man if sura backs up alston, we would be on another level. him, head off the bench. we don't really need bonzi b/c sura was a great rebounder for a guard and he sometimes go to the post to back up smaller PGs. he was, like tmac said that yr, our "dog"
I went with the homer pick... because I'm really not convinced one way or another yet, but my feeling is that the team we have now should be better off. I mean McGrady (if it wasn't for concerns about his back) would have to be unquestionably better, and he's definitely showed he's still got it. Yao is obviously better, although there's still some concern about how quickly he will return to form. Then the big question mark is everybody else... I love me some Hayes, Head, and Battier, though.
people disregarded that we lost to the mavs 2 yrs ago was b/c of wesley on defense. our D wasn't that great. why? everyone kept posting him up. stackhouse burnt us when wesley was on him. so when we move tmac on stack, howard burnt him. and so on. battier should solve that problem. we just need to have better rotation on 3pt shooters but that comes w/ energy. when we have energy, we're good. i mean, battier and tmac are both 6-8 and can interchange b/t any good perimeter players other than the PG position and that's an advantage. i dont think we should play head and alston simultaneously much b/c that creates defensive mismatches in favor of the opponent.
I think this current team has a much higher ceiling than the 04-05 team, a lot of the players on 04-05 team were playing well above their norms, IMO
Yeah my original post got chopped big time for some reason..I had pointed out Tmac's higher efficiency and better ft shooting post ASB (around 78- better than career avg and brought his percentage up to 70 for the year)...and that Batman can guard Dirk Howard or Terry depending on the situation.
I don't think the 04-05 team gets enough credit. They made a bunch of changes on the fly and finished the season 35-14 (59-win pace). They lost their only power forward worth a damn and still closed 13-6 after Juwan Howard's injury. I mean they ran a PF lineup of Clarence Weatherspoon backed by Scott Padgett and Ryan Bowen. They won 51 games and lost in the first round, but to a team that won 58 games (the NBA Finals was a 54-win team against a 59-win team). They should have won that series too. With today's NBA rules, they would have faced (and killed) the Sonics in the first round. The problem with that team was they were older... key contributors like Barry, Wesley and Deke had very small windows (and little did we know it -- Sura too). The 06-07 team is going to have to keep Deke and Hayes. I think this year's team has a better chance of knocking off the Spurs than they did then, but a weaker chance of beating the Suns. I like the defense of this year's team better, but the offense our guards added was great back then. That team got me pretty excited... admittedly with the way Rafer has played the last 3 games, it brought back offensive flashbacks to that season. This team does not have that when Rafer is going 3-14, 4-16, etc. Imagine the 04-05 backcourt with today's Yao, Battier and Hayes (and to a lesser extent an athletic big guard like Snyder). That could be pretty scary. Here's my lineup between the two teams: PG: 04-05 Sura, 04-05 James, 06-07 Alston SG: 06-07 McGrady, 04-05 Barry, 06-07 Head SF: 06-07 Battier, 06-07 Snyder PF: 06-07 Hayes, 04-05 Howard C: 06-07 Yao, 04-05 Deke
They'd have to go 14-1 in the final 15 to match it, but they have looked good lately with Yao back and Rafer/Hayes/Howard all hitting a high percentage.
The only reason that that team, 04-05, seemed to have chemistry is because they jelled very good in the playoffs. the playoffs are a whole other game, we'll see how close this team gets.
Great Thread. There are positives and negatives to both, and I really think the biggest factor is whether Tracy McGrady can bring the domination he brought that year in the playoffs. That coupled with Yao's improvement and maturity would place this team above that one. As much as I LOVED Jon Barry and Sura, I would take Battier and Head over them. Those two are much more athletic, better shooters (Barry was hot though) and play off of Yao and T-Mac better. I think Rafer fits our system better than James and that he will be more effective at getting Head and McGrady (higher % shooters) looks. What we are missing though is that fire and attitude that Sura, Barry and James brought. They would not allow our offense to stagnate as much as the current squad may. This team is MORE built around the talents of Yao/McGrady, and I feel will better complement them. I think Hayes hustle and offensive rebounds really will help us much more than Bowen could and I feel Howard's presence will help too. Many people forget that Howard was out that series.
