We won't beat a halfway decent team this year

A-Train,

Come on now....one lucky shot falls against the Rocks and you are giving up?

I think this team needs time to jell together.

Also, I think Rudy needs to do a better job on rotations.

Francis should have been out on that drive by Marbury, put Hawkins in and then put Francis in for offense....he already had 5 fouls.

Once Rudy gets his rotation down, this team will be fine.

DD

 

Portland is not "halfway decent"?

 

DaDakota speaks the truth.

The team didn't have their best game tonight. But for the most part, at least, they were running a game plan. In the past couple of years it's been just helter skelter, and when they lost, there was nothing to try and improve, because they didn't have any real game plan. It was chaos. If they lost they would have to just hope they had better chaos next game.

This year they at least have the base of a gameplan, they can work on and improve. There seems to be a philosophy there to tweak and adjust as the team grows.

Their fast break is improved this year, They run actual plays this year, their defense is better.

They don't do any of these perfect, but they do have something to work from. They at least have a viable product that they can work on. I think it will just take time.

 

I agree with Free Agent. We already did... and we should continue to improve if they can muster up more defensive performances like they did against Portland.

If Steve had a decent game (like we are coming to expect night after night) we would have won last night.

 

I think A-Train is letting out some frustration...I'm still pissed and probably will be till tomorrow's tipoff. The Rockets made a late run to pull ahead and pretty much choked in all efforts to execute late. It was not an overwhelming defensive effort that stopped them, it was hesistancy and confusion. These are the games that the Rockets HAVE to win. Phoenix is a inferior opponent and I would expect the Rockets to win two of the next three meetings.

As for the last shot...I have no idea why Mobley wasn't involved. Hell...they should have given him the ball more throughout the game...he was on fire in the first half. Same goes for Glen Rice. I know Steve is the 'leader' on this team, but the way he was shooting the ball last night, a play should have been run for someone else.

 

Toronto and Portland were both play-off teams last year. And don't try to tell me that Toronto is not a quality win with out Vince since thay make there big run to get into the play-offs last year with out him.

 

Is it that lucky shot or the fact that the Rockets couldn't generate a single point in the last 2:56?

 

Whatever, this team will be fine and they're getting better. Saying this team won't beat a half way decent team because they lost in only the 7th game of the year completely ignores that fact that this team is getting better and better. If the Rockets hit their FTs down the stretch, or get the defensive stop, or even if Cato plays the Rockets win and we won't have to worry about people saying this Rockets team can't beat anybody. I saw a lot of bright spots, Mo looked good out there, Rice is coming around, 10 points and good defense for him, and Ming showed a ton of potential out there, he's going to be a great contributor in a month or two. I hated to lose that game, but this team is going to be a very good team over the next month or two. The Rockets may not have generated a shot at the end, but come on, Mobley, Francis, Griffin and KT have off nights, and Cato doesn't play yet the Rockets come this close to beating Phoenix in their building. I would rather have the win, but it's not the end of the world with this loss. This team isn't mediocre.

 

This is really getting to be absurd. Is every Loss going to be treated with such public flagellation of the Rockets? Well, get ready to do it about 25-30 more times then guys.

 

I disagree with on how we'll get their (I think we'll beat our fair share of decent teams) but agree that end result will be the same (the fair share of crappy teams will beat us, too). Hopefully, we can sneak into the playoffs.

 

We handed the Suns the victory. When was the last time Mobley missed 2 free throws?

Also, Marbury's shot was luck. He floated the ball up 15 feet in the air. We are more than a decent team.

 

All I have to say is ==The Rockets had the game in their hands. They were up by 1 with 35 seconds to go. They couldn't get a shot off. Griffin hesitated to put up the 3; instead he dribbled inside turned around and passed it back out to someone who shot an airball. --Please drive to the lane-Griffin.

 

No team can win consistently with our brand of ragtag offensive strategy. Just about every offensive possession we have is a broken down play with less than 6 seconds left on the shot clock. This iso offense was beautiful 2 years ago when we could exploit the illegal D rules. Since then it has yielded only turnovers, charges on our guards, more injuries to our players driving into the middle of nowhere, and frustrating losses.

I agree that we will just be chasing our tails with this inane offense the rest of the season and be lucky to get the 8th seed if Utah maintains their suckitude and Phoenix/Clippers don't get it together this season either. I would love for us to follow the Grizzlies recent move and just start anew with a different head coach to implement a longterm offense and defensive scheme for this roster. I don't mind not making the playoffs this year if there is at least light at the end of the tunnel. Otherwise, with the current direction, this team will be trapped in mediocrity for years.

 

Portland is pretty descent.

 

For what its worth, here is what I took from last nights game and the season so far as a whole.

