King1, you make some stellar points, but you forget that the BBS is a copy cat league. All you need is one poster to create a thread with a clever title, and many will try to duplicate. Sometimes it's funny, and sometimes they're annoying. With time, in a 2 month span, this team is going to be unbeeeetuble'.
i am tempted to 'ignore' those b****ing posters. you very well can do that. that way, you won't see those negative crap. it's always the same posters anyways. easy to tell.
They could easily be 2-4 also.... ...but the issue is that there just seems to be an underlying lethargy to this team this year. A half-strength Tracy, a mediocre, worn-out Yao - and it's hard to believe that after 78 more games of regular season pounding they're going to get much better. Oh, and watching Rafer dial up his 2005-2007 performance, same as always, is disheartening simply because it's been an issue for so long, save a brief period last season.
Yeah, there's nothing you can do about it. It happens every year we get off to a shaky start. I was just like you about 10 games into the '05 season. Practically the whole board was in an uproar screaming for trades, firings, ect. I was trying to defend the team, but to no avail. We all know how '05 turned out... I know, first round exit, but that was a helluva fun team to follow that season. Point is, all the gripers shut up once the team gelled and began to play as a team. I learned my lesson. There is nothing you can say to make them feel better. Just give it time.
Without Artest we could've gone 2-4 easily. Tmac just had one game so far, and Yao played poorly in 4 of the 6. Artest is not consistent either. I am not giddy with the 4-2 record at all, because out of the 4 wins there was only one quality opponent. But then you are right the 2 losses were pretty close. I guess you can't just look at the win/loss record to judge team. Very likely this early stage of the season, they are still searching, and don't have the sense of urgency. I am more interested in how we address the glaring holes exposed so far. Namely: 1. Back up to Yao, and as well as Yao's mintues 2. Related to 1, rebounding 3. defensive intesity 4. ball movement 5. lack of easy baskets and fastbreak
I think it has to do with heightened expectations. People expect greatness with the players we have but right now it is jus mediocrity we are getting. To me it is all about chemistry, we have to be patient. We have 3 new players in the rotation, Artest, Barry and AB......and we are missing Battier. They will get it together as soon as Adelman realizes who plays better together. DD
You ever play Mario Kart, any of the ones after the original SNES one? The way I look at it, these Rockets SHOULD be national championship contenders, so when I look at our record all I see is the record of the Celtics at this time. It's like we're racing their ghost, and their ghost is gaining on us. I know chemistry is supposed to take time to develop, but their team came together almost instantly. I know the West is not going to permit ANY team starting 18-3, but the Celtics of last year managed to do it, and the early momentum from that torrid start carried over every time they had to face a contender later in the season, even if one or two of their Big Three were not playing. It's probably unrealistic to hope for these Rockets to win 66 games, post a 10-point positive point differential over the course of the season, and finish first in defensive efficiency and in the top 10 in offensive...but something like that is what it will take to win it all. Maybe we'll come together by the end of the season. But to just say "a win is a win" is selling this team short, and will result in more April disappointment. If we want to really give ourselves a good indication that we are for real, then we need to be in the top 3 in defensive efficiency again, blow out the teams that are not playoff-worthy, and expect to win even against the toughest teams like Boston and LA.
