1. you do? seriously other than hope what gives you that idea? morey has zero track record. so how would you possibly know? 2. yeah...i'm not suggesting we go back to the days of turning over coaches like we did with Hakeem either. that's not a good thing. 3. the thing that freaks me about adelman...is that i saw super duper progress with Yao this season...and it came in the low block. he was nothing short of dominant during that early stretch before the injury. i do not want them to use him like a Divac. or like a Duckworth. that's the model of how Adelman has played post men in the past. maybe he'll treat Yao differently. but if the idea is you wanna bring in this guy because he has an offensive system you want to adopt...then i'd rather pass.
I think they know what direction they want to take the team, and I believe that the new coach will help them with that. Does it make them right? Well....that is something that only time will tell, isn't it? But I was encouraged by Morey saying that he knows it is not a championship team and that it is his responsibility to build that team. You see, I am going to disagree with you a bit here, sometimes a different voice or style can get more out of the same players. I think JVG got everything he could possibly get out of this team, and I think JVG was involved in a lot of the acquiring of the players (Rafer/Battier etc). I believe he was held accountable, because management decided that his vision was not one they agreed with and felt it was time to move on in a new direction. Yao will still be on the low block most of the time, but mixing in some high post stuff will only help him and the team in the long run, IMO. Because it will give the opponents something more to consider when they are guarding him. Right now Yao is easy to shut down at crucial moments because he is too predictable.......and as for progress, I think Yao is responsible for most of his own progress, it is his undying dedication that will make him even greater, much like Hakeem they both shoulder enormous personal responsibility, we are lucky to have had both on the Rockets. Now Tmac...well.... DD
Oh come on. Over the past few months you have repeatedly said Adelman was your guy and you have said that he was a better coach (remember you wanted to know their carrer %'es in season and playoffs and said that backed you up?). I don't get it. Adelman is not even coach yet so has not had time to fail or anything and already you are backing down from your support? Stay strong, DaDa.
Rim, I do think Adelman will get more from this team than JVG, I am just not completely sold on him. I would prefer a younger candidate.....or at least a search...but.... So, I guess you are correct, I think Adelman is an upgrade, I just HOPE it is a major upgrade. DD
The ECF this year has only one team that can be considered champion contender, which is Detroit. They are a decent offensive team. The Bad Boys are probably the only exception. BTW, in the 80s, the heyday of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, the Celtics are regarded as a grind it out tough nose kind of team, and the Lakers are the Showtime offensive showcase. Guess who won more titles between those two great teams? Again, the Shaq-Kobe Lakers weren't know for their defense. True, they turned on their competent defense when they needed to. But they are not a so-called defensive minded team. I watch the Lakers a lot because I live in LA. When Payton joined them, one of the comments he made was that the Lakers had no idea how to defend the PnR. And the most glaring example for this "defense wins championships" myth is this year's Rockets. How can you ignore this. We had the league best defense. We had two of the best offensive players. How come we couldn't get pass the first round? Defense doesn't win championships. Great defense together with competent offense, or great offense together with competent defense does.
I already mentioned that I only go back 20 years on this. Past that the NBA was just too different. Defense was an after-thought. Chuck Daly changed the game that way. Other teams realized they didn't need to outscore everyone every night if they could get their players to commit to playing real defense. I'm sorry...but I believe defense ultimately wins championships. That you can get by with mediocre offensive output and still win...but you can't get by with a mediocre defense. Not when it counts in playoff time.
With the way the West is stacked, a mediocre offense is not going to cut it. The Rockets offense during the playoffs was not even mediocre. It was putrid. 87.3 points a game is absolutely pathetic. San Antonio has averaged over 10 points more during their playoff run (97.4ppg) and the Jazz have averaged 99.7 points a game.
Uh how 'bout Jordan's Bulls...or Kobe and Shaq's Lakers...but other than those 9 championships I think you are correct....
DD, you are a royal trip like nobody else. I mean that sincerely. You should never wonder why so many people here lampoon you mercilessly and others don't take what you say seriously. WOW! Jordan's Bulls played great defense. You must not have seen them play. They demoralized teams with their defense. I'll say it again: Their defense often made teams look foolish. People who didn't see them play much (or at all) don't know any better.
But part of the personel problem has to do with JVG. We couldnt bring in a lot of talent because jvg was unable/unwilling to coach guys like Bonzi. He prefferred role palers like battier, hayes, and alston. He wanted role players, not talent, he was not gonna change that.
Well this you can say about the Rockets. Anyone on the current roster has seen enough coaches and systems to be great NBA coaches themselves. Provided they have the basketball IQ.
Yeah, people that don't comprehend shades of gray and that I mean Adelman is about the same caliber of coach as JVG thus the lateral move comment, but that I think Adelman is a better coach for the current group of Rockets players....thus I think an improvement for the Rockets. I get lampooned because I am not afraid to take a stand, sometimes I am wrong, and sometimes right, but never afraid to discuss my beloved Rockets. I am just a lightening rod...... DD
You don't think maybe he wanted role players with talent? It would have been nice to have one or two.
Max, I agree that you can't get by with a mediocre defense. But I don't agree that you can get by with a mediocre offense. Like I said, the Bad Boys are the only exception. And my guess is, they brought in a style nobody was prepared for. After a while, people figured that out and they no longer won. After the Bad Boys, you can't point to a championship team that didn't have good offense. Again, this year's Rockets more than proved that great defense with a mediocre offense can't win championships, can't even get to the 2nd round.
of the 4 teams left, utah is the best "executing" team on offense. SA, the most reliable team in cruch time, detriot they have no problems with scoring when they really need it. Can you say the rockets offense can match up to their intensity? Although Rockets got #1 opponent FG% but their offensive game just blows. Theres not even 1 game where they dont have more than a drought
They merely proved that you can't surround two special talents with crap and still expect to win. All these great defensive teams in the playoffs aren't constructed as haphazzardly as the Rockets. They understand depth, versatility, strength, size, and speed can eventually overcome any team with just one (Kobe) or two (Yao-Tmac) great players.
Does any of those teams run an offense as bad as the Rockets, or did any of them run an offense to only have FOUR players scored during a game?
