agreed. the spurs did turn it all around by just 1 simple move to their lineup - putting ginobili as 6th man and putting finley in the starting lineup. that 1 tweak made the difference and won them the championship. okay, horry's cheapshot on nash and getting amare and boris to come off the bench helped, too. you just knew the godfather was going to suspend those 2 players no matter the public outcry!
I'm high on the Rockets every year. But this year... this is our year. This team is going to the Finals.
Memo to rookie..regular season mean squat. The cavs swept the Spurs during the reg season last year ...
You have to admit though, the rockets have always matched up pretty well with the Spurs. I'm not saying they'll beat them in a 7 game series, but at least we won't be run over.
2 games? that may be defined as a sweep, but you and i both know 2 games doesn't mean the cavs were a better team than the spurs.
I agree with you. The one thing that seperates the Spurs from all other teams is during the playoffs they have the ability to play for 48 minutes. Most, if not all, championship teams will capitalize on the 'bad possessions' that other teams have during a game. For example if a team throws the ball away or takes a bad shot usually they are punished by the SPurs. Most teams will play well for about 42 minutes of the 48 however it's during those lapses that the Spurs build a double digit lead. They don't beat themselves. I will reserve judgement on the Rockets because until they prove they can play for 48 minutes on a consistant basis they won't beat the Spurs, Mavs or Suns in the playoffs. I don't mean this in a disrepectful way but I don't see any team that revamps it's roster get it all together and win a ring in their first year.
Thats was sort of my point. I was responding to a poster that made the claim that in the 2 Reg season wins the Rockets showed the Spurs they matched up well with them. He was using the reg season as a barometer.. I was reminding him that the reg season and playoffs are night and day..
Any team where Shane Battier is the 3rd best player on the court and Chuck Hayes is a starter is a bad (flawed) NBA basketball team. The additions of Mike James, Steve Francis (assumed healthy), Bonzi Wells and Luis Scola makes IMHO a bench player of Battier and a barely rotational player of Hayes. This years' team is a much more competitve basketball team that doesn't need quantum physics level defensive rotations to be successful. They've also got rotational-level spare parts to trade...Alston & Head. Getting to the WC Finals will take a healthy team and a little bit of luck...but they've definitely addressed a major but not so obvious weakness...they once again have some pit bulls around Yao and TMac. James, Francis, Wells and Scola ALL have serious chips on their shoulders. It's going to be a fun season.
Our achillies heel has always been the lack of depth, and now that we have it, I think the look of the team will be much different. Compound that with the fact that JVG ran the most simplistic/predictable offensive schemes I have ever seen the past few years, most of the improvements we have made this year in terms of coaching and roster changes certainly looks very encouraging.
First of all, 52 wins last season was a fluke at a best. Look at what our record was against the East and the West. We killed all the teams in the east, but were around .500 ball against the west. Also, while Luther Head was a high% three point shooter in regular season, he stunk in the playoffs. Overall Utah was simply a better team than us last year since Carlos Looser decided not to get injured again. He won't be getting to the basket as easy as he did last year against us with Scola, I just hope Scola doesn't get so many fouls like he did in the FIBA tourney. As far as confidence in this team as opposed to last year. Look at what happened to our team last year when both T-Mac and Yao were out at the same time, we rarely won if at all. CD is finally gone, he was never a very good GM, he was good at making a big splash with big talent like Barkley and Pippen and T-Mac, but anyone can see their talent, that doesn't take a genius. He got lucky with Yao and arguably with Steve Francis. He was a better assistant coach. Steve Patterson was the GM that built the championship teams we had and he was Portlands GM that somehow made six draft day trade's last year getting Rookie of the year Brandon Roy. I wished he was still our GM, but Morey so far has been doing a good job of getting talent in here in just a few months of work. We have some proven scorers in even though they didn't have good years last year (i.e. Mike James, Steve Francis, Bonzi) and having Aaron Brooks and Scola as well. He seems willing to take chances and it may blow up, but at least we have talent. My concern is with coaching. I liked JVG and I like Adleman, they are both good coach's, but consider this. Adleman was coach of a very talented Portland team in the 90's that couldn't win it all, he was coach of a very talented Sacramento team that couldn't win it all. Yes, his teams were always in the playoffs, but the prize is after winning 16 games not 4 or 8. We talk about Dallas and Phoenix as elite, but Phoenix hasn't seen the Finals since the Charles Barkley days, and Dallas finally got there a season ago, only to lose to Miami. Talent isn't enough, Rudy T said the statement "The heart of a champion". San Antonio has it, the Lakers had it before Shaq left, Detroit used to have it, do the rockets have it? I don't think T-Mac for all his talent has that heart, maybe Yao does but I haven't seen it, that gleam in the eyes and drive that won't give up and will's your team to win no matter what, no "I ran out of gas". If Michael Jordan can play with a cold against Utah and be so tired after the game that he almost passes out, I think it's safe to say that T-Mac saying he was too tired doesn't cut it. Am I more confident than last year? yes. Elite? maybe, maybe not. Championship caliber, not right now, maybe never. Talent by itself doesn't win, talent and heart do.
