ROX hasn't give Bonzi enough mins in regular season,then didn't trade him b4 deadline. Rox didn't realize Head can't play PG at all. Sign Span,Novak,JL III as benchwarmers. Blame JVG and the GM.
Uh, would you if their best player was the PF? Every time Yao went to guard Deron Williams, the only person stopping Boozer from the basket was Shane Battier
RIET -- These people have been serious all year long. They act like no player in the league can defend like Rafer Alston or pass like Rafer Alston. They ignore the defined needs of the position. They say his shooting percentage is trivial and "it's not his job to shoot" ... yet dismiss the insane quantity of shots that he takes because "that's what he's asked to do". To say now that "Rafer stepped up his game in the playoffs" ... I mean what can you say except it's insanity. It always has been.
Not in the first championship season. People forget that Scott Brooks was the backup until he got injured and it was only THEN that Sam Cassell got his shot. He just happened to make the most of it when he got it.
Talent gap? Most people thought the talent gap at the beggining of the season was in the Rockets favor. We had Bonzi and could have gotten Mike James at the trade dead line. I agree with clutch. JVG made his bed and all of us are stuck sleeping in it.
For the record, I haven't made a statement about Rafer all season long as I generally try to avoid the GARM. I hated seeing him take shots in the playoffs just like everyone else but the cold truth is that just because he's everyone's favorite scapegoat doesn't mean this series loss is on him.
i agree. you know who else you could remove rafer's name and replace it with? that has gone overlooked and in my opinion has become one of the most overrated, overhyped players i've ever seen? Shane ****ing Battier. oh i know, i know....his "intangibles" dont show up on the scoresheet. he's chasing the teams best scorer around all game....you can't quantify that! blah blah blah. i'd hate to break it to you people, but he is worthless. where was his help defense this series? how were deron williams and matt harpring getting to the hole at will? where's all the hustle plays that dont show up in the scoresheet that change ball games? he's a complete statue on offense, and completely overrated as a defender. he eats up 40 minutes a game and all he is good for is shooting 3's from the corner when he's wide open. it's the same to me as the stros situation with adam everett. he's a great defensive ss. that's fine and good, but when your team is losing because they cant score more than 2 runs a game, and he's a completely inept hitter, he loses his value. not that battier's defense is even comparable to everett's, but similar situations. i think battier's only a slightly above avg defensive player anyway. we need to transition into a more offense-oriented team, and that means replacing him and rafer, in my opinion, at least from the starting lineup.
I agree. UNDERACHIEVED. We should have averaged 100 points a game. But we were one dimensional half court pick and roll with two of the most gifted offensive players in the game.
Biggest Problem I had with JVG tonight was hanging his players out to dry. Its pretty obvoius that Yao could not guard Boozer thats like asking Tmac to guard SNash or Kobe (which he doesnt, Shane does) because that would wear him out. Why WHY WHY is Yao guarding the other teams best players with better help or quick double teams?? Where is our version of the zone? I think the zone would have been a great way to mix up our defense and force Utah to beat us from outside which I dont think they would be able to do. J
I didn't say Yao shouldn't have been cautious, I just said most of the time Deron Williams was coming off a screen despite your assertion that he took Rafer to the hoop all night long.
If you think JVG didn't sign off on both deals you haven't been a Rockets fan long enough. Blame Les, fine but blaming CD and not JVG is sublime ignorance.
All I remember from back those days was Rudy putting in players like Tim Breaux and Randy Livingston. I was like WTF? V Span never even came off the bench, which was weird.
mike james isn't the answer at his age or price. this team lost for plenty of reasons. and not having mike james might have been 1 reason in about 100.
what would be your list of reasons? 1. No producer other than TMac and Yao? Wow, Mike James sure could have been helpful 2. Didn't have a person that could create his own shot other than TMac? Wow, Mike James sure could have done that 3. Our offense could shoot at all Mike James could have added to this but he wouldn't have hesitated going to the basket with 6 minutes left with the Jazz over the foul limit 4. Our perimeter defense sucked I doubt James could have down any worse than Rafer did on Williams. Anything else?
Regular Season Assists Per Game: Alston - 5.4 James - 3.2 Regular Season Points Per Game: Alston - 13.3 James - 10.1 Regular Season FG%: James - .423 Alston - .375 Regular Season 3PT%: James - .372 Alston - .363 Regular Season Steals Per Game: Alston - 1.57 James - 0.67 Regular Season Rebounds Per Game: Alston - 3.4 James - 2.0 Playoff Stats (Anything) Per Game: Alston - Insert any number here James - 0.00 So why again would Mike James have been a better option for our team? Doesn't seem like he's that much greater than Alston in anything except FG% (and then it's a 5% difference).
Um, duh? If you're claiming CD was a total lapdog though to Gundy I think you're misguided and haven't been a Rocket fan for very long. IE. Spanoulis, Novak etc. etc.
