http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5386213.html Alston addresses 12-12 start By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle After the Rockets spent Monday working on repairing their damaged offense, point guard Rafer Alston said the problem in the Rockets' disappointing 12-12 start has not been about any part of the game, but rather because of a lack of desire. "We don't have the energy, we don't have the hustle, we don't have the intensity," Alston said. "The bad thing I'm seeing is the passion and desire. Once we find those, it will help us. "A lot of people keep stressing the offense. It doesn't have anything to do with offense when you're losing games by 20 and you're giving up 30 points in a quarter. It has to do with defense and the will to compete. I think right now, we're lacking in the competing factor of the game. "Every time I look at the film of the games over and over again, there's certain possessions out there, a lot of telltale signs out there. We have to want to compete. When the game is close, teams turn it up on us. We don't seem to want to match their intensity and their energy." Alston has missed three of the past four games — all losses — with a strained groin muscle and was held out of Monday's practice. He said he expects to be able to practice today and to play Wednesday. But with Wednesday's game beginning a stretch of four games in five nights, the Rockets are being cautious with Alston's injury. Back for Magic Rockets guard Tracy McGrady sat out Monday's practice with a bruised right knee, but said he expects to play Wednesday against his former team, the Orlando Magic. McGrady said the knee has been sore for about two weeks and was aggravated with a fall Saturday. "I'll be fine," McGrady said. "I'm taking these two days to rest it up and let the pain and the swelling to go out of there a little bit. It will help me a lot."
sorry to hjack your thread but how about them blazers hm? 8 straight with out oden and in the west is pretty damn good. i've been saying that team 1-8 in the standing are better than us i was wrong, i should have said team 1-9 are playing much better than us. and we have this roster: Yao Mac Wells James Scola Francis Alston how can lakers, hornest, and blazers be playing better than us? i mean i understand suns, jazz, mavs, spurs, and nuggets but come on blazers with out oden???? what on earth is going on?
So, who are they talking about? Their 3 starting mates are Hayes, Battier, and McGrady. You've got Bonzi and Scola off the bench. Hayes, Battier, and Scola are all floor scrapers. I don't thin anybody would put Yao in the slacker category. That leaves McGrady, Francis, and James. Hmmmmmmmm.
the blazers are very athletic and guys out of high school like martell webster and travis outlaw have finally started to produce. also, nate mcmillian is a great coach. the blazers are going to be running things in a few years... as for the rockets....man i just dont understand how we were 6-1 and the wheels just completely fall off.... what is the deal here ? did t-macs injury against the lakers really throw us off THAT much ? the team seems completely out of sync since then. i dont understand it at all.
TMac yelled at Skip after beating the Magic at Houston: You and Yao will be iso-ed by us. YOU AND YAO WILL BE ISO-ED BY US.
Why are Alston and Yao the only guys who seem to be watching tapes of defense and talking publicly about it? If Adelman is fired and Van Gundy isn't available, could Rafer Alston be the next head coach of this team?
Francis isn't slacking. He may be sucking but he seems to be leaving his heart on the court. James isn't playing so even if he is slacking he isn't playing, hence irrelevant. Is Rafer blaming Tmac. The truth is we are team with 2 borderline superstars and a bunch of unathletic rejects. Nobody wanted Snyder so we got him, nobody wanted Bonzi so we got him, nobody wanted Francis so we got him, Nobody wanted James and we got him, we kicked Hayes off the team and then went back and got him, San Antonio didn't want Scola so we got him, Rafer was a castoff that we didn't want back until we saw what we got this offseason wasn't any better and even Battier was traded away for a rookie and our own castoff Swift. We have a team full of players that noone else wanted. Add some chemistry problems and a team with not the brightest basket IQ too adapt an offense that depends on instincts and no matter how hard we try most team will get are number. We are .500 because sometimes Yao and Tmac are so much better than the other team and sometimes they are not enough. Can we improve. Well we can help fix the chemistry problem by releasing a point guard. The PG glut has all of them looking over there back. I think part of Rafers better play is he feels he has now secured a spot at the point and the battle at point is for remaining minutes. The stress still remains for Francis and James. One of them will have to go and odd man out appears to be James. If that has been determined than getting rid of him will only help the chemistry. Bringing in some youth could help. Brooks has already shown signs he is capable of contributing. Bring him in as an energy guy might help. If there is anyway to bring in Novak without hurting the teams D iwould do it just for the threat. Trading Battier for a more athletic sf some one like rudy gay might help. Okay for get it we are screwed.
