So far...I have been reading everything the other posters have been saying, but it is beyond me how SOME but not all of you are not looking at the entire picture. In this post, I want to address some of the things we have been seeing in our team and would love feedback. 1) This team came in with so much hype (unearned) that any mistake this team makes causes chaos in this forum. Let me remind some of you guys that 2 and maybe even 3 of our rotation guys in Brent Barry and Ron Artest are new to this team. Ron knows the system, but Rick Adelmans system is based on team movement. The system is a team effort. Once the chemistry goes up, the team will get better. Aaron Brooks is the third guy. He is seeing a huge spike in minutes and he has to start gelling with the other guys. 2) We are 4-2 with only 1 real game where all of our starters played well (Dallas). Give these guys a break. Yao and Mcgrady never ever start the season well and are coming off injuries. 3) Our defense seems to be atrocious at the moment, but we have only allowed 2 of the 6 teams to even crack 100 points and Boston and portland did it in the last minute of the game. Our defense is not that bad...it looks bad because of....... 4) Bad rebounding....This is the one thing i think this team can work on aggresively. Rebounding doesn't come as time goes on but has to be a gained skill. 5) Yao Ming and Tracy Mcgrady- First tracy carried us for two games and no one complained. Everyone was happy, but all of a sudden he plays 45 minutes and doesn't have the energy to play in a back to back. Give the guy some break. LOOK AT THE POSITIVES...he has improved his FT % dramatically. He is obviously attacking the rim more (NO one can doubt this) Yao ming...well i just think his confidence has taken a hit. He should be back to normal with one good game. To all the fans calling him the Big Liability...yes he has looked bad the past two games, but let me remind you that we used to call him The Big Reliable. Not reallly, but he was. 6) Another Positive is Aaron and Carl. These guys are playing great and i have to give credit to Scola as well. 7) In conclusion, we are 4-2. Our big three have only played up to standards in one game of the 6. Once everything rolls out, we should be right where we want to be.....and let me remind you guys....were playing without a former starter ....Batman Feedback?
Lots of positives to be gleaned from the first few games. I think you will see a different Yao and T-Mac 10 games from now. Both seem to be a bit rusty. Yao played a bit better vs the Clippers, so hopefully he can build on that. Also, about 10-15 games after Battier comes back you will see things really start to take off once the rotation gets settled.
Quite fair notes. But we need to remember, other teams are just starting the season too and there are also many teams welcoming new players and even new coaches. What if they get much better as time goes by and we just get a little better. Also, of the 6 opponents, only the Celtics is worth mentioning. We havent played the Lakers, Hornets, Sun, Jazz……
I would mention Dallas as well. Remember that they have 3 allstars on their team as well. Kidd is not done at all He almost logged in 20/10/10 last night against a billups led Denver team.
My arguement is that our Big 3 have only played well in one game and that was against Dallas. The other 5 games, at least 1 has struggled.
I want our Big 3 to have that chemistry. I am just afraid we might have lost one of them to injury before we have that chemistry. Well, hope for the best.
Great post. All your points are valid in my eyes. I would just like to add that this is a team that is a work in progress. T-Mac, Yao, and Artest have played with each other for only 6 games now. It'll just take some time for them all to get used to the system, and to each other. We're also playing without Shane, a key player to our important and defining defense.
I am definitely on the same page as you are except for this point here. Last season, T-mac started off guns blazing. Had back to back 30+ pts in the early games. Then he hurt his shoulder, against the Lakers..and on came the horrible losing skid.
Well its obvious that he is more cautious this time around. Adelman has decreased his minutes and he is seeing less shots because he knows he does not have his elevation. I saw give him about 2-3 more weeks before judging him. Hypocritical fans make me mad. During the game, they will post how much they love Mcgrady, but when he plays a bad game, its over. Its like your forgetting about the 50 other good things he did.
Everyone is looking for a quick fix but it will take time for the team to be where the expectations are placed on the team. I for one look forward to seeing this team get going. I also hope that SF3 can contribute sometime this season. All in all just Keeping the Faith alive always no matter what.
since most of you guys dislike luther head wouldnt a positive note be that he hasnt touched the court yet .....I mean you talk about a guy that can hit open shots he is your man
Postives. Tmacs offense. he was averaging 25-7-5 in the last 3 games prior to last nights game. Tmacs FT's. shooting a career high 85% right now Brooks dribble penetration and scoring. the man is fearless. he attacks the basket at will and noone can stop him Scolas Shot is back. he has such a refined low post game that it's underrated. put him on a bad or ok team and he would average 20 points a night. i kid you not.
Even the curmudgeonly Clips announcer - Lawler - said in the first quarter that it looks as if the Rockets have "4/5ths of a Championship team"... THe team has lots of room to grow. Battier isn't back yet, and Deke may yet be on the horizon. How could we get to 5/5ths of a Championship team without adding players not already on the roster? I wonder if we will see a big backcourt for any games/stretches, in which TMac, Battier, Artest, Scolandry, and Yao play together. That lineup might prove to be our best when it's all said and done, though time will tell. THe Bulls used to field a lineup where Ron Harper, Pippen, Jordan, Rodman, and Luc Longley started, and they forced other teams to adjust to them, with players at least 6'6'' and Pippen or Harper playing Point. They won 72 games that year, so I think it's worth at least trying to go unconventional at the Point.
Positives: - people see that there is obviously room for improvement. that means things can get better, and the season is still young. of course, hitting on all cylinders is preferable, but at least we aren't in a position where we are losing, and no one can see room for improvement other than completely blowing up and overhauling the roster. note: most teams do not win all 82 regular season games. just wanted to help temper some expectations in this forum. fandom is a wonderful place to be, but occasionally clouds otherwise sound judgment. - the two games we lost, were well contested and down to the wire despite some obvious flaws in execution. this is a good sign that even when we are playing bad we are good enough to hang tight, somehow. - the other four games ... well, we won. it's hard to argue with "rubber meets the road" production, which is more important than all our paper strategies and theoretically perfect teams. - we have a clever GM who is always pulling seemingly incredible deals, or at least, deals that have good upside and controllable risk. - although our "star power" each has some asterick next to their name, our front office has been smart to look for versatile multiposition players that provides "elasticity" and robustness to our roster. again, pointing back to last-year's streak - amazing that it could be pulled off in the midst of injuries. - we have "star power". three of them. this is good, too. - we have an owner who is committed to winning, and who is winning to pull the trigger to field a highly competitive team year after year. - we have a coach with a great track record, who although not perfect, seems to know how to make pieces mesh, utilize players' strengths, and produce results. I believe Adelman is one of the better coaches in the NBA at fostering chemistry. this is good.
A big positive is little Aaron Brook so far. He is more confident and smooth on the court. Before or last season, he would force too many passes which resulted in turnovers. Now he is thinking less and just playing very good basketball.
