Generally, I am happy about the Rockets 10-5 record, and think something special may be happening with this team. However, there is one ingredient missing from this team which will cause them to underperform. Competitiveness - a will to dominate the other team and win at all costs. The Rockets are a team of nice guys, but lack that inner fire, that all great teams seem to possess. Here is my breakdown and grades of the Rockets players - and not holding anything back. Yao Ming Grade: B+ Strengths: A very good shooter and a load on the low block. Once in position he is unstoppable on offense. He has a great shooting touch, and is a deft passer, a truly wonderful offensive force. Weakness: He is too often passive on defense, and does not attack the rebounds this year. I think his feet are not right, if you watch how he played after coming back from toe surgery and how well he moved and attacked the boards versus how he is playing now, it is no contest. He is better on offense and utilizing his body, but he is not moving as well and is tenative on rebounds. Overall: Good progress by Yao, needs to be more aggressive in going after rebounds. Tracy McGrady Grade: C+ Strengths - The ability to get his shot whenever he wants it. A player who can dominate the game by simply being on the floor, and a good decision maker when running the point forward. Weakness - He is a panzy. His competitive fire burns very low, and right now his confidence is suffering and it is hurting his shooting. Tracy could attack the rim relentlessly, but he is scared. Clearly he is playing to "not get hurt" rather than playing to win. I am quite certain that all of Tmac's issues are in his head. Could you imagine a 27 year old Michael Jordan saying he has lost a step? PUUUHHHHLLLEAAASSSEEE. Tmac has only lost it in his mind, he just needs to go on attack mode, and he would be shocked at how much he still has in the tank. But, will he? Overall - Tmac needs to attack and quit worrying about being hurt. Playing scared is not working for him, we need the carefree Tmac back. Shane Battier Grade: B+ Strengths - The glue guy, the cosumate team player. A guy who will do the dirty work on both ends of the court and is unselfish to a fault. Weakness - Prone to settle too much for the 3pt shot, sometimes should drive by his man when they rotate out to try to stop his corner 3, keep them honest by driving by and going to the rack. Overall - Keep up the good work, but attack the basket more when the 3pter is not falling. Chuck Hayes Grade: A- Strengths - Hustle and rebounding. The guy just loves to do the dirty work and he is also not a bad cutter on offense. He should be more involved in the pick and roll with Tmac at the top of the key. Give Yao a break and allow him to clean up the glass more often. Plays within himself more than any other Rocket player - very smart. Weakness - Shooting and foul trouble. Hayes hustles so much that he gets into foul trouble a LOT. As for his shooting, at least he realizes it is poor so sticks to layups. Overall - Keep playing smart, use hands less on defense to avoid foul trouble. Rafer Alston Grade D+ Strengths - Protects the ball pretty well, and is adept at dribbling and hitting the clutch 3 pointer. Weakness - Man, where to start? The guy is simply a sieve on defense, and is horrible at finishing at the rim, and he is a very poor shooter on top of everything else. When he does penetrate it is not to set up his teamates ( a typical move by a PG) but it is for him to try to shoot that stupid tear drop that NEVER goes in....NEVER. Rafer is by far and away the weakest link on this team, especially among starters. Bad shooter, poor finisher, not a lot of assists, what position does he play again? Overall - STOP SHOOTING so danged much, and he needs a good dose of pine, should not be playing so many minutes. As for the Bench - Luther Head Grade: B Strenghts - 3 point shooting. The guy is a clutch 3 point shooter, and hits a very high percentage. Overall a solid guy to have off the bench. Weakness - HORRID defender, poor passer, rarely attacks the rim. Overall - Got to work on handles, and making better decsions with the basketball, and try to stay in FRONT of his man and stop peaking at the ball when his guy doesn't have it....too many back door plays against Luther. V-Span Grade B- Strengths - Great passer, good penetrator, competitive fire. Great defender - able to stay in front of his man and play help defense. Weakness - Not finishing well at the rim, and his shot is pretty bad most of the time. Needs more time on the court to work out his weaknesses. Also, can make turnovers, but that seems to be more of a preseason thing than a regular season occurance. Overall - Needs seasoning, and allow his confidence to grow. The team needs a fiery competitor and V-Span could be that guy. Steve Novak Grade: C- Strengths - Shooting, and moving without the ball. Weakness - Everything else ! He can't rebound, he can't dribble, and generally looks lost out there on the court. Overall - Needs to work on court awareness, and teamates need to pass him the ball when he is open for the shot. Dikembe Mutombo Grade: B- Strengths - Clogging the middle and playing defense Weakness - Clogging the middle on offense - slower than molasses Overall - A decent backup for Yao, but it would be nice to have an athletic backup at the Center position to give a different look. Juwan Howard Grade: D+ Strengths - A pro player, can hit the midrange jumper Weakness - For whatever reason he is a cancer on the court, he is a good guy but the other team scores a LOT more when he is playing. Overall - Put him out to pasture, off to the glue factory J-Ho. Scott Padgett Grade: C Strengths - Smart player, rebounds well for his size, always in the right position. Streaky shooter. Weakness - Too slow to play PF consistently, and if his shot is not falling, he doesn't add much else. Good 10th man on the bench. Overall - Should not see the court much unless there are injuries. He is a valuable bench guy, but if he is playing a lot, the Rockets are in trouble. John Lucas III Grade: C Strengths - Shooting the ball and getting to the hole. Weakness - Too small, and not all that great at passing the basketball Overall - Probably should get a look at being an energy player off the bench when offense is flagging. Kirk Synder Grade: B- Strengths - Athletic guard who attacks the basket well. Weakness - Can't shoot the jumper. Injury almost turned this grade to Inc. Overall - Get healthy and work on that jumper. Bob Sura Grade : Inc Strengths - Attitude and toughness Weakness - Not a great shooter Overall - We need him or V-Span playing major minutes as this team has no leader to follow and is too passive overall. Sura plays with an intensity that the team feeds off of, we need that on the court to lift up the panzies. Bonzi Wells Grade: F Strengths - Should be rebounding and scoring inside from the SF and Two guard position Weakness - Fat....lazy and fat.....attitude sucks, I thought he wanted to win. Overall: If he is going to contribute he needs to drop the attitude and get his mind and body right. Jeff Van Gundy Grade B- Strengths - One of the most knowlegeable and prepared coaches in the league. Weakness - Slow to recognize trends and make adjustments. Keeps young players nailed to the bench because they are unpredictable. Also, plays his starters too much, needs to manage their minutes better, does a good job with Yao, but Alston plays WAY too much. Overall : needs to stop worrying about his contract and loosen up a bit and get the young guys some minutes and rest his starters. Rockets as a team. Grade B Strengths - Play excellent defense, and has a good inside out framework for offense. Chemistry between players seems good. Weakness - Passive attitude on the team, no vocal leader, no on court player who inspires others to play harder. Also, settle too often for 3pt shots, need to go to the basket more often. Overall - The team is 10-5 but could easily be 13-2......Chemistry looks good, but the team DESPERATLY needs Sura or V-Span or maybe Bonzi to provide that competitive fire that is lacking in the rest of the nice guys on the team. I am fairly happy with the team and think something special is happening, but in order for the team to reach it's potential, three things must happen. 1. Tmac needs to quit playing scared and not worry about re-injury. 2. Rockets get a fiery personality on the court, someone who provides that extra spark. 3. JVG needs to loosen up a bit and play the young guys some minutes so they get some measure of confidence, otherwise when called on they will continue to have that deer in the headlights look. Whew - sorry for the long diatribe........ DaDakota - Bipolar poster of the year.
I hope when you rated CHucky infront of Yao that you are really suggesting that the rating is based on our expecation of them before the season
My grade is on their performance so far....it is not that Chucky is better than Yao it is that Chucky is performing closer to his peak, and is doing his role at a higher grade. Clearly Yao is a better player than Chuck Hayes. DD
I sort of figure this topic was created solely to bash on Rafer and to get others to agree with you...
Alston (37.7%) and T-mac (40.2%) can't shoot. Luther can't shoot the 2-ball, he shoots well the 3-ball. I would rather let Battier shoot percentage wise (43.8%) instead of T-mac.
