Boy, unless we get some players on this team that can make their own shot, we dont have a chance at competing with the elite teams in this league. Alston, Anderson, Barry, and Wesley cannot score of the dribble it seems. The only two players on this team that can do that is TMAC and Luther Head. I think Head needs to play more. He is athletic, quick and willing to guard other people. Not to mention, he can make an open shot!!!!!! I am ready to look at Dion Glover at the back up SF position if he is healthy. I dont want to get down on the ROX too early, but they look downright awful so far this season. P.S. I sure miss Mike James! He had 36 and 38 points this week for Toronto.
I say give them some more time before gettin too down on them. And yeah, mike has done well, and woudl be great now when we don't ahve scoring, but when we aren't in dire need of it, he'll more likely be counterproductive to what the team wants out of their PG. IMO.
Anderson and Alston can create their own shots. They just can't make them, not even the wide open ones.
It looks like Alston isn't even willing to take the open shots. I don't know how many times I've seen him pass up wide open shots the past couple games. Instead of forcing a pass to Howard or someoen else for a bad shot with time running down he should just let fly. Eventually things will start falling. I can't believe that 37% from 3 last year was such an abberation...
Not even 3 weeks in the season! These guys stick around in the league for reasons. It's easy to make these guys scapegoats. But this team is Tmac and Yao's. If you have confidence in them, you should have confidence in the team as whole.
Yep, they won't shoot this bad the whole season. If they do, well they need to retire already. We'll go on our runs, no worries.
yaa, dont worry about Mike James in Toronto....whats toronto's record again?? Alston is just starting to get a feel for this team, he'll know what to do soon, just give him some time.
I mentioned that I was worried about Alston's shot, he is a career 39% shooter, not just 3pt shooting, combined shooting %. He is not a good shooter. Toronto knew what they were giving up, if he was a great pass first PG that could also shoot at a high % he would still be there. Don't expect a career 39% shooter to start knocking down threes like Ray Allen. I am just hoping that DA and DW are in shooting slumps and that they snap out of them. If they don't, 80 point scoring nights are going to be an every game occurrence and it will be a long disappointing season.
100% correct. I was fortunate to sit 12 rows and 45 degrees back from the Rockets bench at the SBC Center Thursday night. As close as I have ever been to a pro game. During the warmup drill, the team couldn't miss. Amazing touch from each and every player (with the possible exception of Mooch who didn't seem to take it all that seriously). During the game, the Spurs' defensive rotations where noticeably faster (they've been together a lot longer). The Spurs were shooting in rhythm because we were late with the man to man and then the rotations. Once we were really playing solid D (mid to late Q3), the Spurs had just as much trouble getting off their shots as we did early in the game. I for one am convinced that our offensive troubles start on the defensive end because we are usually putting the ball in play from the end line instead of forcing the opponents D to match up in transition.
we'll start playing better, but i think Head should be playing more. Our offense seems far less stagnant when he's in the game and he's been hitting the open jumper.
I see your point. But the way I see it, they are not just having problem scoring, which could have been cured by more transition offense. They seem to have lost confidence in shooting, especially Alston and Wesley. They almost look afraid to shoot. You can see that split second hesitation. And that messes up your rhythm and becomes a vicious cycle.
what I've been noticing.. the offense does seem to run better with Head in the game Swift always seems to be out of position and doesnt space the floor no one is shooting a good clip (none of the guards) my main concerns are. 1. our rotations are slow and perimeter players seem to get into the lane at will 2. we are not knocking down open shots 3. our ball movement is poor what happened to all the great passing last year 4. our defense seems non-existent J
i agree. i've noticed the same problems. here are my thoughts on them. 1. could be that our new guys just need to get more comfortable with JVG's system. it's obvious that head, DA, swift, and rafer are not slow, so a slow rotation is not a speed problem. i say give it time. if we don't get any better over the next 10 games then it's clear that these guys just cant play defense in which case we need a perimeter defender via trade. 2. our guards can shoot. look at all of thier career numbers, look at thier shooting forms. we have good shooters on the team. for some reason they are all in a slump at the same time. again, give it time. 3. 4 new guys in the rotation means that they will be scared to move the ball to fast. the passer just isn't sure where his teammate is. we have great passers on this team, once again they just need time. 4. same as #1.
