^^HA HA HILARIOUS DD DAVID LEE ROTH FUNNY HA HA DD Let me give you the same advice you give everybody else - stop reading my posts. Or grow thicker skin. Or shut up. Or none of the foregoing. I don't care.
Stop coming into threads simply to argue and derail topics. Or get laid to get a better disposition...you are more of a downer than your man-spinner JVG. SHEESH. DD
Six players in double figures. Five players in double figures. How can you argue that that isn't a huge improvement given the team's history this season? What's more I don't think Yao has ever looked comfortable in any offense he's been in since he's been in the league. It's never looked to me like his teammates could really figure out how to play with him either and as a result the offense has sputtered along in fits and starts. This it totally subjective on my part but I thought that these last two games were really the first time in Yao's career that he has been able to be effective in the flow of the offense. He scored a bunch of points but so did his teammates and they actually looked like they enjoyed playing with each other. Finally, some chemistry. That's what bringing in Adelman was all about, right? One more thing about bringing in Adelman: in JVG's first year the Rockets were 15-15 after 30 games. In Rudy T's first year the Rockets were 14-16. Both those seasons the Rockets went on to win 50+ games. Charles Barkley said that there were games in the Dallas playoff series where the Yao/T-Mac combo was "scary". If T-Mac can commit to the system and trust his teammates I think this team could be scary good.
Yup, that's exactly correct. It was his first season with both T-Mac and Yao but his second season as the head coach of the Rockets. I think the point stands though that given major change there's inevitably going to be a period of adjustment. The Rockets have struggled to pick up Adelman's offense. I can't see the future but now that they seem to be more comfortable with it I think they have a shot at rescuing the season. And obviously it's possible to be around .500 after 30 games and still go on to rack up 50+ wins on the season.
Just give Rick some time. we are getting better on offense, even without tmac. Rick's stuff will work ,trust him
Rudy and JVG inherited lottery teams and took them to the playoffs. Adelman inherited an upgraded version of a team that had the 4th best record in basketball and has taken them into lottery territory. Only a bleater like DaDakota posting to hear the sound of his own voice would believe the Rockets have done anything but regress at this point. It's plain as day and the numbers don't lie. And two wins doesn't really change that.
You know what, if the season ended today, you would be right, but it hasn't ended, and changing an entire culture from an oppressive overlord to one that is more trusting of your teamates takes time. Let's see how this plays out, shall we? I think a few lumps early will make us better in the end as players will believe in themselves and trust their teamates on the court. Not look to the bench for a leader..... As evidence we are 2-3 this year without our best player, that is pretty decent, and an upgrade over the last few years.......the team was too relient on Tmac....not anymore....which is a good thing for things like.....oh...advancing in the playoffs. DD PS. For the record Rudy took over for Chaney who won coach of the year before he took over, hardly a lottery team......and JVG won a grand total of ONE game more his first year with Yao in his 2nd season...again, hardly a massive improvement, but why should I bother you with facts, right?
My point was that major change inevitably involves a period of adjustment. Sure, the Rockets have regressed. But why shouldn't they? They're learning a new system and they're trying to figure out their rotation--they have to figure out how to take major new additions like Scola and Brooks and make them productive. As for that new system, Shane Battier said it was like trying to get a master's degree in basketball and that the team probably wouldn't really be comfortable with it until after the All Star break. Given all that, I'm willing to give the Rockets their period of adjustment. The real question for me is how the team performs as the season goes by, especially after the All Star break. Obviously it's possible to be right at .500 after 30 games (or even a little worse) and then go on to get 50+ wins.
In the games I have seen, I have seen lack of effort on defense and missing open shots, as well as a general lack of emotion/sense of urgency, as the primary culprits in the regression. These things don't seem to me to be attributable to the new system. This is the NBA, ultimately you go as far as your players, not your system. I'd rather have a coac that gets the most out of his players rather than one that is wedded to his system.
PS, for the record, prior to Rudy's first full season as head coach, the Rockets ended up 42-40 and in the lottery. Which was good for them because they then drafted Robert Horry.
You may well be correct. However, that is to be seen (and hopefully will) but today is today and, back to the Thread's premise, Adelman is not to be given credit. He, and our Good Guys, need to earn it. He, and they, have not - as yet. Aside to DD: the Thread's originator's inability to find a 'cap key' pales to your inability to get along with others on this playground.
DD can get along fine with most everyone here. It's SamFisher who keeps stalking DD and who keeps making personal insults which really add nothing to the thread. With regard to the topic, I think it's too early to tell either way, but I am convinced we will make the playoffs, barring injuries, and once we are there, everything can happen.
Sorry Xiki, it is only one or two I really don't get along with, people who come into threads just to start a fight rather than talk about the thread topic. You are correct though, I acknowledge my participation in it....my bad. DD
Obviously there's that too. Yao came out and publicly called the team soft so obviously there's a problem there. A while back I asked how could the Rockets as a whole be so soft when individually they're tough. Look at the roster: Battier is the ultimate professional. Hayes pours his guts into just about every game and is ferocious on defense. Scola? I remember him fighting off three Nuggets to get like three offensive rebounds in a row. How can that group of guys be so gutless? It's got to be bad chemistry, and how much does the coach have to do with that? The truth is we don't really have any real insight about what goes on in the locker room and we don't know what issues there are inside the team, if any. There could be issues totally separate from the coach that could have been poisoning the mood of the team--look at the fiasco with Chicago and the Kobe trade rumors, for example. But the good news is that I think the last couple of weeks have represented a huge improvement in team effort and chemistry. The last two wins were over a bottom feeder and a middle of the road team, but earlier in the season the Rockets just gave up in the middle of the game against Toronto. They literally waved the white flag in the third quarter and that carried over to the next game against Philadelphia. Compared to that these last two games, and in fact the last two weeks, definitely represent progress.
I don't keep up with who is hating on whom, or just hating. I, for one, hate haters and hating and...disappointments from mine Rox. I did feel, however, DD was ripe for a mild tease... It is, in fact, too early for irrefutability on RA and these Rox. To me, the 8th seed or the 5th is the same. None of the top three are tops of the other two, so let's get there, strap'r on, and ride into a parade ride (he said, getting waaaay ahead of himself...).
LOL@people quoting posts about SJC re: stalking. there's a reason why I don't read his stuff anymore. Guess why. or don't. I find it hard to belive that a locker room that is largely the same has found such a radical locker room chemistry disruption. Who is here? James? Come on, unless he is Damian, I doubt he is doing so much. Francis? doubtful, hell he has been out wit te flu for a month or so it seems. Scola? not a problem. The skinny Bonzi? blah, he had to have been a bigger disruption last year. And to top it off, they are minus one whining greek b****. So where is this disruption coming from? Brooks? Landry? come on. NBA Teams are not that fragile.
James, Francis, Snyder...any number of the NBA vets that feel they have EARNED playing time by past performances. Or Tmac not buying into the new coach. And yes, NBA locker rooms ARE that fragile, we are dealing with men who have large egos, large bank accounts and have been pampered most of their adult life....you bet your ARSE it is a fragile chemistry, espcially with so many mental midgets in the Rockets locker room. SJC seems right on the money. DD
Uh, sorry dude, but Teams regularly change 3-4 players ever year and survive just fine. Yet this one barely changes and it's the f-king Manhattan Project all of a sudden. I guess that's what I'd say if I was banging the "Adelman is the missing piece!" drum and it blew up in my face.
