Stop whining about "heart"....execution is the key to success!

I keep hearing everyone talking about "heart", and how the Rockets are in so desperate need of it. Because of this lack of "heart", people want to see T-Mac traded, Adelman gone, and half the team benched...

Well, I am hear to tell you that heart, or lack thereof, is NOT the main concern. Sure, it is nice to have players who give it 110% on every single play and are always out there getting down and dirty, but that is no what separtes the top teams from the lower level teams. What separtes teams like the Spurs, Mavs, Suns and Celtics from the rest is EXECUTION! The Spurs do not have any fiery players or people who get in your face after every bad possession (Pop will get in their face and vent frustration, but so does Adelman...and just because 5% more of Manu's FGA are in the paint than T-Mac and he has 2 more FTA per 48min does not mean he has a ton of "heart" or is a great leader), the Suns have Nash who is a fairly quiet guy and leads a BUNCH of mentally weak players who crack under pressure (Diaw, Barbosa, Marion, etc...), and the Mavs have a quiet leader who many consider to be mentally weak along with a fairly monotone team...guess what? These are arguably the top 3 teams in the league, and they get by because their execution is flawless. All 3 teams have an identity, and they rarely, if ever, allow another team to impose their will on the game or get their execution of the offense/defense off track. This also applies to the Kings of the early decade...a bunch of mentally weak players with no real fiery leaders (Bobby Jackson was fire off the bench, but guys like Francis have a similar attitude), but because they executed absolutely flawlessly, they became one of the best teams of the decade. Many of the lower level teams have better leaders or guys who play at 110% all the time, but they simply cannot execute, as analyzed by Kenny Smith when TNT was showing the Hawks game last Thursday during halftime of their first game.

This is where the Rockets' problems truly lay..they have no identity and have no gameplan. It is no wonder why the Rockets often look great when they are running set plays (off ball plays for T-Mac, off ball cuts when they are in the "triangle", plays designed to get Yao deep post position, etc..). Unfortunately, because this team has only played with this system for about 2 months with very little actual practicing, they are not able to run it off their instincts rather than set plays. For one reason or another, Adelman has not realized that, and most of the time the offense has no structure and players simply are not making the right decisions. He is also still experimenting on where to put players for the team to be most effective (Yao in high/low post, T-mac on elbow/wing/bringing up ball, James as PG/SG, Wells in post/shooter, etc..), thus making things even more inconsistent, and is a big reason why T-Mac and Yao have been so up and down all season.

Outside of maybe a playmaking PG that can make you pay if you double off of him, no trade is going to grealty help this team immediately. At this point, it is all about the players learning the system. I know people hate to hear that and are quick to put the blame in other places, but in the Rockets' case it is just not right. The personel for the system may not be the best, but the talent the Rockets have is considerably better and more balanced than last year, when they had a 63% winning percentage despite injuries to T-Mac, Yao, Bonzi, Snyder, etc... And while JVG was more of a personality than Adelman, his leadership and fire isn't what made the team had a 13% better winning percentage

 

...it was is ability to get the team in an orderly position so they had an identity, no matter how flawed it was. Adelman can do this, but it takes time.

 

Oh, by the way, the team is 11-7 with Yao, T-Mac and Rafer in the lineup together, with wins over Phoenix, San Antonio, Utah and LAL....that is not bad.

 

Last year we had virtually the same players with the same questions of having "heart", yet they still executed and had an identity. They won 52 looking like robots out there. We need "heart", but I truly believe we have that in our players...I truly believe they care and want to win badly, and actually have more players that hustle and do the dirty work out there (Scola for instance). What they are lacking is direction and ways to use all the talent that they have at their disposal.

I never said that, but it is a stat that should be brought up. I doubt the Sixers game would have been won either way, but had Alston been the one to bring down the ball rather than T-Mac in the 2nd half of that Toronto game, we would have seen highe % shots being taken and some offensive competency. Rafer is far from a great player, but with his ability you can take the ball out of T-Mac's hands unless he is in a position to attack offensively.

 

T-Mac jacks up bad shots when he is running the point and forced into bad driving lanes and palces he does not want to shoot. As you have seen in all the great games by T-Mac this year (and in Philly yesterday in 1st quarter), when he is in an iso on the wing, he is impossible to guard and both drives and shoots very effectively. This is an execution problem which Adelman should not allow.

Eh...this is not a good way to dissect Yao's TO's. Yao's TO's are a problem, but Yao's biggest problem this year has been Adelman and his refusal to use the same techniques tha JVG used to get Yao's man pinned and give Yao a great shot.

TO's are not a big problem...Houston averages less per game than both the Magic and Celtics, and are comparable to the Mavs.

Again, the math simply not working.



Teams are not blowing us out, either. Only 4 of our losses were by 10pts or more, and 3 of those were when either T-Mac or Rafer were out, and the other being when we were up against our toughest matchup in the league (Warriors). For comparison, Jazz have 4 losses of 10pts or more despite no injuries and 2 less total losses, and the Nuggets also have 4 losses of 10pts or more despite having 3 less total losses.

 

That is an Adelman thing...Adelman is the one to call the off ball plays for T-Mac, Adelman is the guy to put him on the elbow or in an iso where he is efficient and highly effective, and Adelman is the one who puts him at PG where he takes bad shots and has more oppertunity to take bad shots.

With that said, Adelman is certainly not the only one to blame, but it is his job to put players in positions to do their best...he has no done so consistently.

 

Yes, and when he jacks up bad shots early in the shot clock, especially pullup 3's, what was he doing 2 seconds earlier? Dribbling the ball up the court. He is most effective in an iso on the wign 15-18ft out, in fact he is about as unstoppable as any player in the league from there as he is an amazing midrange shooter and it gives him great driving lanes. It is Adelman's job to get him in those positions and call plays for him to be there..instead he experiments with T-mac at PG and on the elbow, which simply doesn't take advantage of his scoring abilities.

Our players get it, but without Rafer we have 2 high turnover prone PG's (James/Francis) as well as a brand new offense and an already highly TO prone center, it is no wonder why the offense struggles so much in the last 2 games. Say what you want about Rafer, but he gets the ball quickly up th court, doesn't over dribble, and gets Yao and T-Mac the ball in positions where they are most effective.

And again, for a brand new offense, little chemistry, a highly TO pronce center....14 TO's per game is actually on the low end. TO's are not a big problem for this team...execution of the offense is, and that is to be expected, which is why Adelman needs to call more set plays like when we were 6-1.

And for the last time, we are 11-7 with Rafer/T-Mac/Yao in the lineup despite hardest schedule in league, a brand new coach and new role players. For every badd loss we have had a great one.

 

It doesn't take heart to run an offense, it takes proper coaching and bball IQ. In close games you can question their heart and will to close out a victory, but in everyday situations they simply are not executing. They did not have this problem last year despite the same personel, and it was not because JVG is a fiery coach..it is because they had an identity and consistency with their playing style. This team changes their style every game.