We are never going to transition from our Van Gundy identity to the Adelman identity until we get consistent offensive flow. Our starting lineup must change. I propose Alston/Head/Tmac/Scola/Yao. 1. One big concern with Tmac's return is that ball and player movement will stop. Well, it's a self fulfilling prophecy when Tmac starts along side Battier and Hayes, two non offensive threats. The fact is, those two are utterly incapable of being legitimate offensive threats. Fine, let them be the energy spark/bench brigade. 2. The players that get PT off the bench should be decided heavily based on consistent energy. Brooks/Bonzi/Battier/Hayes and possibly Landry should be worked in on that basis. 3. There can be an argument to start Battier if we face a premier 2 guard, like a Kobe, but Battier as your 5th scoring option is vastly better than Battier as your 4th and Hayes as your 5th. Honestly, there's no sense staying pat. We must try something different.
for the team to get off to better starts, the starting lineup MUST change. hayes has to go out. scola has to replace him. i prefer battier to stay b/c we need at least one hustle player in there and he's at least A THREAT to score with the 3 ball. adelman needs to make changes.
I don't think that's going to happen. Aaron Brooks just said they need to get the ball into Yao more. This is a rehash of the old Van Gundy offense.
I like TMac at the 3, more mismatches there, but then you're starting Head . As long as Head doesn't close out games I'm fine. Head tends to stand around even more when he's on the floor with TMac, he just camps out on the 3pt line and stops cutting to the basket. We seriously need to look hard and reevaluate Head these upcoming games when Tmac comes back. He needs to realize that he was one of the major reasons of the 76er debacle and own up and step up.
I dont know if you have watched them play recently, but the Rockets are started very well as of late. I think they have scored 30 or more in the first quarter 3 out of te last 5 games. Starting the game isnt the problem. The problem at the moment is finishing the game and that stems from lack of leadership and guidance, particularly from the guard positions. Hopefully Tmac will aid this. Its obvious that Tmac is going to be the number one option in late game situations, unless teams are playing Yao one-on-one. My only concern is that, in close game situations, Tmac wont play within the offense, instead go back to his turn around jumpers. So ye, i dont think the starting line up is the problem at the moment. In fact, Chuck hayes oinly played 18 mins yesterday and Scola had 23. Finishing games is the current rockets problem.
Ideally, I really like that starting lineup. Our offense would be at its best. However, I think its necessary to have at least one of our two defensive specialists, Battier or Hayes, to start in order to establish a defensive presence, depending on matchups. Use Alston/ McGrady/ Battier/ Scola /Yao against teams with a high-scoring wing player. Use Alston/ Head/ McGrady/ Hayes/ Yao against teams with a high-scoring post player.
We must find a way to score and keeping up when Yao or Tmac is resting. Bench is still struggle to score on consistent basis. Accordingly Yao/Tmac ends up playing 40 min. every game and often run out of gas in crucial time in the 4th. Rick need to continue tweaking his rotation to keep starters fresh in the 4th.
Why are we changing lineups? To my knowledge we are yet to see Mcgrady even PLAY with Brooks. I want to see Mcgrady set Scola up for post ups. See if he actually does that. there is heaps to our offensive that hasn't even happened despite us being half way through the season. The offence has clicked in recent weeks and I hope with Mcgrady we can even more combinations and offensive sets/weapons/blah blah blah. Honestly in Philly, if Mac was there, would we have turned it over like 9 times.
If people want to move Tmac to the 3 (not sure I do), then couldn't we start Bonzi over Head at the 2? He's much better than Head, but may be too slow to guard SGs. I still like Hayes starting. AND, I like Hayes finishing in the 4th. When we have a good lead, I prefer keeping Hayes in there to keep the damn driving guards out of the lane. If we change up the offense at the end (not go to Yao on every single play) then we can have some scoring/cutting/3s from Rafer, Tmac, Battier, Bonzi, whoever. Blowing leads is a sign of giving up easy points and I feel that Hayes helps defend against this.
"The Great Wall / Mt. Mutombo / Carl Land Rover The Chuckwagon / Ice Scola / Supernova Batman / Bonzai! / Snyderman T-Mac / Air Head / Who Mike James Skip to my Lou / Zero the Hero / Stevie Franchise" Not so sure I agree with the order...but I love the nicknames Yao Scola Bonzi Mac AB
I think many of the Rox current problems can be solved trading for a legit PG. The latest collapse had Andre Miller scoring at will. Majority of the losses were to team with strong PGs. The PF position had the same problem but was remedied by a Hayes and Scola rotation. I suggest that the Rox bite the bullet and trade away Alston.
Either Hayes or Battier has to sit. Too many liabilities on offense. I like Tracy at the 3 with Head at the 2.
Maybe T-Mac should move the 3. It is his original position, and if moved there, he could go back scoring more and not have to hold the ball the whole possession. changing the game plan around would probably help too. Instead of starting with defense first then offense off bench, start offense first, and defense off bench. Battier and Hayes off bench, and Scola and Bonzi start.
No way the idiot know as head should start. I would sit head for Battier and Head would play if he's hustling on defense and not turning the ball over. I like the play for a downscreen jumper for Battier at the elbow, which he hit. It caught the defense off guard and he was wide open. Yao, Tmac, Battier, Scola, and Rafer Bench: Brooks, Head (must play D and not turn ball over), Hayes/Landry, Bonzi, - 9 man rotation is good enough.
Deke needs to play more - I bet he would have had at least 3 blocks and 9 rebounds vs. the Sixers the other night, and could have helped prevent the lay-up drill the Sixers went thru... But on top of that, Andre Miller did most of the damage from mid-range.
I know Alston, Battier, and Hayes....are typical starters. They don't have to start every game, especially if they are liablity in certain matchups. Like previous poster said, I wouldn't start Hayes against a team with quick SF type PF, we could use push Mac or Battier (or even Bonzi) up to PF and let Scola defend their SF. Battier, Bonzi against Marion, Harrington Hayes against Duncan, Boozer, Martin, Bosh, Jefferson Mac, Battier against Nowitzki Scola could be used in any of the sets, come off the bench, or move down the small forward...while....I would actually consider start him against the Lakers or even Jazz, because they have big front lines. Alston is liability against big PG, why not let him come off the bench slide Battier over on defense to guard whoever it is, and let T-Mac handle the ball.
I like have players try to post up who are not use to it. They make mistakes. That's why Shane should have guard Chris Paul and Andre Miller down the stretch. His length and hustle will cause problems. Rafer treats all top point guards like it's a freebie And1 game.
