Hard to say...the west has gotten better, but in many ways so have we. Even though, we don't have a reliable 3rd scorer the options this year are somewhat better.....Scola, Landry, Brooks, and Wells.....now possibly Green, if he comes on....but more likely to be Scola or Landry. Last year, it was the supporting cast that let the team down....the stars showed up for most of the series....it was the likes of j.How...R.Alston....Hayes...Head...and etc....to produce offensively. With a third scorer or even better offensive gameplan like right now, we beat the Jazz in 5 or 6 games...inept offense is what lost the series against the Jazz. I think it is way more important for the role-players to play well no matter who it is against they will be keys to victory in any series...because Yao and T-Mac are honestly not going to get shutdown for 4 - 7 games by very few players. Outside of GSW and maybe Phoenix, no other team use the gameplan or has the center to stop Yao 1 on 1, while Scola and Landry are standing on the other side. Also, the players that give McGrady the most fits is now in Miami, while the other one is LA. Both should easily average 24 to 30 ppg, that only accounts for 50 - 60 ppg...now we need another 40 to 45.
Yeah, keep in mind that very important point. Most of those games came in the first two months of the season, when we were doing horribly. Yes, our 11-game streak has come from mostly mediocre teams, but we just beat New Orleans, and while during our first two months of bad play we were losing to those mediocre teams, now we're not. So it's still to be seen whether this Rockets team that finally gets Adelman can have success against the strong Western foes.
So, interestingly enough, since the new year we have a 66% win percentage against the elite in the west. Before Jan we were less than 33%. Nota Bene: there are still more games to play which will definitely effect these numbers, but it isn't a bad start to the new year. Also take note, the Jazz are the exception to the rule. When we were breaking even or loosing to the rest of the elite teams we beat the Jazz, and when we were beating the other elite teams we loose to the Jazz. Interesante. Jan - current total:4-2 66% vs. Hornets: 1-1 (road win, home loss) vs. Lakers: 0-0 vs. Suns: 0-0 vs. Jazz: 0-1 (at home) vs. Spurs: 1-0 (at home) vs. Mavs: 0-0 vs. Nuggets: 1-0 (at home) vs. Warriors: 1-0 (at home) Oct-Dec total: 5-9 30% vs. Hornets: 0-0 vs. Lakers: 1-1 (road win, home loss) vs. Suns: 1-1 (road win, home loss) vs. Jazz: 1-0 (on the road) vs. Spurs: 1-1 (home win, road loss) vs. Mavs: 0-3 (2 home losses, 1 road loss) vs. Nuggets: 1-1 (home win, road loss) vs. Warriors: 0-2 (at home and on the road)
let it go, jvg is not walking through that door he is the most overrated coach of his generation. And I'm glad we don't have to deal with his cute little press conferences. where he says his players suck and then says "but I'm to blame". dude is full of crap and everyone buys in he's a good coach but adelman is better with more offense and less b.s. he's the real straight shooter. edit: I do recognize the rockets have better personnel
The difference between this analysis this year, and last year, is that Yao's injury aside last year, that team was basically the same throughout the year. This year there has clearly been "two teams" - the one at the beginning of the year with Mike James, Francis a bit, Chuck Hayes, old Bonzi, and the current one which is Landry, Scola, Bobby Jackson (since the trade, before the trade new Bonzi - i.e., making more than 25% of wide open layups). Add is sucky Shane and sucky Rafer in the team at the beginning of the season and their improvement lately, and it really is 2 completely different teams. That said, I fully expect Rafer to return to suckiness come playoffs, and Shane to become non-existant offensively. But I also fully expect Scola to do what he's been doing, for Landry to do what he's been doing, and for Bobby Jackson to be hit or miss (which is much better than Rafer's miss and miss in the playoffs). Regardless, the team, even without Yao, is talented enough to win a playoff series (or two). As they were last year...and in 2005. It's all about mentality and getting over that hump. There's more than just a roadblock in front of this team in winning a playoff series. It's a freaking mountain. Every time you don't reach the summit, it gets harder the next time. But when you finally get over the top, you can climb that next one a lot easier...
What none takes into account is Adelman had to clean up JVG's mess. During that clean up phase the Rockets looked terrible losing to the likes of Toronto, Philadelphia, Memphis... JVG left a legacy of brainwashed players who could not think on their own. They could only play good defense, run the set plays on offense and watch Tmac and Yao do their thing. In addition Elston Turner says this is not JVG's defense. This is their defense with only a few tidbits from JVG's days. He does credit the players for being hard workers but says this is not JVG's defense. So your theory about the Rockets being the same is just not true. In fact the Rockets are 2 different teams. 1 before Tmac's injury and the other new and improved team after. And the key difference is while Tmac was out the team finally started to run Adelmans offense and when Tmac came back he finally bought into it as well. Tmac was the last to buy into Adelmans plan but he finally did and now the Rockets are nothing like the JVG team. Yes the competition is easier but since January the Rockets have beaten Denver, Orlando, New Orleans, Golden State, San Antonio, Portland and Cleveland twice. So as you can see they have beaten their share of good teams in this stretch and now they are even beating the good teams without Yao. In the end I think coaching is overrated. The best coaching occurs outside of the game when you teach your players what you want them to execute and then you have enough faith in them to do what you have taught. IMO JVG's biggest fault was that he overcoached and did not trust his players enough. He said Yao and Tmac were not mature enough to lead and so he would be the leader. He was a dictator and the wrong coach for this team and that is the biggest difference between Adelman and JVG
what would be a fair judgement is to compare jvg's drafts to adelman's drafts, since the issue is players. jvg is responsible for a lot of his own players. this landry kid is ridiculous and especially considering you got value with aaron brooks and a steal in the second round the problem with the "jvg didn't have the players" argument is jvg did pick out his players. now to be fair, jvg did a great job working in sura, barry, and wesley, he also got about as much as you could out of jhoward. all players he brought in. he also drafted luther, an underrated pick at the time. but he was here four years, and luther was his best pick. and even though battier has played well of late, the jury is still out on that deal imo.
That’s a winning percentage of 50%, An extreme change from last season’s 38.5 against WC playoff teams. Done (2 times), Done, and the Lakers are next. I love ya Will but you are missing out on a good ride..... DD
I still question if we can win a playoff series without Yao - but man, I just don't know anymore. This is so unusual.
See, I don't think it is, I just think this is one of those special times where the sum of the parts is greater than individual talent. We are watching a true team here.....one that can do special things. It takes 5. DD
Yes, but without Yao - I can't think you thought this was even possible without Yao. No one still thinks we have a shot at going anywhere without Yao - but I have to say - there isn't a team in the NBA right now that looks better at both ends of the court then us. It's a beautiful thing to watch.
Yes, when Yao went out my heart sank and I thought we would flounder some...but....I have to credit Adelman for switching gears on the fly and abandoning the post up offense with cutters for the primarily drive and dish offense. And, Ironically most every other high seed WC playoff team has gone to the more traditional low post offense. This could work in our favor, in fact it seems to already be doing so.... Adelman is better than I thought....Will, don't you agree? Very happy. DD
Well, the Old bad boys and old bulls didn't have a dominant post player so it's possible. I mean, heck, who the heck knows anymore!