1) The way our offense worked last night was not much different from the way it has worked in the GS and Portland games. The difference was, Steve had a bad shooting night. If Steve goes 10-18 instead of 5-18, then we win by 9 points and everyone has the same warm fuzzy feeling that they did after the aforementioned games.

2) For all of the accolades that people have been giving Steve, their still resides the fault that he does not get his teamates involved as much as he should. This has been pretty consistent in all games this year.

3) Because of 1) and 2), we are getting into a dangerous pattern to where this team will win or lose based mostly on Steves shooting performance. It doesnt and shouldnt have to be this way. If Steve shoots around 50%, we can indeed beat alot of teams. If Steve shoots closer to 35-40%, then well have trouble even beating average teams, much less great teams.

4) Steve has to realize that its that much more important to get his teamates involved in EVERY game because when the times come where he does shoot poorly, he can use that facet of his game to help us pull out victories despite not shooting the ball well. STEVE CAN BEAT TEAMS IN OTHER WAYS, HE JUST DOESNT REALIZE IT YET. Thats what is really scary. As great as Steve looks like now, when he takes that next step to the stratosphere, hell look like the best player in the league, bar none!

5) Steve has to recognize early in the game when his shot is on and when its not and adjust accordingly.

6) I was very happy with Kenny's performance at GS. However, more than likely, that game is going to be the exception to the rule. While Kenny is one of our better offensive players, there are 3 or 4 ahead of him that can score more consistantly. In addition, Kenny has proved to be that he is one of our better passers when he WANTS to pass. If he is going to get the ball as much as he has on offense, he needs to make better decisions on when to go one on one and when to look for the open man. If his contract situation is somehow preventing him from realizing this, then he needs to spend more time on the bench and then hell really notice a change in his contract next year.

7) The talk around here has been that Yao will be rewarded with more playing time when he puts forth a better performance on the court. I agree. While he still struggled at times, his lapses were no worse than some of the players that were on the court in the 4th quarter. Now I would agree that at this point, you dont want him in there at crunch time. But why not 3-5 mins early or midway in the 4th? And if hes too tired, despite playing only 14 mins, then Rudy should put him on the IR for 5 games and let him rest and get his legs back under him. I know hes only been here for 4 weeks, but Im thinking he should be able to play at least 20 mins if called upon. Also, having Collier start is just a joke. I know there is talk about Rudy not wanting to put Yao into a new rotation only to have him put back into his former role when Cato is ready to come back. Whats more damaging? That or having Collier start with the 1st team where he obviously is NOT any sort of a threat to touch the ball on offense?

8) Rudy does need to take some of the blame. If his system is a structured one in that Francis has the green light to shoot and create at his own discretion (which Im assuming it is), then Rudy or Rice (the only objective veteran on our team) has to get in his face about the items ive mentioned previously. Discipline is the responsibility of the coach. Control your team Rudy. And if Francis is just ignoring Rudy and taking it upon himself to do what he sees fit to win, then thats a whole nother problem and to be honest about it, I dont know how to fix that.

Now, alot of you are going to accuse me of Steve bashing and say its Eddie's fault for missing the 3 and Cuttino's fault for missing 2 fts. Well #1, as soon as Eddie touched the ball he had only 1 second left to get the shot off so while this was a factor in us losing, its a very small part IMO. #2, Cuttino just plain choked on those FTs. More often than not, he hits those. #3, and most importantly, it should never have come down to #1 and #2!!!!!.

Steve is no doubt a great player. However, I am on the record as saying that the only reason Steve looks that much better this year is because 1) hes taking approximately 5/6 more shots a game and 2) hes shooting a better percentage. The rest of his numbers are on par with his career stats. So does shooting more turn you from being a good player into a great/elite player? I dont feel it does. Now this is a testament to how great he his. When Steve his on, he can carry this team, single handedly, to victory. When he is not, we are going to lose to mediocre teams because no one else is really a threat to take over or get involved.

Becoming a great player, comes with great responsibility. Especially to your team. If we give Steve credit for victory, then we have to give him credit for a loss when its deserved. This loss was not all of Francis' fault. However, out of all the players on the team, he was AND is, the one player on this team who has the most abilities AND opportunities to prevent it.

Thats my big rant of the day. Gosh I feel so much better.

 

A-Train Nodisrespect intended, but the Rockets played their worst game of the young season tonight, and they only lost by 1 point, I think you are wrong this team has tremendous talent, and they WILL be HIGHER than the 8th seed, you just wait, this team is nowhere near where they will be by the All-Star break, this team will be unstopable!!!

 

good post codell.

 

They actually played much worse as a team against Indiana and pretty bad, almost definitely worse against Denver, depite the win.

 

That was interesting but otherwise I think your're right