hopefully he can spread that knowledge around. we will never be the kings, but some semblance of better ball movement or a better use of the high post/triple threat would be nice. he does need to shoot the ball better though. 37% through preseason isn't good but i'm sure it's just rust. he's def. been our main hustle guy. i've been very impressed.
Very well. If all of them were signed to benefit Yao, can you name 8 shooters(prior to this year)? Should be easy since they all seem to be correct answers. Dunno. Lets ask Kwame. Or Olowokandi. or bargiani. or maybe bogut. even though he wasnt drafted #1, we could also ask darko.
Adelman claims in a Chron story that the team is going to be running his offense. Anybody who hangs onto the ball and dribbles, dribbles, dribbles away should be shot--or at least benched.
dude, remember that post where i pointed out our TEAM'S 3pt shooting % since yao has been here. it's been consistently above 35%. but hey, lemme repost those stats for ya: 02-03 34.6% 03-04 36.6% 04-05 36.8% 05-06 33.2% (both yao/tmac injured a lot that yr) 06-07 37.2% 07-08 34.2% like i hae said, our 3pt shooting has been consistently good in the reg. season (the problem has been their suckiness in the playoffs--luther comes to mind). but again, to your point, do those stats answer your question? yao didn't flop like those fools in the first year dude. your comparisons are way off-base. when we hired jvg, that was the signal that yao was the guy we were building around. if you don't get that, well, i guess you will never get it.
that's why tmac will be in the high post a lot ala the utah series last yr (when alston did play). don't worry, i expect tmac to shoot a lot more this yr (if the celts pre-season game is any indication). i expect adelman to force tmac to be much more aggressive this yr since we have more playmakers and defenders.
Everybody on the team is supposed to be an option. The key is that no one should be hanging onto the ball. An "aggressive" T-Mac is fine if that means he's cutting hard without the ball and getting easy jump shots from 12 to 15 feet out off of a pass. What we don't want to see is him out by the three point line dribbling away without passing, trying to break down his defender in isolation.
wow. i ask for names and you give me stats. do you really think you answered the question? all you've done is once again drawn attention to your inability to provide support for your assertions.
i agree. i would prefer tmac taking more mid-range jumpers and limit his 3pt attempts to around 2 per game, rather than 4 or 5. he should only take that much if he's on fire. his mid-range % is one of the best so he should take more of those shots (which is why i advocate putting him at the high post). but i also agree with you that the responsibilities will be less for him b/c the team is so improved now. i think if we start out well, we might see adelman spreading the minutes around and have the best players healthy for the stretch run.
Which would make it easy for you to name 8 of them. Obviously you cant. Just concede the point or at least stop responding to it. When your responses consist entirely of deflecting the question, it makes you look foolish.
I'm just making an observation as a fan of the game I'm not a blind homer I call it like I see it. Star players are suppose to be the hero or the goat that's why Mac is paid more than any other player on our roster. He needs to own up to his responsibility to this team and not duck for cover when things get tough as he has in the past. Did you ever see Jordan pass the ball to a role play to take a game winning or losing shot? Not to say Jordan never did because he would let his 3 pt shooters take an open shot but Jordan was great because he knew his role was to be the star of the team. Mac has great talent but he doesn't know how to win yet and the clock is ticking on his career and place on the Rockets. The Rockets will be tested in the playoffs and Mac will be held accountable more than any other single player if they fail or succeed. I can tell you Yao will not be traded before Tracy will and that's just a fact.
Artest shoots plenty of jumpers himself. Lots of them isolated and not exactly resembling any sense of team basketball. McGrady does a better job at getting others involved, even to a fault. Recent history suggests T-Mac will play more games than Artest this year. Artest won't be able to play like that here. This offense should be built around team play, and he better be able to adjust to that. He says he will based on his quotes, but we have to see it on the court in the regular season.
Disagree. If the Rockets find themselves in a hole, and Artest is the only one consistently scoring, you'd better believe that Adelman is going to milk him.
That's not going to happen very often unless Yao/T-Mac gets injured. The best chance of that happening is if Yao is doubled all day and Tracy is out or struggling, or if Artest is a terrible matchup for the opposing team. Needless to say, he is an unbelievable luxury to have on the team.
Artest actually has a season or so under Adelman when he was playing for the Kings, meaning he actually has playing experience under Adelman's motion offense. Whatever their respective strengths and weaknesses there's no question in my mind that McGrady has big problems finishing around the basket and getting to the foul line. In the 4th quarter, where those two elements are crucial, I'd rather that Artest or Yao got the ball in crunch time.
I think T-Mac will at least start off with the ball, allowing him to create his own shot or draw a double team so he can dish. It's going to be interesting to see what plays Adelman draws up regarding T-Mac and Artest. Both like to go iso, but only one player can have the ball. Is the other player willing to move without the ball to get open? But if we're only down 1 or 2, it's an obvious dump it down to Yao situation and go from there.
