The problem is that the isolation play really isn't part of the motion offense. Ideally you'd like to have all five players on the floor on the same page, playing the same offense and not trying to beat their defender one on one.
I get the feeling that the Rockets are going to be really glad they brought in Artest and really sad they didn't bring in a quality back up center. Glass breaks soon and often. The chances of our two stars making it through 82 games is none and nil. There is no greater predictor than the past. We can hope, but realistically, they are already dragging before the season starts. And where is Battier and Francis?
What really matters is making the playoffs and having everyone healthy by then. I wouldn't care if all three didn't play together all season and landed the 8th seed, and all were healthy for the rest of the playoffs. That's all that matters to me. Problems seem to lie in the postseason rather than regular season play.
Ideally, yes. But do you really think this team with this personnel will be running a full fledged motion offense by May? I just can't see it. We will still have many frustrating moments of the offense stagnating. McGrady doesn't like to move without the ball, I haven't seen much of Artest moving without the ball, Yao and Scola aren't exactly cutters, and while Alston is a good passer, doesn't make the passes to cutters, nor cuts himself. Yao in the high post has been a failure so far. Neither Scola, Hayes, or Landry could really run the high post (T-Mac is probably the best option). On the bench, it's Battier and Barry who will probably stay in one spot and wait for the open look. Head/Wafer/Straw can all cut, but who knows how much playing time they'll get. Brooks could cut well, but most of his points so far come from him creating his own shot. I hope our offensive scheme will be able to create shots for our players, instead of players creating shots for themselves (or T-Mac/Yao/Artest creating shots for everyone else), but I'm not real optimistic we'll be seeing much of a real motion offense. Hopefully Year 2 of Adelman and his players prove me wrong.
Would much rather have Tracy miss some early season games than late into the season when the games mean the most especially come playoff time. But Tracy's situation, we gotta handle it on a day by day basis and see how he feels
Sorry, didn't mean to be a downer, but, realistically, there is a high probability that either TMac or Yao or both will miss a significant number of games. They are simply not durable. However, I haven't seen this much talent on a Rocket's team since the championship years. And, I believe with all my heart that IF Yao or TMac play less minutes, which they surely will, and carry less of the burden, and that will be the case, AND have a freakishly healthy season, the Rockets will be in the Finals against the Celtics.
How many titles have Rick and JVG won? I watch the games. Too many times I see one man between Tracy and the basket and he passes out or settles for the jumper. I remember LeBron catching hell a couple of years ago for passing up on a potential game winning shot in the playoffs because he had someone open in the corner. Ever since then he's taken all the big shots and consistently drove to the basket. You think LeBron doesn't get doubled? According to this board, Tracy is the only player in the NBA that gets doubled. I dont mind him passing out of double teams, but when he's not doubled, he needs to be driving to the basket. How is not scoring in the 4th for those two games against Utah not a sure sign to you that he's just not who yall think he is? Another thing, LeBron is about 6 or 7 years yonger than Tracy. LeBron's already learned from his mistakes, Tracy still hasn't.
in those 2 games you're talking about, he was missing 2 starters, his other starter shane had an injury, and he himself had 2 injuries. if you saw those 2 games, he basically did everything and wore himself out. he needed help and obviously so. when alston came back, he did his thing in the 4th.
He may play in the oper. He may not. He is in good spirit this morning. He is in bad mood this afternoon. He is confident. He is not. The best thing we can do is to give T Mac a good two months rest and rehab, so that he is in good health in the mid of season and stays that way into the playoff.
If I was Adelman I wouldn't really care if somebody "liked" moving without the ball or not. The coach is supposed to be the guy calling the shots and anybody who doesn't stick to the game plan should be sitting on the bench. The problem with the motion offense is that it doesn't work unless everybody is working to implement it. The guy in the high post isn't going to get a lot of passes off if everybody else isn't cutting hard without the ball. Adelman was quoted in the Chron that this is the year the team is going to run his offense. Now that the bench is so deep anybody who resists should sit so that they can watch the guys who are willing to actually play the offense.
the thing is we can't implement this style when yao is playing. he struggled mightily last yr. the offense struggled in pre-season a lot this yr. i just think if yao is playing, we gotta play JVG ball of pound the paint b/c the offensive weapons will decrease the # of double team he sees. when he's out, we'll play adelman's style. yao simply cannot dominate playing adelman's way (you won't see him in the high post much)
The Adelman way doesn't simply mean playing Yao in the high post. What it means is cutting hard without the ball and moving it from player to player, and both of those things can happen regardless of where Yao happens to be. It means that if Yao is doubled in the low post that he can pass back out, cut across the key and get the ball back in prime position. It means that if Yao is doubled in the low post that somebody somewhere doesn't have a defender on him and the Rockets are a hard cut away from an uncontested layup. On the other hand playing JvG ball means Yao pounding away in the low post, stressing out his foot and his body. It means that everybody in the arena knows exactly where the ball is going every offensive possession and the defender has plenty of time to set up and try to get a steal. Adelman seems to be convinced that this team can run his offense, as noted in that Chronicle article that was posted here a while back, and his intention this year is to have the team run that offense. In fact he seemed more fully committed to getting the Rockets running a motion offense than ever after a first season of false starts and hybrid solutions. As far as I'm concerned he needs to put his foot down and bench anybody who's hanging on to the ball for too long and not playing the system.
The west is not going to be easy this year. Plenty of teams are going to be better in the west, it's always like that. The bottom line is that McGrady will always be a injury prone. He will always complain about his back his knee or whatever other body part that hurts. When your star player is telling the media on media day that he's about %70 healthy, I have a problem with that. It's almost like he's letting everybody know that if he or the team isn't playing well, then injury is the reason. He is soft and should be traded this season, if we don't make it out of the first round of the playoffs.
he said the same thing last yr. we simply don't have the players to play like the kings for even 50% of it. we have more isolation players, less great shooters, big men who can't run the high post outside of scola, and not a lot of guys run.
I'm so sick and tired of fans and media making excuses for this guy. He needs to get out there and earn $25mil a year. He never wins in the playoffs, where it counts. The star title should be ripped from him until he wins a championship. Stop complaining about injuries!!
so are you saying yao shouldn't practice as hard as he can? play as many minutes as he can?? knowing his injury history? the team has now toned down his practice sessions, and vow to give him less minutes so he can play more and be ready for the playoffs. like how duncan has "coasted" the past few yrs so he can be ready for the playoffs?
Actually, hmittal is talking about Mcgrady. Its hard to hold a grudge against Yao, a player who trains so hard that his bones break. Conversely, its easy to criticize Tmac, a talented perimeter player who practices so little that he cant even make 70% of his free throws.