Would you include Bonzi in the slacker category? That would leave the Rockets with only one guard in the rotation that actually gives a ----. How bad could it hurt to stick Luther and Brooks into primary backup roles? What about Snyder? I'd like to see this rotation for a couple of games both to see how well it works and to send the slackers a message: Yao Chuck Battier T-Mac Rafer Scola Head Snyder Brooks Mike James and Bonzi have the talent to make an impact on the team, but their disintrest seems to be holding the other guys back. You simply can't have your roll players doggin' it and expect to win. The players that actually care either have to overcompensate for their lack of energy or give up. Both have been happening. I don't know where SF3 fits in to the picutre. I'm not even sure that he brings much to the team even when he does play hard. Despite his physical disadvantages and his inexperience, Brooks may very well be a better option right now. He can spot up beyond the arc, penetrate and dish it out, drive and finish, and control the ball, fulfilling basically every offensive PG need. Is his defense bad enough to offset his contributions on offense? We don't know for sure, but none of the other guards (besides Rafer) are playing much defense anyways. Luther is going to make his threes over the course of a season, and he shows flashes of being able to contribute in other ways on offense, too. He's also a defensive question mark, though, and has significant ball control issues. Mike James should make Luther obsolete on this team, but that just hasn't been the case thus far. Also, while James may be a passionate guy, Luther is compassionate--i.e. he cares about the team. Snyder's a guy who has a lot of potential, but just hasn't gotten everything to click yet. He's a shooting and slashing threat on offense, and he can actually play respectable defense. Bonzi does a few things really well, but he simply can't shoot the 3-ball. Snyder can. The primary game plan should have the guards spacing the floor and getting ready to launch them threes. Brooks, Snyder, and Head can all make defenses pay for cheating inside. I say give 'em a chance.
Apparently, the Rockets ownership doesn't know the value of true professionals who work the butts off to win. Instead, you get guys who talk about "basketball is basketball. I don't need to know no plays" "I'm gonna dominate the league for the next 5 years" and "I'm still the Franchise." Les Alexander bring in "Coach offense" to change the style of the team so Les can make more money casual fans, which leads to the kind of clowns getting interviewed by Anna Megan Riley-- and the kind of clowns who stil blame the ex-coach for the team's problems half a year after the new coach has been on the job. That's how the team ended up in this situation.
At what point will it become obvious that the Rockets aren't going to win a championship this season. Are we at that point - not yet. I just hope we can have a solid idea of this team's direction by the trade deadline. I can accept almost anything other than a 500 season, a first round exit, and another low first round draft pick that withers on the vine. My gut feeling is that the Rockets need to tear it down and start over. I hope I'm wrong about that, but this team's ability to find new ways to crumple every season is both confounding and infuriating. It's as if we patch one hole and the players work overtime to dig another one. If it's not injuries, it's depth. If it's not depth, it's lack of passion. If it's not lack of passion, it's chemistry, if it's not chemistry, it's coaching. It's always about something - but it's never about stepping up and playing like champions.
Rafer speaks the truth. It's isn't about shooting or the system. It's about effort on the court. For some reason, excepting some players, the team doesn't care enough to play hard and leave it out on the court. There is a chemistry problem. Is it the fault of the coach? Is it the fault of a couple of players? Don't know. I do know the Rockets are NOT championship contenders this season. My goal for them now is to figure out the problem with this team and to jettison the coach and/or players that are responsible.
I know that the last thing this board wants to do is consider yet another McGrady ailment as an excuse. But if its true that T-Mac's knee has been bothering him, that would explain his lackluster performance. McGrady always has that easy-going expression on his face, even when he's competing hard. If he's hurting, that impacts his ability to run hard down the court or get to the basket off penetration. Combine that poor play with the facial expressions we're all used to, and one can get the impression that he has no heart. Just something to consider.
It's sad that it's been so plain to all of us: McGrady, James, Francis, please report to the nurse for your heart transplants. When your leader (McGrady) coasts and mails it in, it trickles down. Especially when your coach is so limp-handed. If you have a roster that doesn't keep itself honest, you need a coach that's got the nuts to get into a guy's face and challenge/demand that he give it all. As a fan, I can't get behind this lack of effort. I hope for the best, I want the best, but the Rockets don't get any more of my cash until they show they're going to at least try. I can support a losing team, but not one that is in cut-the-check mode. Evan
That is our biggest problem right there. We have no chance winning games if we keep giving up some many points. When we play great defense like we know how, we always have a chance to win games. Even with our offense is stinking it up, our defense can always keep the game close. It's not just a couple players because our team defense has been like crap too.
Well, then why would I want to watch you guys play? I've seen more hustle and heart at my local pick-up games...
I heard a sound clip of T-Mac on 790 this morning saying that his knee's been bothering him for a while now and that he is afraid to get an MRI b/c it may be worse than he thinks but says he can still play. Don't the team doctors decide whether a player gets an MRI or not??? Why would they risk him damaging his knee further?
Because it's either not true or he's an idiot. Take your pick. To me, that may or may not sound like an excuse or a rationalization for the lack of effort and desire that he's been playing with.
There's no lack of desire to win on this team. The fact is that they just plain stink. They need to go to practice and run shooting drills until they make some baskets with some consistency. The guards need to run through the basic guard drills too. For crying out loud, it's not like these guys aren't good. It's just that all their skils have eroded and they need to go back to the basics.
