Sorry if this has been mentioned before, as I only read some of the previous posts. We lost because they knocked down shots and we didn't. The Suns basically play the same defense we do. Clog the lane, and force contested outside jumpers. They hit their outside shots early on (which they usually seem to do with good shooters) and opened up the lane while we were having a brickfest. We couldn't take advantage of Yao down low because of poor passing and him being too tired from all the running up and down. This is why I think the Suns matchup the best against us. They nullify our strengths (Yao, pentrating Tmac, paint defense) while their strength is probably the one weakness in our defense (good outside shooting, multiple shooters, ball rotation). Without better athletes who can quickly recover on the ball rotation, we could only hope they have a bad shooting night. I guess the good consolation is that we would only see them in the playoffs if we advance to the WCF.
We never have matched up with them since Steve Nash went there...theyre really fast paced...and we dont guard the 3 good enough...we match up with dallas pretty good though
Can we atleast all agree now that on nights where we need offense (see: Phoenix), Rafer Alston is a dog of monstrous proportions? He's back under 37% shooting. It'd be one thing if the guy was in a position where his shots were limited for 25 minutes, but he's our third option ... every night. I mean look at this: Rafer is at 36.9% shooting from the field -- I don't think anyone could attempt to spin that. Just hideous. But his 36.4% three-point shooting -- primarily on wide-open threes 6-7 times a night -- is highly praised on the board. And I would agree that it's "not terrible" anyhow. Now compare: Steve Nash is shooting 53.2% from the field and 47.6% from three. Leandro Barbosa is shooting 47.5% from the field and 43.9% from three. Raja Bell is shooting 43.3% from the field and 41.5% from three. Then you go to the paint, and Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Shawn Marion hit 57.8%, 53.1% and 51.5% from the field respectively. And offensively, we expect to compete with them with Rafer Alston as our third option? I don't blame this loss solely on him -- Yao and T-Mac were terrible. Had they been even at their average, we would have competed.... but Rafer is an offensive problem more often than not and by virtue of his role, he is consistently placed in scoring opportunities. The Rockets have two of the very best players in the league... no excuse for your third option, who gets wide open shots, to represent such a Grand Canyon-like dropoff. This team could be truly elite with an upgrade here. And I think those who say the Rockets should not change a thing because of the chemistry and defense of the current group are overvaluing a constant. This team will ALWAYS play great defense under JVG... you don't play defense, you don't play, period. But JVG does not elevate anyone's offense. That is up to the individual skills of the players he's got out there. I think if we fall short, you'll definitely hear Mike James' name and wouldn't be surprised to hear someone like Rashard Lewis' name either. Ironically, Phoenix (holding that Atlanta lotto pick) is in a far better position to upgrade their roster this summer than the Rockets are.
It's funny that you should bring up Rashard. I can see him forcing the issue to come here. But as much as I like his offense, I don't know if he gives us enough defense. However, I would trade our #1, plus our #1 in 2009, plus Juwan, and Novak to bring him in here. And I think that Steve Francis will be available for the MLE this year. Do we sign him if he comes free? There's a guy that would thrive against Phoenix taking it to the rim. They would have to adjust their defense from overplaying the perimeter with Francis out there. And on top of that, he is a decent 3 point shooter as well. That is two very sick charts, Luffy.
When Yao's surrounded by 3 Suns and 80% of their attentions were on Yao, that's so much a coach can do. It's up to the preimeter(Tmac included) to make the Suns pay. You have Rafer and Luther brick wide open shots and Babosa outquick and outshoot everybody on his own, it's hard to win games like that. Tmac needs to take that charging role in this case, he is the key. But at the end, maybe the Suns player are just a little better than our players.
I agree. I think a third scorer, who can create their own offense is what will make the difference. B/c now, you can't cheat off of 3 of the 5 players on the court. With Battier as a spot up shooter, and even with Alston shooting sporadically, I think we will be just fine. Therefore, the upgrade we need is at the 2 spot, and for us to slide Battier and McGrady to the 4 and 3 respectively when we play against the suns. Ideally, that individual should of been Wells. With us posting him and Yao up in an alternating manner, I think the plan might work. All they need to do is implement those screens for one another, sort of like how Yao usually gets free from one side to the other. That way, you'll always keep the defense guessing, then when one defender helps out, you can always pass it off to the either post player cutting in or to one of the shooters for an open 3.
You can then also add the pick 'n roll for Wells, and T-mac, or Yao and t-mac. I guess that was sort of what I envisioned when Wells first got here.
Just to add to my long winded response. We never really had Wells play with both a health T-mac and Yao. So his return might turn out to be a turning point. I'm just afraid that its too late in the season to construe any sort of chemistry between the three.
I don't think the issue is a 3rd scorer per see. For instance Battier and Raja Bell are not scorers. But they are efficient offensive players (who also bring it defensively). So I don't think we necc need more scorers around Tmac and Yao--just efficient off the ball players. Battier is one. I would say PG is our weakest (Howard, Hayes and Battier are efficient at PF, even if our overall position is a little weak). Alston is an inefficient shooter, and Head is efficient but more so as an SG, and brings other weaknesses either as an undersized SG or a PG without some required PG skills. But overall I believe MDA that Houston scares him. Of course we will lose if the game is reduced to a jump shot contest. Everyone will lose to the Suns, including the Mavs, if the game is reduced to that. But us (and probably SA too) do have the inside players and potentially the discipline to play slow tempo that can derail them. Dallas could of course too, but I think the Suns can bait them into a jump shooting contest. Mia would be the final team I think can beat the Suns.
