This year has been strange, the team is still finding itself, and players are not comfortable in their roles, but there has been one glaring problem that has remained a constant with the Rockets, poor rebounding. Now, a lot of people might look at the team and see it as a lack of heigth, or athleticism, and while those things are true, it has little effect on the team's ability to rebound properly. The main issue is one of blocking out, and positioning. Right now there is only one player on the Rockets who is doing an adequate job rebounding the ball, Luis Scola, and he is far from the most athletic or tallest player on the team. Yao Ming has been horrible at boxing out and not aggressive at going after the ball. Carl Landry is great on the offensive glass, but he is offensive on the defensive glass, he is always out of position and not boxing out. Tmac has not helped as much as he usually does on the glass this year. This team needs an all hands on deck approach....start with the fundamentals....box your man out and get that ball, AND then run. It seems that half our team is already running down the court before the rebound is secured...... Just fixing this one small issue will help this team a ton....because as Barkley said "You can't score unless you have the ball" And that is a matter of committment to getting the ball....while the team is short and not as athletic as some....it is big enough to get that ball on the defensive glass, if they commit to doing it. Just boxing out....would make a huge difference. All hands on deck.....and get that rebound.... DD
Totally agree, the Rockets were one of the top teams in rebounding despite the height disadvantage. The hunger, desire and hustle of last year is almost completely gone. There is something seriously wrong with our team and I think their might be problems we don't know about. Chemistry wise maybe or something else. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed and we have to start hustling again as we did during the 22 game winning streak. The energy level of our team as at an all time low and it's not just a few players. The players are not ready to fight for each other, help on the weakside or lead the team. When Battier comes back, there will be some leadership back on the defensive end but when will T-mac / Yao or even Artest step up to be the real leader. This team is lacking focus and RA is not going to do enough so some1 else has to step up. Last year we didn't really have a leader and we still don't have one now. Like our slogan said: "It's time" forget getting Red; perhaps a better slogan would've been "Get Red-y (ready)" because obviously this team is not ready. During the pre-season we looked fine and were at least showing some RA offense, where it has gone ? No1 knows and since RA is not going to be a real boss and tell them what to do, we need some1 else to step up. I miss the days of Olajuwon and Thorpe, two great leaders and repectively captain and co-captain. Do we even have a captain ?
well said and i think the main problem has been rebounding also, we are just getting killed on the boards, other teams are always out hustling us. well barkleys statement isnt entirely true. I remember last season during the opener vs the lakers, there was a little bit of a mistake by i think it was luke walton and he scored 2 points for us by total freakish accident. So we didnt have the ball then but we scored, with out those 2 points we might not of won.
The rebounding problem thus far is entirely due to laziness. I was watching with my wife last night and there was a ball that rimmed out in either the 3rd or 4th quarter that was T-Mac's rebound but one of the Lakers, Farmar I believe, just grabbed it and put it back up. My wife asked if they are allowed to block the other team from going after rebounds. This team has failed to box out so many times already it isn't even funny. It's just pure laziness. That's one thing I am optimistic can be corrected.
Agreed, it is a lack of commmittment to playing hard, and I am not sure why? Rebounding does not require chemistry, it is all about will....do you want it more than the other guy. Right now we are playing too passively....well everyone except Scola. DD
Agree 100% It absolutely kills me every time I see us giving up offensive rebounds and it's not always bigger players getting them. A lot of times it's smaller forwards or even guards getting in there and grabbing the board. I don't know what the stats are, but we have to be one of the worst teams in the league giving up offensive boards and probably rebounding in general. It's all about boxing out and positioning. How is it that a 50 year old like Mutumbo can come into a game and grad nearly every defensive rebound when he's in there. I know he's not out jumping anyone or faster to the ball. He just knows where to be.
It's not even necessarily "will." With the exception of that stretch last night where the Lakers were just significantly taller than the Rockets on the court, defensive rebounding is just a matter of fundamental basketball. Just do what you are supposed to do. When the ball misses, don't just stand still looking up at it with no awareness of what's going on around you. Find the other team's players and box them out. You don't even have to be passionate about the game to box someone out or prevent a PG from running in under the rim and grabbing a board. Just don't play lazy.
You don't have to be that tall or athletic to rebound, you just have to be positioned well and box out. Some of the best rebounders of all time were not tall...Barkley, Rodman, Wallace, Bird, Larry Smith.... They just worked harder and boxed out. It takes a committment to doing it....and right now, outside of Scola, no one else is doing it. Heck, Aaron Brooks had to go get that key defensive rebound against the Clippers....AARON FRICKEN BROOKS !!!!! 90%+ of rebounds are secured BELOW the rim......Box out.....that is all the team has to do. DD
You do realize that your post was 2 minutes after mine, and not all that related. It is less about size and more about technique and committment. DD
Something is definely up with this team. There just seems to be a lack of focus on the basics. First it was the transition D (simply getting back) and now its rebounding (boxing out). At least they're hitting their FT's.
Yao was 0-4 last night at the FT line and Artest is missing now too. It seems a big chemistry issue....what is the pecking order? But while they figure that out, they could at least do the professional thing and play hard......look at Luis.....he gets about his business....follow his lead. DD
The FT thing was me being sarcastic. Guess I should have put this I don't see why there should be a problem with the pecking order. T Mac and Yao were doing great all along and is willing to take on any role or at least so he says. And I agree with you totally on playing hard, T Mac especially. He just isn't showing any interest whatsoever.
Trade one of Scola and Landry for a pg! They are both good at offense end, but not good at defense end. In other words, they are not good complements for Yao. There is a reason for the spurs to think Scola cannot play with Duncan! Please sign Antonio McDyess, and trade one of our PFs for a good pg! Some people said McDyess is old, and only one or two years window left. In fact, only one or two years window left for Yao and Tmac as well! The rockets will have to rebuild in two years!
Forget the pecking order and do like you said Luis is doing....get about business. These guys are not playing as a team for 48 minutes. The were playing as a team for the first quarter and part of the second quarter. After that I don't know what happened. Perhaps it was coaching, but the bottom line is they stopped playing as a team and settling for outside shots. Then when they tried to play as a team, they were making piss poor passes. I do think Shane's return will help alot. Ron won't have to chase around quicker guards and our defense will get back in sync (I think).
Our starting center is the talest guy in the league, or starting PF is 6'9" more than tall enough. Our starting SF is 6'8"... We just need committment. DD
agreed. both yao and tmac do a horrible job of boxing out. yao probably because he has relied on his height his whole career, and tmac because he has relied on his athleticism. yao needs to do a much better job of using his size to secure rebounds instead of just waiting for them to fall into his hands. and tmac, he's just playing like he's in the nbdl or something. no energy, no quickness to the ball. if he's hurt then he needs to sit, bc him trotting up and down the court with a look of agony just pisses me off. if either of these guys paid half as much attention to rebounding as scola or hayes, we'd be cleaning up the glass with ease.