I wonder how different this team would look if Morey would have been able to acquire Chandler in the offseason or Camby last season. A shot blocking presence in the middle that could erase a lot of Kev's and AB's lapses on defense. Yao can clog the lane and block his share of shots but has NO lateral quickness to make up for some mistakes, while these guys can move and help out if the defender drives on our guards.
I really wanted Chandler, because he was an expiring deal......and I think we overpaid for Brad Miller...... While he is offensively gifted, he is not exactly rebounding, or playing big in the paint...... DD
Not the biggest Dampier fan but I HOPE he can bring a tad of what Chandler or Camby could have done and protect the rim, that should make our "D" look a lot better.
Not killing the Miller signing, YET, because we all knew the guy was all offense and once he gets going he will look a lot better in RA's system.
This tends to happen when you're guarding guys named Kobe and Carmelo and your team no longer has a concept of team defense. Are you really trying to saying Martin and Brooks are not the problems defensively? I suspect this will be another one of your non-stop "I was just trying to stir the thread up" statements that you seem to manufacture faster than an assembly line.
To his credit, Martin played pretty good defense against Denver, though his assignment wasn't nearly as tough as Kobe or Monta.
Both Brooks and Martin played well against Denver on D.....just not on O...... I do not think they are the problem, you are correct. I think with the new rules, it is danged near impossible to be a great perimeter defender....and both Martin and Brooks are just fine.... I believe our problems on defense lie squarely on our bigs....and their lack of guarding the paint...... DD
The Miller signing was a bad one. For the amount of money he was paid it was a really bad one. I literally face-palmed myself when I heard about the Rockets doing that. I'm not sure where the disconnect happened in the management/coaching staff but there is certainly a problem.
Are you watching the same games that I am DD? He is playing terrible D. Brooks has established some really bad habits of losing his defender on the perimeter and trying to make up with his mistakes with his speed, but honestly, the point guards in this league are getting quicker and bigger and Brooks' bad habits are catching up to him. He honestly needs to be benched for his lazy play on defense. He needs to stop listening to his agent Arn Telem about his contract situation and just play like he's a rookie again. You are no star yet AB. You still have alot of work to do to be at that level, like establish yourself as a winner. I love this guys game alot but he's missing something this season.
Then why can't the quickest guy in the league score buckets? Why isn't Brooks having the field day that other players are having against him? He looks like he is getting advice from Trevor Ariza out there. Martin isn't much better defensively but at least Martin can stay in front of him man (as long as there is no pick involved). I'm really starting to think Brooks is brooding over his contract. This team needs to either ship Martin or Brooks AND get a legit big man to guard the rim (haven't we been saying that for years now while Morey continues to draft guards and undersized PF)? I don't want to second guess the GM but when you have to bring in a 35 year old as a band-aid because your interior D is so bad then you haven't been doing your job during the summers.
Dave, Now those are good questions. I think the answer is in the team's identity, whereas last year the middle was wide open, this year there is a 7'6" guy clogging the paint...and they are going through a readjustment period. Look at AB's stats, his 3pt percentage is nearly identical to last year's it is his 2pt percentage that is done, and I believe that is directly attributable to Yao and more importantly Yao's defender being in the paing. Last year, Brooks would drive and if the defense collapsed he would pass it out to a shooter on the perimeter, this year......those lanes are closed. Folks are just overeacting to a natural problem of trying to integrate Yao back into the fold. DD
I think people, including the Rockets staff, are putting way too much emphasis into "identity" or chemistry with Yao Ming and the rotations on the floor. The main reason why have lost games is due to defense and not being able to score buckets in the fourth quarter when they need to. I dont know the answer to getting this team to buy into a defensive purpose, but it is not just AB, Martin or putting Chuck at center. Its a team concept, and it might just fall back on the coaching staff, even though they might be doing all the right things. I will say this though, come December if the Rockets are under .500... Brooks needs to be moved. Martin is as good as we are going to get at the SG spot but the Rockets could upgrade the PG spot easily with a few moves and upgrade with defense and leadership.
Ok, take off your haterade glasses and actually look at what is going down on the floor. AB is averaging 7 assists a game and less than 3 turnovers...that is a greater than 2 to 1 AtTo percentage. He is passing the ball just fine....even though haters continually bag on his passing and ignore the nifty passes he has been making since Martin joined the team. AB's issue is peaking and losing his man on defense and not hitting the shots he hit last year on offense. He is struggling a bit, but people whining about him, have no clue about how important he is to this team.....they just want their guy Lowry to start, and while I too like Kyle, and his bulldog attitude, the fact that he can not shoot limits him to a career backup PG, which he is. 0-7 shooting 3 assists, and 3 turnovers for Kyle..... I mean if he wants to start, he should be outplaying Aaron, and neither of them is on fire right now. DD
Why do you always conveniently leave out the 7 rebounds that Lowry had (in which 3 of them were offensives)? That speaks volumes about Lowry's effort on the court. Brooks assists has been going down since the first game, that is not a good sign. Not to mention, he had 6 PFs. He can't guard anyone without fouling them. And RA is loyal to his players. He won't bench a starter simply because the bench player played better. He has a habit of sticking with the wrong players for too long.
And as every game passes by, AB limitations are more and more obvious for the rest of the NBA....great scorer...butvery weak D and very low Basketball IQ....nil court vision for a PG.... And I was attacked so heavily for suggesting to trade AB ASAP, after the MIP award...his trade value what at his peak....but people insisted that his trade value would go eben higher... A trade of Aaron Brooks, Jeffries, Hayes, plus some first pick for Iggy was considered a dumb proposal....never explained why.... AB should still be traded, before his trade value is even lower....
Give Aaron and Kevin a Break Unbelievable. Everyone on this forum wants to trade two of our 3 best offensive players over some pretty much just bad luck. In the Lakers game and Warriors game, AB was dead tired (especially in warriors game). He also had to guard one of the best if not the best scoring PG in the league without a real backup on one of his best if not his best shooting night. Ever. In the Nuggets game, Billups was held to effectively nothing. But everyone on this board flames away at AB. Trade him! Kill him! Give me a break...Maybe he shouldnt get as many minutes in games when we are going up against a PG who can score (like Ellis), but that is exactly what we have Kyle Lowry for. The truth of the matter is that in the Lakers game Shannon Brown got hot at the right time, the Warriors had a fluke of a night shooting the ball, and we had as bad a 3-pt shooting night as possible against the Nuggets. We played well enough to win all three games, just got a bit unlucky. So before you order a trade of AB or KM, wait until we actually get thoroughly outplayed instead of beaten mostly due to variance.
