As long as we win the games we're supposed to win the first half of the season, I have faith this team will come together and be able to win the big ones toward the end of the season.
i'm not really sure who the good teams are going to be. it's too early to pick apart our wins and losses, particularly when our record is pretty good. the bottomline is we are winning the games we're supposed to, we're taking care of the homecourt but we've just lost some very tough road games. we have two road losses to two good teams in their home openers(jazz and hornets). we were torching san antonio and could have won that one as well as the detroit game when we were up by double digits on the road. this phoenix loss was our second game in a back-to-back in their building. i'm not making excuses i'd just rather wait and play some of these teams again to see where we stand. i think a thread of this nature is really reaching this early in the season. we're still a work in progress, and i expect this team to be very much improved as this season goes on.
What kind of logic is this? No game is easy in this league, a win is a win, so I'll take every one of them. Why TMac has to score that many points for us to win? Didn't he just do that with Yao scored ~18 a year+ ago, when we got knocked out from the 1st round of playoff? If you look at the games when TMac had many assists, he regularly attacked the basket to draw a crowd, then handed the ball to the open teammates. That's called smart basketball, I don't want him to shoot against multiple defenders. TMac's problem is not whether he choose to be the distributor or scorer, rather if he attacks the basket. When he does attack, we usually have a better offense game. Unfortunately, he settles for the jump shoot more and more lately, which is what really hurting us now.
Bingo! I won't be mad at Tmac if he attacks the basket and miss all his shots. The problem is he is taking jump shots after jump shots right now. I'm really worry about Tmac's health. Maybe is not that he doesn't want to attack the basket, maybe he just couldn't do it like he used to anymore.
Why is that? Why is TMac's 1 pts better than yao's? Can you elaborate on this? It is true that JVG appears to be happy with TMac's ball distribution. But personally I am not sure if he's happy with TMac's lack of scoring.
McGrady took 26... seems like enough to warm up, eh? His shot has always been flat. He would have made at least half those? So is it he's not taking enough or just not hitting what he's taking, I'm confused now. And a couple of years ago he had cold shooting games and cold stretches... he shot 40% that year also. It's been 4 years since he had a really solid % (about 46%). What he's always been is streaky. Learn to accept it because that won't change. If Yao was not out of that game (with a phantom foul), we very easily could have won it (he only had 11 shots!)... even with as cr*ppy as we played on offense... with a defense MIA in the first qtr... even with Tracy's cold hand.
Oh, and they're ALL good wins in this league. So which of the teams we beat are 'worthless'? Dreamshake discounted our Dallas win... how convenient to his point. So they're better now? We are too, and we can get much better. After all, we were the ones with all of the roster changes. Memphis? Ask Detroit... Memphis beat them twice already New York has beaten Cleveland Washington has beaten Indiana and Cleveland Milwaukee has beaten Detroit, Sacramento and the Lakers Minnesota has beaten Sacramento, Clippers, New Orleans and Denver The point is that on any given night, most teams can beat about anyone. When you beat one, it might not be a big deal, but when you beat a lot, it matters and proves a point. It is highly likely that you will have played a mid-level team on one of their good nights... when they could be a good team. As for the 'good' wins per this thread's definition... we've only had 3 opportunities. We won 1 (actually it was a whuppin), but that one has been discounted. So we have only 2 games to get graded on this highly insightful scale... we gave one game away (up by 20) and could have won last night's if Yao was not in foul trouble. And we have far more upside than they do. This could be a concern later... much much much later in the season if this trend of apparently 2 games after excluding 1 continued. If you want to worry about this... better get started on all of the other things you can come up with. Let me help... 1. We haven't beaten any teams from the Pacific division yet 2. We haven't beaten any teams from Los Angeles yet 3. We haven't beaten any teams from Serbia yet 4. We haven't beaten any high school teams yet Those sample sizes are nearly identical to the one this thread's premise is based on.
At the very least, we know who this team is. It's much more frustrating when you have a team that will win 3 in a row against quality opponents and then lose 4 in a row to lottery teams. But Tracy really needs to get his stuff together. The "poor me" shtick is getting old.
