we would be 6-2 heading into our home game tonight against LA would you be happy as a fan? I know I certainly would be. I know there's a lot of factors that play into this but I think people are freaking out way too early. Positives in my opinion: 1) New TMac- He definitely is a more determined player this season. You can tell by the fact that he is attacking the basket (he isn't worrying about his back anymore) 2) Yao- Defensively he's been poor but overall offensively he's been very good. I agree with the posters who say he needs to get more touches towards the end of games. 3) Hayes- He's a fouling machine but what do you expect out of a 6'6 PF starting in the West. He does a little bit of everything and has become our best hustle guy. 4) Bonzi- Despite his recent struggles in the past two games he has been a really key guy off the bench. Definitely a different player witha different attitude. 5) Our scoring is up. At least this season we know if we have to gun it out with a team we can. That's about it so far. I'll give Luther a pass because he hasn't been bad and has only played limited minutes. The rest of our team has struggled to defend and shoot. Rafer and james have been aweful, Scola clearly needs to adjust, and suprisingly it looks like Shane got old overnight. If not for the Lakers game winner I think people would be even more down on him. Despite all this we are 6-2. I think we definitely have tons of room to improve and we already have quality wins at home and on the road.
We need to pull up the "prediction" thread and see what everyone said the record would be for November. I know I figured a loss to the Mavs and to the Spurs for this first couple of weeks. So I guess we made up for it losing to Memphis. People are reactionary, so every loss is the end of the world. Shoot this year, every win is the end of the world here in the GARM
i agree. on any given night, any team can get an W against a superior team. plus, it dosnt help when the balls dont bounce your way, fouls dont get called fairly and no one can hit a shot. these things dont happen every game, and probably wont happen more often than not. we have too many good guys on this team to struggle for too long. to be 6-2 and not playing at our best, or even near it, im extremely happy.
no, yao's defense wasn't poor at all last nite. the refs took him out. he couldn't play aggressively. the refs allowed WWF wrestling to defend yao but didn't allow yao to do anything. we lost because we didn't involve yao at the critical time, last 5 and 6 min. yao's only job on offense end was to p&r but no ball came back to him. it's plain and simple. we tied the game near the end of the game. we had chance to win if yao was involved but we settled a low % js.
I sort of agree with Agg on the defense. Yao struggled defensively but only after he picked up the fouls. Just to put it in perspective.. our front court, Yao Hayes and Battier... 14 fouls between them (7 in the first half). The Griz front court, Gay Gasol and Milicic ended the game with 9 (they had 4 of those in the first half - I think, I know Rudy Gay got two quick ones but then only had one the rest of the game) Taking Chuck out of the game so early and then Yao getting his third in the second quarter seriously changed the Rockets defense. Yao had to be less agressive to stay in the game and because Chuck couldn't cover him by fouling the players driving because he wanted to stay in the game. Without those two the interior defense becomes a wee bit porous. That's why the Griz got 52 points in the paint. Sorry this probably could have gone in the game thread, but since I was responding to the Defense post I figured no biggie.
We're actually scoring slightly less than we averaged last year - and last year's stats include a ton of games without Yao and/or TMac. It's funny that despite all the coaching and personnel changes, at the end of the day, we have the same starting 5 and virtually the same points scored, points allowed, and differentials as last year.
It hurts about as much as Dallas's & Phoeix's losses in Atlanta. Every team has'm, so let's not micromanage ourselves to death(I think I just wasted my ink there).
I almost put it in there (or the post game analysis) but it was more of a season overview too. Plus, by now those threads have went South
That's interesting. I didn't know that obviously. That being said, I still would say we are a better scoring team this year (as in we have bench that can score as opposed to last season). I have much more confidence in this team then last seasons
There's a ton of room for improvement (where's the 3rd scorer, pg play is awful) but more to look forward to. They're 6-2 in a completely new system that I get the feeling hasn't been anywhere close to fully implemented. There's still a lot of standing around when Yao & McGrady have the ball. While there is a lot to work on, I'm very happy about where they are and where they're going. It's only going to get better as the season goes on. Besides, I'd take a .750 win percentage any day. That works out to 61 or 62 wins.
You're absolutely right, I'm estatic about 6-2. Don't like losing to teams you should beat by at least 10 points: Yao's defense was poor because he fail to realize the Darko can only shoot over his left shoulder with that ridiculous jump hook PG defense his horrible, James and Rafer look like moving vans backing up against a porsche. Shots didn't fall and haven't fallen for the last couple of games. That means get in some extra shooting practice quickly We look a lot like JVG ball, with endless number of pick and rolls with Tmac and Yao. How about rafer setting a pick and cutting to the buck. Gets him closer to the rim.
I'm happy with the record, but not with the level of play from the guards (other than T-Mac). We really haven't played well as a team since the San Antonio game.
This team needs are the same needs it had for the last four years, a point guard and a true powerfoward. Two all-stars and 3 shrubs will win games in the regular season, but in the playoff Rafer can only bring the ball up and give to Tracy, Hayes is great on defense but on offence his man doubles Yao or Tracy, Battier is great on defense but that’s all. Are three big off season accusations are two bench players off losing teams James, Frances and Scola who is rookie
I am happy but i am a cynic by nature. I would be happier if we could get our role players to play better. The last two games have just been the Yao and T-mac show. We cant win with just our two starts playing well. We need our role players to step up. But i guess it will just take a while to get adjusted to the new offense. If there is one thing that i am really happy about it would have to be that are defense has not been hurt. This shows me once we learn the offense we will amazing because we play well on both ends.
