I wonder if RA is tanking intentionally to some degree. With NY looking to make the playoffs their pick isn't that great and perhaps Morey wants a high pick. I don't know, but the decision making on RA's end doesn't make any sense. Playing the young guys so much...usually a sign that your team isn't very good.
Yeah, but that was because of the low expectations everybody had. I think the Sports Illustrated had us ranked 12th or something like that in the WC, but we were able to stay in the playoff race until the end of the RS. This year, everybody was talking about how good this team is and some even called the Rockets contenders. Obviously, the Rockets are playing pretty bad right now. And the first person who is usually blamed in professional sports when a team is playing bad is the coach. You can't ignore the fact that Rick is not coaching very well right now. I wouldn't fire him just yet, but if our record doesn't get better until maybe January, something has to happen. Also it could have a positive impact on the team if they got a new head coach, but you never know that for sure.
<br> Have you seen how close this team has been, and then lost? Yeah, it's easy to say, "hey guys we're almost good enough!" It's another altogether to have a coach who is able to execute a late game play that actually works. Or better yet to have a rotation that is somewhat set. A decent defensive strategy works too. Again, to be fair last night (unlike all season log) Adelman did a good and balanced job of substituting players. Late game composure is what we need, but it has nothing to do with maturity at this point. Yao/Martin/Battier/Scola/Miller/Chuck have been playing for so many years. Even Brooks and Lowry are "veterans" at this point. How are you going to blame our late game execution solely on that? It's the head coach's job to put the pieces together and make them click. So far, that isn't happening. Scola/Martin/Yao/Brooks are all very good players. Contrary to what you're trying to portray, they aren't being asked to do more than they can. <br> <br> Get real. Every team goes through line-up changes in the offseason. The head coach's job is to manage all that and make sure the players understand what the team is about. To think this is a unique situation to Adelman makes you sound completely idiotic. Portland managed decently well last season and this season with their plethora of issues. Secondly, you're off base saying this team doesn't know who's in and out of the line-up every night. Everyone knows what Yao's limit and schedule is. As far as other injuries happen, well every team has to go through that. They manage to play a consistent style (style being the key word here) of offense and defense throughout. Half the time, I can't even tell what the hell this team is trying to do. It seems like they go through stretches where they are completely lost as far as the game plan goes. I think that the only really good season Adelman has had here was last year, and the playoffs the year before. Other than that, Yao/Artest carried us to a dominate second half in the 08-09 season. We were doing terrible that season as well. The year before that, McGrady/Rafer (i can't believe i'm admitting to rafer doing well) and to a lesser extent Yao (pre-injury) carried us through a 22 game win streak. As I previously stated, I don't like relying on second half of the season cindarella stories to get into a middle order playoff seed. I'd like the team to be managed well throughout so we can actually get a good seed in the playoffs. Yeah, a 50+ season would be great by my standards too. As of now though, there's no way in hell that's happening. If something radical happens and that changes, I'd be very happy. I just don't think it will the way things are going currently.
i agree about needing a coaching change right now, but also believe we also need to fire Daryl Morey and make a few changes in the lineup. since we don't have Yao Ming and Brooks in the lineup right now, this is a good chance to give players such as Jermaine Taylor, Jarred Jeffries, and Patrick Patterson some playing time so they can show they can play the game and of course contribute to the team. of course right now Patterson is in the D-League but we should call him back and give him the opportunity to play with the team. hopefully if we can do all this we can turn this thing around and start winning games again.
It sort of is, but at the same time its not. Yes, it is a little early to cast him out as the lepper, but Adelman has to be accountable for his ability to win and lose with the team, schedule, and injuries he has in place. He is a great offensive coach, but his coaching on defense is non-existent. The NBA has changed and you just cannot simply outscore an opponent without coaching the team defensively. Until he can change his coaching style and all the sudden just stop what he has been doing for 15 years, the conversation should be there on whether or not he is the right coach for the Rockets. I sure hope that Morey and Les are managing him properly behind closed doors because out in the open it looks as if he is free to run this team into the ground. If I am Les Alexander, and I am the owner of this team, I convey PROFESSIONALLY, that you are unhappy with the performance so far this year, and would wish to see a larger focus on defense with no excuses about the schedule, injuries, and too many players on the roster. If we do not see a major change by the All-Star break, then we will be forced to look in another direction as an organization.
