Rockets problems will be putting the ball in the basket. I think shot distribution will be up in shots per game, but the point will be putting the ball in the basket. I think it will be slighltly higher without Yao and they will be running more, but shooting worst as a team. Nobody has decent accuracy except Battier and Brooks and maybe McCants and that is it basically. I think they will be probably just as good as Denver if healthy, but teams improved this year and will give us some problems no doubt without the big man clogging the paint. I think Brooks will have a break out season. The team i expect to start off strong will be Dallas they have improved alot. The team that will finish strong will be San Antonio. I'm not going to get excited if Houston makes the playoffs, but should be interesting to see the team gell with out their best player a whole season.
rocket fans already know how good luis scola is, but this year, we will all know how good luis scola can be. i won't be surprised if he puts up 17-18ppg with 9-10 boards. brooks will elevate his game a little bit too, considering how well he played in the playoffs last year. we'll see what ariza did this offseason to improve his game. and there's mcgrady. we'll struggle at times (like we do even when yao was playing) simply b/c we don't have that "3rd" guy. remember, in the playoffs last yr, our offense was nothing spectacular (it was god awful at times). we won primarily with defense.
We're going to get massacred in the paint. Shane will have a perceived drop off in perimeter defense, as will Ariza. Without a paint protector, there's no way we'll maintain our defensive reputation over an 82 game season. Factor in a sped up offense (read: more shots for guards that really don't shoot that well and the antithesis of a McG offensive set) and I fully expect us to give up close to 100ppg. I'll still be watching and cheering, but this team is fundamentally flawed.
Team speed will make up for Yao's absence. Yao is a good shotblocker and provides some intimidation in the paint but I think a lot of people are overrating him. The team won't have him to erase mistakes but it also won't have to cover for his slow feet. Instead of blocked shots we will see quicker rotations and more charges being taken. I expect points per possession given up to be virtually unchanged from last season.
Anyone have any stats on our team defense with and without Yao? I know our winning percent is still pretty high but I'm still wondering about our defense. Thanks!
I agree. It's going to get ugly when you have a skinny-framed center and undersized power forwards trying to play against guys like Shaq, Oden, and Howard. I will also be cheering, but it won't be pretty.
I'm not sure how you can equate Yao's slow speed with his shot-blocking/altering abilities. Teams are going to have a field day inside against Hayes/Anderson/Scola manning the middle. I expect to see a big jump in opponents FT attempts and offensive rebounds.
I feel we have the stregnth and speed up front to compete just lack the height. Who knows what will happen i know Dorsey and Pops are fast down the court and have some incredible athleticism and length to make up some difference if they ever see the floor. Chuck Hayes can stand ground we know and Scolandry will provide some punch and maybe Andersen it will be interesting to see what happens. We have a young, athletic, lengthy, strong nucleus i'm worried the most about putting the ball in the basket. We have more tallent now then what we had the season before last should be interesting how these players unite. McCants, Budinger, Taylor, Ariza will be fighting for those last bench spots along with Dorsey, Pops, Hayes and Landry
Last season, when Yao was on the court, we gave up 103.1 points per 100 possessions. When Yao wasn't on the court, we gave up 108.5 points per 100 possessions. That equates to a defensive plus/minus of -5.4, which was the best on the team (Artest was second best at -4.7). (via 82games.com)
Thanks, I'm still wondering what are team was like with a (obviously) better Tracy McGrady. So can you get some stats prior to last season?
One of the "only problems" with this years team is getting shredded in the paint. Lack of scoring is hardly a concern compared to this.
I think Scola is going to beast this year - All star spot not out of the question. Put him down for 17 and 8 per. As the roster stands now he is our only reliable post option...if he gets his usual hustle points to go along with the greater volume of shots he will get out of the offense - then he is going to blow up.
The team is better defensively with Yao on the floor against about half a dozen teams (the ones with big, slow front lines). Against everyone else, his slow rotations (too late to block shots) and his inability to help stop penetration (like Hayes does) negate much of presence as a shot blocker. Yes, against Shaq, Duncan and Dwight Howard we will miss him terribly. Against the smaller, faster teams (which is the trend these days) the Rockets will be better equipped defensively to keep up with them and stop them from getting to the rim in the first place. Let's not pretend like Yao was locking the paint down like a 28 year old Mutombo.
we had deke so that won't truly reflect the potential defense of next year. deke was a great replacement for yao defensively. we'll struggle b/c you need some size. that's apparent. but i'm sure we will try to make it up with speed and perimeter length. tmac/shane/ariza will all have to make a concerted effort next year to help our bigs down low defensively, esp. on the boards.
Dallas might get better but hey look what the clippers did and failed to do They brought in camby, got a great draft pick in gordon, brought in baron davis, ricky davis and later on zach randolph and guess what that got em.. blake griffin I think Jason Kidd is getting older ( i preffered Devin Harris any how) Dirks getting older Josh Howard is not always healthy, or consistent and Marion was traded multiple times for multiple reasons if anything the rox being young and under an adelman offense can out run and play them even w/ out tmac, not saying they can surely beat em w/ out a doubt like last year but itll be competitve plus if tmac comes back to orlando tracy or tmac vs kobe comparisons tracy we'd be one hell of an eastern conferece team lol
Well if the rumors about McGrady are true, he should be ready for the start of the season, and i expect him to lead our team in scoring, followed by Luis, Brooks, Ariza, McCants, Landry, and Lowry....I think each one of this guys are more than capable of scoring 10+ a game and T-mac, Luis, Brooks are more than capable of scoring over 15+ a game.....and given that this is a contract year for McGrady, I expect him to avg 25+ a games -rocketblaze
