Despite the 3 games where the Rockets have had less than stellar performances, there are still a lot of positives to look forward to in the game. First and foremost we've seen what T-Mac can do when needed in dire situations. The man has incredible court vision, a great shooting touch, an inane ability to avoid traps, and an even better ability to get around his defender. We've seen how he can carry our team not just with scoring, but actually getting teammates involved. And whether it's just his style of play or not, it looked almost effortless. Not just watching him shooting the ball, but the great looks he created for our teammates where he passed right in their sweet spots so they could just catch and shoot. Or simply not miss a step on a drive to the basket for a layin. Just great passing into the lanes during a game where it seemed like the Grizz were deflecting what felt like every pass. Another positive thing to look forward to is JVG's offensive system didn't seem to hamper T-Mac from averaging over 20 a game when it's been reported on ESPN that no player under JVG's system has averaged over 20 points a game per season. T-Mac appeared to have no problems with that tonight, and shouldn't over the course of the season. He is a true talent that makes the game look easy. In other words T-Mac if we're judging based on tonights game fits our offensive system much better than Francis did who's season average last year was much less than his career average. Not a knock on Francis who is a great talent in his own right, but T-Mac is just a better fit. Second is Yao. Despite putting up less than stellar numbers these past few games be it because of foul trouble, struggling to receive an inbound pass from a teammate, or just plain goofing on shots, the man still managed to be the center of attention while on the court. It was pretty obvious when he got the ball, good things started to happen regardless of his mind boggling missed dunks and layups. He got some of the best looks in the game and created some easy open looks for teammates by just being on the court. What happened earlier in the game before T-Mac stepped up in the 2nd half when Yao was out of the game? In a word disarray. Despite having an incredibly poor performance tonight he still stirred trouble up against the Grizz, and when he did get the ball he still made things happen. Early in the third he made a 3 point lead to start the second half escalate to a 10 point lead, and that's with atleast 3 missed close range layups/dunks. Yao is still a threat despite being clumsy every now and again, and that's why he's still so valuable, and you have to be patient. Even more important to announce is Yao is known for being a slow starter in the season, and being great in the months of January, February, and March. We haven't seen the best from him yet, and we won't truly know how much his summer workouts with Falsone have paid off til April and hopefully the playoffs kick in. Hopefully they will and we'll see the dominant Yao in Jan-March that we've seen in the past in the important finale of the regular season, and into the post season play where we need his dominance the most. The best of Yao is still to come. Third is our bright spot roleplayers. Deke has been a defensive monster around the paint. Contesting and blocking shots when Yao isn't out there. Clogging the paint, and making people think twice about driving in the lane. He's a great backup who I hope can hold up later in the season without fatigue kicking in. And you can't forget JJ who was a steal of a deal last year. He's still in great shape; he still has the ability to create his own shot; he's still a good 3 point shooter, and he still is the perfect role player on this team that every other franchise in the NBA would salivate over. Now tax on the idea of possibly acquiring Bo Outlaw for free no less, and you can salivate more about the good things to come as the season progresses. And lets not forget Boki who has shown at the very least he can be a decent backup who can take a charge, and nail an open jumper when confident. He's been an impact on this team in a positive way and it's nice to see him succeed out there early on. All in all, we have a lot to look forward to in the regular season. Our new big guy has shown us what he can do, and our real big guy will show us soon enough. We have some holes in roster spots, but they can be filled with the right trade, and given our management's track record in pulling off blockbuster deals, I have faith any holes we currently need fixed will be taken care of before the deadline. Have faith. Relax. Enjoy the show, and most of all be patient. The best is yet to come. I guarantee it.
I don't know but it seems Yao's rebounding has gotten a little better. Still sucked today but he seemed to be trying. Enough excuses!! Yao needs to start the season 110%. Dirk scored 33 points on opening night. Whats his excuse??
NIce post, i agree with all of your assessments, especially the Tmac part. One addition is that you did not mention anything about our backup point guard. I think lue is a much bigger upgrade over moochie, and lue's the best backup point we've had in a few years.
TMac can really push the ball harder. he was unstoppable when 2nd half starts and he is just getting fired up with the new uniform, new team mate and new style of offense! MoT, JJ, Tmac, Yao and Lue or Ward will create some major problems to a lot of team. Great post!