I am more than satisfied with record of 10-5, a very good start indeed. Last night was a "schedule loss," stupid and greedy NBA. The team is entertaining, but the "brickfests" are really getting on my nerves. Has the team completely forgotten about the "high percentage" shot? The other teams are forcing the team to shoot the outside shot because they are convinced we can't hit them and so far they are largely right. BUT, we don't have to shoot threes only, take it as close as possible.
Hey, Dallas' 11 game win streak has come against some crappy teams too: The Suns (but when they still sucked ) Portland Chicago Memphis Memphis Charlotte Washington Spurs (good win here) Hornets (without David West or Peja - and the difference is obvious there) Minnesota Toronto The Mavs losses, on the other hand, came against: Spurs Rockets Warriors Clippers The Spurs have lost 3 of their last 4...why? Because they've played the Mavs, Sonics, Warriors and Jazz....hmmm, I wonder who the one win was against. The Lakers have only 3 "quality" wins - against the Suns in the first game of the season (again, when they still sucked, right?), the Warriors and the Clippers (who somehow are actually only .500). Point being, this isn't a phenomenon that only happens to the Rockets. They will start winning some of their games against better opponents. But it is equally important, especially this time of year and this season, that they play the schedule they have and win where they're suppossed to.
Yeah, me too, I mean we're paying him waaaay too much money to be a 6' 8" PG... He's gotta get that '04 nastiness back!!! He's too subtle out there at times, just goes through the motions IMO... BTW, who wants Lue back as our back-up PG? lol! Wow!
Rockets's 10-5 record is definately two-sided. In the past Rocks would drop games against scrubby teams but so far they been getting these done. A good indication that this is a very different team. Rocks just aren't winning against contenders but it's still early in the season. Bonzi and Sura's impact are still to be determined. A trade or two in Dec could patch some holes.
Look at who we've lost to... Jazz- #1 Team in the NBA Spurs- #2 Team in the NBA Hornets- They started out real hot and beat a lot of good teams Detroit- #2 Team in the East Suns- Won 5 straight games We're still the #4 Team in the Western Conference despite our star player's shooting woes and the fact that our biggest offseason acquisition has yet to play more than 5 minutes.
i want a mcgrady who's confident in every shot he takes, and doesn't need 3-4 misses just to start hitting a few. i want a mcgrady from the 05 playoffs. the one who sunk 3's when we needed them.. not when we're down by 12 with 1 minute left.
and i doubt he'll play anymore than those 5 minutes... b/c .... JV... i won't even say it. but you get the picture. this sucks
I dont know here is the list of worthless teams we have beaten so far. Memphis X2 Milwaukee New York X2 Miami Chicago Washington Minnesota Heres a look at the records of the teams we have beaten... 11-4 (as I pointed out this team started off 0-4) 4-11 5-9 6-11 6-8 5-9 6-11 5-9 6-11 5-9 4-11 6-8 Not to hard to understand that we have won games against teams with a combined record of 69-111. What are you struggling with so far? What makes us better NOW then when we beat Dallas?? Please eloborate. Dallas is Obviously better. But how is Houston so much better then that game? Roster changes...new it wouldnt be long before I heard that one pulled out. So does this mean that you are saying the Rox cant be any good because of all the roster change? Or are you saying give it more time for our roster change to solidify and be better then the defending WC champs? Im dumbfounded by your line of thinking here. Exactly. And the point is that the Rox havent beaten One team with a decent record...heck even with a .500, except for the Mavs who were in the midst of a 0-4 start, and who now sit above us in the standings. I dont know how you consider we only had three chances. I count these teams as the good teams we played. Utah Dallas NO SA DET PHX All teams with winning records. So I dont see where your coming up with 2. Fuzzy math at best. You cant say anything about no one knowing UTAH would be good, because obviously they are a good team...and we lost to them. Well your homerism is showing here. Of that list of winning teams, There are two Champs from the last three years. Another Finalist, And a team that has made it deep into the playoffs the last few years. Hardly. The Rox have played 6 winning teams, and lost to them all except for Dallas who started off terribly. And have only beaten teams with a combined winning percentage of 38. Nice of you to claim I was minimalizing the pool by disqualifying Dallas for starting off 0-4. But only claiming we had two other games against winning teams. Put more effort into it next time please.
How many good wins did Miami have in the regular season last year? Here's a hint, they went 1-9 against the Spurs, Mavs, Suns and Pistons.
