I'm not going to do a chicken little and claim the sky is falling. but I'm still worried about this team. The upbeat spirits of the teams recent consistent play is good. Finally the health is the team is good and team ball is improving. I'm still concerned about playoff style hoops and this team. The insertion of scola, improvement of landry and bonzi will help,but the matchups is going to be a problem. I think a true contender matchup with any team. Sometimes teams in the playoffs can avoid matchups like the rox of the 90's missing seattle. I'm not going to turn this into a trade thread, but I think its fools gold with some of the holes of this team. We already know how teams will play the rox in the playoffs. They will push and get physical with Yao hoping that he will get tired and shade towards T-Mac. Bonzi gives the rox a guy that can get his own shot and scola has to be guarded, after that the rox have a few needs/wants. The big pg is one that comes to mind. What williams did to houston last year still burns in my mind. Its not just him either, its also what Baron did to Dallas last yr in the playoffs. Can the rox get someone without giving up a lot? I think so. Guys like Jaric ,M.Daniels, or the wily Cassell can be had. Not saying those guys are great, but in situations I would be cool to put a 6'6 guy like jaric or daniels or even a guy like cassell that can do the same thing. The big swing player. It may be asking a lot, but I'm not talking about a big perimeter stationary player.I'm talking about a guy that can put the ball on the floor,stretch the defense and really kind make other teams match up with him. a few yrs ago it would have been horry, walter mccarty type of guy. I'm not sure if even a croshere type guy is still in the league. The guy I would like to see is Tim Thomas. 6'10 perimeter guy that can stretch the defense, put the ball on the floor, and actually plays a lot better in the playoffs than the regular season. He gives coach lineup flexibility because of his size and skill. You can't put a small guy on him because of his post up and you can't put a big guy on him because he can't take guys off the dribble. I know this team is playing better, but I want the ring. There isn't anything that says the rox have to win one rd and lose and come back next yr. The rox have a good team, but they will have trouble in 7 games against Utah,La,Phoe,Dallas,and Sa. I don't think they're that far off, but why not close the gap all the way up?
deron williams really didn't dominate rafer. his stats were below his average. rafer was just so bad in his shooting that it was unfair to have him on the floor 44 mins a game. last yr, we only had 2 guys who stepped up consistently and they were our stars. no one else did. this yr we will know for sure scola, landry, AND bonzi will show up offensively for the most part. if battier and rafer make their shots, it's all gravy.
The thing about the physical play of the playoffs -- I could say the same thing about three other teams who everyone's got pinned for title. 1. Dallas --- they got ran out of the playoffs by an 8th seeded team and played very soft at times in that series. 2. Lakers --- Maybe Bynum will play physical, but are you kidding me.... Gasol -- LWalt ---- Odom. I seriously doubt it. We're not the Phoenix Suns, we can beat physical teams....we didn't lose that series last year because Utah's physical play -- we lost because of coaching moves and role players not doing their jobs. 3. Suns ---- probably used to be on this list, before Shaq came....but they were probably one of the softest teams in the league, especially defensively.
I have many similar thoughts; I see what you see. My problem is that I don't even begin to understand the complicated finances of the NBA. I don't know if Mike Miller is a financial possiblity, or Andre Miller, or the players you mention. If they are, the Rockets should do all that is possible to get them. I think Sam Cassell would be a huge addition, perfect for a playoff run. This team is playing better, the rookies are a real encouragement, but match up problems remain. Rafer and Head have shown they are not exactly playoff warriors. Yao and TMac can be intimidated physically. Scola and Landry appear durable, but are rookies (sort of). Like you, the Rockets either have to "catch fire" in the playoffs or bring in help.
I think this team will go as far as Rafer can go. Now don't jump on me just yet becasue I said that, but heres what I mean. If Rafer plays well then we are a great team becasue we have no weak spot, but if he don't well you know the rest. When Rafer is making his shots which doesn't happen a lot, but have been as of late we can beat anyone. Becasue the other team have to play 5 on 5 and can't double Yao or T-Mac.
