I'm not just talking about wins and losses. I'm talking about trust, comraderie, selflessness. - tonight showed me alot about Mike James. He sure will run the offense when he sees his teammates running the floor, on fire like Tmac, hustling, playing with skill. James just needs to feel like he is a key cog, and he is. he is the 3rd most important player on this team. - with early success, Tmac will see that it is important for Mike James and bonzi wells to get touches, shots and score. They can and do change the game off the bench. Tmac is less likely to get irritated if Wells or James hoists up shots. - early success helps the team buy into Adelman's philosophy, trust the new style and plays. Share the ball, move without the ball. I think Tmac is beginning to see how much easier things are for him. Yao never b****es, but he has doubts about the new philosophy. Winning will help a ton - early success rewards the hustle of hayes, scola and battier.. It helps brand new teammates value the contributions of the others. - Francis is going to want to get in on this. He has to see that Rafer is the weak link in the rotation. Francis better get his ass in shape and be ready to step in when opportunity presents itself. Wins will (hopefully) keep Francis from openly b****ing any more, and motivate him. - I firmly believe that Alston saw Mike James' play tonight, and elevated his crappy play to mediocre. He showed more backbone and energy on defense, and after some ridiculous passes, stepped up and took a shot or two with confidence and took care of the damn ball. Alston knows James is eating into his minutes and Rafer has some pride.
Teams think it's last years Rockets by the looks of the 1st unit... And to be fair, the first unit plays like last year in the first quarter... But they aren't prepared for the 2nd unit,a nd the 2nd unit mixed with the 1st unit... All kinds of chemistries being worked out and some explosive ones... Teams don't have their own 2nd team of killers to compete... and then the Rockets take control of the game... Scola had a hell of a hustle game tonight... He and Hayes also play well together... Bonzi and Battier are great supporting players... Battier does everything!... TMac was insane tonight... He had the exact same kind of game 2 years ago in Utah, the last time they won there...
I wholeheartedly agree with your last point about Alston picking up his game to PROVE his worth on the court. Healthy competition amongst our team will only increase our productivity and drive our players further in the spirit of competition and result in everyone stepping up their game to prove they deserve playing minutes.
I dont really like either ALston or James (both have glaring weaknesses), but they keep each other in check. And our bench is actually legit this year with Scola, Bonzi, Head, James. Our 2nd team could probably beat a lot of other team's 1st team
