This years rockets personnel + JVG > than this years personnel + Rick Adelman

All I know is last year, the team that beat the Rockets had their center Okur in the high post and the low post. Their PF was inside the paint, but he was taking many jumpers also.

They were able to mix it up and didn't just dump into the low post. It was effective and destroyed the Rockets and Yao Ming's low post game. Yao's predictiability was easy to defend by Okur. Jazz win.

 

Thats because Okur is a 3 point shooting threat and Yao is not, and Boozer was their best player. You can't really compare them. At any rate it was mentioned that Adelman had Yao in the high post more than usual during the preseason because he wanted Yao to work on that aspect of his game because it was a change. He already knew what Yao can do in the post and wanted Yao to work on decision making at the high post.

 

You're telling people not to overreact, and that you're excited for the season, yet you're continuously saying that JVG is a better coach than Adelman before we've even seen one regular season game. That's hypocracy at its finest. How on God's green Earth do you know that the Rockets would not have made the playoffs last year under Adelman, given all the injuries? Nobody is discounting what JVG did here, but don't blow his accomplishments out of proportion either. You're calling his stubbornness and his ego "small problems" when in reality, they led to his demise as a coach. The one thing a coach MUST have is the ability to adapt to the circumstances, and learn his team's strengths and weaknesses. JVG never did that, and that's why he's no longer the coach here. You say that this year's roster is superior to last year's, yet we may end up with the same record. Well, I say this year's roster is superior to last year's, and we may end up finishing 1st in the West. Or, even if we DO end up with the same record as last year, isn't that just a relative term? If the West gets better in terms of competition, and we end up with the same record, doesn't that mean that we are a better team? Seriously, take your hypocracy somewhere else.

 

I'm not going to read all 9 pages of responses, but I want to comment anyway.

A few things I know:

This team is not a running team, they're not going to break much.

Yao is a beast in the low post; he's a turnover-prone shooter in the high post.

The Rockets under Van Gundy were always good on defense and normally efficient on offense, but they certainly could stagnate sometimes.
Adelman's a smart coach, and although he has principles, he seems flexible.

A few things I don't know yet:

How soon will Adelman recognize the strengths and weaknesses of his biggest weapon and plant him in the low post? The additional motion will make a big difference, but the team identity needs to stay the same.

Will the defense stay the same? The most common trait of championship teams is suffocating paint defense. Adelman's teams have never been good at paint defense, and that is the only reason he doesn't have a ring yet. It's the same reason why Flip Saunders hasn't won a ring in Detroit yet.

I'm afraid of a slow start, but I know this team will be better than last year. The sooner Adelman and the Rockets get used to each other, the better year that they'll have.