Sounds like the typical preseason fluff. Far, far too optimistic. The offense will degenerate into Yao or McGrady iso's and pick and rolls like it always does. Honestly has any team ever run their offense this smoothly during a sustained stretch of real game? Even the Phoenix offense bogs down at times.
Agree. We saw last year what can Tracy do when he's thinkin' to score. Well he should think first to score even last year but he couldn't. Tracy's a scorer, maybe he is able to be a great passer but first of all he's a scorer. He needed a players who will first think pass, than score. I remember some games of 2005/06 season which I saw (I had very low cennection speed). I know the coach was JVG but there were players like Sura, James (especially Sura) who played like playmakers. Tracy did tough the ball only on opponent's half and he didn't have to be a playmaker. Now with all these additions, people who can be playmakers and the new coach Tracy will have only to catch the ball and make shots. He won't have as many pick'n'rols. And I also think that Yao will be better under Adelman. Last yearit was all about Tracy and Yao but this year looks like we have players who can create shoots for themselfs.
I like this part. Let James and SF3, Alston and Brooks run their butt off whenever they r on the court, and see which team's PGs can keep up all night.
I share your concern about our defense but right now most people want to focus only on the positive. I think Adelman said they have been focusing mostly on offense in training camp and defense will come later. This is understandable since the offense is brand new to everyone except Bonzi. The D is going to be a work in progress the entire season. Watch the Spurs. There are times when they look like a machine. Their ability to run and execute set plays late in tense games is a big reason they are so good.
Good read, and for those clamoring for defense, how did that serve the Rockets these last few years? Balance.........BALANCE...finally. DD
I think one of the players who will benefit a lot from this offense is Battier. Battier isn't much of a one-on-one player that's why we often saw him disappear b/c he struggles to score when the help defense gets to his shooting spot. I didn't see Battier do much cutting last year b/c JVG basically turned him into a stand still shooter and away from the action inside. With Adelman's offense he'll cut to the basket more and get easier buckets PLUS he'll get opportunities to get more Offensive Rebounds or help keep the ball alive just by being around the rim a lot more than last year. We'll see even more of his "intangibles" this year.
Battier is gonna be our doug christy. minus the crazy ass wife and the tatts. he'll still be our key stopper. as soon as we hired adelman, i though battier is gonna benefit alot from it. he is a unbeliveble off the ball player. how many times do you see shane wide open. The motion offense is gonna be great for him. plus he is a crafty post player and passer. he's a good finisher to. he's gonna get alot of easy buckets by cutting to the rim. i see he's numbers staying the same, but he's overall effectiveness will improve. i also see he's assist numbers going up.
Well if our perimeter defense stinks this year it can't be much worst than it was last year. Remember JVG's defense focused on stopping penetration into the paint and collapsing to close driving lanes often meant a wide of perimeter shot once the ball was kicked back out. That's why teams that could shoot the 3 all day on us like the Suns were so difficult for us to beat. Oh yeah JVG's pick and roll defense was also a liability because he never figured out how to keep Yao from being the victim of the other team because that's who they'd nominate to pick and roll on every time.
The defense is going to be worse for a couple reasons: (1) transition defense will suffer because we won't have spot up shooters stationed near the top of the key, and (2) we'll look to fast break more often, which means less of an emphasis on defensive rebounding. So two big components, the start and end, of our team defense last year will be worse. I think that's pretty much inevitable.
Everybody looks at Battier's defense, but what about his offense? I think he can sort of play the role of Peja in Adelman's offense. As far as I know, athletically he's about the same as Peja, and other than his slower release, there's no reason to suggest why he cannot at least come close to Peja's shooting prowess.
Peja could shoot off the dribble or catch and shoot off a screen. I don't remember Battier doing that much last year.
Battier can definitely shoot off a screen. I've seen them run that Tmac curl for him a few times last season, and it's pretty good. I admit I haven't paid much attention to Battier when he was in Memphis, so I don't know whether he can consistently shoot off the dribble or not, but I think he might have a pretty decent step-back shot.
Very well. Don't bother bringing up the playoffs, if there's anything that shows the superiority of good defensive teams its the playoffs the last few seasons. That is why we are talking about San Antonio, Detroit, Miami etc and not Phoenix in June.
No, what it shows is teams that play both offense and defense win......none of those teams were as lopsided as the Rockets were the last few years. Balance...got to play offense AND defense to win. DD
Agree. Balance and depth...that's recipe for the NBA Title team Look at Phoenix They have great offense, with great shooters (Barbosa, Nash, Bell, Jones) and great big mans (Amare, Marion) The same situation with Spurs. Great shot blockin' and reboundin' team, Bruce Bowen outside, Tim Duncan inside. On the offensive and Ginobili, Parker, Duncan, Finley, Barry, etc... You have to play defense and offense...
if u look at last yr, phoenix had the highest or 2nd highest point differential, which meant they are a fairly good (not great) defensive team. the reason they lose is b/c they don't have that "great individual offensive talent" to break down in the last 2-3 mins of the game. nash is a passer, not a scorer. so he can't just go wild. he can only set others up. again, our D won't be BAD BAD that it will hurt us. trust me. we have good individual defenders. we have good team defenders.
Last year we showed we can play defense. Right now even with less defensive tactics we can be still good defensive team. Battier is a good defender, Tracy is also able to defend so well, he's pretty good 1on1. We have players who can defend
Nash scored 27, 48, 34, 39, 29, and 29 points in consecutive games against Dallas and San Antonio a couple years ago. I think he's a more than capable scorer.
