Okay, well you are right. Since we didn't gel in the first five games of the season and Boston did we should just send up white flag, blow up the team, and start planning for next year! Sheesh, people, we lost a game to the DEFENDING champs minus one of our starters, and barely at that, and we lost a game on a once in a career swish, buzzer beater from 30 foot out. PANIC!
Two Problems: Offense sucks. Defense sucks. Now for the good news: The offense sucks because Adelman is struggling with his rotations. It seems fairly obvious that we have too many slow iso players when T-Mac, Artest, and Yao are in the game at the same time. Battier will help that immensely. T-Mac and Artest both need the ball in their hands in the half-court offense. When they are on the court together, too many times Artest is left standing around the 3-point line watching McGrady. RA will figure his rotations out and the offense will flow much better. Yao can't possibly play this bad all year. He will get better. Rafer will either play better or get benched. The defensive rebounding is more troubling to me. True, we need a backup center, but that won't fix the problem completely. Rebounding is part height which we don't have at PF and part desire which we don't have at C. It's time to give Dorsey a shot or find a PF with height and desire (Mcdyess, would be the prototype, but he's going back to Detroit). Scola was great on offense last night, but was getting abused on defense, so we had to bring in Hayes, who is illiterate on offense and too short on the boards. Maybe Landry will step up and be the answer. For those who are screaming don't panic it's only 5 games, you are right. Butttttttt, the problem as I see it is that the weaknesses we are showing are in areas that become much more important come playoff time. We have to become much tougher around the basket or it's one and out no matter how deep or talented we are. Who wins championships? Boston, San Antonio, Miami, this year probably LA or Boston again. Brutality is king in the NBA.
If the Rockets didn't play like crap Portland wouldn't have been close enough to win on a last second shot. I don't care if the Rockets lose 22 in a row. I don't care if they're throwing the ball into the stands 20 times a game on bad passes. All those things would be worth it if that's what it took for them to learn the offense. But right now it doesn't even look like they're trying . All they do is stand around and watch each other. When they don't even move without the ball it looks like they've tuned the coach out and they're doing whatever they feel like.
I wouldn't characterize my feeling as panic; I would characterize it as accepting reality. The Rockets are nowhere near a championship team ... gelled or not.
At times like this where our team seems to losing, I just hope we can have someone like "2004" Francis back. I believed we desperately need a PG that can rebound, attack and control the game. Is there any news on Francis?
The problem isn't reality; it is expectations. The Rockets never asked you to believe they were a championship team after five games. They said over and over again that their goal is to be at their best come playoff time. You have probably noticed that the Rockets have been kind of slow starters in recent years. It just take them a while to put into full gear. It is part of their personality. It could cost them the top seed, but I still think the division itself will be there for the taking down the stretch. I am a little surprised at anyone who questions the Rockets' desire (not you but others). This is a team that inspired the nation last year during their win streak. It isn't a matter of desire, but of figuring things out, and of course, getting healthy.
I can think of a few problems: 1. As a team, we are relatively slow, short and unathletic. Despite our great talent, this is a fact, especially in the case of our starting five. To overcome this, you need to execute well offensively like the Spurs and Jazz do year in and year out. You need to execute well defensively like... umm... the Rockets used to do year in and year out. You need to impose your advantages upon the other team and compensate for your weaknesses by playing smart basketball. 2. Battier is out I guess you have to learn to really appreciate something when it's taken away from you. I don't know how much of the defensive leaks he will be able to shore up when he returns, but those leaks are definitely present w/out him in the lineup. I don't know how much he will help with rebounding. Maybe his communication, experience and familiarity will help get everybody in sync and in position which is often not the case right now. 3. McGrady is running a motionless offense, same thing on defense He is absolutely making it easier for the opponents to defend us as at times by just standing on the perimeter on not keeping his feet moving to create space. If this wasn't something that existed for years, I would attribute it to the knee injury. He still manages to put up big points because he is long and a gifted scorer. He needs to get moving though. If he does, he'll score more easily and so will others. I'd rather have him moving more on both ends while he's on the court even if it means he can only play 25 mpg for now. 4. Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding This should probably be number one but may be the result of a number of factors, including the previous three problems. We have been among the defensive rebounding leaders, as a team, for a number of years now. This is the same group of players minus Battier and plus Artest. There is no good excuse for the poor rebounding in a few of the recent games. It's likely that both the coaches and the players are to blame. We've had an undersized team for years and our less undersized now than we used to be. We need to get the team defense straightened out and players need to work on their positioning, boxing out defenders after shots. There is also an element of hustle. Rebounding requires effort as much as anything else. We also need more length in our frontcourt. It seems like several teams around the league are developing bigger, longer and more athletic frontcourts. Yao is big but slow. Our PFs are all undersized. Scola probably has legit size but he's unathletic. I don't want to end up in another Game 7 and have a rebound get away from Yao because he is too slow to react or go over the heads of our forwards because they are too small. As good of a rebounding team as we've been for years now, we would only get better by adding more length. 5. Running a motion offense with Tracy and Yao as your cornerstones is difficult This is tied to the first and third problems. Tracy is not the same player he was 5 years ago. He isn't as quick and is unwilling to move constantly a la Richard Hamiltion or even a noob like Rudy Fernandez. He's still an elite scorer but not because he moves well w/out the ball and creates space. He scores using his length and talent in one-on-one situations. Yao is the same player he was 5 years ago. I'm not sure he will ever be able to execute Adelman's style of play well. He is not a great passer (some claim him to be) and he can't move well. I still think there is a chance he can become effective in the high post, setting picks and hitting mid-range shots if his man leaves him but he is clearly best-suited to play on the blocks. Phoenix is adjusting to Shaq and similarly Adelman and the Rockets have to adjust to Yao if you are going to play him. Phoenix can't run like they did when Marion was there and the Rockets will never look like the Kings w/ Yao out there. Our offense is still a work in progress. It will be interesting to see what Adelman does with this group after 2 or 3 seasons.
Man, the Rockets could be up 10 with 1 second to go in game 7 of the Finals and you'd still find something to b**** about.
you are right,what Shane brings is not only his good personal defence,but his help for the entire team.missing him much
First of all, the Rockets' offense is not broken. Brent Barry said it best "if you don't execute, you become the executed". The Rockets have not executed their offense since game 2. There is much too much one-on-one and slow ball movement where T-Mac is looking to create rather than execute. We need to post up Yao deep in the paint or at least give him an opportunity to repost and pass the ball insteda nof giving him the ball where he is committed to make a move or shot under duress. He becomes a different player when he has available options. He is an all-star. We need to give Ron-Ron room to run the offense. I like Artest oving north-south-east-west rather than arounf the 3 point line. We need a point guard. We have one - Aaron Brooks. Rafer is past his due on the mental scale. If mental age was like dog years - Rafer would be very long in the tooth. He does not have the get-er-done mentality. He would rather be flamboyant than effective. Finally, we need to get Joey Dorsey out there and send Chuck Hayes packing. Dorsey is bigger, quicker, faster, stronger, can rebound and get to the basket better and overall is a better player than Hayes. heck, he went to the NCAA finals last year! And he can make a layup. CHuck hurts this team with his moissed payups, fouls turnovers and lack of abilty to cast himself as a legitamate NBA player. he is a joke and the joke is being played on us!
Agree on point 1 and 4. Point 2- Taking out scola? Watch the game and you will know why. Aldridge is just killing the rox at the first quarter. Guess whos guarding him? Yao was rested early as his expected to play heavy minutes in the second half, due to the size of the blazers. Point 3- No movement is not due to coach RA, his offense is always been one of the most fluid in the league, but with the team 3 best players all thrive in iso on post play, you have to give it to them.
Yeah, seems like a lot of people are forgetting that we looked a lot worse, a lot later into the season last year and halfway turned the ship around. The team should be ok.
WOW. The Rockets season is over and they have only played 6 games. Yao sucks. WTF is wrong with him. Tracy sucks. We should trade him. Artest's D is overrated . I wonder if you guys overreact this much in you real life. If they were to go 82-0 some of you debbie downers will still find something to gripe about.
I totally agree. Our big three never played well in the same game yet. I think it's not their fault. RA is to blame.
It is all CHEMISTRY.... When you add in 3 new players into the rotation....Artest, Brooks and Barry...and then you are missing your glue guy in Battier.....the team has got to find it's new identity. They are not there yet... DD
Does anybody else get the feeling that our stars are treating these games like shift work? Like it's okay to play like garbage because one of the other two guys will pick up the slack.
