After watching the first 5 games the PG position is being outplayed. Is this a shocker no, but having TMac bring the ball up the court to me takes him out of his game. Right now this team is not in better shape compared to last years team. any thoughts.
Injuries aside, I do think we are in better shape compared to last year. We've beaten Memphis twice and Sac. once already, and last year we had trouble with both these teams. Plus, IMO our offense looks much smoother than last year.
Our defense has alowed us to stay in these close games. 20+ turn-overs do not usually constitute a victory.
Memphis and Sac are playing like crap right now so I'm not buying into that. With TMac out we're going to need several people to step up... so no I don't see us being in better shape.
T-Mac bringing the ball up does nothing to limit is game. He's a playmaker - perhaps one of the top 5 or so in the league. The more he has of the ball, the more chances he has to make plays.
If you have league pass, go watch a Magic's game, you'll realize we are in better shape than last years team. I know Orlando is undefeated, but I really don't think they are a good team. Watching them is like watching last year's rockets with Yao on the bench. Steve is still Steve, except now he has green light to do all his fancy moves. The Orland crowd loves it too, you can hear the OOOhhs and AAAhhhs everytime Franchise do 3 crossovers in a row. He still turns the ball over a lot.
I think we've done pretty well. Our reserve guards against Bibby, Jason Williams, and Chauncy billups aren't supposed to be holding them down and besides Bibby going off for 31 but still we kept him in check late in the game. Alston is up and coming but considering we have scrubs at PG I'm okay with the defense they've been playing against the opponents PG
In the absence of a certifiable point forward, I'd agree. But if you've got a McGrady/Kobe/Pippen-type guy...I think you let them handle it. Not many such guys out there...but if you have one...
You must be seeing differant games than the ones I'm watching. Sure we need to get better but you don't see all of the stupid plays like in years past. This team has only played 5 regular season games together and they are already past last years team as far as basketball IQ.
Orlando is not undefeated. They lost to the Bobcats in an embarassing way. Last year we were 0-4 against the Kings, 1-3 against the Grizzles. This year at least we are 3-0 against these two teams so far. We lost to the Pistons and Raptors on the road this year. Remember that we also lost to them last year. Based on last year's results, we should be 0-5 or 1-4 so far. Last season after 5 games, Yao was average 15-8. He is always a slow starter, and plays his best games from Jan. to March. Hope that this season his stamina has improved so that he can have a great April also.
I know it's kinda dangerous to overplay the victories over these two clubs, but at the same time, like last year, we would've easily fallen apart and lost 2 out these 3 games. Minnesota gonna be huge. If we could upset them, would things then start looking up dre?
PG spot had been frustrating to watch early on - but they are starting to settle into their role - Ward and Lue have had some key baskets during tight games recently. Lue seems to be able to penetrate at critical moments and Wards 3's against Sac great and his overall 3pt accuracy is helping to spread defenses. Their (pg's) defense may be somewhat suspect - but I don't recall either of them costing us any games on that side of the ball. My imression overall is that the team looks more cohesive. The rockets were using a 7 man rotation if I recall correctly from last year - they are now using a 9 man rotation counting the one european on the team who's averating almost 16 minutes - no one's averaging more than 39 minutes per game - this is no small reason that they could come back and play Sac to win on the second day. Honestly - this team - although using the same system - has a much different look and attitude.
If we can beat Mini sure, that would be nice but I'm more consured with how the team will play without TMac. We don't have anyone that can create their own shot... but the season is still young, just not our starting PG...
Mo taylor can but it's mostly from the post he creates his shots. But the way he creates it doesn't really allow for an easy pass off if he doesn't have the shot. As far as a guard. Looks like we'll have to rely on Lue penetrating and dishing off tomorrow. Hopefully he can both cassell with some of his speed.
JWill last night could get a shot up at will. The PG problem will be exposed more when we play Parker, Jason Terry likes. I hope Bob Sura wil give a big lift at our PG position.
I know you are kidding right Last year MEANS NOTHING!!! I mean . .. What was THE GREAT T-Mac's record last year????? See. . it is MEANINGLESS How many 0-fers was the Magic last year? As Someone said. . . let's wait til JAnuary Is this team better than LAST YEARS???? that remains to be seen we must make the playoffs. . . . and get beyond the 1st round NOTHING LESS is ACCEPTABLE TO ME Rocket River
lol. don't worry about play without TMac. If he is out for an extended period of time, we might just stay home and sleep a bit until he comes back. I doubt anybody would seriously expect us to win 50 games without TMac anyways... without him, we just ain't a good team no matter how you see it. rockets being any good rests on the fact that both Yao and TMac HAS to be healthy... Yao is not at the level that he can consistently and single handedly win games for us... yet
