I'm all for being patient and I think we as Rockets' fans have been very patient. Most have supported this team through thick and thin, through every bad decision and every good one, but how long has it been since Houston won a playoff series? Time is a luxury that the Rockets cannot afford. This team has two top tier players on the roster so excuses and reasons for lack of success are starting to get ridiculous, and might be a way of covering up the incompotence of the front office and coaching staff. If they can't get out of the first round this year, the season will be a failure to me.
The biggest frustration I have right now is Adelman failed to modify his princeton offense to the two-super-stars team. IMO, the fundamental of Adelman's system is make for teams like Detroit or the old Kings which everyone could be the quasi-franchise-player. But for the Rox, this will never be the case, so until Adelman could figure out a way to convert his "old princeton offense" to suit our two-super-stars team, we will continue to suffer and fluctuate.
i think there are alot of variables that have to be taken into account. i dont understand why we have such high expectations with this team so early in the season. everyone who's expecting this team to be 82-0 is going to be severely disappointed. the offensive switch from Jeff Van Gundy's system to Rick Adelman's system is going to take alot more than just a few weeks or months to fully pay out dividends. remember when Jvg was here our offense relied heavily on Tracy and Yao for points. now that adelman is here we're focusing more on a team oriented offense more than an offense with two all stars with 3pt specialists. i dont expect to see any drastic improvements until the all star break or after it. you guys seem to forget that we're looking to do well in the playoffs and not burn out by the play offs. 06-07 dallas mavericks anyone? (yeah i hate dirk too) as long as we come out of the all star break ready and winning i'm going to be very satisfied
But Jeff I don't see them even trying to play what Coach 'A' described as his system at the beginning of the season. Possibly we don't have the right type of players for the Sacramento method?
doesn't matter tough schedule is not excuses because these are still the team they will face in the playoffs. If you can't even take on this challenge, then another first round flame out. Actually their lucky to even make it under RA
I've got to agree with Jeff, BUT I don't think it's going to take a year to implement Adelmans' style of play, by Feb we’ll know exactly what to expect.... ….a few things to consider: - We started out red hot, got everyone's hopes up i guess, reality was that we overachieved. - Yao Ming is playing a very different game, we are asking him to do new things that he’s never had to do, he’s going to have a learning curve. - Adelman’s still trying find a lineup that’s gonna stick, he himself is getting used to the players he has….don’t think he’s figured things out. - Francis & Bonzi are coming off seasons where they’ve played little, they need time to adjust, plus Scola is still learning to play the NBA game, I don’t think we’ve seen the best from anyone one of them. - Reality is Mike James is not having a very good season, he stunk it up in Minni, he’s been inconsistent with us; don’t know what’s in store from him. - I love Battier, but this guy should be coming off the bench, I wish we had J.Moon who plays for Toronto, would have been a perfect fit, a guy who loves to take it to the hole strong and is athletic enough to play tough D on almost anyone…..don’t know if y’all have seen this guy play, but he’s amazing. If we could take Calderon and Moon off Toronto’s hands, I guarantee you we’d win it all easily!!!
We're overachieving IMO. I thought given this early brutal schedule, and considering all the adjustments to new players, systems, plays, etc. that we'd be at least a couple of games under .500. We're 9-9, and Yao and T-Mac appear to be very healthy. I'm not complaining one bit. Did anyone see what happened to the Spurs? They just lost Duncan! He'll be out for some time.
i really dont see why so many people think getting kobe would make us so much better. we would still have rafer and chuck hayes starting, quickly declining battier, and a soft, turnover prone center who folds against physical play. the team might even be worse since kobe isnt the playmaker tmac is.
Lets not mention the fact that Mcgrady did practically all he could last game to dig us out of the whole we had. On good offence ( he shot a decent percentage). I think T-mac is the one who has adapted to this most easily. We all knew it would make his average go up. But his been able to drive to the hole alot more then last season and we are seeing dividends.Now we gota wait for the rest of the team to catch up.
