I am not going to vote until we've played some road games. Yes we've won 6 games in a row but they've all been at home I would like to see what these post-tmac/rafer Rockets do on the road. I think they can take the bulls and the wolves but when they have to matchup against another playoff team
Depends, If you mean last year without Yao and this year without T-Mac, then this year. If you mean last year with Yao and this year with T-Mac, then last year. If you mean last year with Yao and this year without T-mac, then for the time being last year.
Yes, we are. Four reasons are listed: (1) Last year we have T-Mac, this year we don't. (2) Last year we didn't have Yao, this year we do. (3) Last year we have Alston, this year we don't. (4) Last year we didn't have Artest, this year we do.
Then you add in the other bench players, particularly these 3. Lowry Wafer Barry And you are a much more cohesive team. DD
Even with this great run, I'm beginning to wonder about our chances in the playoffs. More specifically, I wonder about how some our role players will play in the pressure settings of the playoffs. Main one is Wafer, I think I've seen enough sample size of him to know he's a spot player and he'll only get extended minutes if his shot is on. He's wreckless at times, makes bad decisions at times (going 1 on 3 or 4, dribbling right into a double team, driving without any idea what he'll do), just playing like a rookie at times. For an athletic young guy like him, he hasn't shown any defensive instincts to let him stay on the court if his shot is off. AB, he is key to our playoff chances. He needs to shoot for a good percentage. He also drives in alot only to get stuffed repeatedly, he needs to learn other driving angles without throwing up a weak shot that is easy to get blocked. Lowry, I really want to see if playoff teams will try to exploit his weak outside shooting, and if he fights that urge and keeps driving. The rest of the rotation are vets, they know what to do.
The mergence of Scola Brooks Mandry, the consistency of a Yao MIng CHuck HEyes and Battier, along with the aquisitions of Artest and Lowry. And sort of an addition by subtraction of Mcgrady and Alston ( though i would not mind keeping Alston but Mcgrady is a deffinate cancer) make this team tougher more talented and more dangerous in the playoffs
Absolutely, if only for the simple difference that last year we were incredibly defendant upon a frontline consisting only of Deke, Scola, and 6-6 smurfs. They played as well as they possibly could have, but we had real problems holding our own at the 4/5 some nights. Battier-Artest-Wafer are far more capable of keeping the 2/3 positions at a high level. Evan
some of you people are out of your minds. mcgrady was playing like an mvp at this time last season and is unquestionably better than ron artest. we may have a better TEAM at this point but it's not because we got rid of mcgrady, or at least a healthy mcgrady.
Of coarse we are, Tracy is gone and Ron is here. So go's the softness and add some pride, toughness and fire. Scola is better, Brooks is now starting. So we lose Rafer, which when we lost Rafer last year in the playoffs the team fell apart. But Brooks is a much better player offensively, and so is Lowry. My belief is they we give the Roxs a tougher cover team wise and is more of a plus than it will hurt lose that defensive play that Rafer would give. So in the long run Brooks and Lowry are a better bet and a better upside, Rafer had pretty much reached his peak. Add Barry, Von Wafer, a healthy Shane, a dominate Yao and a another year with Adelman. For those that say "but we lost Mcgrady and he played liked the superstar that he is". He might have averaged 28 pts., but he still disappeared when it counted most, the 4th. Tracy "Fools Gold" Mcgrady, You thing you have something valuable but you can't get anything out of it or for it and it never gets you where you want to be. It's kinda like just trying to read the box scores and not watching the games. From the box scores you say Shane sucks and many of you do (mostly Tracy lovers), but if you watched the games you would know Shane contributed more than what the stats say. I feel completely confident we will get past the 1st round W/out Tracy, and "Life is wonderful again in Rockets land."
I think you should substitute Skip for Deke since he was option 2; in which case...well...your inequation remains true. As far as this year's Artest being better than last year's McGrady - no way in hell. Put Artest on that team and you've got a crappy '08 Kings. But all in all: 09 > 08.
I really don't understand. We are the only team with the personnel healthy Artest + Battier to make Lebron have 0 assists and knock his team the way we did. Bring on the Lakers and Celtics and let them deal with the squad we have now. Will they fair? Probably not. We have a fragile core that cannot really be made up for. If Scola or Yao went down our front line is in shambles if Artest played without Battier or vice versa the perimeter defense seems to be in jeopardy. But we do have a bonus in Landry when he comes back. Why are we afraid? Most of the so-called elite are very nervous to play us. Spurs ? They played us at our weakest chemistry along with incomplete personnel. Sure they had no Ginobli but we till blew em out 2 games this season. I wonder how Kobe will react to Ron + Shane coverage at their current health? I bet you we clown em like Lebron when push comes to shove.
Denying T-Mac's efforts in last year's playoffs is just so immature. He has always been monstrous in the playoffs. However, I gotta admit that we are better than we were last year. Brooks has significantly improved this year. Brooks/Lowry > Alston/Jackson. Ron maybe 70% of last year's T-Mac? The big guy is back with 19+9. So yeah,we're definitely better.
I should think addition by subtraction, given the low FG% and ballstopping tendencies of an injured McGrady and Alston. If I'm not mistaken, Adelman's motion offense has been much better executed by the team approach in the recent streak. We now have clear veteran leadership, better defined roles, and role players who are willing to stick to the game plan. Our players have also gained another year of experience - Scola, Landry, Brooks. If Ron continues with his recent form, and Yao keeps going inside, Rox would be a formidable team in the playoffs. Outside of perhaps Utah, I suspect Rox would be a good matchup and would give most teams a good run for their money.
Thank you. This Wafer kid is fools gold. Giving Wafer playing time over Brent Barry is going to come back and bite us in the playoffs. The kid is erratic and plays the game the wrong way. Barry has been there before and has a good track record of performing well in the playoffs, plus he has the veteran experience that brings balance to Brooks and Lowrys inexperience. Adelman is screwing up with this decision.