Iv'e gotten very angry with Adelman especially his decision to consistenly play Chuck Hayes major minutes. i've said this before and I'm so sick of Chuck trying to get to the basket and score, every single freakin time he loses the ball or gets called for traveling. With that being said, the team isn't good. The defense is ridicolous and no one is a clutch go to guy on offense. We can survive with that if we had lock down defense but not when we give up easy buckets on every possession down the stretch. It's not all on Adelman and I dont know who else out there would be any better, I think most of it is on the players. Adelman CAN do a better job than what he's doing though and needs to light a fire up their asses. I see Kevin Martin and some of the other players on the court are perfectly fine with underachieving, they simply aren't determined to be the best and dominate. I feel like they are ok with just trotting out there, scoring a bunch of points and looking good on the stat sheet but the determination and fire to compete is definitely not there. That my biggest gripe with Kmart.
Then we wonder why Rockets Defense sucks, CHUCK HAYES 6'6 PF/C Can't block shots when other teams decide to penatrate to the basket. Play Jordan Hill more!!!!!!! If I was in the NBA and if I was a guard, I wouldn't hesitate at all to drive to the basket if I seen Chuck Hayes as the big man trying to protect the basket.
he might be one of the most winning coaches but he is terrible i believe that if he had Kobe or Gasol we wouldn't win the champ because of his bad decisions!
A lot of b****ing about bad coaching when the reality is we suck. We are an unathletic team. I wasn't as obvious we Ariza and Battier at the wings, AB running the show and Landry and his explosive offense off the bench. But now we are the worst team in the league based on athleticism. That is not the coaches fault. FIre Adelman and replace him but understandit's not his fault the team sucks. I would prefer to wait till yao and AB come back and get in top shape and after the one trade I expect them to make if we are competitive at all. If that is the case and the Rockets don't improve than fire him and look for another coach in the off season. But this Rocket team has been destroyed by hanging on to Yao and Tmac for too long. If the trade when he still has value they get another true all star in his place. Now Yao is questionable if he will ever really be an all star again. Both of those guys have stopped us from being the worst and made us miss out on Derrick ROse's and John Walls and Brandon ROy's. You can also blame Adelman for making a team much better than they should have been. 42-42 with the team we had was overachieving and make no mistake about it that team in the first part of the year is better than team we have on the court right now. Fire Adelman if they will but rememberit is not his fault we have inferior talent. ANd we definitely do.
If you want an answer to your question (which I think is based on a myopic viewpoint that is essentially a knee jerk opinion; "my team is struggling and I don't like the coach's decisions so far, FIRE HIM! And replace him with a n00b!") then YES I think Adelman can win a title in that ridiculous comparison of the Celtics team you keep referring to. It still is a r****ded question and premise you put up, but I'll humor you. It's not like it deserves a valid answer anyways. I can answer it with the recital of the Gettysburg Address and can honestly say the question has about the same merit as the answer.
