Every player on this team has a major weakness, so it is very difficult to pick up a leader on the floor. If you are the team leader, then you need lead the team as an example, who can do it? Nobody. It is time to sign Deke, at least he is a lock room leader. I do not think that we have a lock room leader too.
I thought it would be Ron, but so far he seems to be more concerned with fitting in and being on his best behavior. But I agree...sometimes we look so soft it kills me. I get so frustrated when I see a physical player like Gasol intimidate Yao and out work him all game long. Someone needed to get into Yao's face, yell at him, and get him to throw some elbows at Gasol. Yao and Tracy have proven that they are not the fiery, in-your-face leaders that we need...but Ron has not either. I am hoping that once Ron gets more comfortable on this team he will start getting in our players faces when they are playing soft. Landry, Scola, Brooks show fire on the court but don't seem like the types to get in other's faces...which is what we need
That may all be true but he can probably knife through the lane better than anyone in the NBA. He certainly would intimidate Paul Pierce too.
What about the DC Sniper? Amazing accuracy, sees everything, good awareness, was able to work with a teammate perfectly and is not afraid to take the big shot.
This so true, it is beyond question. The so called leaders of this team, Yao and TMac simply lack the temperament necessary for consistent aggression and fire. They are two of the most passionless players in the entire league. Yao may care, but he can't translate that on to the court. I think TMac is ready to retire, really doesn't want to play anymore, and is largely going through the motions. I think he has decided that this team is going to make another first round exit, and he simply doesn't want to go through that again. I think he was fired up at the prospect of the new talent, but now he doesn't see things as working out. This of course is just a guess, may not be true, but it may be true. When Von Wafer looks like the most passionate player on the team, something is terribly wrong. And seriously, are you impressed with Adelman overall?
The answer to this question should be one guy, and one guy only : Yao Ming. When he is in dominant form, no team on Earth can match-up with us. It's been proven time and time again that when he gets taken out of the game by the other team's physical play, we suffer. Yao needs to step up his attitude and learn how to play with a chip on his shoulder, because when he does that, he cannot be stopped. I cannot think of another world-class player (not even T-mac when he's healthy) that is so freaking easy to get into the head of. It's ridiculous that guys like Kendrick Perkins and Marc Gasol (guys who have done absolutely jack-squat in this league) can dominate him so easily simply by pushing him around. It's frustrating to watch....especially when you see the flashes of greatness that Yao has, and you see the player that he can truly become.
At the end of the year where we had the first playoff matchup with Utah, JVG pubicly called out T-Mac for taking his foot off the gas at the end of the season. He held all of his players accountable.
Leave the killing to terrorists. This team needs all its players back healthy. Then we will be great.
lol. I enjoy reading all the positive posts the day after a win, then the extreme negatives the next. I would enjoy some consistency on this board, as well as the Rockets. Look, we all knew the beginning of the season was going to be rough. It will take a couple months for people to find their roles on this team. If you thought Tracy was going to come back full strenght and not miss any time early in the season, you're an idiot. I think most people knew he would go out for a couple weeks to rest his knee early, or at least I figured as much. Last nights game was pitful, to say the least. But when 2 starters are out (2 of our best 3 players) and another starter (Battier) is limiting minutes, what can you expect? We practice as if everyone is healthy, so when our top players are out, it's hard for everyone else to know what to do. It's not the end of the world. Once everyone is back, hopefully we will see a turn around. If, however, we dont see some improvment once tracy has been back a couple months, I say we trade every player over 26 (except Yao sicne he brings in too much $$) for some young players (rookies through 3 years) and draft picks and start over with healthy young men. That last part was a joke... kinda. Cheers, MAK
I'm sick of posts like this! I'm tired of people saying wait til we get healthy! How long can we use this for an excuse? If we don't win games we will not be in the playoffs! bottom line healthy or not, we don't win, we will not be there. we need to take advantage of the crappy schedule we have for december and beat the teams we rae supposed to! "To be a great team, you have to beat the bad teams convincingly" - Vince Lombardi Live by that quote!
DD, totally have to agree with you on this one....There's gonna come a time (it should have already happened) when Yao is just gonna have to bring it. Screw the I'm to slow and I can't jump high to get the rebounds, screw the getting fronted and can't get the ball (coaches and entry passers fault also), screw the I'm getting fouled and gonna run down the floor anyway w/o getting a T when its been happening all day. I could on all day, but I don't want to rant. I just want Yao to use his strengths. Every player has a weakness, he needs to understand his and try to develop his strengths more. He's gonna have to understand that he has to be ahead of the game in every aspect. He needs to play smarter and he needs to develop an attitude. Unfortunately, thats the what the game has come to. No more excuses With this being said, its not just about Yao, tmac and artest have their share of defeciences also. As a team though, I think we can hide our defencies and get through all this mess. Its gonna take a collective effort though. DD - what you think?
finding only positives & excuses in loses is a perfect way to build a perpetual loser. I can see Rockets are taking your advices.
I honestly think the biggest help would be the one and only Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo. He has a warrior's attitude--that's undeniable. Everyone respects him (i was gonna say that the young players respect him, but then i realized, the next oldest player is still 10 years younger than him!). Deke leads by example--when he plays, he plays hard. Always. It doesn't hurt that, being a 41 year old man, when he regulates on sombody's shot and the finger wag comes out, the team gets excited. When he's on the bench, he's our number one fan, which is also contagious--having players on the bench invested in the game translates directly to more energy when they hop in. He's also an upstanding member of the community, and encourages guys to be professionals. He also bough Carl some nice suits. GET IT DONE MOREY! BRING ME A MUTOMBO! <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ky0gMLHpEM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ky0gMLHpEM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Mutombo would be better as a backup than Hayes, he would stop the slew of offensive rebounds. Yao also could learn a lot from an unathletic 41 year old man and how he plays defense and rebounds the ball. DD
When Rafer, T-Mac, Yao, Artest, and Battier miss his 1st game we have lost. after that we have play better. Inconsistent lineup/rotation = Inconsistent defense and offense. SA without Manu. lost 4 out 5 and need 55point from Parker in OT to beat the awful Minnesota.
Isn't that the damn truth. Mutombo just has god given talent in this department though. His timing for going after balls and blocking shots is superb. Last year, he could barely get off the floor but was still blocking shots left and right.
Every good-great team puts up a clunker now and then, but I've forgotten what it feels like to be surprised to lose to a clearly inferior team. I almost expect us to choke against weaker teams. I've felt that way for 10+ years. Dunno how to fix it.
I agree. As much as I can't stand Pierce or KG, this is EXACTLY the way they play. They're probably the hungriest defending champions I have seen in a long, long time. Every time they take court they have this "COME GET SOME!!" mentality and swagger that makes me insanely jealous whenever I see it. Sadly, there aren't many players like that out there. The idea of a "true leader" in basketball is something you don't see much anymore. Not with the new age of passionless, boring "stars" like the Michael Redd's, Kevin Martin's, Luol Deng's, etc all getting enormous paydays and the lofty expectations of "leading" their teams to the promised land. My best suggestion for this "veteran leader" role is Marcus Camby. Unfortunately, his contract puts him out of our price range. If he made something like $5-7M/year I would be literally holding riots until we pulled off this move. He addresses all of our frontcourt needs: size, shot blocking/altering, rebounding, efficiency and leadership/intangibles.