I just don't understand how you can have a center-centric offense when the "so called" focal point of the offense is averaging less than 9 shots for the past 3 games. IT's not like the guy is taking 15 to shots per game and bricking them one after another, but as soon as he misses a shot or 2 our players forget the low post offense and have him scrambling around setting useless high picks that none of our players take advantage of. As soon as it looks difficult to get him the ball we abandon all attempts. How the hell is this guy going to get into any rythem when he takes less shots than last year (13 shots per game) which everyone in the league b****ed about being too low and how SF and Cat were to blame. Compared to this year last's year low post passes were Magic Johnson esque. Moreover, what a sad case it is that T-Mac gets more passes to Yao than our bloody guards. If they can't get passes to him twice as much as now than just sit his ass down and let Mutombo be the starter C and have Yao be backup or trade his asss to a team that will make him more than a third option.
Good post and agree completely with all points. We just have to be patient and when everybody learns to play with TMac this team will be a contender. We finally have a superstart in the team!!
Good post, I agree with everything you said especially about Tmac and Deke. Tmac is by far the best on this team at getting easy shots for others. If I am on the rox, I could average at least 5 pts a game. I think Tmac's length and calmness has a lot to do with his passing. Unlike Francis and cuttino, Tmac seems always in control. In fact, many times, his moves looks slow. His length helps him to see and pass over/around defenders, while Steve/Cat have trouble doing that. I am sure many times Steve sees the open man, but just could not get the ball to them. The extra inches really comes in handy. Deke is a great addition to this team. So far, anyway. He is exactly what we need at backup for JVG's defense. I also see many good things in our team, especially in the first two games. I love how we are trying to dump the ball into Yao, although we turned the ball over many times doing it. We will perfect it pretty quickly.
Nice post i totally agree. Tmac is awesome..all around..he can do everything..wow...amazing ..well I saw him do it on the Magic..but DAMN this is what I wanted to see..I love it..MO DEFINITELY LOVED IT..JIMMY WAS LOVING IT..dikembe was definitely feeling it nice. Nachbar is actually playing and is decent! No to Deke at PF though lol
I think 2-1 is not such a bad start. First game was against the defending champions and second game was against Toronto who just also defeated the Pistons. Just be patient and this team will start playing a lot better. Yao will find his touch and then we will have two lethal weapons. Something is not right with Yao. Even his free throws are not dropping. I am sure he will come out of this slump and then this team will be awesome.
*tear* Man, that was a truely moving post. This is what I'm ****ing talking about people! LB, my Brother, you are a Man among b****es. I salute you. You pass the test and will not be banned once i become moderator.
Solute to this thread. Solute to TMac, who owned this game. Solute to Dek, who intimidated Gizy. Solute to all the fans who still believe in Yao.
thank you for reminding me that yao plays better midseason than at the start. I completely forgot, that makes me feel alot better about the start. him and tmac are going to be great together.
Excellent post and I agree with basicly everything you said. I would however look into trading JH and lue for Swift or a comparable player. I hear all this talk about us acquiring Bo Outlaw, is there anything official about us pursuing him or is it all hearsay?
The rockets would like nothing more than to make Yao the first option on offense. They would love it if they could get the ball down to Yao every single time. It's just really hard to do, and he'll run into the exact same problems on any other team he plays for. If Yao is going to flourish, this is the best place to do it. He's got a coach who is adamantly resolved into making him the focal point. He's also got a superstar teammate who is also geniunely motivated into making him the focal point. If Yao is ever going to become a franchise type player, this will be the easiest place for it to happen.
Yao has sucked ass so far offensively. His rebounding has improved, but it still isnt in double digits yet. I'll chalk it up to his messed up arm, but he bettah be 20+/10+ by midseason =P
nice breakdown. yao will pick up the pace in the upcoming weeks, especially once all players are on the same page, when sura returns and jvg possibly solidifies a new starting lineup...
I'm glad you pointed this out and explained it the way you did. Many people who just follow the ball and look at stats do not see what a positive presence Yao is on both sides of the ball for us. Wonderful post LB.
The one positive thing out of these 3 games is that even though Yao didn't play well...Rox are still in the game and even take the lead at time. So just imagine if Yao and TMAC both play well at the same time...