Clutch I wouldn't be surprised if we picked up Mike James this summer, but Rashard Lewis?? Isn't that a bit unrealistic considering we don't really have any trade assets besides the MLE?
l0l..."good offense execution+good defense" is way too broad,pal. i guess its every coach's philosophy...any team against Suns needs to take control of the game pace.and being patient is another pinpoint.
I think we played EXACTLY how Phoenix wanted us to play. Double team Yao before he gets it. We still go to him. He gets frustrated and attempts to shoot before another help defender arrives. So a rushed shot, usually a miss, and the Suns are flying down the court again. Maybe Yao is to blame for a lot of the Suns losses. His inability to do anything to counter their play is ridiculous. He should be able to rack up 4-5 assists against the Suns simply because they double team him before he gets it, and triple team him when he touches the ball. Maybe it's spacing. Maybe our players aren't positioning themselves well and Yao can't get to them when he's down there. Maybe it's JVG's fault for taking the midrange jumper out of Yao's game. Maybe it's T-Mac's fault for not being able to beat single coverage. Maybe Clutch is right, the 2-time MVP owns Rafer. Who would've thought? But the reality is that there's only one way for us to beat the Suns and that's patience. Get it to Yao before the double team sets up JUST to draw their team in, and throw it back out immediately to a wide-open 3-pt shooter, or let T-Mac go to work. With all these players standing around (Battier, Hayes, Alston) with NOT EVEN single coverage, they should at least use the opportunity to free up T-Mac with some HARD screens. One thing that HAS to happen for the Rockets to beat the Suns is T-Mac has to be making top-notch decisions with his passes (which he always does) and his shot selection (which he rarely does). T-Mac having a big night completely ****s in Phoenix's plan. If he's eating them up from mid-range and long-range, their whole plan starts dissapearing. I believe we can win a 7-game series with the Suns. I'm glad we're going to be swept by them, because you learn more from losses than you do from wins, and come playoff time, we won't be making the same mistakes we made in the 4 losses. Oh, and vintage T-Mac tends to come to life in the playoffs. Hell, if we're playing Phoenix in the West finals, Nash will be fatigued as usual which will make things easier on us.
The Suns are a tough team to beat....but it can be done. One post on the first page mentioned last year's Lakers using the Triangle offense to beat them, but the Suns did advance and the Lakers went home... Everybody knows the Suns offense revolves around Nash. If we had a solid defender at PG that could run our offense and shoot a respectable FG% (yeah, i know that's asking a lot!), we could beat them on a regular basis. When teams are able to contain Nash and keep him in front of them and the other defenders are able to guard the passing lanes and turn Nash into a score first PG the Suns become vulnerable. Since the Suns have began starting Barbosa it has made defending much tougher because of his speed. Defenders have to respect his speed and play off of him but then that opens up his jump shot...plus having him on the floor with Nash gives the Suns a second PG...and that's not even taking into account for Stoudamire, Marion and Diaw...creates quite a dilemma!
I think with the style we do play though, a third scorer will be the major difference. At least someone that can create their own offense. As I said... Ideally, that would be wells, but only time will tell.
To beat Pheonix guys like Luther, Rafer, Snyder and Juwan have to hit their shots and play their best games. The key to the Rockets winning two years ago was Mike James, Bob Sura, Jon Barry and believe it or not David Westley. They went into the game thinking scorer, knowing that they will have to hit shots and they put more pressure on the defense of the Suns than the Rockets are doing now. The Suns are now daring Luther and Rafer and especially Snyder to beat them because they are not taking the shots given to them that are not created by Yao or McGrady and sometimes they are even turning those down.
Suns not going away for Rox anytime Soon Suns not going away for Rox anytime Soon Seeing as how the Phoenix Suns have absolutely dominated the Rockets, I would like to say that the tables will turn because the Rockets begin to acquire additional personnel in the up and coming seasons, but we have our hands tied with salaries for while.The only thing for us to hope for is that eventually wear and tear of their main contributors will begin to take effect. I just realized that Phoenix is set to pick as of now within the #7 to #3 range, depending on how poor Atlanta plays (Joe Johnson trade). There is some major talent in the top 5, even as low as #8, they could grab 7'-0" Chinese Forward Jian Lian. THis is a bit disheartening since the Rox will have no such draft pick nor talent nor any real hope for being a major player in the FA market. Are we going to continue to be Phoenix's b**** for the next 2 or 3 seasons?
Erm...no. The Suns aren't going anywhere, but Steve Nash is and the Suns are TERRIBLE without him. In fact, out of all of the top tier teams in the league right now, I see the Suns going lottery-side first.
As long as JVG is coaching the Rockets & CD is the GM/Adviser, the Rockets are going to be the Suns' b**** for years to come. Just look at how many 1st round picks the Suns have this year. It's freaking ridiculous. The Suns are already a deep team and have good assets to trade to improve their team. If you look at the Rockets, the Rockets have a sorry ass bench, 1 late pick and no assets to trade. Tell me how can you catch the Suns? The team is a result of management and coaching anyway.
wow, what a great lottery pick for pho.. i completely forgot about the 1st rounder from ATL. bryan colangelo should get GM of the year for what he did for phoenix as well as toronto. they did a good job in trading Q and joe johnson, seems like those two were the ones they didn't need, although joe johnson is a hell of a player shouldn't they run into some major luxury tax issues? amare, nash, marion all make good money, and diaw signed a new deal as well. can they even afford to keep barbosa? guess it explains why their bench isn't too good.
