The team is playing at its highest level. And the players are very confident. I think our biggest enemy right now is - The Big Head. Being overconfident, taking teams lightly, losing focus and intensity. Becoming a little careless, taking wins for granted. I want JVG to keep is shoe print on their bottoms and the veterans to stay hungry and focused. I don't want to see a bunch of fancy stuff. I want them to ratchet everything up right now and fight like they are trying to survive. Confidence is good. But outside shooting can go cold and we lack strong rebounding. Everyone has to stay intense for the team to keep this level of play. If our veterans can keep everyone giving every ounce of effort we will have a great run all the way through the playoffs. I am concerned that lately we have won without diving for those loose balls. We are making to many outside shots. Shooting 53% is not going to happen every night. We are good, in the top 5 in the league I believe. But don't take anything for granted. That is the only negative besides Howard's injury that I can see right now. All we need to do is buckle down right now, stay mean and focused and we can have a very special season.
I addressed this issue yesterday with my "Don't Count The Chickens Before They Hatch" thread. I feel a bit better after the Portland win last night. I was worried about a serious letdown. But it didn't happen. Nevertheless, all the "All Gundy Finals" talk yesterday was ridiculous. I agree, the Rockets are a contender, but so are several other teams. The Spurs, Suns, and Heat would be hard to beat and the Sonics and Mavs are no pushovers. Even the Kings present a serious challenge. The Rocks are for real, but they still have much to prove. The team needs to stay focused and work hard.
The good things about having a lot of veterans and JVG as a coach is that there isn't too much problem on mental focus. Injuries and fatigue are our biggest problem. How long can our vets continue this pace?
I agree with Sishir Chang...there are too many veterans on this team for a big head let down. They do have a tendancy to let up in the fourth quarter and it happened against Golden State, but I think these guys are really focused on winning.
Yeah, I don't think those kind of mental lapses will happen as much as last year. Besides, the next couple of games will not allow us to have a let down if we wanna win them.
I was pointing out to my wife last night how the Rockets were walking off the court at halftime with quite a bit of swagger. Still, they don't strike me as the type of team who gets too big of a head. I don't know if this is their collective personality, or if JVG has instilled this in them, but they seem to be really business-like. They don't seem as demonstrative as other teams. they don't do quite as much celebrating after a win, and they don't seem to lose their poise during an opposing team's run. They're on a mission.
Agree about players tiring out, we are old... but also I noticed. 1. Not diving after balls and not making as many hustle plays. 2. Shooting a high percentage from outside. Shooting a high percentage outside is good, but it can mask lack of rebounding because there are not as many opportunities when you are shooting that high %. The shooting will cool off. If it doesn't we will win it all. I don't think JVG is going to let them think they will win by shooting over 50% every game. We must still be able to win ugly with hustle, effort and rebounding.
Our top two players are not as susceptible to distractions as other stars. McGrady - You don't put up scoring champ numbers without being consistently excellent. Yao - His experiences with the Chinese international basketball teams has taught him that winning a few games doesn't mean anything. His focus is on winning it all.
Premature, certainly. But how great a story would that be? Shaq vs. Yao, Jeff vs. Stan? That would be incredible.
I agree with JVG in saying that winning a lot either makes you relax a little, or it makes you hungrier. The team definitely looks hungrier to me. It just seems to me that they want to go out there and keep on playing, where they are excited about the next game and the next butt-whooping. If we thump a hot Boston team on Friday, then that will be a huge sign that this team is turning into a band of killers, going out to bury every team in sight.
i'd say that was more GS making EVERY FREAKING 3 pointer they took than it was the rockets letting up. i mean, how many games do you think caparkaba (sp) and that dude that had the 4 point play have like that a year?
I don't think "big head" will be a problem with this team. The major reason is the mix of this team, many vets. Those are the guys know who they are, what their roles are within the team. Just look at the shots they have got, Wesley has been hot, but he didn't force the shots. Those are the ones came to him after good ball movement. As long as no individual player thinks he is better than he actually is, we are fine. Tmac & M James are the only two guys took bad shots from time to time, but Tmac is talent enough to make enough of those. James needs to slow down a little bit, though, especially in playoff, when every possesion counts.
