I agree that this is the the most likely explanation, combined with the trade winds that are blowing at Cat 5 forces. A player exchange needs to be executed in order to achieve closure, as the team emerges from the Tracy McGrady era, hence the pressure mounts daily on the shoulders of Darryl Morey.
I definitely think that this is part of the issue, but overall our offense is a read and react. That should help them in beating other teams scouting reports offensively. A mid season lull is possible I guess... but this group doesn't seem to be the type to have that.. they are all too competitive. Those two things were true offensively at the beginning of the season too... we were trying to figure out who was going to be the alpha dogs and take the tough shots at the end of the game. That's not what caused us to forget how to play defense. We have struggled defensively all season, compared to prior years because of no "eraser Yao" in the middle... so isn't that something that they should recognize that and focus on it? Instead we have people missing rotations left and right... then going down to the offensive end and trying to go one on one instead of running the offense. Thank you everyone for the discussion!
I have been thinking the same thing, that people are on edge because they fear they might be traded, or included in a package deal. No worries, that will all be over soon. DD
the other piece of this is that it could put DM in a difficult position. the team has been playing over its head for half a season now. morey has likely been having conversations with other teams based on those results. with the play of certain individuals leveling off (AB, Landry in particular) it could impact the value other teams place on our players. i liken it to trying to sell a stock at its peak. i think we may have missed the peak. and yes, i realize this dehumanizes the players, and i'm sorry for that.
thats why you dont wait till the deadline. morey thinks waiting will increase other offers, but it will backfire, the rockets are leveling off and other teams will back away instead of give more up.
Durvasa, I personally agree and think its a combination of both. There defense has not been that great all year and most people don't realize they lost two centers that were 7"6 and 7"2 that helped clog the paint.
I think the trade winds have something to do with it, but a combination of things, like durvasa said, might be contributing to it plus... guys like Brooks, Landry, and Ariza are probably just hitting a wall and need to get a "second wind" so to speak. None of these guys have carried a team over an entire season- Brooks and Landry were playing very limited minutes last season, up until the Rafer trade at least. Without looking, I'm sure Ariza logged plenty of minutes last year but was never a focus...even though he hasn't been very good trying to carry an offense, it still wears on a player trying to do so much. Combine this with the trade winds and other teams not underestimating us anymore, and you have a slump.
I don't think the problem is a trade coming vs a team that has to play full throttle to compete. Its hard to play full tilt for 82 games not to mention you're short on talent. Brooks and ariza has never played this much and had this much reponsibility in their pro careers, hayes is the starting center, and teams have identified how to negate the 1st,2nd,and 3rd reads. Mr. 4th qt is now being shown respect because they're denying him the ball. I know they're human, but really they're just playing to their talent level now vs overacheiving.
If you just think about it for a moment, there has to be a psychological element to it. I think that it's the only fault that I can find with a gm like Morey, is his emphasis on the fact that everyone is a trade possibility. While it might seem like something that would motivate people, Clutch is certainly right, they're only human. I believe that this especially has to apply when you see someone like Tracy, who was part of this teams bigger aspirations just last season, who is also going to be moved. I believe that anyone of us would feel that pressure if we were at our jobs for instance. Before there was nothing to focus on besides the whole media vs us angle. Now every player's tenure is in doubt in their own minds. I don't like Landry's new role either; I liked him as the exciting upbeat, constantly moving guy he was before. That's what he has over other power forwards is speed and strength, if he becomes the focal point and is always looking for the ball in a certain spot, bigger defenders will be able to focus on taking that away.
Deffinately what is going on. After the trade deadline after whatever deal is made the we will know who we have and what we have to work with, then I believe we will begin to roll like we did at th beginnig of the season.
One spin to how the team's performance is down is maybe some of the players were looking forward to T-macs return. That would have removed a lot of the pressure on young guys like Ariza, Brooks, and Landry and when he didn't return they felt let down and tired of carrying the team. If T-mac hadn't complained about minutes do you think he'd still only get 10 mins a game with the way we are currently playing I'd say he'd be playing more especially if he was effective. We simply wouldn't have the luxury of sitting him with the team struggling so much to win.
I'm going to agree with leebigez here. Tracy's officially pending trade as a reason for the teams downturn doesn't wash with me. This team of guys have been dealing with "people moving in, people moving out" of the line up/team for ever, for ALL kinds of reasons. League-wide, it's the nature of the business some would say. And to add to lee: Opponents have also figured us out - if they don't have to adjust to Yao and Tracy and just focus on the role players, well that's going to get easier and easier for them. I think we just surprised the hell out of the league in the first half of the season, which lend itself to a better than expected record of 23-18. Second. Read leebigez again.
It's an interesting possibility, but I'd actually put the culprit elsewhere. I think it's mental fatigue. They started the season with a chip on their shoulder trying to prove they could compete without Yao and Tracy. Adelman and the players kept saying they had to outwork people because they weren't good enough to win on talent. It was doubly hard because we started with a tough schedule. They were essentially in playoff mode from the beginning of the season. So now they come to the shift in the schedule where things are supposed to get easier. They've been in playoff mode, in crisis mode, for 2 months. Finally, the crisis has subsided. So, they've let off the accelerator to just take a break; they're worn out, mentally. I expected it to happen since the beginning of the season. They can't be in playoff mode the whole season. I expect they will fall out of the playoffs seeds soon. Then when it's getting late, they'll have a renewed urgency and make a late push for the 8th seed. And they might or might not make it.
Agree. I also think it may be the combination of all of the above. Whatever it is I don't see a lot of them smiling and having fun anymore. Even Scola and Landry who always have that light hearted demeanor on the bench seem to be pensive nowadays.
All of your comments negating that this is the main issue are valid, but the thing that gets me... is right about the time that Tmac went "out for good" Morey made the comment several times both in print and on the radio that no one was untouchable... everyone was a possible trade commodity. I am certain that the team heard those comments, even though they say they don't pay attention to the press. That's why I feel like it's a distraction regardless. It's a lot more difficult to put your all into building something special when you know that the GM feels like you are just a piece to be included in a trade that will "move the team to the next level"
Very good insight HF. You've got to be concerned with the effort this team has been putting forward lately. I don't mean to say that they are dogging it out there, but it seems like they are falling into a lot of old (bad) habits like letting the ball stop, not taking the ball strong enough to the rack, poorer defensive rotation than usual which has been a major problem lately. It seems like every game the last 5-6 games at least somebody on the opposing team appears unguardable. Also could be that teams have put together better scouting reports on us. Landry isn't getting the easy position he once was. Aaron has been forced into a lot of shots (but has still been setting up teammates nicely). The main thing that bothers me is the "no layups" mentality is completely gone at this point. Nobody is afraid to drive on us anymore, I've noticed that. Miami went to the rack repeatedly and had success more often than not. We all knew sooner or later that the lack of any size down low would hurt us at some point. Also have to wonder about Adelman's loyalty to the starters. I was very puzzled as to why Chase Budinger got so few minutes in the 2nd half. He was the reason we climbed out of our funk and built a nice lead in the 2nd quarter, but he was pulled quickly after missing 1 shot in the 4th quarter and clearly was not happy about it.
Agreed ! Especially when you are a young player. I think veterans like Shane and Chuck and Luis are not bothered by it, and even Brooks with his calm demeanor, but the more sensitive types probably are bothered...... DD
