http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2006/10/preseason_progress_report_1.html Preseason progress report If the preseason is about making progress, the Rockets got that done. Not to get too bogged down in math, but on Tuesday they played one outstanding quarter. Against the Hawks on Friday, they played two outstanding quarters. It helped of course that the Hawks are completely out of control. They showed absolutely no offensive discipline. Josh Smith plays as if he leads the league in greatest disparity between how good he thinks he is and how good he is. The Rockets, meanwhile, continue to show potential, but also too many similarities to last season's Rockets. It is certainly too soon to draw conclusions, but so far, like last season's Rockets, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming never seem to be healthy at the same time. Like last season's Rockets, they are pretty good when McGrady plays and he is a sensational with the ball, even if he does not seem to be shooting as well as he's capable. The bright side for the Rockets is that Rafer Alston seems to be showing the results of a summer spent on the practice court, Kirk Snyder was much more aggressive offensively and effective defensively and Shane Battier is still Shane Battier. On the end, John Lucas has struggled at backup point and Vassilis Spanoulis, as expected, appears to have a long, difficult adjustment ahead of him. He really is fun to watch. He has been energetic defensively and quick and creative offensively. But he has not begun to take care of the ball, getting three turnovers in four fourth-quarter minutes on Friday before he was pulled. With five more preseason games to play, there is time. But things will look better if Yao returns next week, to say nothing of eventually getting Bonzi Wells on the court. Still, if they can keep improve again with the Mavericks up next, then they really will be making progress.
Here I am saying Gundy has the team to win...and we are again with players hurt. And the season has not even come close to beginning. Hope this isn't a peak of the future...
it really hasnt hit me what its going to be like when battier, Tmac, yao, and bonzi are all on the floor at the same time...and with alston playing the way he is now....it almost seems to good to be true..i just how they dont become a "good on paper" team as far as preseason goes...i like hayes, novak, and snyder for our rotation...not sure where howard really fits dont think he will fit in as well this season...i like the fact hayes is always around the basket grabbing boards or being the recipient of many dishes for layups
Snyder really showed last night he has a spot on this team with his hustle and physical play. The Rockets look good playing basically small ball, they seemed to make a lot more good decisions quickly, Battier did a good job not only making open jumpers, but keeping the ball rotating in the half-court. I'm sure getting Yao back will only improve things, but I wonder if there will be any issue integrating Bonzi into the offense.
I'm betting that Bonzi will come off the bench for Yao and we go small ball while Yao is resting. This keeps a low post player on the floor for the whole game surrounded by shooters and slashers. I think Snyder will be the starting two guard just because of his size. Vspan is fun to watch play as well. He still gets a little crazy on the offensive end but I think he is just trying to hard and rushing things right now. Defensively the guy is a spazz and gives the other teams players fits. That alone will get him minutes on the floor. Its going to be fun to watch JVG work this depth that he finally has on the team. Its going to be an exciting year.
When you have Synder, and Wells, you have two of the strongest wingman in the game. Add Battier, and McGrady, I'm almost certain, this is the most atheletic wingman combo in the league. Going small is definitely an option this year, and unlike the teams in the past, this team can run, and can match up better w/ the likes of Suns, and Mavs. We'll see how we do against mavs on the next exhibition.
