ClutchFans Game Thread: Pistons @ Rockets 12/12/2007

I say the Rox pull one out of there a*$eS and show the home turf what happend on the last two road games was just a fluke. It always get real bad before it can get real good... I just hope the worst of the worst is behind us...Besides, with the lack of consistency, and dropping the last two games that we should have won, were obviously gonna beat these teams every one expects us to lose to.

PS. We must box out. Keep Prince,and Maxiel out of the paint

 

I predicted easy win for the last two games and we got blown out off the court.

Let me try some reverse mojo. Rox losing by 80 points after only one quarter and Stern decided to demote Rox to NBDL.

 

This will be closer than your predictions in the previous two games .....

 

so humorous!

 

Hey! Relax, everybody! There is no need to worry.

We are surely going to turn things around tomorrow.

It's not like we have to face a perennially elite team that has won 8 of its last 10 games.

 

Anyone know the status of Rafer for this game? WE NEED HIM BADLY.

I'm guessing we're going to send Battier to chase Hamilton around, while T-Mac guards Prince. We need Rafer's D to guard Billups. Francis/James will get schooled.

Rasheed could be the big problem if he's nailing his threes, because Hayes is too short to intimidate those shots.

Our favorable matchup is Bonzi if one of their weaker guards (like Rip) is guarding him. Bonzi can take him to the basket with ease. If they put Prince on him, then T-Mac would then have a field day.

Hopefully they don't front Yao, and if they do, please get Scola involved in the game! There's no reason why a guy as efficient as he is can't get at least 10 shots per game.

 

Yeah...I never thought I would say it....Ok I wont....I just agree with you.

 

Please reconsider the highlighted point.

First of all, none of our PGs can handle Billups.

Secondly, assuming that Rafer is able to play, he likely won't be effective if he is recovering from a pesky groin injury. Not to mention that he can't even handle Billups when he is at full strength.

Given these two factors, the best way to contain Billups would be to start Francis or James on him and as soon as that player hits foul trouble, replace him with the other guy. In other words, let's rotate guards and keep fresh legs on defense against Billups. The Pistons will be playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road. We should at least try to take advantage of that.

Despite common perception, I am not convinced that Rafer is the solution to our recent problems. Too many people have jumped on that bandwagon too quickly.

If not having Rafer had anything to do with the confusion, it was only because Rafer has been the our starting PG for such a long time. The other guys are just familiar with his tendencies and style of play.

When you have a new PG running things, it takes time for the other guys to get used to his style of play and vice versa. I still say Francis is our best option while Alston and James should see less minutes (for very different reasons) off the bench.

 

None of the guards will stop Billups, but Rafer could do the best job. Here's the problem with the logic of rotating James/Francis. That would actually make sense if they played defense when they're fresh. The problem is they don't play defense. They just don't do it. Fresh or tired, it doesn't matter.

This is no common perception or bandwagon. Suggesting that Rafer isn't the best PG on the team or that Francis/James could do a better job at PG is blatantly disregarding Alston's values as a true PG. I agree that the guys are familiar with Rafer's style of play. In other words, we were familiar with the tendency of having an actual point guard on the court. That hasn't been the case in the last 2 games.

James and Francis are not PGs, nor should they be asked to play like PGs. Neither are capable of running teams. The rotation in the Suns game where Alston and Francis were both on the court is how it should be. Brooks is the only true backup PG we have.

 

I hope the Rox would win, other wise, this site will be flooded by "fire this and trade that" threads.

 

Damn I might miss this game. Have a Gamespot UT3 Tournament match to play.

 

Just a few song requests for the Rockets and players to let them relax before the game:

For T-Mac: "Shut Up and Drive"
For Yao: "Back It Up"
For Mike James: "One Trick Pony"

For the Rockets: "Come Together"

Just saying, who will Jason Maxiell posterise? Maxiell is like a beast these days.

Yao, dont hesitate to foul Maxiell hard. Show us u can rule the paint and u are not "SOFT".



Of course a Rockets win...

92-85

Go Rockets!!!!

 

First, I will concede that James and Francis have been wild and erratic on both ends of the court this season. That is why Alston is still our starting PG.

It's hard to make any real argument that Francis or James could do any better than Alston defending Billups. James used to be a solid defender but I haven't seen any of that ability this season. Francis can block shots and make an occasional defensive stop but he is far from a good defender.

Secondly, I don't know what threads you have been reading, but based on what I have seen, there are countless people who are clamoring for Alston's return and claiming that his absence is the main reason we have been struggling recently.

So, yes, there is a common perception and it is shocking how many people have quickly jumped onto this mini Alston bandwagon.