This is an interesting question.... I think we might be stronger in some areas but weaker in a couple others. What I loved about the 04 -05 team was the feeling that alot of our players seemed to have a sense of urgency. They all played with something to prove. Sura, Barry, Wesley, Howard and Mutumbo all felt that they had to win now. It was a team saying it was now or never. Mcgrady was coming in trying to show the Magic just did not know how to build a team around him. I just wish this year we could have found a different point guard than Alston. Yes it probably could be worse like having a pg like Maloney but with a glaring hole at the 1 it will still make it hard for us to go far in the playoffs. I am not saying it is impossible but we do need R Alston to step up. If he doesn't then we need someone else from the bench to emerge and be a hero at the 1.
That team just goes to show you how important chemistry is in team sports. On paper, I don't think they are that close to this year's team. Yao is what, 6-7 points better. Ryan Bowen got significant minutes opposed to chuck hayes. one thing about that team, wesley, sura, and barry could play multiple positions where as alston and head really can't. that maybe the one clear advantage that team had over this one. and everyone hated wesley which I never understood. I guess there always has to be one hated player on the team.
ROckets fans didn't hate Wesley in 04-05, they (started to) hated him in 05-06. The trade for him was proly the biggest reason for the turnaround that season. Remember Jackson was horrible on perimeter defending. Opping players would jsut drive pass him and break down the defense. You could clearly see the change in perimeter dfense once Wesley took his. There wasn't nearly as much penetration.
rockets now have more talent and athleticism. As far as chemistry the 04-05 team was better. Everything seemed to glue in 04-05, Barry, Mutombo, Sura, Wesley, got 5 years younger all of a sudden, it was pretty awesome to watch. T-Mac back then was still explosive, he always had the playmaking IMO, this year he just decided to play that role because Yao is better and he is still iffy on his health.
Now we have to compare the 04/05 team to the 94/95 team to have a complete set. Seriusly, though, let's not talk about a 04/05 team, because there was no such thing. There was a rather terrible '04 team with Tyrone Lue, Ward, Boki and Jim Jackson, and a great '05 team with Sura, Wesley, Barry, James. Everyone is talking about the '05 team as the 04/05 team. And herein lies the problem, it's not fair to compare a full season team to a half season team. An NBA season is very long and has ups and downs. What you guys are refering to is a stretch of games where that team played definetely above their heads. Bob Sura and Jon Barry in particular played significantly better than the average for their careers. In addition, put in '06/07 Wesley and 06/07 Mike James on that team instead of '05 Wesley and '05 James and this would be a very bad team. I am voting for 06/07 because this team is very consistent over a very long time, despite major injury to Yao. It is true that so far we had not caught up the type of fire that the '05 caught on, however, let's not forget the season is not done yet. We haven't had a long wining streak yet, but the quality of this team is such that it should have. What about if we catch fire in the playoffs? I have a hunch that by the time this season is over, the 94/95 comparison will look a lot more relevant.
I think this year's playoffs will make it very obvious that this year's team is better than that 04-05 team. Much better. Not simply because of the Yao factor(although that is a pretty big factor) but that 04-05 team had so many flaws, especially on the defensive end, and Dallas exposed every single one of them. They were real fun to watch during the regular season, but they had so many weaknesses that opposing teams could attack relentlessly come playoff time. This year's team isn't nearly as flawed, on paper atleast.
all of those comparisons you had were irrelevant.. The MOST important comparisons that are key in this years playoffs are: --the addition of shane battier and chuck hayes... which definitely are an upgrade from that 04-05 team and --the unknown factor: Tracy McGrady -- how will this guy play in this year's playoffs?? This is the biggest factor. Will we see the same fire and same execution from him in 06-07?? This is really the only thing that matters, as our team is very inefficient w/o him. So... no matter HOW GREAT all our other upgrades are.. we will come no where as close to that 04-05 team if T-Mac does not return to or very close to the form he showed us in those playoffs 2 years ago.