That is not my recollection. Rafer was a grease spot on the court; Williams flamed him for big numbers. It was brutal. Williams is so much bigger and stronger. Williams physical play clearly affected Rafer's shooting, which is usually affected by lesser events, like night, day, temperature, lighting, and lack of skill.
i'm worried about this team too simply because i dont think we have the talent overall that other top teams in the west have. we are going to be relying heavily on ROOKIES come playoff time should we make it. they are going to have to grow up VERY FAST to give us a legit shot at winning. ....and we're also going to be relying heavily on rafer.
williams numbers were not that good in the series. it was mostly boozer's mismatch against yao and our horrible offense that lost it for us.
deron avg like 13-14ppg and 8 apg shooting 42-43%. his stats only rose when he played the warriors (fast-paced) and spurs. we neutralized him with our D. it seemed like he dominated b/c rafer was just awful shooting a whopping 33% from the field while playing 42mpg. we lost that series b/c no one could pick up the slack for tmac and yao, esp. on the road. utah had quite a few guys in double figures (though only boozer was consistently destroying us). we lost b/c our offense didn't have the depth that utah had. that's why it should be no problem to beat utah this year. tmac and yao will score around 25ppg on them (even when they were subpar) but now u have others chipping in.
I am too tired to look up numbers, but do you know off the top of your head whether Williams had several 20+ games against Rafer in the series? I thought he did. I just remember him looking good, and BIG, and Rafer looking little, and BAD.
I don't know his stats for the Houston series but Deron Williams shot a really good 45.8% throughout the playoffs
Rafer has to put pressure on opposing teams pg's. And I mean pressure in the sense of driving the lane and making the opposing guard play defense on him. Too many times that opposing teams pg's just have to worry about their team's offense. It seems this year he's determined to take it to the hole, but he can't seem to finish consistently.
dude rafer shot 33% in that series. deron shot 43%. that's dominating your position. deron wasn't that good, but rafer just plain out sucked bad. deron wasn't the problem for us. he wasn't the problem in the 2 games we've played this yr either. we can slow him down.
here is the stats DW 41.1 MPG - 16.2 PPG (43.26FG% - 13.638 3P%) - 5RPG - 8.4APG - 3.4 T.O Regular Season 37.0 MPG - 19.1 PPG (45 FG% - 32 3p%) - 3 RPG - 9.7 APG - 3.5 T.O. RAFER 44 MPG 10.9PPG (34 FG% - 32 3P%) - 6.9RPG - 5APG - 2.4 T.O. Regular season 37.1 MPG - 13.3 PPG - (37 FG% - 36 3p%) - 3.4RPG - 5.4APG - 2.09 T.O. The True FG % was a little bit higher than 34% for rafer due to the fact he shoot more 3 pointers. Rafer shoot 3 point under his FG% and 4 under his 3P% Deron shoot 2 points under his FG% and 19 under his 3P % Playing more minutes Deron PPG drop 3 points while Rafer 2.4. At the end Rafer number went down in proportion with Deron so he didn't gain any advantage from his regular season numbers vs Rafer regular season numbers.
rockets have had an easier schedule recently. people are getting excited over wins that should have been wins earlier on anyway. the next 5 games will be the hardest stetch this month but new orleans is the only true contender from that lot. march is when the rockets will see if they have made progress.
"I DON'T GIVE A D*MN WHAT YOU SAY . . . THAT FRICKING GLASS IS HALF EMPTY!!!" - Guess Who Rocket River
A couple of things about your post stood out and I wanted to replay. First off their just aren't that many superstar pg's in the league and the only one that is available that would have any impact on the Rockets is Jason Kidd. Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Steven Nash abuse everyone. Get used to it. People make it like they make their entire careers on abusing the Rockets, NO they abuse the entire league....that's what makes them Great and superstars. Sam Cassell or Marko Jaric won't stop Deron Williams, Steve Nash or Chris Paul anymore than Rafer Alston will. In fact Rafer is flat better than both those guys at this point. I'm the biggest Rafer Hater there is, but when Rafer is off the floor, the Rockets offense looks lost. Rafer is an adequate NBA point guard, if you have 2 or 3 good players around him he's enough. You can't have a superstar or allstar at every position. I understand your concerns and they are legit, the fact is this Rockets team was a few plays away from winning that series with the Jazz. The Jazz went on to the Western Conference finals so I sleep easier knowing we lost to a really god team. The bottom line for this Rockets team remains the same. The guys like Battier and Alston have to hit the wide open 3 and Yao and Tracy have to play like superstars. Plus when the Rockets get ball movement and not everyone standing around they are tough to beat. Add Scola, Landry and Wells to last years team and I like this Rockets teams chances to advance in the playoffs this year.
