wait a second..you honestly believe this team is ONE PLAYER AWAY...just a big man....from being a team that can go to the NBA Finals? am i reading that right?
To be fair, this team is one player away from a team that could go to the finals -- Hakeem in his prime.
I hope not, we are a big man away from a low seeded playoff team, but if you want to contend, you need a fully heathy Yao Ming type of player, and uh........that ship has sailed. DD
That is how we were last year. Best of the worst, worst of the best. I believe we are better than last year though.
really, the only person we can blame is aldridge and fernandez...aldrige was dominating the paint, and every time we would leave fernandez open he would drain a killer 3. Thats on us. Kmart Carried us cause no one else was scoring.
I dont understand why everyone hates KMart so much the man has never been a defensive specailst he is a scorer like Allen Iverson but as a shooting guard. One shooting guard doesnt make or break a defense. We need a true center and I dont mean Chuck Hayes.
Honestly if not a finals deep, an above average and deep playoff team. We have NO presence in the paint. Teams back us down and drive on us all day because we don't have the 7'6 monster down there anymore. In recent years the rockets have had their good seasons when they had a dominant post player. So yes I would agree that we are just one player away, A BIG MAN from making some noise
This team is not anywhere close to being one Hakeem away from a title contender. That first Rockets title team was a great defensive team. Vernon Maxwell was one of the best lockdown perimeter defenders in the league, Robert Horry was a great defender and rebounder, Otis Thorpe was solid, tough, and a great rebounder, and Kenny Smith was a solid defender too. Off the bench we had Elie, a great defender, I could go on. Compare that to the current team where there are only two solid defenders on THE ENTIRE TEAM in Battier and Hayes. I'm not even going to get into the intangibles factor of how clutch most of the players on that title team were, something this current group doesn't have. Let's get real here, we aren't just a few tweaks away from being a 60 win team. Comparing this current team in any way shape or form to the first title team is crazy.
He was saying we COULD go to the finals, not we are going to the finals and gonna win it with a big man. Don't leave Courtney lee Defense out of this either, once we figured out how to use him he has shut down some of the better points guards, ala Derrick Rose. A big man in the middle helps our our good defenders cause if they do get driven by they know they have a presence in the paint, helping us play better perimeter d and not leaving guys open like we did against the blazers late last night. I dont care if we get us a tall ass guy that doesnt even know how to play, just stand there wwith his hands up and it will help. Hell get that 15 year old kid thats 7'2 from india, ill take him right now.
T-Slack, I don't know why I'm even responding to someone who says "a lost is a lost" and "he's worst," but please explain to me how a guy who scores 45 points, shoots 72% from the field, 87% FT, and has 4 assists is responsible for a loss.
Think before you post. If a player racks up a lot of points but requires a lot of possessions to do it, then he might be hurting his team. (Think T-Mac) If a player has incredible efficiency (think 13/18), what's the point in him creating a shot for a less efficient player rather than taking it himself? Should he pass to a less efficient player who is more likely to miss the shot? Martin has his shortcomings, but your points are absurd.
One thing is for certain... We won't be getting the 8th seed away from Portland. We should hope someone else slips, because Portland is a lot better than we are.
This is one of the many myths that constantly get perpetuated on this board. Just having a tall center does not make your defense good. If that was true, every team in the NBA that has seven footers would be a good defensive team. Phoenix just got Gortat, hasn't helped their defense much. Minnesota has Kevin Love and they lead the league in points allowed. Denver has Nene and still gives up 104+ ppg. Having a tall center helps if you have other good defensive players to make out the team, if you don't, all that happens is your center constantly gets in foul trouble because wings are able to burn by perimeter defenders and catch forwards and centers out of position. We were a good defensive team with Yao, not only because Yao was tall, but because we had Artest and Battier in the starting lineup with him. One tall player doesn't magically fix the problems caused by a lineup full of bad defenders. There is a reason why so many seven footers in the NBA don't even get playing time, because being tall doesn't automatically mean you are a plus on defense. Some of the best defensive teams in the NBA right now don't even have seven footers in their starting lineups -- Chicago, New Orleans, Portland, Utah, San Antonio -- all top 10 defensive teams without seven footers in their starting lineup. Boston hasn't had a seven footer in their starting lineup this year for like 15 games. Miami's seven footer is Z who is not a defensive presence. Defense requires five guys busting ass, knowing their positions, moving their feet, and WANTING to get stops, not three guys who only care on offense hoping the other two guys will pick up for their mishaps.