I don't believe it. Alston is just more familiar with this group and, due to this familiarity, he is better equipped to run things smoothly.

I still believe that, aside from giving Brooks a chance, Francis is the best long-term option we have at PG.

Yes, Alston is true PG.

Francis is not. He is a true combo guard.

James is definitely not a PG. He is a true mini SG.

However, one thing Francis can do is score points consistently. He can also distribute the ball and handle other PG duties if given the chance.

No, Francis is not as good of a ball-handler as Alston and would certainly commit more TOs and make more bad decisions.

However, my opinion is that Francis' relative weaknesses when compared to Alston will be outweighted by his much greater scoring ability.

Above and beyond anything else, this starting lineup desperately needs another player that can score the ball on a consistent basis. More specifically, we need another guy that can go hard to the basket and finish or get fouled and shoot free throws. Francis does this better than James and much better than Alston.

James and Wells are best-suited to come off the bench given their styles of play. They are potential spark plugs when we need to rest starters or need a punch of offense. James should average no more than 15-20 mpg over the course of a season due to his inconsistent play and his other deficiencies. Bonzi could see more time, especially when we can take advantage of favorable matchups.

I think few would disagree that Alston is cleary the most genuine PG when compared to Francis and James. I was well aware of that when making my assessment on who should be our starting PG.

The problem is that we have two other players, in addition to Alston, in our starting lineup that simply can not create their own offense. Like Alston, Hayes and Battier are lower-tier offensive players relative to their positions.

We now have a coach that is trying to implement an offense-first style of play. Alston, Battier and Hayes made more sense when JVG was in town but that is no longer the case.

We have clearly taken a step back defensively and I expect that we will continue this trend and eventually conform to Adelman's style. This must begin first and foremost with adjusting the starting lineup.

Scola will ultimately take Hayes' spot. I have no doubt about that. Scola has all the potential to be a reliable third scorer (10 - 14 ppg) if he gets enough playing time.

If Adelman feels comfortable starting Scola sooner than later, Alston's effectiveness as the starting PG will increase to an extent but I still think we will need more change.

Adelman was spoiled in the past with PGs like Terry Porter and Mike Bibby that had the skillsets to fulfill his expectations. He doesn't yet have that type of player in Houston.

For now, we need to start with a more offensively capable PG that can at least mimick some true PG abilities.

The only person that can do that on this current roster is Francis. Maybe Brooks will step up one day but, at this point, he is still an unknown commodity for the most part.

Unfortunately, I can't blame Adelman for using Alston given Francis' up and down play since he rejoined the team. Adelman even admitted that he thought Steve would be his starting PG based on his knowledge of Steve's abilites.

The bottom line is that it is up to Francis to make it happen and he will have plenty of chances now that he is part of the rotation.

 

I agree with many things you said about Francis. I have more optimism with him than James at this point, because he can penetrate. But Alston is still my starting PG, and that's not going to change, especially when Scola is inserted into the starting lineup.

Like I said earlier about the Suns' game, Francis (and James) should play SG and SG only. The rotation at the end of that game where Francis AND Alston were on the court worked real well because the Suns play small anyway. A rotation of Yao, Scola/Hayes, T-Mac, Francis, and Alston could work well when facing a team with small guards. We could go real small and have Yao/Scola at the 5, T-Mac at the 4, Bonzi at 3, Francis/James at 2, and Rafer at 1. Maybe we should try some of these smaller rotations (whether they're starting or not) regardless to see what happens.

The problem is not Rafer's lack of offense. We need his PG skills. The problem is compounding his lack of offense with Hayes' lack of offense, and Battier's offense being limited to outside jumpers for the most part. One or both of them have to be taken out of the starting lineup and used in a different rotation. It's just that Adelman doesn't want to take them out because of how reliable they are defensively and all the intangibles they both provide. Sooner or later, Rick will have to make some compromises. This starting lineup HAS to change.

 

after the raps game loss,there were about 4 negative threads ,after the 76s game loss it jumped exponentially to about 20 negative threads, if the rockets lose tonight i really think all hell will break loose in the GARM..and if alston and tmac play tonight and they still lose, wow, there will be insanity going on here.

 

this one is a must win, Yao has to have a huge game, T-Mac may have some trouble with Prince, but no one really can guard Yao in the pistons camp

 

All I want is Rox play like a team like a TEAM with "HEART"!!
Prove that you are professional players and real men!

 

will rafer be back? if not, we lose.

 

rockets bounce back and win....with or without TMAC....we beat Det and Dallas next 2 game and all is right again

 

agree! we can always beat the strong ones then lose to weak ones...