The most logical remedy is for all of us to calm down and be patient. Adelman is being paid big bucks and his coaching record makes him better than all of us combined, as far as basketball is concerned. So the remedy really is for him and his players to figure themselves out so that they can get on the winning track. I have my own observations about certain players and some skepticism about the team, however, I have come to realize that; 1. There is nothing I can do about the current Rockets' situation; 2. Adelman and his coaching staff are all pros, veterans, and are proven winners. Lastly, no need to be too aggravated, basketball is supposed to be enjoyed and not to be the cause of our hypertension. I have a feeling that we will really enjoy this season after all is said and done.
Another option IMO might would be to move Lee into the starting line up and moving Martin over to the 3 spot while letting Bud sub for both and demoting Battier to situational sub.
Play Yao 30+ mins. It's all or nothing. 4th quarter: Yao, Scola, AB, Martin, Budinger/Lee Tired of seeing Battier standing out there doing nothing
Good points. Everyone should put their bodies on someone when the opponent shoots. We give up some many defensive rebounds. Remember what Jackson told his players in the 3rd quarter of the Tuesday game, "put your bodies on someone". Those little things changed the game.
This going to sound a little crazy but this is advice from a person with lot of basketball experience. The person I am referring to is Rick adelman when dealing with Tracy McGrady. In stead of Tracy plug yao's name into the following statement. We cant afford to let Tracy play his way in to shape during games. When adelman made that statement he decided we was not going to sacrifice the chemistry of the team for a player who could not be counted on to play starters minutes every single night every single game. The team does not have a strong enough chemistry and Identity for Yao to pay 24 minutes a game. We need to learn how to play with what we will have every single night till we incorporate what Yao can bring to the table right now. I love yao and hope he is hear next year but what good does it do us if by the time he is back to playing regular minutes we are a lotto team. There is no guarantee yao will even stay after this season. Yao is a Unrestricted free agent. Which means healthy or not he can do what ever he pleases. We need to focus on making the team the best it can be with the healthy players we have. Till Yao can go longer he needs to play only 10 minutes a game every game so he can get used to game speed.
I personally think there are a couple of easy fixes: 1. A starting 5 of Brooks/Martin/Budinger/Scola/Yao. (Budinger did a pretty good job holding Melo during the opener, i say give him a chance to prove himself.) 2. Yao should play limited minutes in the first half and more down the stretch to close out the games. 3. No more Hayes, Jordan Hill is a better rebounder. (Our rebounding sucks right now) 4. Far less playing time for Shane, he's supposed to be our defensive stopper but he's an offensive liability. The star player he's gaurding gets to chill on the defensive side because he's a scrub.... Sorry Battier. 5. GET DAMPIER HERE and Playing.... We need that defense off the bench. I like Miller but he hasn't impressed me in the regular season yet. 6. Let Ish dress out so he can eat up fouls instead of AB, that killed us against Denver even though 3 of those calls were suspect. -This losing streak will end soon enought and we'll be on our way to a successful season. Rick is a good coach, he'll figure it out.
1). Has it ever occurred RA is seeing if he can trust this current backcourt lineup defensively or a number of jedi mind tricks that a NBA coach would do. 2.) I'm sure if the defense doesn't improve quickly we will see either AB or Martin benched. 3.) It's still early!
