As a reminder, with RA's offensive we're not dependant on 2 guys to do all the scoring for the team. It's a more balance approach so we should be able to weather the injury easier.
I might be wrong, but I think the champion will rise out of the East this year. My reasoning is simple. The WC will beat eachother's brains out trying to stay in the playoffs, and by the time the WC finals are over, the winner from the east ( Celtics) will be well rested. Whereas the Western champion will be depleted and worn out.
Dead on. System> superstars. But system+ superstars= rings. We'll just develop the talent on the way with a good system as the foundation.
Was it? There were a whole lot of bad/Lottery teams in that stretch... @ Indiana L 76 - 81 16-12 @ New Jersey W 96 - 71 Atlanta W 94 - 68 Memphis W 111 - 109 Seattle W 103 - 96 Utah W 100 - 86 @ Minnesota L 99 - 103 OT @ Chicago W 84 - 77 L.A. Lakers W 102 - 77 @ Denver W 90 - 86 @ Sacramento W 115 - 111 OT @ Dallas L 96 - 109 Phoenix L 91 - 100 Denver L 113 - 121 OT @ San Antonio W 90 - 85 Portland W 99 - 69 27-16 Philadelphia W 105 - 84 Seattle W 112 - 102 New Orleans/Oklahoma City L 74 - 87 Minnesota W 105 - 77 @ Memphis W 98 - 90 @ Dallas L 74 - 95 Charlotte W 104 - 83 Sacramento W 109 - 104 OT Dallas L 77 - 80 Miami W 112 - 102 @ Atlanta L 99 - 105 @ Orlando W 97 - 93 Boston L 72 - 77 Wed 28 Toronto L 90 - 106 @ Denver W 108 - 97 San Antonio L 74 - 97
I would be so freakin' thrilled if we past the first round. That's all I'm asking for right now and I think the Rockets can do it no matter who we play.
The Lakers will be tough to beat. Anyone else I think we can hold our own. San Antonio is on a roll Phoenix and Shaq do present a matchup problem but they don't look unbeatable. If we can get the 5th seed against Utah that would be perfect.
I think all we can do is watch and see what happens. It certainly doesn't look good, but I'm not going to underestimate these guys the way they are playing. Everyone is writing the Rockets off now. Fine by me. Stay humble. stay hungry
Exactly everyone is writing the Rockets off now, so the pressure on them is lifted since they are not even expected to get to the playoffs now that Yao is injured. They can free flow even more.
Where we are going to get into trouble is matching up against big men on the playoff teams. We are going to be susceptible to foul trouble, which will lead to tentative defense and offense. To me, the key will be staying out of foul trouble while maintaining the aggressiveness on both ends. Adelman is a MASTER of FLEXIBILITY in his system and that is, I believe, why we will still be good. He's got a little Don Nelson in that he is constantly looking for the mismatch and he likes to go small to create those mismatches. So, if we can do the switch and scramble defense and stay out of foul trouble we could be highly effective. Conversly, if we go small and Phil Jackson or one of those other good coaches isolates one of our smalls with a bigger post up player, we could find ourselves in foul trouble and struggling in the half court sets as teams like Utah and the Lakers have the ability to slow it down and pound you now that LA has two seven footers that they can post up, not to mention Kobe. Luther Head is a defensive mismatch against us. And I have a feeling BJax will be too if we go small and these other teams want to post us up. Adelman is gonna have to pull out a lot of tricks.
Good post. Without Yao, we are still better than most of other teams. So all hope is not lost. I will be rooting for young guys, watch close for their developments. I think Carl Landry will be a force. Without Yao, that middle is much freer to operate. We will make the playoffs if we 500 ball the rest way. I am exicited. And if we dont make it, I am going to look forward to the Olympics and next season. It's all good.
The way I see it.... with Yao out, we improve in certain areas. 1. Defense - Mutumbo plays better D than Yao and we will have more quickness on the defensive end. 2. Defensive Rebounding - Yao was weak in this area IMO and I always think back to game 7 vs Utah last year. If Deke were in at the end, I believe we win that game and advance. Yao was tired and wasn't aggressive enough to grab a board. 3. All around quickness, we are now a quicker team, we can run more. 4. Spacing - With Yao out, we will space out better and our guards will have more room to operate, we can drive to the basket more efficiently. 5. Endurance - We will not be limited by Yao's conditioning in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line. With that being said, we WILL lose some offense, but overall, IMO, we are a better team with Yao Ming out of the lineup. I honestly believe that.
