The elusive X factor with any team is chemistry, will the players accept their roles, do they all fit together, do they like each other, how will they collectively respond to adversity. The slow start to this year can be attributed mostly to chemistry, we have a 33% new roster, and the rotation has 4 new players in the top 9. Luis Bonzi Aaron Landry Others are slowly dropping out of the rotation: Hayes. Add in a dose of a new coach and new philosophy and you have one big old chemistry mess..... But, I think the team is now coming together, and if everyone stays healthy (a big if), the chemistry will continue to improve. Yao has taken over the leadership role, Tmac has moved to super support, and the rest of the guys are providing energy, timely shooting, and defense. I like where the team is heading..... And, I believe that Phoenix, the Lakers, Golden State, and San Antonio are all going to struggle some as they add in new pieces to the mix......it is never easy to add in new personalities to a team, and usually that causes a ripple effect where many roles change. Webber makes Golden State a better half court team - but that is a chemistry risk. Shaq makes Phoenix a slower half court team - again, another chemistry risk. Gasol adds length, and probably the best fit, but he will clog the lane with Bynum and take away some of Kobe's drives - again, chemistry risk San Antonio - Stoudamire is a jump shooting PG.....and the ripple effect could hurt the Spurs some....- chemistry risk. I know everyone in the media is gushing about all the trades changing the landscape of the West, but sometimes the best course of action is to stay put..... I can think of only a few in season trades that resulted in a championship, and of course Clyde Drexler comes to all of our minds, but generally the team's making the moves do not get dramatically better.....because of....well....Chemistry. So, what does all this mean? That I think the Rockets are uniquely positioned by just continuing to play together...their chemistry is growing, while others are just beginning..... All these trades, could be a blessing in chemical disguise..... DD
A major trade isn't going to happen, and I've resigned myself to that thought, but I cannot help but think that we don't need T-Mac. Correct me if I'm wrong, but most of our recent wins have come without him. We need consistent perimeter shooting to help Yao. This is his team, not T-Mac's, and out playoff hopes center around Yao, not T-Mac. AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH T-MAC IN THE OFFSEASON IF WE DON'T MAKE IT TO THE SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS!!! Nobody seems willing to answer that.
I think they give Tmac this year to find out, but if the team fails, they could probably trade him in the off season for a lot of good players to compliment Yao and a motion offense system. DD
yesterday , i observed that Lebron seemed to have a good relation with Yao...... , god ! let Lebron arrive at Houston ! Lebron+T-mac+Yao , OMG , NBA ,you all fall on your knees
I agree completely DD... Rockets Chemistry is getting better and better and other teams are falling apart. IMO, the best teams in the west are HOU, UTA, SA, DAL and LAL. Phoenix took a big gamble, but one that could pay off big in the playoffs if Shaq is ready to go. My hopes and dreams: If Rox Make it into the playoffs... look for us to beat Dallas in game 7, Tmac to the RACK on Diop. Then we'll have the our toughest battle, Utah in round two... the ultimate test of this team.... again, we'll win in 6 or hopefully not 7, although a game 7 in Utah might be the most amazing game of the playoffs. Finally, we'll have to face either SA or Phoenix (b/c Phoenix is going to take out LAL in a heated Kobe vs. Shaq reunion) in the WCF. So it'll either be Yao vs. Shaq or Yao vs. Duncan. Detroit vs. Houston in the finals Houston wins in 6 games.
Yeah and that home court crowd (the lower bowl one) really made him want to play for the Rockets. LeBron is either staying in Cleveland with a historic max deal or going to New York with a historic max deal.
Stop derailing the thread. This is about how the Rockets standing pat and just continuing to grow may be better off than teams making these big moves. DD
A Max contract is a Max contract, there is no such thing as historic max contract. 20 mil = 20 mil no matter who gets it.
