I hope we dont continue to be the Warriors 2.0, but it's more fun to watch the Warriors bc they dont flop as much as some of our guys
Don't even bother. People here have made up their mind against Adelman, facts be damned. We lost Yao, Deke, and Artest from that team, replaced them with Brad Miller, Jordan Hill, and Kevin Martin, and people expect the defense to be good. It's mind boggling that people continue to let Daryl Morey off the hook, he put this team together. He's the GM. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who Adelman wants, putting the team together is the GM's job.
What a strange response. Obviously it doesn't have to do with the current team. The point is Adelman is a fine defensive coach when he has players who can PLAY GOOD TEAM DEFENSE. And newsflash, a team that plays Jarred Jeffries and Patrick Patterson heavy minutes is not going to win many games. Jeffries is a one-way player and Patterson, although he has potential, is still a raw rookie. Playing them more is not going to magically solve anything. The last time Adelman had Yao, Deke, Artest, and a in-his-prime Battier, guys who make an impact on the defensive end, the Rockets were a great defensive team. Since then, we've lost all four of them and replaced them with guys like Jordan Hill and Kevin Martin who are terrible on defense, what do you expect the result to be? Our starting center is 6'6". I can't believe people are still clinging to the notion that this team has the talent to be a legit team in the west. We don't have a "deep" roster. A "deep" roster has a lot of players who are actually really good players. We don't have that. There is a reason Terrence Williams has now not been able to get playing time under Avery Johnson AND Rick Adelman, two coaches who have had a lot of success in the league. There is a reason Jared Jeffries doesn't get minutes, because he's a one-way player who Morey plans on trading so he isn't going to be around. Even with a healthy Yao, this was a 7th or 8th seed team, as I said during the off season, and without him, we're exactly where we should be.
I think since the Morey era began we have seen continual roster improvement up until we lost Artest and Yao. Ariza in place of Artest was the first downgrade to the roster in the Morey era. Subsequently we have gotten guys like Miller and Hill and lost Deke and Yao. Again, roster downgrades. The rapid decline has left many fans shell shocked. Myself personally I didn't become a diehard fan until the season Morey came on board. All I have ever known since becoming a fan has been continuous improvement, if not in our record because of injuries, at least improvement to our roster. This decline is hard to come to terms with. How did this great roster with all of this supposed depth and heart turn into what it is now so suddenly?
Although it is easy to blame one person, we have to remember basketball is a team game and everyone in the Rockets organization is a player in this game contributing to what is put out on the court at the moment. The point of my original post was that I didn't want to blame anyone in particular but that blame can be attributed to all areas of the organization.
the injury to yao cost us our chance to be really good...simple as that...we have a lot of good to decent players and thats why our record is pretty good but not above 500
im more worried about the offense. I dont think defense is a problem with our defensive juggernauts of scola and hayes
I think this is a great point. While losing Yao and Deke hurt the defence in a big way, it doesn't excuse the team for playing D so poorly. No doubt the Rockets lack that much needed presence in the middle, but would it be enough to cover up the rest of their defensive liabilities? I'm thinking no.
Defense might win the Champion. But Offence sell tickets. Lex wants to make money. Morey just did what he was told to do.
Winning fills the seats, not just a good offense. Les wanted to be more exciting on the offensive side of the ball, but I think he'd trade it to be a winning team.
I also agree that getting someone to fill the middle wouldn't fix everything defensively, but I do think it would be a good place to start. Then perhaps other things will fall in to place.
Dear Defense: Please elude us. I don't want you to come back. I've had enough of 70 point games. Regards Adelman/W22_STREAK/Morey
I've come to terms with who this team is. I was excited at the beginning since Yao was returning and with him felt we legitamately have a 46 - 50 win team. Without him, I faced the fact that we are a 40 win team at best. It's not just the talent on this team, the heart isn't there anymore. There is a few games in between where this team scraps but it's not there most nights. I'm trying not to put too much into these games anymore, if they are on, I watch, but i'm not revolving my life around the rockets game schedule anymore.
While we can (and I do) criticize RA for a lot of things, general team D is not something we can pin on him. RA cannot make guys like AB and Martin give a damn on D night in and night out. RA cannot turn Martin and Hill into ferocious defenders like Artest and Deke. RA cannot grow Hayes up into a 7'6 rim protector like Yao. RA cannot turn back the hands of time for Battier's aging body. Truth be told, once we lost Yao, Mutombo, and Artest, our D is going to go down the drain, especially with the putty players we have taking their place. Without any sort of rim protectors, it leaves us with virtually no buffer for mistakes on defensive rotations and perimeter D. That means our perimeter players HAVE to play D and make smart rotations on EVERY play if we want to compensate for our near lack of rim protective presence and interior D. Hayes is great, but he is a situational defender. Battier gets older and slower every year. Hill looks like he regresses mentally with every other game. Lee is good, but he lacks the mass to defend against bigger wingmen. As far as AB and Martin, I see flashes, but typically I expect them to give as much effort as an obese nerd. The Rockets need a charismatic and energetic defender like Hakeem, Deke, or Garnett that can change the mentality of the locker room and get their team hyped to defend. Even if you lack proper defensive techniques, you can still be a decent defender if you have the right attitude and that attitude is to take pride in the belief that if the guy you guarding scores on you, he earned it, because you put forth every effort from every muscle fiber and bone in your body to stop him. Defense starts with effort and these Rockets have no heart.
