Last year was more of a development year of the role players that the rockets had and they didn't have winning the championship as a realistic possibility in their minds. However this year they do have winning the championship as a real possibility so as a championship contending team with added players and the return of Yao they don't know who they are. As of now with the current roster and new situation they have to find that out to have a real shot at being Champions this year. It's a lot of BS but we have to go through the BS to get to the good. So I understand the Battier quote.
Battier is like a Federal PR machine. You can't get a single piece of "opinion" from him. Thats why I love players who actually really speak their mind..like Artest..Bonzi..etc etc..people that has a real swagger and flare to them... Hence I never bother to look at Battier quotes. They are great for getting you on the good side with your boss, but everything else you know they are thinking a completely different idea inside them. Battier may well say "I sucked and Aaron sucked." But he isnt gonna ever say that even if he thought of that. And regarding this lineup experimenting? Its all good if its actually necessary. We had our lineup PERFECTLY sorted with Ariza and Battier manning the 3 spot and KMart having backups of Jermaine Taylor and Chase Budinger. But now Jermaine has absolutely zero chance of getting any playtime and it seems we have a PROBLEM at the 3 point after being STACKED at the 3 spot last year. There is no need to tinker with the lineups. We experimented with our players and lineups all year last year...after all, thats what that year was used to do wasnt it? With Yao back, it shouldn't be too different. He played a total of 24 minutes out of 96 minutes this season. Was he the reason we lost? I think not.
That thought did cross my mind. Martin was the one who distributing in this game. Did it bother Brooks? He's shown mental weakness in the past when Rafer came back from an injury and Brooks returned to the bench. Brooks went into a slump which he said was from being demoted. Brooks and Martin did have good games together last season but did they ever combine as well as Martin and Ariza did in the last game of last season?
The few games right after Reefer was traded Brooks had to face Billups, Deron Williams and one star pg (CP3? I forgot) all in a row. He played great defense then, and if Brooks was capable of defending DW then he's certainly capable of defending any pg decently. Again this all boils down to poor coaching and preparation. Good preparation= good execution, organized plays, less confusion on the floor Mediocre preparation = horrible execution out of times outs, helter skelter plays all over the court, "searching for an identity"
Honestly, can't remember the games you mentioned but I remember Billups going off on AB a few weeks after the trade and Aaron's first game after the deal involved J.J. FREAKING Barea going off for a career high.
Chuck had a decent game, BUT I do not want him starting for the Rockets when Yao is out. NO NO NO. to have the shortest starting center in the league is just asking, no - begging for trouble. J Hill should have started in my opinion. Someone needs to be out there that has a chance to block shots. Chuck prob wrecked shop against J Hill and Jeffries during practice, but against the rest of the leagues centers - no sir! He has some moves now, don't get me wrong. I just think the team would be better served if Chuck was used only as a defensive Power forward or small forward. He did put some D on Artest in the 1st game. Anyway, I hope coach figures it out. Chuck is an asset. I'd like to also say that Yao has been getting a lot of negative press due to his restriction on playing time and his play all together. To me, he's been playing great. He almost appears to be playing a bit lighter on his feet. He has gotten himself off balance at times and missed some chip shots, but most of that is just rust to me - that boy looks good. I don't think he should start though. Go Rockets! and I hope there are still some tickets left for the game against Denver. Home Opener baby!
GSW has quick players,but I feel that Miller should have gotten more minutes despite their quickness.Hill should have been out there too.
at the end of the day, all roads lead to staples, and aaron lights the lakers and fisher up probably more than anyone else in the nba. What this teams needs is a closer, someone we can throw the ball too, clear out, and screw the coaching (the last few minutes except for timeout plays is really not a great deal to do with the coach)
This makes for great hyperbole however the reality is why will you want a guy who doesn't stick to the gamplan? I guess if Jordan, Kobe or Lebron is available they can do that but guys like those don't really grow on trees. Rather than talking about this mythical franchise player we can get, how about we focus on the guys we have and work on our execution and game plan instead? Brooks, Martin and Scola all have the potential to be stone-cold killers, in fact Scola has been the stone cold killer for Argetina the last few years. Lets focus on training and hone these guys up instead of moping around and dreaming of a blockbuster trade.
The issue isn't getting the best at it, it's that we have pretty much the worst at it (it wouldn't surprise me if we were actually the worst at it), but trading away the best asset against the lakers because of his defense is taking two steps back whilst attempting to take a step forward.
It isn't really correct to say we started Chuck at center against GSW. He replaced Yao in the lineup, but Scola was guarding their center. Chuck was assigned to David Lee. Adelman made that decision because he felt Chuck was our best defensive matchup against Lee (and he is).
Fun fact: in the last two seasons, GS has scored 125+ 22 times. Only 4 of those times did they do that against a team that finished with a winning record, all four against Phoenix(2-2). I didn't read through this thread but does anyone know why we played 46 mins of an NBA basketball game without a center on the floor? Adelman has lost his mind.
Very true, however having a 6 6 power forward, not named Charles Barkley, guarding David Lee or any power forward in this league doesn't make me feel any better. I would even say it might have been better if he did guard Andris Biedrins because he wasn't going to do as much damage. Edit - I take that back, Hayes is a fine defensive specialist and should play against some Western PForwards...ignore most of my take.
Chuck does a great job defending his man, sometimes even on jumbo-sized guys, and is a smart help defender. I think his size came into play on stopping the penetration and offensive rebounds against more atheletic players. He's good at positioning and taking charges, and has quick hands, but isn't tall enough to challenge a perimeter star or a cutter charging in near the basket or a taller opponent just jumping over him for the O-Reb sometimes. I remember Phil Jackson saying last year that he should quit trying to post Chuck up and just hit the offensive boards.
I think our guys were tired. After the China trip - then the back-to-backs. Also have wondered if playing (our time) 9:30 to midnight games factors in. The LA game started about 9:45 ending around 12:30 our time, right? Tired legs. Tired minds.
