1) that give and go play b/t yao and head happened quite often under JVG. that's why luther played a lot under JVG and a lot of fans claim chemistry b/t luther and yao. he just can't make a post entrance pass to yao. 2) you will never want yao to shoot those jumpers. sure that's a new look, but that makes yao less aggressive and want to dominate in the post (ala early season of last year). and that's why yao really didn't have much of an impact v. the spurs offensively. at the end of the day, when we are in close games in the 4th, we're going to JVG's plays. see the 3 game road trip where we executed perfectly in the 4th. that's our bread and butter. that's where yao and tracy feel most comfortable.
I agree with most of what you said here. But maybe we should have had Adelman hand pick JVG's players. Jeff was here long enough and had enough control to bring in which ever type of players he wanted and he did, J.Howard, Charlie Ward, Chuck Hayes, Rafer, Shane. They were HIS type of players, all defensive players and they didn't have many offensive skills. JVG had his chance to put together a winning team and he tried, but fell short. Your trying to give JVG credit for something he's not even around for. How could he have played players, if he wouldn't have even went for that type of players to begin with? This is R.A.'s team and giving the ball to your center who's your highest %age shooter, does not constitute being JVG's offense. There is more to a offense than one person getting the ball in a certain location, but I wouldn't expect some Rocket fans to see that.
No, to Hell with that. The ball goes to the open shooter. If it's T-Mac or Yao, fine. If not there's plenty of guys on this team that can step up. Last night's game proved that. Since when has that low post give and go been a JvG play? It's the antithesis of wait for the double team, kick it back out because it kills spacing. And so far as Yao's shots from 15'-17' go you don't even bother trying to refute that that's a new look, you just offer up some weak sauce about why it's not a good idea. Yao doesn't have to get 20 points a night IF THE ROCKETS WIN. One of the hallmarks of the Adelman offense is a balanced scoring attack. Do you think it's easier for the other team to worry about one or two guys compared to having to worry about all five Rockets on the floor? Now instead of having a three headed dragon you have a five headed on. And one very, very positive sign last night was that even though Yao didn't have a huge night offensively he was still a defensive monster in the paint. Typically in the past that hasn't been the case.
dude you're asking for rafer to step up and make superstar shots like he did last night? luther to play like an all-star? role players are role players for a reason. stars are stars for a reason. i'm not sure if you have followed basketball long enough, but usually stars win games. role players can help you win games, but stars dictate how a team runs things down the stretch. there's a reason teams build around stars. there's a reason morey is not going to trade tracy or yao regardless of what happens just as long as they're healthy going into the playoffs. a playoff series is multiple games. yesterday was ONE GAME. if we played the spurs in a series, they will adjust. stars have the ability to elevate their level of play above the adjustments (and that's why they're stars). role players cannot (see luther's disappearance the past 2 series, even under adelman). at the end of the game with 3-5 minutes left in a close game (the game wasn't close last night), the ball will be in your stars' hands. you may not like that, then might as well trade all our stars and get "good players" then.
we also didn't have morey then to make picks of brooks and landry (not lottery picks mind you), and swing a deal for scola (that came as a surprise). our GM has given adelman a lot to work with. i really do think if we have JVG right now, we're a much better team. but that's just reminiscing. adelman has done a fine job and hopefully he'll bring us to the promised land.
If it's a choice between a "star" taking a shot from 20' away and a role player underneath the basket for an uncontested layup which one do you prefer? Adelman's system, run properly, will allow for open looks at the basket. If the defense is keying on your star then let the role players run rampant with uncontested layups. You know what good, unselfish, team ball does? It let the Pistons, a team that was widely credited as having no stars, beat the Lakers.
That's right! It's not just because this is JVG style, to treat it like JVG invented it or something. A few minutes ago, this was a JVG play. To give Yao the ball, your center, your highest % shooter in the spot he likes it. But if you take any coach in the NBA and put Yao on his team he's gonna move Yao into the paint to receive the ball, that's just the way it is , it's common sense that any coach would take advantage of.
i guess it's a term swung around here to differentiate with adelman. if you remember last yr to start the year, adelman rarely used yao in the post 50:50 with the high post (completely different from JVG). again, in a close game with 2 mins left, we're either going to pick and roll with tracy, or isolate yao in the post. those are our main options. now we have better players where if they get doubled, others can get the ball and step up to make their plays.
R.A. watched Brooks play college ball and really wanted Brooks, this wasn't Morey's pick it was R.A.'s. And I believe Landry was a second round pick.
stop saying adelman's system please. even adelman admits his system is only partially implemented (30%) and he kept alot of plays that were ran under JVG. so stop saying if we run adelman's offense.... and to your point, a star will make those passes down the stretch. if tracy or yao find someone open either for an open 3pt shot or layup, they'll make that pass. all i'm saying is the ball will be in tracy's or yao's hands late, and it's up to them to make whatever decision they want to make. if tracy can draw the defense when he drives and a chuck hayes is wide open near the basket, he'll make that pass. if yao is doubled and artest is wide open for a 3, yao will make that pass. adelman's system (or whatever you want to call it) is not going to work if tracy and yao don't step up. in a 7 game series, great defensive teams will adjust to whatever we do. only stars can go beyond those adjustments. and it's up to them to make the role players better and give them easy shots. and yea to your point about the pistons with no stars, it happened ONCE in the history of the NBA. so yes, play that odds. kings had a phlethora of great team players who ran adelman's offense to perfection. it ALWAYS failed v. the lakers 2-man team with good role play.
I wouldn't say it it failed. Losing by at the buzzer is losing to a clutch team, not based on if they offense worked or not.
Oh hush. What it tells us is Adelman has 2 more conference finals and 1 more NBA Finals than Van Gundy. Van Gundy's postseason record, well it would appear to be EXACTLY .500
The Rockets had 3 players out, were playing a back-to-back, in Denver, Ron Artest played like he was insane and Yao was softer than the Pillsbury Dough-Boy. My statement about Tracy and Adelman's offense stands. If Shane had been healthy and Artest wasn't insane, the Rockets very well could have won this game. It was there for the taking. I knew they wouldn't win when they were dragging up the court to start the 3rd quarter.
My understanding was that you were specifically referring to playing the Adelman offense, not wins and losses. Yao has played this way all season. Artest isn't going to become sane anytime soon. Your point may stand, but it's wrong. Tracy isn't the sole reason. It's personnel. Adelman has to adapt his system for the unique talents his 3 best players have, and more importantly, don't have. None of them move well without the ball. All 3 are potent scores in one-on-one situations (I'm starting to have my doubts about Ron Artest, though). The Adelman offense works great with the 2nd unit, b/c those players are well-suited for it. It seems to me that Adelman is trying to force a square peg into a round hole with the starters. If that keeps happening, the roller coaster continues.
Yea, because you know...it's the Nuggets...damn that Denver defense! It's not the end of the world if you're wrong. Maybe Mac wants Adelman gone, who knows. I do know that the Rockets are going to have a tough time learning Rick's offense. The blame game is getting ridiculous...whatever helps you sleep at night.
