So you don't think people should look at anything other than win-loss record to understand why the team is performing as they are?
Yeah, offense is our problem. The mavs' 57 point first half, on the other hand, was due to our great defensive effort, which needs no big man of course. 14 pts, 5 of 9 shooting, 7 boards and 4 assts....yeah, he's not even on the court. Fire the stats guy for making up stats. He also gave Brooks a 2 of 14 for the night!
If the Rockets are playing 4-on-5 offense when Battier is on the court, can someone explain how the Rockets starting lineup is so efficient offensively against not only league overall but also specifically the league's best teams? Fluke? Or is it that teams don't try hard against us to start the games, but they gradually ramp up the intensity and outplay us as the game wears on (thus distorting our starting lineup's statistics)?
No doubt analysis can be helpful in reconfiguring things, improving things. But, as you know statistics can also be misleading. The won/loss record trumps everything, because it tells you how the team matches up against the league. In the Rockets case, not very good. It tell us that the Rockets don't have enough talent on the floor or on the bench. Could Adelman be doing better at mixing and matching? Is there more talent on the bench than it appears? If certain players got more playing time would they develop faster? We can only find out if he plays them. I suspect that we will be seeing more of the younger players soon. Right now, it looks like the Rockets are behind the curve when it comes to talent.
When the Rockets traded a lottery pick (Rudy Gay) for Battier, they were trotting out a lineup featuring Shane, Chuck Hayes, and Alston...The team was supposedly in "win now" mode and were playing 2 on 5 on offense. It was painful to watch, especially when Battier was outplayed by Matt Harpring (a bench player who's no longer in this league) in the playoffs. Rockets should have traded Battier a loooong time ago. They could have had him for Stephen Jackson, a real winner, leader, and clutch player in this league, when Jax was in Nelly's doghouse in GState. Currently, all of Battier's mins should be going to Budinger and TWill to develop young talent. No team will ever win a championship with Battier playing a significant role (i.e. around 30 mpg).
This is kinda stupid. Name a team that has 5 offensive threats on O? The Celtics... and??? Orlando possibly.. But almost every team has a *Battier* on O. If we had a legit big no one would mind Battier on O.
The question is to what extent Battier is an offensive liability, or how much is Battier's inability to "create an offensive situation" is hurting our team. In answering that question, which I thought was the topic of this thread, won-loss record does not trump everything. Wins/losses is important in evaluating the performance of the team overall, true. But it doesn't tell me much about how many games lack of offense, and particularly Battier's limitations on the offensive end, is costing us. That question is better addressed by taking a closer look at what the team does on the offensive end specifically when Battier is on the floor.
I guess I strayed from the thread topic because I believe the Rockets are 2 on 5. That we have only 2 significant offensive threats and three defensive oriented starters. To be as bad as the Rockets are defensively, we can't afford this little fire power. What you have illustrated is that overall, on paper we look good offensively, but our record is not good. What's my point? I'm frankly not sure, but this I know; the Rockets are not very good, aren't winning many games, are horrible defensively especially on the interior, and that the average points scored per game is somewhat misleading. Bottomline, the Rockets must get more talented all around.
Our win-loss record is, at best, mediocre, but then I'd expect it to be much worse than it is if we were awful defensively and playing 2-on-5 on the offensive end. They need more talent, agreed. Maybe acquiring better offensive talent will have two effects: (1) improve our end game on the offense, (2) relieve offensive pressure from other players and allow them to focus and exert more energy on defense.
im tires of people saying that shane is a defensive specialist because hes not he always gets scored on Lee to me is a better defender than battier... shane can't do anything but get on the court and score a couple point here and their.
Courtney Lee is one of our worst defenders actually, I don't know why he has a rep as a defensive stopper. All stats back this up as well.
Rockets starting 5 is underrated instead of overrated. On paper, they should be blown out of water every game. But reality is: They gain points on the floor as a group most of the time. It is the 2nd unit killed Rockets this year. Seems you are still in that "all you need is offense to win" group after so many years on this board. Without the defense by either Battier or Hayes, the staring 5 will become 3 on 5 on defense,
No I am not in the "all you need is offense to win" group. It is when I see our starting lineup and the other team's starting lineup is announced I feel like yelling at out guys, "don't go out there." I will stand by my assessment that our guys over overachieving and are still 25-30 which is to say, we don't match up well with most teams.
I don't understand how you people can watch the games and be so wrong. You think Battier and Chuck are the players that are causing us problems? Wow. Just wow.
Never been a big fan of Battier, never thought of him as a NBA starter. Hayes is undersized for a center. I have gained enormous respect for him because he plays so hard and is skilled on defense. Must give Battier his props for defense as well. Lowry is also a strong defender. I like his drives to the basket, but I hold my breath when he shoots. In sum, these three Rockets starters don't match up against the players in their respective positions on most teams. In other words the point guards, small forwards, and centers on most teams in the NBA are better overall, but especially offensively. I don't see how you can disagree, but you are welcome to do so. The Rockets are 25-30 for a reason. Let's put it this way; what teams in the NBA would swap their starting PG for ours, their starting SF for ours, and their starting center for ours? Not many , if any. You know it and I know it. Be real.