<br> This is laughable. Fans and analysts alike insisted this bench is one of the deepest in the league. We have two prolific scorers in Brooks and Martin. We have Scola who has been statistically performing at an all-star level. Lowry/Miller/Bud/Hill/Lee were supposed to be one of the best benches. Yao, although severely restricted is back. How exactly do we have inferior talent?? I would argue that this team has better talent than most years in recent memory. As far as athleticism goes, Bud/Lee/Hill are very athletic. Lowry and Brooks (even Ish) can push the tempo whenever they want. Chuck Hayes and Scola are able to run as well as any big men. Yao is who he is, and we've known that for a long time now. Sorry, but I don't see a glaring lack of athleticism except for Battier/Miller
Don't listen to the basketball pundits. Watch the games. There are many little things we can disagree with but if you think the basketball team we put on the court currently is better than last years team you are seriously deficient in basketball IQ and officially on my my "Doesn't No Shiit About basketball" list.. Let's be clear we were a work in progress coming into the year. You do not add Yao and Miller and Lee and Hill and give Cbud a more significant role expect every thing to mesh out of the gate. We had a terrible preseason schedule. We are trying to fit Martin Yao and Brooks together and while having Yao in and out with stupid time restraints. Add that with the fact Our opening schedule was grueling so it is no wonder we started off 0-5. Do you get that so far? Okay let me break it down further for your basketball impaired brain. Name all of the positions we are clearly better at than last year. And let us be clear Yao and Brooks are not on the team that is currently losing. Even when they do come back it will be several weeks before they are back in sync and that's optimistic. Inspite of what Morey says chemistry is a big part of the game. Yes you have to have talent but to get the talent to play like team is difficult. It's what Adelman has been good at in the past. Getting his players to work like a team. Look at the heat. They clearly have the most talented starting five in the league and struggle to get to work together. Bosh the all star looks average. Lebron and Wade haven't figured how to work together and they are clearly two of the best.. Spoelstra is not a bad coach. As for the Rockets we lost Ariza who is head and shoulders better than any sf we currently have. But worse than he was our athleticism on an unathletic team. Bud and Battier don't bring that at all. And that is not even taking into account Bud is sucking up the court with his shooting. We also lost Landry who was also very athletic and the best go to guy we had on the team last year. Yeah Scola is playing great but is Scola better than Scola and Landry last year. I think not. Are Miller and Hill better than Hayes maybe and eventually probably but the difference is arguable considering Hayes was such a solid defender. Hill is inconsistent albeit he played his best game yesterday. Lowry and Ish are not even close to Brooks and Lowry combo. When Lowry was out last year it hurt us bad but the Brooks of last year was struggling in the beginning of this year and now he is out and that is hurting us big time.Without AB this team is absolutely worst than last year. Yeah Martin and Lee are better at the 2 then what we had last year but Lee has been inconsistent. And with no low post threat the other have now figured they can play Martin tight and force him to the lane were he is struggling. As for our second unit, yes we are not bad, that is why we our even competitive without Yao and Brooks but I personally think we are overrated. Bud was supposed to be a future star off the bench and he is crap. Even when he is shooting well he is a libility on D. lee is inconsistent. Hayes can't shoot. Hill is playing better but has had some terrible lapses of bad play. And the biggest problem is our first unit isn't that much better than our second. That is a problem that I do not of any other team having. The return of Yao and AB will help but not right away. As I said Chemistry is imprtant to team play. it is why veteran teams like San Antonio and Boston and LA stay on top and why you can't add talent to your team and expect them to fit. Yeah Boston did it but ther roles were perfect. Ray Allen stepped and let the limelight be split between KG and Pierce and they each brought different things to the team. So the chemistry issue will still take time before we really. ALot of games playing together and winning will help tremendously. But even with that we are still and unathletic team. I would like to acquire an athletic sf. That would be my wish before the trade deadline. If we can do that and all the other things happen we will turn it around. Regardless if Adelman is here or gone. Personally I think coaching is overrated as well. At the NBA level anyway. Everybody knows the play calling. Most plays work if you have great players to execute them. You do need some motivation but not on this team. IMO this is mostly self motivated. You think the coaching is not getting most out of the players and I think the players are mostly overacheiving. Maybe not always but mostly. So fire the coach if they want but don't expect much change untill we get Yao and AB back and they start to practice together as a team.
