Rockets are definitely better without Tmac for now. (Alston is irrelevant) After finally getting a chance to check out the Rockets play without Tmac, I came away with the following: 1) Without Tmac, the execution on the offensive end appears more decisive. Players know their roles and play within those boundaries, most of the time. a. Yao=low post and the go to guy in the post unless other favorable matchups present themselves b. Luis Scola= pick and roll guy with AB, medium range jumper, and occasionally high post guy c. Shane battier= three pt specialist at the corners and the post feeder d. AB= three pt shooter (mainly around the top of the key), occasional play creator, and fast break opportunist. e. Ron Artest= three point shooter and another post option Some people say having fewer possible plays hurts a team but I think running a few plays well is actually better than having a bunch of poorly run options. Aka( the Dream era and Stock/Malone era). A simple pick and rolls seems elementary but a well run p/r can manifest into variation of scenarios that a defense can never plan for. Though I agree that losing Tmac’s ability to create his own shot will hurt our offense in the playoffs, I think Ron Artest’s size and ability to finish with contact will more than make up for it. 2) Without Tmac, our defense is much improved b/c now we don’t have a real chink in our armor other than maybe Yao in pick and roll situations. No longer do we have people walking in for a layup, every layup by the other team requires some sort of maneuver in the air. 3) Without Tmac, we don’t think as one, we are one. Everyone plays harder b/c players don’t have the excuse of “ well at least I am playing harder than Tmac”. I think with Tmac, his iso-plays always leave teammates a little unsure as to where they should be on the court b/c frankly Tmac doesn’t really know where the play is going…which make it hard for the defenders but just as hard for teammate not knowing whether he should cut or go for a rebound. In addition, Tmac needs about 15 touches or more to be effective, meaning he needs to get warmed up before he finds his stroke.
Brooks and Lowry combined for 14 assists and 1 turnover last night. Oh, and we beat the Cavs convincingly.
Had the officials not screwed Yao out of the game in Cleveland, I believe we would have beaten them there as well. I just think we match up well against them, regardless of the recent changing of our guards.
All the "analysis" anyone needs is in one sentence. Without Grady and Alston, they play the game at a higher tempo.
The only time Tmac will be effective on the floor is when he plays bench playerslike this. Lowry Tmac Barry Cook Deke Here he can create his own shot if he wants to, can pass, butwe do't need a 20M player playing for 10 minutes a game. Period.
you see how brooks and lowry would push it........tmac would never run the break with those two pushing it. him and yao are the slow ones and sometimes along with scola. how you gonna run a one man or two man break all the time? you see the transition offense is way better because brooks and lowry would have guys trailing them for the break..
