Say what?!?

This thread is familiar. Perhaps because its always come up the past three ****ing seasons? And look where playing 'subpar' has got us - crappy 4/5 seeds, first round playoff exits. The fact is we don't IMPROVE from this sort of subpar play. We just ARE subpar, or more appropriately, inconsistent. We need to play excellent every game and win all games we can.

 

You know what else is true?


The Rockets are only a game-and-a-half removed from the lottery almost halfway through the season.


Every game matters in the Western Conference.

Our team is playing like crap. They handed away 2 of the last 3 games (Hornets and Wizards) and almost did the same against Utah. The Cavs game was very winnable as well. Throw in the failed defensive assignment against Portland early in the season and that's 4 or 5 games.

We could and should be about 24-8 right now and sitting in 2nd place in the conference, even with all the injuries.

None of those aforementioned losses were blowouts. We just didn't try hard enough. That sucks.

I don't know what else to think when I hear these words:

"We just thought we could turn it on in the fourth quarter and win this game against a team that the record doesn't show they're a good team and it really backfired on us," said Tracy McGrady.

Link

 

And when was the last time the Rockets got out of the first round?

 

i hope ur not hoping for a streak like last year. players actually put some effort in games last year but injuries slowed them down. i cant say the same for this year. no effort, no energy, no drive to win, thats the rockets this year.

 

Wow, I had to work tonight so I didn't get to see the game. That comment pisses me off. Say what you want about JVG, but he always seemed to get effort out of his players.

 

Yeah, right, we should be happy that the team is losing to possibly the worst team in basketball on our home court....and while missing their best player.

GTFO !!!!

This team has no heart...PERIOD !

DD

 

but they're just one roster move away...moving Brooks to starter...from solving all their problems??? which is it??

 

I think Brooks energizes the whole team, and brings their level of play up. He forces Tmac to run, but more than that he gets open shots for himself, TMac and Yao.

Brooks brings energy to players who are sleepwalkers....primarily Yao and Tmac.

I believe Brooks is the answer, but I am not sure Adelman understands that there is a question TO be answered right now.

Brooks is the key....IMHO. He helps weak willed players get going.

In the meantime, the team has no heart, no competitive fire, they are rudderless....put Brooks in at the tiller and you will see.....

DD

 

they are 1 game back of the 2 seed, compared to where they SHOULD be, 2-3 games AHEAD of the 2 seed....

 

That's not true. JVG can not get effort out of TMAC and Yao either. If he did, they wont lose to Utah and Mavs and he wont be fired.

 

I agree with you..I'd prefer Brooks too.

But one minute it's that they have no competitive fire...and the next it's that "if they just started this one guy instead of bringing him off the bench, everything will be fixed." That just seems silly.

 

wow, you guys are killing me.

 

But it is really that simple.....sometimes changing the chemistry mix by one player makes all the difference.

I believe that is the case with Brooks......especially with an injured (mentally or physically) Tmac....

Rafer should not be starting, he is just not a quality NBA player, he just isn't....Brooks has more than proven he can handle it.....he may struggle some, but I would be willing to bet my life savings that he won't struggle as often as Rafer.

And when you change 20% of the starting unit, it makes a big difference.....especially at the position that has the ball the most....trust me....you put Brooks in at starter and the team will explode.

It will still have heart issues, but at least they will get their heart pumping at the start rather than off the bench.

DD

 

I really think this team has deeper problems than who starts at PG.....

 

If you say so.

I'm for starting Brooks because I think he's the better player. I don't think he's going to make Ron, Yao or Tracy play any harder by himself, though...it's not as if he isn't playing with those guys when he comes in the game...and it's not as if he's not playing at all, already.

 

Doesn't matter if were in 1st place or if we had another 22 game winning streak. We still can't beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. My Hope for these Rockets is to make it to the Conference Western Finals. I know we can't win it but at least we made it that far.

 

TMac, with Rafer as the PG, has put up over 25ppg. Brooks may help but he's not the solution.

As I've said all along, if TMac can't get back to a shadow of his old self, this team is in trouble.

...or at least hand the reigns over to Artest cause we know he can put the team on his back.

Yao is what he is ...a guy who can wear you out over the course of the game but he's not your go-to guy down the stretch. He can't create his own shots. So you need Artest or Tmac.

I'm not giving up on this team yet. The schedule is about to weaken in late January about the same time our health should improve. We'll still go on a big run in Februrary if we can just hold our ground for a couple more weeks.

 

Max, take a look at his minutes played these last 4 games since Rafer has been back.

21
17
21 - Double OT game
16

So out of 202 available minutes he has played 75 minutes or roughly 37%......not exactly that impactual.

While Rafer has played 130 minutes or 64%.......of the available minutes.

I believe if you reverse that you will get much better results as a team.

Also, Brooks playing with Tmac and Yao, 2 players the defense must honor opens up the spacing for him to drive and take advantage of his quickness, and minimizes his weaknesses by having the better players in with him.

This team needs an offensive spark from the jump, Brooks is the only possible answer on the roster, he may not be THE answer, that may end up being shipping Tmac out to Siberia....but....he is the only hope we have right now.

Well until Tmac gets back to himself (if ever) the team is better off with Brooks in there helping fill the void, he is a much better scorer than Rafer, and he gets the team playing at a faster more efficient pace.


DD

 

I'm not arguing with you on the Brooks thing, really. I'd like to see him get the bulk of the minutes, too.