I too am very interested in how this season will play out. I feel like we just went from contenders to cinderellas. What is interesting is that we might actually be a better defensive team without Yao, and we were already amongst the league leaders in Defense and as JVG taught us all, if you're the best defensive team in the league, you're pretty much always in the game no matter how stagnant your offense is.(only one 40 point exception comes to mind, 04-05, game 7) This team reminds me alot of the laker's before Bynum's injury. Nobody gave that team a chance based on how match-ups looked on paper, but they repeatedly silenced people and haver had and will continue to have home court advantage since the season began. Also, who here could've imagined that we would get more out of our 2 SECOND ROUND ROOKIES than the sonics have gotten out of their 2 TOP 5 picks. I think T-mac has really had the luxury of cruising so far this season and now with 25 games left he's been asked to carry us by himself. We know he can't do it a whole season, but i'm hoping he's been ropa-doping the league for the first 57 games, and will finish strong and more importantly Fresh. We'll see.
not to argue but you are way off. yao may not have high blocked shot totals, but he changes the game defensively... in a way that willl never show up on the stat sheet.
ONe more thing, I've noticed that Tracy always goes into the Playoffs with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he always talks cockily( might be in webster's), and makes himself the center of attention. THis year nobody will have expectations of him and for once he doesn't need to make any promises. There will be no "It's on ME" speeches and for once T-mac won't get caught up in the hype. He'll just play basketball because he's already got his excuse.
You are way off IMO. We are better defensively when Yao is out, whether it is Mutumbo or Landry/Scola, we are quicker. Yao rotates slowly, gets beat, and fouls when he shoulnd't foul. Any when Yao is tired, he's the last one down the court when we miss a shot. Our Defense is MUCH improved with him out of the lineup. Last nights game showed that clearly.
i think one thing is for sure and thats our defense will be even better if deke continues to play like that.
I think people are jumping the gun a little bit. Deke was awesome. And if Deke plays 35 min a game I think we would be better defensively. But I doubt he will...in which case when we match up w/ more imposing front lines we won't look as good. The Wizards aren't exactly overpowering there. When we face playoff caliber teams and we're forced to stretch Scola/Landry/Hayes to fill up the 5, good center/pf combos will put these guys to the test. Early foul trouble could also pose a danger with these guys getting more minutes sooner.
Thank you, wonderful, post. I see some light coming through the clouds. We are going to see T-Mac show why he won two scoring championships and guided a high lottery team to the playoffs. Losing Yao is most definitely devastating, but its not like we're suddenly the T-Wolves. We're still excellent defensively, we've bought into RA's offense, confident...and not about to let another season die like last year. (I WANT UTAH!!!) Rox can go as far as Mac can lead. Give him so time to find his jump shot rhythm. His first step is stop taking those 27 foot three pointers. He needs to see the ball go through the hoop as many times as possible. The more that happens, the more confident he becomes and those seemingly random, bad, contested jump shots only 2 or 3 players in the league make consistently start falling. FT% goes up, helping to strengthen the jumper more. Uh oh, the D has to tighten up on him and contest. Gotta play tighter on the perimeter, so driving and passing lanes become wider. Terrific passing helps teammates gain confidence. To believe.
Perhaps not so much as "what ifs" as a harsh reality Three Questions... Will playing in the Olympics simply agitate the already lengthy and possibly career-changing injury? Will Yao Ming ever be the same? Should the Rockets pursue a "free man" at center? I want to address these three questions in my first post here on clutchfans and "Rockets will continue to improve" seems to be the right thread to do it in because I believe they can. The first question, "Will playing in the Olympics simply agitate the already lengthy and possibly career-changing injury?" Yao's nationalism is not a secret as he is in fact quite proud of who he is and his country. That coupled with his country's human rights track record makes me believe that they'd be willing to risk Yao's long term career for a shot at a gold medal in Beijing. It's a nice story to sell the people... especially if they pull it off. Whether or not it's possible isn't even an issue... The question is, "Should he even try to play after such a short recovery?" Yao is not your average sized person and even practicing on that foot could prove to be disastorous if it's not fully heeled and ready to go. This brings me to question number two, "Will Yao ever be the same?" If he plays this summer and agitates that injury, will he make it a nagging injury that will plague him the rest of his career(if it's not that way already)? Big men like yeah are a curse and blessing because while they create a great post presence, they are likely to have foot/knee/leg problems(see Walton). Considering this, is it wise for the Rockets to continue investing in a big man that hasn't completed a season without injury in 3 years and one that has to go back to China and play instead of resting and recovering from the NBA's grind at that? This brings me to question number three, "Should the Rockets pursue a 'free man'?" Should the Rockets consider trading Yao Ming in the off-season and attempt to get a Center who's only obligation is the Rockets and nobody else... one that could rest and prepare for next season instead of rapidly shortening his career by playing more basketball in the off-season. It may not be a popular thought and I certainly like Yao's playing for us, but realistically how long can he maintain the status quo? If the last 3 years were a glimpse of the future, the answer to this question may be yes. However, this would do nothing if the remaining Rockets(led by T-Mac) cannot do anything in the post-season. If they can get out of the first round without a big post presence and perhaps acquire another big man in the off-season, I think it would be something to consider.
We need to sign and decent center who can atleast dunk when he open.He needs to be 6'11-7'3.We need him for defense mostly because in the playoffs we might get destroyed in the paint.
