that causes him to shy away from contact in the lane. And most importantly, McGrady's greatest asset is a player is the fact that he is a SCORER first. He is a very good playmaker. But he is an absolutely sensational scorer.

However, to become a great team, everybody has to buy in all the way. And the one thing that I see that McGrady hasn't done yet is totally buy in to the system to the point of encouraging his teammates to go away from and let him be a decoy in the offense while they exploit tremendous mismatches that are created because opponents are putting their best defenders on him. I am waiting for the day when McGrady lets Francis, James, or Brooks bring it up and he goes weak side and lets his mates exploit the defensive weakness.

The one basketball IQ fault I see in McGrady is he has this mentality that he has to either make THE SHOT or THE PASS for this team to be successful. And oftentimes that leads him to dribble the ball too much (the very same thing Francis has done over the years) because he feels he should either shoot it or get the assist. Now, to his credit, he makes a number of sensational plays, both shooting and passing. The guy is a great player.

What McGrady has to learn and demonstrate before I will believe he has bought in is to make the pass before the pass. That is what championship players that make their teammates better do. They make the game not about themselves but about their mates. That is when you instill confidence in your teammates, when you put your teammates in a position to be able to make plays that they can make very effectively. That is what Magic and Bird were all about. They dominated the game by recognizing what a defense was doing to them and getting the ball to their teammates where they could make a play. They didn't force it. If 2 defenders were shadowing Bird, he wasn't calling for the basketball and trying to dribble around with it. He would go stand in the corner or at the arc way outside the 3 point stripe and create floor space for McHale and Parish and room for the guards to penetrate and finish or dish.

When you look at our team, there is no reason that we shouldn't be averaging at least 100 points per game. We have to start making the opponents make choices on who they are going to defend and then get the ball to where the opponent is exposed. When you have Yao, Tracy, Scola, Francis, and Battier/Bonzi/James/Head on the floor, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to score. The defense doubles Tracy and shadows Yao, they should both go to the opposite side and Francis and Scola should be able to run the 2 man game ALL NIGHT LONG, or Bonzi should be posted up on the opposite side and be able to DOMINATE his matchup ALL NIGHT LONG.

For this to happen though, McGrady has to help create those situations by taking the initiative and leading his teammates into that game when he sees the defense is totally shadowing him with two defenders before he crosses halfcourt.

Steve Francis, for as horrible as he has been so far, can still make plays. And Steve Francis can work over a pick and roll pretty durn good. Francis is not and never will be a stand still 3 point shooter. He can hit one once in a while but it's not his forte. Now, this year, under a different coach though, we are seeing the same scenario unfold, that is to say, our point guard having to stand outside at the 3 point line to try to create space for McGrady to work. And it simply doesn't work because the NBA is too smart for it. They will force the ball out of McGrady's hands and there is our point guard standing there with it out at the stripe and we are working right into low efficiency offense. McGrady is 6' freaking 9" tall. He can stand a good 6-8 feet outside the 3 point line and step into the pass coming out from the interior and can that jump shot when he is wide open at a very effective clip. I'm talking about when he's wide open and can purely step into the shot. And that's where we need to get as a team, to the point, where we can use McGrady as a decoy when they shadow him with two defenders and force the defense to have to adjust because Steve and Scola/Hayes are driving them bonkers with the PnR or Bonzi is tearing them a new one off the post ups. Then you can swing it back to a wide open McGrady or you can throw it to a trailing Yao for a few dunk shots and force the defense to have to overcompensate. We should have defenders flying around all over the court with the offensive skills we have. But most of the time, they are forcing us into end of the shot clock garbage shots, or McGrady is forcing a shot, or we are getting a turnover as we stand around and try to get it into Yao.

McGrady has to recognize this and lead his teammates. It's just that simple. McGrady is still the primary leader on this team and his attitude is going to effect the team chemistry a whole lot.

I'm not in with the guys that say he has no heart. He gutted it out last night, hobbling around the court. He probably shouldn't have been out there for most of the minutes he played. He may not be the toughest dude in the NBA, his body is not built to be the toughest, but he is very tough. He needs to improve his leadership skills a little bit and help allow his teammates to be more successful by encouraging them to run different stuff without him as long as he is being double covered.

When you look at our power forwards, both Hayes and Scola can run pick and roll. And Scola can run pick and pop very well. And when you look at our other two point guards (Francis and James), they both can operate off the pick. James is not as good as passer but James can take a pick when he is playing one on one and operate off it with a lot of efficiency, either getting a good look from 3 or getting it to the rim. Francis takes the pick and either gets himself a high percentage 17 footer, or he gets to the rim, or he makes the pass off. Hayes has played pick and roll with McGrady over and over and he has done fine finishing with it. And it is plainly evident that Scola simply is a very gifted offensive player. Not to mention Bonzi. You think Bonzi can operate receiving the ball going to the rim after he has set a pick?? Good lord, no opponent wants to have to deal with that stuff. They're all laughing at us because we got Stevie and Bonzi spotted up at the 3 point stripe, of all the STUPID things, because they have to create space for Yao and McGrady. Or worse yet, we've got Rafer standing around out there.

We are last year's offense because everybody has this mentality that they have to get the ball to McGrady and Yao first on every possession. McGrady has to get them out of that mentality by suggesting these types of things. McGrady has to understand that the team may be better by using him as a decoy until we can get opponents out of the overplay mode. This is part of the figuring out process that Adelman is waiting to take place, I believe.

Adelman is waiting for McGrady to buy in all the way.

 

You wasted your time writing such long nonsense, he is basically a trash-Mcgrady to me.

 

Geez...that guy really likes to type.