[non-tmac thread] What are our strengths and weaknesses

Stength: defense

Weakness: offense

 

strengths: defense, tenacity and good coaching
weaknesses: everything else associated with the game of basletball

 

Honestly it is hard for me to say because on one hand we were only 2 games out of first in the ENTIRE western conference without the best center in the game.

On the other hand watching this team in the playoffs is like getting gouged in the eyes with a number 2 pencil.

I think it is very difficult to judge this team unless they are healthy and that to me is our biggest weakness, the inability to stay healthy especially Tmac and Yao....

The team is built around those two and when one is missing the team struggles mightily.

I would say our strength is hard work and hustle, we have some of the hardest working most intense players in the NBA......

I think we can still upgrade, but how can we upgrade the biggest issue, health?

DD

 

DaD:
watching the Spurs in the playoffs the last 4-5 years also took a fair amount of patience... [but I agree with you!]

Defensive teams win championships, and we're one of the best. Sadly we can't put the ball in the bucket at the opposite end to save our lives!

To upgrade the role-players we're probably in the hunt for some sort of consistent scorer - no offense Rafer, but we need a consistent 3rd scorer for this team. Someone who can make the step up to 15-20ppg should one of the big 2 go down.

To be perfectly honest I thought Francis would be that option at the start of the year - I wonder if he might be that option next year? Will be interesting to see how he recovers from that surgery and whether his last season with the Knicks was the aberration or the new rule.

 

It's a bit much to suggest that you should be able to win a playoff series without one of your 2 max contract players.

Take Kobe out of the Lakers and tell me they'd still beat the Nuggets. Take Deron away from the Jazz. Take Duncan away from the Spurs - Amare from the Suns, Dirk from the Mavs, Paul from the Hornets etc.

And we didn't "stuggle mightily" without Yao - we happened to post the 4th best record in the West and went 19-7 since his injury. It's just a bit much to expect to beat the other contenders on a consistent basis (who are facing no injuries) without your top scorer and a vital part of your offense.

I still think that HAD we had Rafer in uniform for the first 2 games we would probably have won one of those as well (not to mention Flopalenko costing us game 2).

It might be ugly, but we're playing to our strength and REALLY in this series - a win today gives us a GREAT chance of still progressing despite having our top scorer sidelined.

 

the thing i really liked last season with jvg was the amount of treys we shot.. i taught its gonna continue this season but it didnt if our guys can make 8 treys per game ima happy man, problem is our guys are just inconsistent from behind the arc, they are getting good looks. my heart just sinks when they miss a wide open shot.. IMO we really dont need a designated third scorer, let the guys that get wide open hit their shots and were good. and if mac and yao are out(pls God no) next season, they can rely on adelmans Offense which we saw against the clippers, yea clippers suck bigtime but the guys just need confidence and they been so used to having yao and mac out they just sucked it up and played ball.

 

If Rafer shot in the playoffs like he did in the streak we would be winning for sure. At the moment our weakness is consistent shooting outside of the big 2. Noone seems to be able to string together three games in a row where they can score consistently.

 

Right now in this series the biggest weaknesses are rebounding and finishing at the basket. During last night's game between Denver and the Lakers, Carmello Anthony missed a "chip shot" at the front of the rim and Reggie Miller commented that Carmello would look back on all his little missed chip shots and really regret it. He said that Denver could maybe even be leading the series at this point if he hadn't missed so many little shots right at the basket.

That is a big problem for Scola. Landry is more efficient right around the basket. Hayes is an extreme offensive liability when in the game, and against a team like Utah who has a lot of shooters that can hit their shots, this hurts when he is in the game. I don't think his defense on Boozer offsets his inability to score.

Although hustle has been a big strength several of the Rockets have been a step slow when trying to get to loose balls and rebounds. They need to develop the habit of anticipating where the ball is going to go on an off shot and trying to get position accordingly before the shot ever reaches the rim. Players that follow their shot do this naturally. It isn't instinctive, but should be taught and made second nature.

It's hard to believe the Rockets will win 3 in a row to take this series at this point. I don't think they suddenly overcome the loss of Yao AND these weaknesses. And that's very bitter to me. I sure hope they prove me wrong!

 

Team play was a big strength before our Center went down. THis year was the first that the Center proved he could lead the team to victories without our other main guy. That was big in the maturity of the Center, and the team built around him. Unfortunately the Center went out with an injury. At full strength, as seen in the streak, we can beat any and all teams any day of the week, for months straight. As it currently stands in this Gm 5 scenario, it's a struggle to score.

One of our biggest weaknesses is age and mileage to our main guys. One of them is a High school draftee with lots of minutes during his years in the league. Our best shot-blocker/rebounder is over 40 and will be retiring soon, if not in the next 48 hours (hopefully not that soon). Our best defensive player isn't getting any younger or faster. Our Center plays year-round internationally and, if not already injury-prone, has yet to prove that he's not injury prone. Hopefully this team will be made up of all healthy players next year. That's all you can hope for at this point.

 

What kind of game is "basletball?"

Is it a new sport you just invented?

 

I'll keep it simple.

Weaknesses:
No players who can create their own shot
Lack of size and athleticism up front
Free throw shooting

Strengths:
Hardest/toughest group of guys in the league
Chemistry
High team basketball IQ

 

I think our biggest weakness on the defensive side is to stop those penetrating PG's. It seems we can't really stop someone like Deron or we can't make life difficult for him at all.

 

To me, the easiest way to answer the question is to take every player other than YM and TM and a pose the question...How would (named player) work on the (fill-in name of WC playoff team)?

The overwhelming theme would be some physical limitation. Too short, too unathletic, too slow, too inconsistent, too one-dimensional...

The reason this is important is the NBA has always been about matchups. When the rules (like no hand-checking on the perimeter) were shifted a few years ago...favorable matchups became even more important. And so did a little thing called "transition".

I personally don't get much "mileage" out of the Rockets upside when "healthy". And I find the "take Duncan or Amare or CP3 or Kobe" away from their team's sort of silly. Like looking into the larger end of a telescope and trying to see the big picture.

Take the top 2 players off each WC playoff team and evaluate what's left in terms of matchups. Manu can still get his own shot...he's not under tall and he plays solid (though flopping) team D, Kidd is still a good defender and excellent in transition, Peja is tall for SF and knows how to play good team D and he's good in transition, Tyson Chandler can block and run...he may just be a dunker but when you have penetrators...that's enough, the Jazz have AK47's length and transition.....

The bottomline for me (since drafting Yao) has ALWAYS been about matchups. The Rocket's have too many players who can only "cover" one end of the floor. IOW, play solid D and be an offensive liability...especially transtion. Have a great open court shot, but be too slow in transition and help D.

Seriously...how do you build a team where your 3-6 might not start for any other WC playoff team and your 7-10 might not ever get on the court?

 

They play hard and hustle as well as being a good defensive team. No atheletes with size and only 1 shot creator . Playing hard and hustling isn't a talent. They need to add more talent. They really need to add guys that have multi skills.

 

I think if we can stay healthly we can be better offensive team in the season but also in the post season. Next season of course

 

with no yao and no tmac?

plus: heart
minuses: everything else

without tmac you're talking about 2 rookies (scola, landry), a defensive specialist: battier. 100 year old uncle: mutombo. head case: alston and scrubs: everyone else

comparing them to what other teams have? in truth nothing. everything they've done is a miracle