Talent - no more excuses, the Rockets have enough.

I am not so sure we are out of the woods yet. We played two good games and if trends hold true, then we are due to lose the next two games. So until we set up a good 4-5 game winning streak, then I won't say much about our recent wins.

 

Come on, he plays 23 mpg. It's pretty fair to call that "20 minutes per game".

That's 11.3 reb/40. Which is not "a poor rebounder" any way you look at it.

 

I'll agree with hooroo, on this. I think Chuck can do better than that. Of course, he's not a poor rebounder. But I want him to be a great rebounder for us, and he hasn't been one so far this year.

 

Well, after Raptors game, I believed Scola has the will to win also. He made some crucial shots near the end and he hustle and fight for the ball in rebounds. He has the will to win. Hopefully he can get comfortable and contribute consistently in future games. Ab is still looked slighty scared and he is still young and at this point, it is difficult to ask him to pick up the slack whenour starters are off. Scola will soon be able to pick up the slack when some of our players are off or quiting as he looked like he wanted to win bad.
Yao is Yao. He always wanted to win but he is depends on whether he gets passes from guard. We badly need a guard who wants to win bad, real bad and has talents. Rafer surprisingly looked wanted to win in this game against Toronto but his penetrations were surprises to me but his attempts were rejected a few times. He needs more practice to execute better.

 

Nor do I but I want to see what they do over the course of the entire season with Adelman's system and philosophy before I bring in the wrecking ball. But I have to disagree with DaD about this team having enough talent to contend and that its problems thus far have more to do with Adleman's coaching than the makeup of the team. I just don't see that being the case at all. The coaching is fine but we have a number of players on this team with big question marks by their names starting with Mr. "It's On Me" and that's where the real problems lie.

 

There's a difference between being satisfied with what someone has done and claiming that he's part of a supposed talent deficiency.
Chuck is what he is, a decent-to-very-good rebounder and defender, a below average shooter, not a good scorer or shotblocker.
He's definitely a player that could be part of a championship team. Perhaps not the starter, but I wouldn't say it's a stretch to call him a "championship caliber" player. Yes, he can be a liability on offense at times, but he does bring a pretty big net positive IMO.

 

my point exactly!

 

we're missing that triple threat guy - someone who can take away the defensive pressure we feel on the perimeter in close games.

 

Don't kid yourself.

Rockets have enough if every team in the league is like average Easton conference teams, but not enough against top teams in NBA. As we can see, our beloved Scola doesn't have the same talent like many of the players in All star rookie games, even though he plays smarter.

 

Mike James COULD be a very helpful addition if he wasn't so damn ball-hoggish.

Steve......is this years last year's Bonzi (?)

 

Do you really think scola cared about the all star game? One of his best talents is making big hustle plays like getting lose balls and fighting for rebounds, hes not going to do that **** in the all star game. He said himself he cares more about winning ball games than being flashy. Btw we have beaten the top teams in the NBA before scola came into the starting 5. IF we were like an average team in the east we wouldnt even be close to being in the playoffs in the west.

 

Mike James could be helpful if he would learn how to pass... but thats not going to happen, so he's going to continue riding the pine where he belongs.

 

I think the Rockets need one more reliable outside threat. As much as I like Luther Head, he sucked last year in the playoffs(Game 5 notwithstanding). We can't have another performance like that and expect to advance out of the first round.

Oh, and T-Mac actually driving to the hoop once in a while would help.

 

Really it has nothing to do with rookie game. I could care less if Scola scored 0 points, grabbed 0 rebounds in those type of games. But some of the moments like he sealed off a guy for a rebound but that guy still took the rebound right over Scola's head really showed those players eventually will have a much higher ceiling. They are simply more talented. Rocket's talent level is just not as high as some of the top NBA teams if you look it objectively.

 

So far the Rocket Rookies look like they are a head of schedule already a part of the rotation and contributing. Even Novak has gotten into the act, but I hesitate to say we are ready to win an NBA title with the talent and depth that so many of the teams a head of us have.

Ask yourself DD who will fall out of the best 8 teams in the west to finish behind the Rockets? If the Nuggets get Artest you scratch them off the list so that leaves the Spurs and Golden State. I think if we don't add another player of the caliber of Artest, Mike Miller, or Andre Miller we will finish with 50 wins and make the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed due to our 2nd half schedule being easier, but I don't think we'll see the 2nd round this year.

If you think we'll develop a Colorado Rockies type of chemistry that will carry us all the way to the finals I think you are going to be disappointed. Although our chemistry is good and improving, I don't think it will be enough to overcome the talent gap the Rockets are facing.

 

Agree, they have enough for the regular season, but not enough for the playoffs, they need an experienced second PG off the bench ie' Sam Cassell or Mike James to reamerge as the 2nd PG. I love Brooks, but just don't think he's completely ready for the intensity of the NBA playoffs. I hope I'm wrong. Remember who the oppossing team will double off of in the playoffs, I don't want to put the rockets hope to advance in the playoffs in Rafer's hands.

 

Our biggest weakness is the point guard position. Rafer is doing better now, but he is still not that great. He still shoots pretty poorly, he sometimes makes bad decisions, and he is not a great defender, especially when his man is a postup kind of player. Besides now Rafer's only viable backup is Brooks, who is still very green and is not shooting well, not too mention he is minuscule.

The next thing is that our frontline besides Yao is small. That exposes us against big opponents sometimes, especially when Yao is not on the court.

Last thing is that our perimeter defense is poor. I wish we have another athletic defensive 2. Sometimes we are asking Battier too much to run around to chase a much smaller opponent.