I like the way our team is starting to come together. The batch of rookies in the lineup have helped give our team a good level of drive, hustle, energy, emotion, and (the all-important) heart that we've been missing. As for this officially becoming Yao's team - don't know if anyone caught it in last night's game, but there was a point where Yao got a defensive rebound and was going to pass it to a player to bring it up the court. T-Mac was in the middle of the floor and was clearly calling for Yao to pass him the ball. You could see that Yao thought about it for a split second, and then passed it over T-Mac's head to Alston to bring it up the floor and initiate the offense. It might have been just because T-Mac was ailing, but I like the way he seemed to say "you're not the best option for this right now." It was a small and insignificant portion of the game, but... I still think that we need T-Mac to be a part of this team to be successful. There are too many times that the team as a whole goes cold and it's nice to have him get in the zone and light it up. But still have a lot of work to do to get him to stop the foolish "bring it up the floor and jack it up" shots without first passing it around and looking for a better shot. Once he buys into that we'll be a VERY dangerous team. ...I'm sorry. What was the question?
Garnett's, Kobe's and Shaq's contracts were historic because of their length. And max contracts can differ in annual salary, remember that time Jordan made 30mill?
And so just as the mother Lioness will protect her cubs, so too will the male DaDakota fiercly protect his thread!
Define Chemistry: On court demeanor? Consistency? Smoothness of the offensive flow? Energy? Motivation? Determination? Tenacity in the clutch? Confidence? Aggressiveness? Actually, many of these are still missing from this team, but some are starting to emerge, slowing. They are not a well-oiled machine, by any means. They will certainly define themselves in the remaining games. They will either be up and down, losing to the contenders and barely beating the lotto teams, or they will lock in to a "roll." It is up to them. Shooting skill and free throws remain a major problem.
Ball movement + Hustle = Chemistry No ball movement, no chemistry. When you see guys stand around watching Tmac's solo act, there is no chemistry. When ecerybody puts in defense effort, hustles for rebound, dives for loose ball, chemistry is good.
I see Stoudamire and Gasol as very small chemistry risks. They may or may not help, but the Spurs and lakers didn't give up too much for them and they shouldn't alter their teams' style. If anything, I think they compliment their new teams' style. I think the Rockets frontcourt is fine. Brooks may turn out to be a nice player, but the Rockets should be trying to find someone else to be the backup PG this year (or a new starter with Alston backing up). Brooks would still have the opportunity to earn the backup spot much like Landry has, but he's the backup now more out of default than merit.
Joe Joe.... Why not let Tmac run the point? Just put Luther in the game as a starter and have Tmac run the point....let Luther play the off guard, and on defense guard the other team's PG. Then bring Rafer off the bench to stablize the team.... I know it is not going to happen but it would be an interesting process.... DD
I've actually thought of that in the past and thought it should be something the Rockets should look at. The only problem for me anyway is that TMac has a propensity to dominate the ball at times, and having him bring up the ball might lead to more occasional bad shots. Besides TMac is a lot better playing off the ball moving around screens so he can catch and shoot or catch and drive. I still think having an extra shooter like Luther would really add a nice dimension to this offense.
But in a typical motion offense there is no real PG....everyone passes the ball and everyone can finish. All the PG does is bring the ball up.....and Tmac can do that. DD
Once again you prove to be one of the top 3 posters on here. Chemistry is a huge deal. That is one of the things we had w/ our team the past few years. Jon Barry, Wesley, Sura and that crew played so well together at times w/ everyone else. WE have lost that this year and it has a lot to do w/ how much our team is still changing.(playing the rookies, luis starting, chuck leaving, mike james and francis mia). And, i think Juwan helped us out w/ chemistry, in the locker room and on the court. And this last part about T-mac running the point is exactly what i have been saying for the past two years. And nobody better start talking about 'is T-mac a point-forward?' ... This would be the best time for Luther to play.I think Luther shows he can play...sometimes...I also like it when we play Battier and Bonzi at the 3 and the 4. Bonzi is the 4 on offence and the 3 on defence and vice versa. I know a lot of people do not like Bonzi on here but i love his play when he actually gives effort and is aggressive,which seems all too seldom nowadays. Chemistry is going to take a lot of time still for us. We have a lot to learn. And the infamous quote from Jon Barry stating that it took Sacremento 2-3 years to learn Coach RA's offence. I understand why the Sun's made the trade. But they have a very small year and half window which i do not believe is going to be enough time to win a championship.I think it is just too late w/ Nash at 34 and Shaq at 36. And it is all going to come down to ..chemistry.
