dont jump...but i want to see the rick adelman offense

Right now,it all looks muddled up. No inside-outside game,although the shooters have to take a lot of blame tonight. However,there is no consistency. Only Wafer tries to take the ball to the hole consistently,and he is a role player. McGrady did try to drive but his jumper was completely way off,he just doesn't seem to have anything left in his legs. Defensively,we are also weak.

 

For me, the main thing is NOT even if we won or lost, but whether the players put in the effort. I can understand that not every night the shots will fall, or the refs will call in our favor, or whatever, but it will be great to see the players play with real effort every night, if not 100%, at least 95%.

The Celtics are talented, but the reason they won so much their starters play ALL OUT all the time.

From our team, the players that play their hearts out every night are Yao, Scola, and Artest. Scola got beat athletically, so that usually just evens out. That's why our record with Artest playing is very good. My sense is Artest will become the most important player in our roster by season end, even though Yao is the focal point.

 

Forgot to mention:
My sense is Artest will become the most important player in our roster by season end, even though Yao is the focal point and Tmac is the highest paid.

 

As bad as we played, I'm going to keep coming back to the same thing: this isn't symbolic of some deeper problem with our offense. We had 13 assists, but we know we move the ball better than that. We weren't hitting open 3s, but we know we can usually hit them. Tmac was sub-par again, but we know he's not going to finish the season shooting 20% and averaging 10 a game.

 

did you watch the Cleveland game? here's how the last 3 positions (before the game slipped out of hand) went:

Rockets go to Yao- misses easy hook
Rockets go to Yao- misses turn around jumper
Rockets go to Yao- gets ball stripped

Yao is amazing throughout the entire game, but with the game on the line, he turns it off and becomes a Shawn Bradley.. having the refs not call $h!t for him doesn't help either, and opposing players usually take advantage of that and hack him on purpose without getting called for a foul.. point is: Yao is the big liability down the stretch.. Ideally, this is how the Rockets could go 82-0 in my opinion:

-go to Yao throughout the entire game, put in shooters around him (not named Luther Head) and play inside-out.. shot clock winds down and play gets broken up, go to Tracy McGrady and let him make something happen, which he usually does (04-05 season, go to him with 3 seconds left => drains 30 foot 3 pointer or puts on a badass spin move and knock down the deuce)

-game on the line, let Tracy and Ron go to work.. Tracy penetrates and dishes out.. run a simple pick and pop with Barry or Battier, or simply give him a top of the key iso and let him break down his man off the dribble, which opens things up..

this is the winning formula, unfortunately, the "Tracy" I mentioned above doesn't exist anymore, we have a 6'8 naturally gifted version of Luther Head, without the jumpshot.. a below average role player who has ZERO impact on games.. unless we get that old "tracy" back, we're doomed to mediocrity and another 1st round exit..

 

great post...

 

You're right about Tmac, but Artest is our best player? Yao's been the only bright spot in the last couple of games. He's by far our most consistent player. He may not be the most clutch player in the league, but s***, he's really the only guy we have to get us offensive sets. Artest simply isn't playing like he played in Sacramento.

 

You guys are correct in the short term, but in the long term I think you are wrong. Tmac for three years in a row it seems has started off slow, then he seems to get in a groove at the all-star break and we go on a big run. We've seen what happens when every piece is in place. We're a pretty deadly team.

Championships aren't won in the regular season.

 

I`m afraid of his willing,if he wants to win!

 

That is what I was thinking for the 2nd half. I really cant understand too. I think the Hornet is not as good as The rocket for sure, why do we intend to make the game so difficult? Can the coachs give a reason?

 

i've noticed this also. When the team feels desperate, they go to Yao. Yao should be the focul point, especially since he is a good passer.

 

I'm obviously a big McGrady fan but even I'm starting to find him unwatchable. If this is the way he's going to play from here on out, he should just retire. There's no sense in making a once great player look like a has-been for an extra 2 years. I don't know what's up with him, whether it's the knee, the weight, or just a crazy decline, but this is unexpected. I don't think he's dogging it and sulking like some would expertly say, but he's certainly not delivering and it's getting harder to watch.

 

I got to see him up close yesterday and it looks like he is still rounding in to shape. He's always been a slow starter since he's been here, and the trend has definantly continued so far this season.

If Artest can get back at close to 100 percent, then Mcgrady should take some more time off or just come off the bench and play a few minutes. His play is too up and down right now.