Andre Barrett is never going to be a Jason Kidd. He will definitely be a solid backup guard in the NBA, someone like Derek Fisher, only Andre is quicker. He could be the role player we wanted all along from what I saw in his college days playing in Seton Hall. He got poise, and the instinct of a guard to distribute the ball at the right moment, he can hitt the 3s and mid range jumper pretty good, with Yao and TMac on the floor, he's gonna have tons of good looks. I think most important of all, he's a team player, a rare quality that's hard to find in the NBA today, from his college games, whenever he steps on the court, the whole team just lit up, kind of like the gell that puts his team over the top. If there's any shortcoming, it's his height, and he's not too physical of a defender, so he's going to have trouble guarding taller guys.
I don't believe in moral victories. That being said, I'm not too upset about losing a close one on the last game of a tough road trip at a place we usually get blown out in. Yes, I would have liked to win it, but there were plenty of good signs from last night's game.
So far this year: won by 3, won by 3, lose by 5, lose by 5, won by 11, lost by 4, lost by 1, won by 5, won by 4, lost by 6. Except for a good victory over the depleted Nets, everything is close including the losses - we are not being blown out - I hope I don't jinx that trend. But we are staying close, staying competitive even while we are going through this learning and transition phase. Is it possible that as much as last year's team had a lot of passion to win that they also had a tendency to crash & burn, give up a little too soon, take disappointments a little hard? Maybe this team is more emotionally stable? Something to ponder.
For a loss, that was an unusually enjoyable game. While watching, I couldn't believe that Sac was not doubling Yao Ming. Especially with all of the trouble he has had against it. But then it dawned on me, no matter how poorly he handles the doubling, his game is demanding that he be doubled. By itself, that is valuable.
I watched the game last night...i was impressed. The Rockets' offense is way WAYYYY smoother than last year stagnant offense. This year's offense is much more creative and the players seem to know what they're doing out there. I guess that has to do with getting rid of Francis and Mobley because as i said last year...they're not fundamentally sound players. But this year...the Rockets' players almost all of them are fundamental players...so you don't see any hurry ill-advice shots. Or one on one and forcing the issue.
it looks like we are getting better at the things that we lack, like rebounding and TO. i never taught that Mo T would be able to get 10 rebs in 2 games in a week. nobody gets better at instance, it takes time, and when the time is up Rox will be the best. Another problem is that our team seems to be lost in 4th qtr after playing good in 3 qtrs. They need to keep attacking and just play there game.
lol good thread I hope Barrett gets to play more..and it is good that games have been close. Happy Thanksgiving
I agree, I would like to see more passion from TMac but I sure do think we have a better chance of winning a tight game down the stretch because we have a 6-8 superstar that can rise up over anybody and can a bomb, not to mention Yao is still getting better at getting position on the block. Now, if we could just get the refs to actually blow the whistle for all the fouls that are committed against him, instead of 1 out of every 3 or 4. It's funny, as soon as we started complaining ad nauseum about the ridiculous picks that Yao was running around and setting, they magically disappear from the offense. The last 3 or 4 games, Yao has just been coming down and posting up on the block. Unfortunately, for some unexplainable reason, we only throw the ball into him about 20% of the time on his initial post up. The rest of the time, the guards look at him, and swing the ball to the opposite side, as if to say, we don't want to pursue a shot with less than 7 or 8 seconds off the shot clock. When Yao comes down and establishes position initially, he is turning with his hand up wanting the ball. I think if we simply took advantage of that one thing and let him either attack or ping pong the ball back out, our point production would increase and our shooting percentages would go up. Talk about devastating for a defense? Guards come across half court, Yao sets up, throw him the ball, he turns, fakes, and goes to the rack, or shoots the jumper, or throws it back out to the guard for the 3 ball or the swing around. Pretty simple. Now the pressure is on the opposition. Van Gundy is great at applying pressure defensively. If he could start applying even more pressure to the opponents offensively, and I am holding out hope that he will, we will win more games. Running a half court offense does not mean that we have to run the shot clock down. An effective half court offense simply results in a good, high percentage, open shot being taken when the defense is set up. We have 2 of the top 5 or 6 most offensively talented basketball players in the league. We can dominate on the offensive end. It's just a matter of making it happen.
I agree - you are going to lose some games - there is no shame is losing on the road in a close game to a team that was a pre-season pick to finish in the top 4 in the West. Especially if you hold their star to 13 pts and make players like Bobby Jackson beat you by shooting (and hitting) fade away 3 pointers with the shot clock running down. It was certainly a better effort down the stretch than the one the rockets put up against NY or Atl
Excellant thread. I treat this lose as a win. The Kings are a good team, a great team in Arco, they won 85% games played there in like 3 years! We took them down to the last minute. Bobby Jackson and Peja were hittin looooong fade aways. When they hit those shots, they are unbeatable by anyone. We played a good game, offense looked smooth, our stars did what they are supposed to, and we played good defense. The Kings were just better and luckier on that night. The TOs hurt a little bit, but all we care about at this point is improvement, and we are improving in every aspect of teh game. All those who doubts JVG or our players needs to have a coke and a smile and enjoy the ride. It's way too early to conclude "fire JVG" and "everyone sucks except for the 1s."
Good thread. The thing that impressed me about Barrett was that he played aggressively, with confidence. Distributed the ball well, but had the stones to take the shot without hesitation when he was open. Don't know how he will play over time (is he a ten-day contract guy?), but he sure didn't play timid. No superstar, but he looked like he belonged out there.
JVG said they set those high picks when teams front Yao. The opponents having been fronting him the last few games.
how good was yao from 3pt land? if teams are fronting him and he can't can't handle it wouldn't be all shots on the perimeter be open for yao unless he was fouled? i thought he was supposed to have the ability to knock down those treys?
I think this thread needing to be re-brought up to remind people of some good ball we played this month. 82 games is a process. We will be there.
Those were two games, where the Rockets went 1-1, and showed some small spark of offense. On either side of those was a snoozer of a win over the Clippers (91 points in OT?!?!), and the collapse against the Jazz. Any momentum (offensively, or in the win column) has long since been sucked dry. 82 games means that roughly 18% of the season is done, and they've used up 30% of their "expected" losses.