<br> Ease up with the insults brah. No reason to get touchy. You've made quite a few unreasonable claims (including Dorsey being better than Hill LOL) over the years and frankly your smug "more knowledgeable than thou" shtick makes you sound like a complete tool. Perhaps we should add you to the "doesn't know(grammar?) **** about basketball" list... I understand we were a work in progress coming into the year. That was made clear with Yao coming back after a year long layoff. You're seriously blaming the preseason schedule? I'm not even going to address that. Brooks and Martin had half a season last year to mesh together. Brooks/Battier/Scola have all played before with Yao in the starting line-up together. While I understand there takes time to re-adjust, there should not be this many issues. Uhm, Brooks and Yao are on the team. Brooks was here for the first two games and we were doing the exact same crap we're doing now back then. Yao has only been out for a few games now. To exclude them is not a valid point. Anyways, we're obviously better at the 4 spot with Luis playing out of his mind and Hill doing much better. The 5 spot is a lot better with Yao coming back and Miller/Hill doing a lot better as back up. The 2 spot is much improved over last year. The PG position is in a bit of turmoil, but it's mainly b/c Lowry has been playing poorly thus far. The only position that has seriously regressed in performance is SF. What was your point again? LOL did you seriously just say Spoelstra isn't a bad coach?!? Now I really can't take you seriously. We're talking about a second year coach trying to manage 3 of the biggest stars in the NBA today. He's expected to struggle. Many believe that Pat Riley will take over at some point as he always does. Trying to compare him to Adelman is unfair. Adelman doesn't have 3 crazy egos he has to work with. He should be expected to do a better job than Spoelstra. The Heat will do well on talent alone. An advantage we can't rely on. You're right about the SF position being much weakened. I admitted to as much earlier on. However, Bud is just as athletic as Ariza. He has a 40+ inch vertical for christ sake. Do people really not realize this? So, you admit that our bench isn't bad, right? They're actually still pretty damn good. Our starting line-up has good players as well. Why do you think that Scola/Yao/Brooks/Martin aren't that much better than our second unit? That's definitely a new one. So you previously said that our bench is terrible, and now our starters aren't much better. Damn, this team must be complete crap. Let's pretend that certain players are at least good and others aren't. Isn't it the coaches job to allocate playing time and dictate substitution patterns to curb those players' negative impact? Who exactly are we adding to this team that needs time to mesh? I'm still trying to figure this out. The only one who deserves some time is Courtney Lee, and lately it seems like he's finally figuring things out a bit. The rest of the guys have all played together, save Miller with the entire team and Martin with Yao. But, those two guys are veterans who have been playing in Adelman's system for years. Moreover, we've been running Adelman's system for a long time now. If players still need time to adjust I don't know what to tell you. Other than uh, the system itself may be a problem with this set of players. But then again, these are the players who are supposed to be perfect for Adelman's sysytem, so I really don't know. I agree with you that we need an athletic SF. I'll go one step further and add that we need a solid two-way SF. I think the Rockets as a team have had enough time to practice with all their pieces. I understand it takes time, and injuries have derailed that, but we're doing fundamental things wrong. The lack of a basic defensive scheme for one is mind boggling. Our fourth quarter collapses are another. Somewhere down the line the coach has to take charge of the team and prevent it from self imploding. Save for last night, Adelman has not done this thus far. Yeah, things will get better when Yao and Brooks come back and some time is given to work things out. But, if Adelman's current strategies stay as they are, things are going to get a lot uglier pretty soon.
I don't think NY will make the playoffs this year. Amare's playing extremely aggresive for their team to have a chance every night, count on him to go down sometime this season. Our guys are young but they aren't rookies. In fact apart from Ish Smith most of our young guys have had at least 1 year of experience already, in brooks case he can already be seen as a seasoned vet. You won't be able to make sense of RA's decision simply because they are mistakes. Taking out Lee who was starting to gain momentum and putting in Battier who was missing all night can't be presented with a positive spin no matter how you look at it.
i think it is Morey who are responsible. the players he got all have pretty stat but no defense/heart.
I watched the Suns telecast too and heard them say that. Then they said they had never had a coach give them more minutes for playing poorly. But that being said, in defense of the coaching staff they see things in practice that we don't see. They know players strengths and weaknesses and how they fit into the team strategy/chemistry better than we do.
Adelman has been quoted as saying he is intentionally playing the young guys...the 2nd unit to give them experience. He's playing Hill more, he's play Ish, Lowry, Chase, and Lee. Why would you do that if you are trying to be a competitive ball club and win games? The answer is that you aren't really trying to win games. It seems the Rockets have realized they do not have a contender, so why finish in the middle of the pact and not improve. The team has way too much talent to be 3-10. Not a single person on this BBS or any basketball analyst predicted us to have that start - with or without Yao. It's hard to believe that Adelman is this much of a bone-head. I think that statement he made revealed the Rockets hands. Bottom line, either Morey has decided to develop young talent because he's planning to trade a guy like Brooks or someone else in order to get a superstar - maybe giving up a lot of the young talent too so he's showcasing that talent or.... ...he's intentionally tanking without trying to appear to be tanking. New York is actually looking like a decent team too. I think they may make the playoffs.
