This team is just about to breakout, Steve has been unreal, we got KT and MoT back. Cato will be back next game, Griffin is starting to come into his own and Ming had his first solid game. Things are looking bright again in H-Town! Go Rockets!
I am predicting Yao will gradally score more points until he is at 15 a game then he will turn up his d.
I think he will continue to improve, but I don't see him getting enough minutes to score 15 a game. But I think he should be broking into slowly. Yao will be a good one he jsut needs time.
One name is missing from RocketFan85's post... THE HAWK! This kid is playing awesome. I am just as suprised by his play as I am disappointed with the Cats play.
can you deny that Yao has looked more and more comfortable with every game? He looked positively good this time..especially that sweet baseline drive for the hoop and the foul...that was awesome! I dont really care whether he scores 15 or not every night..I want to see him play good D and help close off the paint..as he gets more useed to the team and the system..his confidence will go up and he will silence the doubters..of this, i have no doubt
Your right Clutch....Hawk is playing great right now, If he continues to play that way , He will be in the running for Sixth man award. I do not believe that he should be a starter because i see him as being Last years Patterson for the Blazers ( SO MUCH ENERGY) . I hope we can keep the defense up because we looked pretty good last night.
Hawk has been a surpise this year, really on defense. He may play the dest defense on the team, he reminds me of when we had Shandon Anderson.
RocketFan85, Damn...you beat me to it. I was about to start an identical thread. You can just see the pieces coming together. Yeah, it's going to take a while for Taylor and Rice to get their legs, and for this pretty young team to jell. But when TMo comes back we are 10-11 deep, and I mean quality depth. We're simply going to wear teams down! It's just a matter of playing together and establishing rotations. Hawk looks like the defensive stopper we have been lacking, and can defend the 1-3 positions. He also has great court instincts. How do you keep the guy out of the lineup? As for Yao, it's just a matter of time, experience and adjusting to the NBA game. And I also LOVE the defensive intensity I'm seeing for the first time in years. Rox are going to be fun to watch for years to come Dallas Rocket
Welll that is your opinion, I personaly think Anderson was solid. He was not much not offense, just like Hawk, but on Deffense he could go up against anyone. I think they a very similar, style and talent wise.
RocketFan85, juaquin hawkins....shandn andersn notice that only one of those two names has a "J" in it.
Hawkins sparked the whole team on defense with his 4 steals in 24 minutes. Cat was intense on defense after the first quarter, he also had two steals..KTand Eddie seem to fuel each other and nobody let up.....Our starting five will play for the first time friday, with everyone available.....
I think our missing pieces are time and consistancy. We need to continue to play well each game and improve on the games we can, but im glad we stepped up a level against Portland
Shandon was good defensive player, but I've never seen him shut people down like Hawk does. He almost shut Payton down in the 4th quarter of the seattle game that allowed us to get back into that game. Hawk also almost draws a charge every game which is incredible.
I agree, Hawk may be the better deffend, but Anderson is the better allaround player. That might change as Hawk continues to get better.
Not only did Yao Ming's defense look much improved while guarding Sabonis last night but did anyone notice that he did not pick up one foul in 15 minutes of play? I thought Yao Ming looked very good last night and gave the Rockets some very quality minutes. He looked 100 times more comfortable last night.
I was just starting to think about our next game when I read this. Ming did look alot more comfortable and seemed to be in rythm with the rest of the team offense wise. His next game will be quite interesting IMO. Tsakalidis is the starter if im not mistaken, so Im guessing Yao wont see alot of time against him. Looks like hell match up with Outlaw maybe and also Stoudemire (isnt he playing alot of 5?). Stoudemire might be the most athletic player Ming has been matched up with. I think this game will be a great barometer for Mings progress.
I couldn't not disagree more. Shandon was advertised as a defensive stopper with a great game around the basket. 1. Shandon was never a defensive stopper here in Houston. His defense may have been better than avg but we never saw Shandon change the tone of the defense like Hawk did last night. As a matter of fact I don't recall Shandon ever playing defense as well as Hawk has played so far this season. Hawks defense so far is comparable to that of Douge Christie. 2. Shandons offense was pathetic. He had good athletism and sometimes made plays but he was basically just awefull. Hawk is no offensive dinaMo but he hits timely shots and seems to have a good stroke from the three. Teams never guarded Shandon when he shot the ball from the arc. It is obvious that teams are going to have to at least account for Hawk when he is standing at the arc. Hawkins offense resembles Mario's offense to me. Nothing great but makes the shot when he needs to.