The voice of reason has spoken. Barring major injuries, a team with Yao and T-mac will make the playoffs. Everything should be geared towards the post season. It's better to know that this starting lineup isn't gonna work as soon as possible, rather than having good results with them in the regular season, only to find out they can't get the job done in the playoffs, like the last season.
I would agree with the patience statement that there are 4-5 new players, new coaches and system so we need to time to build chemistry and learn the system. On the other hand, I am also looking at the Boston Celtics, their team has a lot new players (in fact more than us), who need learn new system and get along with their new coach and sure they are in East so the opponents are weak. However, I am not interested in their opponents or even their games as I am not a fan of Celtics. I watched a few of their games and I am impressed with their intensity, their energy and their will to win (no sloppiness). Whenever I watched them I also thought why Rockets do not play with such will and their players are not in slump as so many of ours do. Does anyone has any explanation that perhaps can enlighten the fact that Celtics can do so well while we are around 0.5? When the season starts I was hoping Rockets to be the current "Celtics" of the West let say 0.875. That's why a lot people are disappointed.
Yao is rebounding better and not tiring in the fourth. I usually expect newlywed men to forsake scoring and instead focus on rebounding. So, Yao is exceeding my expectations.
Exactly, that kills me. At times i think if i look over at the bench, there will be gundy standing there. where is the "we gonna mix it up?", the "we's gonna "experiment" spirit that came with a new offensive coach, system, and a new deep roster??? It pains me to watch hayes' offensive black hole and rafer's pinpoint NOT shot, while scola and steve, our miracle new acquisitions, who have proved themselves when given their minutes, who bring much needed toughness, are plonked on the bench. Now's the time to mix it up. Some more. At least more than yao/hayes/battier/mcgrady/alston + van gundy.
That is interesting. Overall, in the wins the T&M are scoring 54% of their points. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that leads the league. For comparison, I looked at the Lakers in the 99-00 season (won 67 games). Shaq and Kobe played in 64 games together, amassing a record of 54-10. In their wins, S&K scored 51% of the team's total points, and in the losses they scored 52% of the teams total points.
I wouldn't use those Lakers teams as a comparison because their two stars were MUCH better than our two. The Spurs are a better comparison (i.e, we need a 3rd spoke on the wheel because our two aren't good enough). Sam, poor coaching explains the lapses in intensity on both ends.
Let's take that 1 step further. Shaq played 40 mpg and avg'd 29.7 ppg. Kobe 38.2 & 22.5 ppg. The team avg'd 100.8 with S&K accounting for the 52.5% you alluded to. Now here's the kicker....the next scorer was a then 32 year old Glen Rice. No one else on the team was higher than 7.0 ppg Ron Harper. They could do it that way because Shaq's defensive presence contributed greatly to their defensive yield of 92.3 ppg. However, Shaq's presence doesn't account for the fact that they only gave up 32.9% from the arc. I mention this because Van Gundy's defensive emphasis is/was to take away the paint. Which they did exceptionally well. Hence, you could get away with slower, less athletic players who knew where they were supposed to be in a team concept. You beat Van Gundy's Rockets (as most of the WC elites and Utah did) with long distance shooting and reversing the ball to the weakside for a shot or penetration. My thoughts are not knee-jerk...they've been formed over several years. It is rooted in the changes in the NBA which favor athleticism and include the fact that Shaq and Kobe did not play in an era of the NBA zone. Not trying to "rain" on anyone's optimism but this team desperately needs diversity on both sides of the ball. That's not a knee-jerk...it's a multi-year opinion.
As long as we don't fall too far behind so that then we have to win 20 games in a row just to get the 4th seed I can wait. Lets just try to be patient since the freakin coach just got here, ok?
All I can say is, we have enough talent to beat anybody. Even if we make the playoffs as an 8 seed, I'm sure San Antonio will be scared as F*** and pissed to go against us. I'm don't know how long it's gonna take for our players and system to gel, but we all have seen what we can do against elite teams. We've already defeated the Spurs, Jazz, and Suns. Almost Dallas too. It's not panic mode yet.
