[Blackbox Thread] What We Can Learn From Disasters

don't worry, nobody takes him seriously.

 

did you happen to watch any of the games when Mac was out? the defense has been an issue for awhile, w or w/o Mac.

 

Bigthree,

Make him earn his time, right now Wafer is better, if TMac wants to play, he has to go hard, on both ends.....when he does that, he gets his job back, but right now, the Rockets are better with Von Wafer starting at SG over Tmac.

DD

 

Yep ... watched every minute. The defense was horrible in most, I agree. But having a player who doesn't hustle at all on D kills you night in and night out. That's the biggest problem with McGrady right now (although many of you may point out the offensive stagnation that occurs when he's in the game).

 

TMac has shown that he doesn't deserve to start. Period. He doesn't play both ways and he doesn't pressure the defense like Wafer does.

 

I hear ya, and can appreciate that sentiment. It is like raging against a torrent though, just mute the multiple offenders.

DD

 

Von Wafer is just as bad on defense as McGrady, even when he's trying his ass off.

 

No doubt but Wafer is so much better on offense, that the team is better, and the ball moves with him on the floor......

Wafer is better right now......and it is not really that close.

DD

 

Wafer at least tries. And not only can he shoot but he can also slash to the basket if his jumper is contested.

 

i will go that route with you for a moment. so do you think he can ever recover physically while he's a rocket?

 

I think he gave good effort tonight, he was just slow.I also stated what the rox should do when ron and tracy comes back. I think they should play Tracy, and Ron should play 25 mins and Wafer and Shane should play 23. That keeps everyone fresh and into it until shane,tracy, and ron get healthy. Wafer should play more, but also deke should play.

 

The Rockets have been playing crappy defense for several games now, eventually it was gonna bite them in the ass and it finally did. That's the crux of the problem.

There will be nights that shots just don't go in, but they were still up 8 with 5:30 left in the 4th.

DEFENSE is the key. TMac is too slow, and Von Wafer gives up as many points as he scores.

 

You attack, you get to the FT line.......you settle for jumpers, sometimes they are not going to go in...

Which does Tmac and Ron do?

DD

 

Ok, no argument about that, they should've attacked more. TMac and Artest were godawful last night. Still, no matter how much they attack, if they don't play defense, they ain't gonna win. They've managed to win most of their recent games because of good shooting, and have gotten away with subpar defense.

And it's not all Mac and Artest. Against Detroit the exact opposite happened. The starters gave the bench a big lead, and they blew it--twice.

 

They even do worse ... they take long jumpers (the WORST SHOTS in basketball). It wouldn't be so bad to pull up for 12 feet but because of pure stupidity, they like to take 18 to 20 foot jumpers.

 

So you are saying that the Tmac and Ron team didn't play offense or defense well.

I agree with that...



How many losses to CRAPPY teams is it going to take before Adelman wakes up and realizes that you can NEVER have Ron and TMac on the floor at the same time....they don't fit.

DD

 

It's easy to say pieces don't fit when shots aren't falling. But I think everyone, including Adelman, knows that Artest is best suited coming off the bench. Let's see how things look vs. Philly with Yao back. This team needs time to gel as one healthy (relatively) unit with a set rotation before we can really pass judgement IMO.