Anyone who judges someone a player after two pre-season games is a r****d. i mean look at his ID. car bombed.
Yea, that story about the Mini Cooper was hilarious. Worrell said it looked like a clown car when Barry and Scola climbed out.
remember, the main guys haven't played extended minutes yet. shane hasn't played. tmac played barely. rafer didn't play today. i think our starters aren't gonna look so good to start the season b/c they haven't played much with each other. we're gonna rely on defense to get off to a good start.
i didn't expect him to look good at all and he def. did not in the first half. but considering this is his first extended minuets, he played decent. and he's def. out of shape. i'm just flabbergasted by the conclusions some people make watching one quarter and saying tmac's done. just play him 28-29 minutes in the first 4-5 games so he can get into game shape and then let him loose. he's still easily the guy teams fear. the double teams on tmac were ludicrous considering what shape he is in.
Thoughts on the game: * Landry was awesome, but he has a nasty face going through the pre-season. Have not even seen a smile from him during the game. Hope not related to the contract hold-out and his passion still there. * Brooks look good. He makes mistakes by not making the simple play, but otherwise unstoppable. Feel he picks up the dribble and penetrates less with the 1st unit. * Luther played well. If he gets his mid-range shots going, could be Rip-Hamilton-like (lite). Defense seemed better than previous years. * Really miss Battier - team defense, weak-side blocks, transition-D, floor spacing, efficiency and chasing through screens. * Artest average - on offense most plays going one-on-one, and on defense seems to focus on steals/big plays too much, didn't really stay with his man. More focused on O than D for sure. Seemed to play better with second unit. * Yao / T-Mac - will get better as get legs/flow back. Look very rusty right now. But over 82-games with health (hopefully), should not be a concern. Yao still can't stay with outside-shooting/driving (facing the rim) centers. * Both Barry and Brooks are real liabilities on D but also great on O. Overall: * First unit only played Adelman offense sporadically, instead going to T-Mac, Yao and Artest post-ups and T-Mac/Artest isos often. * Second unit had better patience playing the offense and moving the ball, and did better. * Transition-D and D in general v. average. * Taking less 3s, but better ones. No 3s from T-Mac! * Current form - probably deserve the WC 3-5/6 rankings by media. Hopefully improve at T-Mac/Yao gets into form and D toughened with return of Battier.
I totally agree that too many people are going overboard about T-Mac's condition. At the same time, he was wincing badly on that one play. Not the kind of wincing you get from being winded either. He really couldn't jump or move well backwards and laterally. I hope the next several days get him where he needs to be but I wouldn't be shocked if he misses a game or two.
Absolutely disagree. Scola-Yao combo is gold for our offensive game. It's = easy points. With Alston-Tracy-Shane-Scola-Yao we don't need more offense, it's perfect. Even with that lineup Tracy had problems in some games last year for taking his shots. Battier is a better team defender than Ron, and they can say whatever. But he knows perfectly his partners, his possible errors in defense. He makes the helps and 2nd helps before than Ronny, the balance... He's better passing the screens, he plays more for Yao... Alston and Shane are the pillars of our defensive system. And Artest will be great from the bench, he'll have his shots, we'll have his scoring, he fits better with our inside players... I think it's pretty obvious, and I suppose Adelman thinks the same.
Yeah, I think he also said it looked like something "straight from the circus". It's good to see Worrell and Bullard joking it up and adding some nice anecdotes to the broadcast. Did you hear the story about Hakeem and Bull the other night? That was also good, it went something like: Worrell: "Of course, Hakeem used to dress next to Matt but knew him only by his nickname" Clyde: "What, Air Bullard?" Worell: (Chuckling) No Bullard: "One day Bill was looking for me and said where's Matt? And Hakeem said, 'Who is Matt?' and you said 'Bull!' And Hakeem said, 'Oh! Bull!' "
I thought this was a great game for the Rockets other than the second quarter. Hayes and Landry should of been brought in sooner and the big fragile 2 played too many minutes in the first half. Ive was not impressed with Adelmans minute allocation tonight, which was very evident in the second quarter. Also I think Luis should come off the bench and both Battier and Artest should start. I'd like to see how that lineup works. The second unit looks VERY strong and proved in the fourth they deserve more time. I am loving this team, but I think we are going to have some serious problems against big men. What are we gonna do vs the Shaq/Amare combo?
My bad. They may not have said clown car but that was what I pictured when he said it. I missed the Hakeem anecdote but I've heard it before. I can't believe some people don't like Bullard. There really are quite a few. I think he's terrific. His analysis is great and he is excellent in front of the camera for a former player. I actually don't care for Worrell much. He speaks very well and is clearly good at broadcasting but he says too many stupid things in my opinion. He also seems a bit out of touch with the 20s and 30s age group which I'm guessing makes up the biggest portion of viewers.
What defense? The guards are allowing too much penetration and even our bigs are occasionally getting into the act. Our first line of defense is not stopping the ball in transition. I don't know whether the team wasn't trying hard or they are this bad right now. Hopefully you are right and they can rely on the defense to carry them but trend in preseason says otherwise.
for all the yao trashing tonight. When yao is in the court, his +14. Too bad we did not see any of the young guns, looking at how head handle the point, i really hope strawberry is not the one being cut.
I'm with ya. Really like Bullard, especially now when he does his x's and o's on the screen it doesn't take 30 minutes for him to make his point. I'm also not a fan of Worrell. He tries to make jokes to seem "cool" but its embarrassing, kind of like when your dad tries to be funny and fails miserably. He's also a little too much of a homer when it comes to criticizing referee's calls etc. I don't want us to be "that team" with the overly homerish announcers that just make us look unprofessional and biased.
i'm just sayin IF we're gonna get off to a good start, the defense has to be our calling card (or hopefully so).
Why, because I said if McGrady doesn't get his explosion back we're screwed, guess what if McGrady doesn't bounce back to playing at a high level we are screwed.......please just be quiet. I had the same knee injury so I know what it's going to take for him to get back......(actually had two knee injuries). I could careless of a couple of his flatliners dropped, I was looking at how he was running and carrying himself and he still has a long way to go......hope he gets there though.