Bingo. Winner, winner, chicken dinner, opticon. But what you've got to remember with Tracy McGrady is that he's hated. He wasn't going to be right if he killed himself to most people, because somehow he would have made a bloody mess of himself. So, of course, everything wrong would be McGrady's fault. Blake Griffin for the Los Angeles Clippers broke his kneecap last preseason. After he got healed and cleared by doctors to play, that's what the Clippers did. They didn't fiddle-faddle around with him. They got him on the court and got him comfortable with his teammates. Yao's had this minute-cap since before the preseason. It takes time, when a player who's important to your team is out. Whether or not the procedure is radical or routine, once a player is healthy enough to play, you've got to play him. You risk ALL of Yao, or you SIT all of Yao. If the idea is to bring Yao along slowly, then you're right...cut his minutes down to 10 or 15 for EVERY game (including back-to-back games). The team doesn't have to compromise itself, Yao can contribute with rebounding and defense and improve, and the transition becomes easier to manage. What we have to remember is that the organization, at least in the short term, is committed to Yao. That commitment can't be a spurious thing though. Playing hide-and-seek with Yao's availability is adversely affecting EEVRYBODY. People are looking to promote players who the coach doesn't trust, or exonerate players whom they like, as if a player's on-court responsibility is something arbitrary—he can play however he feels like as long as he does his own thing. Can't haggle over playing time and player rotations until you know who's able to play. The thing is this: If you're looking to reintegrate Yao, he becomes the focal point for the ENTIRE game—not a smidgeon of minutes here and there. That type of junk does more for the opposing team than it does for the Rockets. So much of the team identity and dynamic rests on him, that you can't haphazardly plug him into the lineup, the way it's been suggested you do with Jordan Hill or Chase Budinger. Let's say that Chase Budinger is a better option at small forward than Shane Battier. Budinger has the same responsibility defensively that Batter has—good overall TEAM defense. Of course, it's unfair to measure Budinger's defensive abilities against Battier's (even in Battier's dotage)...and you could say the same thing about Jordan Hill in relation to Chuck Hayes. Doesn't matter. The kids have to do their jobs. I don't want them to inherit a job they can't handle if the idea is to win big now. That's the difference between winning and rebuilding—you give young guys a shot when you've got nothing to play for. In any case, you can't tell who's going to be able to do what with whom until you make a firm decision about Yao's minutes and role. If You's the anchor, than play him like it. Tell the doctors to put away their stethoscopes—we'll give'em a call when we need them. If he isn't (at least not right now), then get him out of the way until he is. Double standards are double standards at the end of the day, opticon. But they almost always cause the same problems....
Apples and oranges. Tracy gave you nothing on either end of the floor. In the two games Yao has been a factor in the paint and in the Denver game was very efficient down low. I agree that his minutes should go up but not playing him at all will make us worse. The biggest issue I've seen is not giving him the ball down low, if he's gonna be shackled by the 24 minute limit let yao get as many touches as possible. Aaron is the worse at feeding the post and to thta point Shane seems to be the best at it. That to me may justify Shane's minutes in Rick's mind and how they relate to Yao.
But the problem is - we did that last year ALREADY and got 42 wins with no playoff. Your post does NOT make sense unless that 42wins are all you want . Chemistry is only useful when you have enough talents and this team minus Yao does not.
This is straight UP the way Rudy would coach. Smith, Cassell, didn't matter, the hot hand would finish the game. There's no swagger anymore. That will be when Yao's foot is back to normal. As for body language, they all need to watch Rocky.
I fully agree with the first two and would be willing to try the third provided he was substituted with Jeffries.
Oh good point, Hayes and Jeffries are both situational depending upon whom they are being asked to guard. DD
This team needs length and athleticism so badly I could see a Hill/Jeffries combo disrupting all kinds of folks in the paint.
if you think chuck hayes is a problem, you're the problem. playing yao 30+ minutes right now would be insanely stupid. i can't believe anyone with a brain could support this idea. this board is just unreal. unreal.
Remedy is players need to play better. Big problems is perimeter defense and defensive rebounding. Offense is well ahead of defense right now (5th in offense, 30th in defense last I checked), but the bad shots often leads to bad defensive possessions so shot selection needs to be better. 4th quarter execution has been an issue as well -- but again the problems start on the defensive end. In particular, I will note that our three weakest position defenders -- Brooks, Martin, Scola -- are leading the team in minutes. They, especially, need to take it upon themselves to defend better. I believe they will.
Did you see Budinger get punked by Melo? He waltzed right by Chase as if no one was there. He was literally laughing when Chase was guarding him. And let's not get into the other sSFs that he would have to guard if he was starting, like Kobe and Lebron. At least Battier stays with his man. I believe he was 8 of 20. Melo did not beat us. Al Harrington did. Just like against LA, Kobe didn't beat us. It was Blake and Brown. Not only that, we've been out-rebounded by the other teams, that's on the bigs. Defense is a team effort, not on 1 person. PPL need to quit throwing Battier under the bus. With Chase starting we will have even worst defense.
On the defensive rebounding, I do think our backcourt needs to help out more. Especially Martin and Lee. Martin likes to leak out for easy transition buckets, but he needs to look to rebound more.