I think people are having a tough time because we've seen six games and not one of those six have we seen Yao, McGrady, and Artest (together) look like the players we want to see. It's alarming to see Yao so far off from the 25-11 dominant center that we've seen before. It's alarming to see McGrady play like an upper tier guard only here and there. It's alarming that we haven't seen much of a 1-2 punch from game to game, let alone a 1-2-3 punch that we were excited for. Now, I realize it is early. But with Yao and McGrady and their histories...I think there can be legitimate fear that they aren't going to be themselves. You can only take on so many injuries before they slow you permanently. It's a harsh reality of life. When you're young, you get hurt and you get better. You get older, you get hurt and you get only 90% back. I'm not saying this is the case or that Yao/Tracy will look like this the rest of the year. But it's fair for fans to be concerned or fearful. LONG season. Let's see how things are in March. Scola and Landry have looked great as a tandem at the 4, and the addition of Battier is going to go a long way. I think we've got a good collection of talent and a good mindset. Evan
This is what happens when you have a bunch of different characters, different cultures, and essentially different people on the same board. Think about it, we have young people and old people (and middle aged, etc etc). We have few women but a lot of guys. There some that know the game of basketball very well, others don't know **** of what they are talking about. Everyone has different expectations. I think expectations is key. Most people are expecting for T-mac, Yao, and Artest to be firing on all cylinders and helping us blow out teams. Most expected Rafer to at least shoot his regular numbers 40%, but he is like in the 20%'s. Most expected for this offense to look sharp and crisp, but instead it looks rusty, slow, and out of sync. Defense is another issue. Honestly, I set my expectations very low. I set them low because I want to take care of my health. I know my team, I know most of these players. I know that T-mac is going to relegate to being a jump shooter most of the time, so why stress myself of why he doesn't go to the basket? I know Yao is tough, but there is a finesse to his game and the big man can't be playing this many minutes a night regardless of how much rest he gets in b/w games. Etc. I'm just waiting for everything to start rolling eventually, because as I learned the last four seasons (excluding 2005-2006), the Rockets eventually out of the blue just start rolling offensively and build great chemistry. I'm only worried about the defense at this point, but like I've stated several times, Battier has a huge impact on this defense (he is the general) and him missing really has everyone out of whack. Our defense has been awesome in the fourth quarters, but the first three quarters it has been below average at BEST. I know I went off on a tangent, but my point is, a bunch of different people, ages, cultures, expectations, etc etc, is going to cause this "What is wrong with ________!?!?!!?"
Welcome to the nature of Clutchfans. Where one game changes everything. Its either the sky is falling or we have the next MJ in the making. Expect this to go on all year, non stop. Your best choice is just to ignore the ignorance.
That thought crossed my mind in the last two games. Tmac is on the way down, which obvious, but I was worried that Yao is declining too. I think this may very well be the case. It seems to me he is not the same Yao before the screws put in this summer.
I'm curious to know why you think this. We won by 10, 12, 11, and 9. We lost by 3 and 2. How are we just as likely to be 2-4 as we are 6-0?
We're at the bus stop now. Time for all the bandwagon fans to get off. It takes time to build chemistry. You can't open up a new season 15-0 every year.
Great post. I'm tired of hearing the negativity too. The season is early and not only is the team trying to find itself, but Adelman is also trying to find out which rotations exploit which weaknesses in our opponents without exposing our weaknesses ie AB's size, Ron's speed, etc. The team looks a bit lethargic and hopefully Adelman/Morey will find a creative way to limit Yao's minutes and hopefully we'll have Deke back soon. Bottom line is no one here is expressing an epiphany by stating that the Rockets aren't firing on all cylinders. Artest even said, "When we were 3-0, we thought we were playing well. But we were just playing horrible. We haven't played good basketball yet. We need to play 48 minutes consistently. We have a long ways to go, but this was a good test for us. It's coming together and it's going to happen." We're 4-2 and are still missing our glue guy (Battier), have one of our all-stars with an injured knee/shoulder whose still recovering, and have a new all-star whose trying to find his role with the team. Listen to True Warier and give everyone some time; we're going to do big things this year!
The Rockets were flat out awful vs. the Grizzlies and Thundersonics or whatever they are called now and were fortunate to have won both games, IMO. I didn't think they looked so hot last night either.
Very good thread. Fans have been so critical of the Rockets because our expectations for this season is nothing short of a championship. So anytime the Rockets look sub-par, we're suddenly in panic mode. We can't expect the Rockets to play perfectly every night. And the truth is this team is still learning and growing, and the only thing that matters is if we're ready by playoff time. We gotta consider a few things: -It's still way early in the season. -We've won some games already with sub-par performances -The team will only get better, cuz there's still LOTS of room for improvement. -We've "competed" with every team so far this season, including the Celtics.
