This team needs more than just V-Span. I agree he should have a shot just as the others, but assistant coach things Rafer and Luthers turnovers are > V-Span's turnovers.
And that's ignoring the fact that Span and Snyder (had he got more mins) are better defenders and turnovers aside (which because of what I said above are a non-issue in this specific situation IMHO) they would've also stopped some utah buckets on the other end...
In all fairness to Yao - it appears the Jazz game plan was to play him physical as the referees would allow - which was plenty hard. Okur should have fouled out early in the 3rd- and was never in foul trouble. Yao getting stripped more than 1/2 the time IMHO was a foul..... I wish we had someone besides T-Mac who coould slash to the basket like Vernon Maxwell or Clyde Drexler-that would kill the Jazz inside brutality.
I thought about that too- could he help us get some inside game going - slashing to the basket and drawing fouls? I realize Snyder is inconcistent- but T-Mac needs help to get some inside scoring going-challenge Utah inside and score the basket or draw the foul....
JVG didn't cultivate a beach all season. You can't expect these guys to come in and play at a high level when the playoffs start. Snyder hardly played, the rookies didn't play and he ran Bonzi Welles off. So what do you expect.
Eh - it is only one game. The team played terribly in a game in which Utah came out with a fire in their belly. It is the playoffs, the Rockets will respond. I can't wait for game 4....to see what adjustments we make and to see how the role players respond. GO ROCKETS ! DD
Jeff, what you said is absolutely correct. But instead blame only the role players and bench, JVG should also share the blame for not developing the bench during regular season.
Exactly. Its too late at this point. Also Yao has had a lot of issues with teams fronting and trying to deny him the ball. When teams do this to us we seem to struggle with the entry pass to Yao. Even the weaker teams that did this caused us a lot of grief. We'll see what coaching adjustments JVG can make but no one should be expecting some miracle performance from one of the guys on the bench. If you aren't gonna develop the bench in the regular season it sure as hell won't happen in games 4-7 of a playoff series.
Jeff was right. Both TMac & Yao worked with all they got, somebody else need to bring it. You can't be a NBA team and have bench score 0 points. Terrible. The good thing is there is no way to go but up, so they are definitely going to play better.
All of you guys are psycho analyzing and seeing the obvious about the bench and the shooting percentage. The bottom line is this is the playoffs and the Jazz are a very good team. I for one do NOT want to see Tracy prove he can drain outside shots all day in game 4. I don't care if he can, I don't care for him to prove Big O wrong, I don't want heat checks, I don't want 15 foot postups on a 6'1" guy turning into a 20' fadaways. I want him to "Impose his will on the game" I want him to mix in some aggressiveness to the hole. When he does this everything else, including the bench will follow. If you're leader abuses his freedom, the rest of the team suffers. He makes us the best and worse, he's right when he says it's on him. I am not blind, I know the Jazz have a very good defense, that doesn't show up in the stats. It's easy to see defense when it's a block, a steal, a hard fought rebound, however when it's moving a player a few feet here, bumping them on the hip there, bodying them into an off balanced shot, THAT's GOOD D. These shots are not as wide open as they appear. The Jazz are playing very tight D. They bump you, twist you, hold you, foul you, and when you get that wide open look, your rhythm is off. We will not shoot a good % against this team, in the playoffs. Every thing is on the line, your best, is all that's given. As JVG says, "Don't over look deficiencies when you win, that you wouldn't when you lose". We have shot the same way in all three games. Difference in game 1 is Jazz didn't show up offensively. Game 2, same however Tracy went to the hole after the first half. Game 3, same, but no go to the hole. This is why Tracy, has to go to the hole more often than taken the difficult, off balance, contested shot from 20 - 26 feet. He IS the only Rocket that can penetrate and finish. We know who Yao is, and the rest of the team, but Tracy has more. I know the Jazz are playing him hard, double, tripple teaming him, but he has the ability to get around them, split them, and take it inside. Tracy is NOT the blame, but he is the difference maker when he so chooses. It's on him, to impose his will.
I'll defend the stars on this one. Yes they shot a low percentage, and Yao had ton of TO's. There is no denying that. Sometimes though all you have to do is look a little deeper to see why. They were the only players scoring at all. The Jazz were able to play 5 players at the defensive end on just 2 Rockets. With Yao and Tracy playing 5 on 2, it is to be expected that they would have TO's, and shoot a low percentage. Hopefully that will change next game.
Great post. Couldn't have said it any better. When T-Mac goes to the rack, it makes the rest of the team better. I'm sick and tired of him taking twisting fadeaways from the parking lot on a 6'1 Derrick Fisher as well.
The fact that the Jazz don't have a shot blocker is even more alarming that the ONLY player we have that can take it to the hole is setteling for difficult, well defended jumpers. This may sound strange but I don't blame Tracy for the lose, I blame him for us not winning. We roll as he rolls.
Yea, the only real shotblocker that the Jazz have is AK-47, other than that T-Mac has got to impose his will on the Jazz by attacking the basket. When he's going towards the basket, he can really put a defense on it's heels.
Sam Cassell, while wearing a suit and being a guest analyst hit 3 out of 4 3pointers last night on Inside the NBA. See.. The Rockets bench did score!
They have played bad the 3 games. We were lucky Utah could not capitalize in big leads in game 1 and 2. I am not very optimistic.