I never felt like Novak and Lucas III were monumental additions to our team. However, I believe the additions of Mike James, Francis, and Scola will have a bigger impact on our game than the additions of Novak and Lucas III did. With Adelman as coach, I believe Bonzi will play a lot better. I'm hoping that we play a deeper-than-eight man lineup. I feel that, last year, the lack of playing time for our other players was a detriment. Our stars and starters got too much focus. They can't do it all and they're backups were too rusty from not enough playing time. I hope Adelman will go deeper into his roster than JVG did. I don't think we'll lose much defensively under Adelman, and I think we'll gain a LOT offensively. I feel that JVG is solely responsible for the series loss to Utah. I liked JVG as a coach, but the blame goes to him.
Memo to fellow rookie, the Warriors swept the Mavs in the regular season and they ended up accomplishing one of the ultimate upsets in NBA history.
It depends on the manner the wins were accomplished in the regular season. If a one team beats another in such dominating fashion as the warriors did the mavs or arguably as we did the spurs, it is an indication that the winning team matches up well against said team. For example, of the few losses Dallas had in the regular season, how many of them were to the warriors?
No. While every year before the season started I felt that our lineup was better than last, the results have always fell short. So I've finally learned my lesson and expect nothing more than a first round exit this year. As the saying goes, I'll believe it when I see it. They've got to make it happen on the court, not just on paper. And if you try to look at it rationally, we've got so many new people that the chemistry will be a big question mark no matter who you've got.
I've been watching our Rockets since the seventies and I have to tell you I haven't felt this good about a team going in for a long time. Yao is flat out the best center in the game while being among the top five players when healthy.....And we haven't even seen the best out of him yet. Deke is STILL one of the best backups in the League. Tracy has been plagued by injuries,never played on a team with this much talent,and played for coaches who haven't helped him give his team the best chance to succeed.TMac will finally have a ROLE to play on a deep championship team. Shane Battier is the type of player that you win titles with.The better the team,the more important this guy is.All those possessions that mean so much when you are on the cusp of winning games will play out more now.Watch his defense and and the many more wide open J's he will get.This is by far his best team and people who still don't understand why we made that deal will get it starting now. PG and 2G -Mike James will likely start the year at the point.He will combine defense and the ability to stick the outside J. I know many believe this will be Stevie's job but I honestly see him spending more time at the 2,while playing a little 1.(hybrid 1/2)Francis and James need to be committed to winning ballgames and ultimately a title and I point this out because in Aaron Brooks the Rockets have a stud point guard.In college he played the 2 out of necessity and showed his class by leading the Pac 10 and taking an otherwise weak team to the elite eight.We all know Brooks was also the best player on the court for the select team.Brooks is a rare player....capable of playing PG well, getting his teammates involved,but also able to carry a team with his outside shooting and penetrations to the hoop. He slipped to 24 because of his height and playing the 2 before. Bonzi Wells is finally healthy from his groin tear,is in shape,playing for a contract,and also for Coach A.Expect to see him doing what he does best - posting up and slamming the boards.This guy's head will be in the right place and we will reap the benefits. Luther Head should excel this year under RA.He will have a defined role yet be allowed to let his game flow.Head won't be chained like he was under JVG.This is another guy that plays better when he is surrounded by quality players.Luther proved it in college. I think he'll drain J's and get to the hoop more. Luis Scola..What can you say?Quite a bit of expectations coming in based on his career up until now and what we've seen of late.I'm not saying he will be a star in the NBA,but Luis is more than capable of filling his role on our team....and Adelman will bring out the best in him.As mentioned earlier,the double teams will allow him to run amok.Besides that,Scola can get his own shot and most importantly understands the concept of team basketball and what it takes to win.I'm not saying I wouldn't be averse to bringing in another guy that can provide interior defense and hit the boards at the 4..Despite some of our players offcourt incidents of late we still have the chips to get it done. I'm also curious how Kirk Snyder will rebound from his broken wrist if he isn't dealt.Remember Kirk IS a decent three pointb shooter when healthy in addition to his athleticism and defense. ...Still a bit more athleticism wouldn't hurt. Our most important offseason acquisition has been RA though.The man is one of the best in the game.Offensively,we will be a machine......and I wouldn't worry too much about the defense either. I must say JVG is tortured genius and leave it at that as I'm tired. I've left out a lot,but in summary,the Rockets are a deep,talented team and I see a parade downtown next year.
I agree with most of what you said, but I think that the 3 point shooting will be our deadliest weapons this season. Take a look at last year. We were one of the best 3 point shooting teams in the league. This season, we have all of our sharpshooters returning (Head, Battier,TMac, and to some extent Alston). We also added 2 more great perimeter shooters in James and Brooks. (Also don't forget that we still have Novak). I won't be surprised next year when we become the deadliest perimeter shooting team in the league. From previous stats, we could potentially average better than .400 in shooting the trey as whole team. That would be sick!
I think your right, Bibby and Sto were killers on the three point line, but it got opened up with the slashing and penetration to the basket.
One other thing relating to Tracy...I want to see him attack the hoop like everyone else,but under RA and playing with this much talent I see him being able to play within himself and the everpresent back problems.TMac should get shots and drives within the offense,but also have a concrete idea of what his body can and can't do.We're not going to need him to carry this team.