On tom.com after the vs. Memphis game one reporter mentioned that Yao having blisters on his foot right now, don't know if that affected his game.
No way....It is about what the team needs to get better and realize their potential. Alston is an issue, but there are bigger ones that need addressing, truthfully, if you just limited Alston a bit more he would be more effective, IMHO. Although if Sura came back and took his starting spot, it would be ok with me. DD
One thing I noticed in the previous games was that whenever we get a good lead, Tmac starts to make bad shooting decisions that triggers a collapse and eventually lose our momentum. This answers why we don't have a killer instinct.
Nice analysis. Would like to add a few points. Yao's got to be more aggressive on not only the rbs, also the fouls. Man, foul like a Shaq. If Barbosa attacks the rim with his right hand, slash his right arm heavily that he can not shoot with that hand anymore in that entire game. That is the way you should commit a foul big guy. Otherwise might just leave it as is. Throw a couple of elbows while fighting for position, yes you will get called for offensive fouls but the other team will give you respect due to their pain. Shaq didn't die because of fouls. Forget about being a classy guy when you are on court, when you walked out the lockerroom for the last time, the only thing people really care is the rings you wear. You need fire, foul, fight for a ring, Yao. Tmac is not No.1 unless he gets his confidence back, so is Yao the leader? No. The leader is a decision maker that can handle the ball. If Yao can handle the ball like TD, yeah maybe, but with his skills now, hell no. Call me crazy, I think Bill has such a potential (not just the skill, but the WILL), but can we wait? Can he develop? That is, again, if TMac doesn't gain his old self...
Very good analysis. I can't believe what's going on with Tracy. I've watched the NBA for 17 years and haven't seen anything like this.
I couldn't disagree with this more. Yao should never, EVER foul on purpose. He's much, much too valuable on the court, and with his size and difficulty with quick lateral movement, he's already very foul prone. It's been a problem his entire career. If he racks up a couple hard "message" fouls, then picks up a ticky-tack foul he's known for, he's going to be sitting on the bench instead of contributing to a victory. To call Yao passive and soft is tired, and completely ludicrous. Obviously you're not watching the games or you have no idea what you're talking about.
Honestly Tracy is a shell of his former dominate self -- we can hope that he is just saving himself for the stretch run.
Van Gundy must have called you up! Actually that is probably how he sees it also. Seriously good analysis. TMac needs to straighten out his head and his heart and his body and step it up!
Finally, a thread worth reading. Thank you. Straight, to the point, real...and get this...without whining! Unheard of on this board! I may not agree 100% with your post, but at least it's not a pain to read.
I am with darkhorse on this one. That's why Chuck gets so many fouls.. its his job to pound those people to keep Yao in the game. I agree that he needs to get a few more "in your face" baskets on the offensive end per game, but I don't think he's being passive on defense at all. DaDa... great analysis though. I think you are being a bit harsh on Rafer. He is still trying to adjust as well. His role on this team is pretty hard to define at this point for us, and for him. Though I think if Tmac figures out what his role should be, it will make life easier for Rafer to find his groove as well. Rafer and most of the rest of the team are going to defer to whatever Tmac decides and that cause offensive confusion. This team has so much potential that games like the one last night are absolutely going to be a Rox win once everyone adjusts to their role and rooks gets some pt to shake off there nervousness. good thread!
Good break down except for the Rafer Alston part. I don't agree with you, but everyone has their own opinions. I think he's doing a pretty decent job considering he's trying to fill the void Tracy should be filling. If Yao is doubled and he throws the ball out to Skip....Skip is wide open, he should shoot the ball....I think he's doing alright out there.
I have no problem with him shooting the wide open shots, other than when they are not falling it would be nice if he drove it to the hole and set the table for someone else when the defense rotates. DD
When Rafer is open outside that means that all the defense is down at the low post. Do you still want him to drive to the hole?
I agree with you and I think he does that. He could do it more often, but passing up open jumpers on this team usually leads to a bunch of 3 second calls.....aided by the oponent bench screaming towards the refs to watch Yao and Co. lol He's no Nash or Kidd, but I SEE the improvement in his game and appreciate him. You gave him a D+ because you think otherwise and I respect that....I'm sure JVG is very happy with him
