After watching games so far, I lost most of hope for this team. Yao got little better but still not dominant. T-Mac is T-Mac who has same mind-set as he played for Magic. JVG's offense is not working at all. Most of all, players aren't hungry for winning. They seem like they don't know how good the taste of winning is. They just admit themselves as losers. They don't hustle at all. I'm watching SAC vs LAL, and I can easily see both of team have passion for victory. They hustle, they run, and they compete. We need changes. I haven't agreed with having more people trade, but now I agree. We might think about trading even Yao.(I know it's kinda crazy. But we need that much change!!!) or We need a new coach. Not because JVG is so bad - I believe that he's a good coach but not an excellent coach. - but because we need to change that brings a strong alarm to players. One another option: just keep playing like this or even worse. and go for lottery pick and let's find a player like LeBron James.
I posted this in the game thread, but it is probably more appropriate here: The schedule up until this point has been the worst of the season. We've only played five of our first 14 at home. Eight of our first 15 games are back-to-back games, only one game of which is at home and every set of back-to-back games has travel on the night after the first game. This on top of the fact that, other than Sacramento, we had the toughest preseason in the NBA with a trip to China and a greatly reduced practice schedule. We've also been without our leading scorer for 2 games and our projected starting point guard for all of the games. Good teams end up slightly above .500 on the road for a season. The Rockets are currently 4-5 on the road. If they improve their home record - something they will likely do given the difference in their statistics in home vs. road games - and stay around .500 on the road, they will be a solid playoff team. This isn't to say they don't have prroblems. They do. There is no question that they have some personnel issues that need to be addressed sooner, preferably, rather than later. But, considering the schedule, it isn't a real shocker that they are below .500. I think Jonathan Feigen predicted they would finish November at 7-9 which requires they split their last two games of November, both at home and both against teams who are struggling at the moment. If that happens, we'll be about where most people thought we would be at the end of a VERY tough first month of the schedule. This doesn't dismiss some of the problems this team has. You can't ignore Yao's inconsistency, the serious hole at power forward, the struggles at the point guard position, the lack of shooters on the team, the lackadasical defense, the sluggish offense and the piss poor rebounding. Frankly, you get Sura back and make one decent deal for a solid power forward who can rebound and you probably solve most of those problems. It's really early in the season. This is a marathon, not a sprint. It is WAY too early to lose hope. Just ask Astros fans.
Well, if it was a only problem of their ability, I might not say like this. But, when it come to the point of passion, I have to say that. They didn't show any passion to win. They have to heat themselves up to fight against their oppnent when it comes to close game. But I couldn't see something like that from our team. I want to see more passion for victory. For that, we need to change. That's why we need to change our coach, not because of his ability, but because of change of team chemistry.
I hate to say it: Yao will never be a great player if he rebounds like the last 14 games. He looked one-dimensional and inconsistent. Maybe trade him when his stock is high? Yao + Taylor for 1) Boozer + Arroyo 2) Odom + Mihm 3) Brand + Jaric 4) ... ?????????
Actually, I watched Pacers game and they moved me a lot. They don't have Oneal, Artest, Jackson, but they still win the game. When their star players are gone, their bench members are ready to step up and lead the team to win. It's not about only ability. It's about passion and chemistry for victory. I don't think that our roster is worse than what Pacers have now. But we are losing and they are winning. We need a change. It's not about filling up weak spot. It should be all about filling the passion.
There exists an offensive system (probably many systems) where all these players can excel and score loads of points during the SAME game. We just need to find this offensive system.
SF3 is full of passion. When you talked about Championship team. I remember the Bulls after Jordan's first retirement. Everbody said they were done. But they won more than 50 games, got into second round playoff and gave Knicks a good fight. In that team, they used CBA player Pete Meyers to fill the start 2 position.
JF predicted an 8-8 November. He also predicted an 11-2 December. Overall, his call was a 49-win season. At this point, both of those seem somewhat optimistic. While an abundance of home games should lead to a much better record in December, no way are these guys ready to play a month of 0.850 basketball.
Look, I'm not trying to say I think this team is playing well or that it is where it should be, but what exactly did you expect in November given the number of new players, the injuries and the brutal schedule? What, you think we were going to go 12-4 or something like that? This is NOT a team ready to contend for the title. It just isn't. Anyone who thought this roster was ready for that was dilluding himself. Seattle and Phoenix will come back to the pack. Rest assured they will not be 60-win teams at the end of the season even though they are playing well now. If you figure the best teams in the west are likely going to be San Antonio and Minnesota when all is said and done given the talent they have, look at their records. SA is 10-3, where they should be playing well. They are the class of the league at this point. Minnesota is 7-5 and has played more home than away games. In the east, Miami - supposedly one of the best now with Shaq - is 9-5 and, given their competition in the first 14 games, not exactly what everyone was hoping. The Rockets were not going to run off with any major leads in their conference. With the exception of New Orleans, ours is the toughest division in the league. The west, as a conference, is extremely well balanced top to bottom. There are 12 teams who could legitimately have a shot at the playoffs. This isn't to say we don't need improvement. We do. But, so many people take such a short-sighted view of the game and forget the big picture.
Our schedule has been difficult, but a home loss to the Knicks is a home loss to the Knicks, and the Hawks are still the Hawks....
Well, I'm not talking about lost itself. I want to see better game win or lose. What I'm complaining is this team doesn't show any strong passion for win. That's about it.
Please tell all the fans to close their eyes, don't watch the game, have some delusional dream. We will be fine in the future.
Hey, I'm with you there. Like I said, we have problems. I just think that, far too often, people don't have respect for the league and respect for winning. It is hard to win in this league. It always has been. Too often, people dismiss winning casually and harshly criticize losing without understanding the realities of professional basketball. I guess I just wish more fans had a real appreciation for the sport, its history and the competitiveness of the NBA. We aren't playing in a vaccuum here. rlambs26: I'm not disagreeing with you about the passion on the floor. I do think we are playing without a real sense of urgency and that, IMO, is based on the lack of chemistry this team has. I do think that it is personnel-related. Not that we need a ton of more talent, just that we need better complimentary players. Also, I personally don't care about how the team wins as long as they win. I'd much rather have an ugly W than a pretty L. Besides, playing pretty wins games in the regular season but not in the playoffs. Every year, there are at least a couple of paper tigers out there who win a bunch of games but get kicked in the playoffs. Memphis was that team last year. I wouldn't be surprised if Phoenix is that team this year.
Please tell all the fans that the sky is falling and the Rockets will never survive without your wisdom. Take some advice: it is better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.
(1) A 50-win season was not an unreasonable expectation. That is quickly fading out of reach. (2) The Rockets are looking significantly worse than the Lakers most nights. Record aside, at a minimum, that is where I think the level of play should be. I think most people would agree that the current Rockets have more talent than the current Lakers. (3) As to the "brutal schedule," after tonight, the Rox have played one fewer game than the Lakers (albeit with three fewer home games, but that evens out over the next week). The China trip may have been encouraged by the league, but it is Les and the organization that approved it.
just one note, after tonight the rockets will have still played 1 more game than the lakers. and after tommorrow that will incrase to 2.
I am pretty sure that somewhere in T-Mac's extension, there is an out clause which is tied to Yao's staying in Houston. You think T-Mac would demand a trade to play with Boozer/Odom/Brand.
