I love how we always have excuses. These are PROFESSIONALS. They get paid hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars a year.
If your two stars aren't better or tougher than Shaq and Kobe or Duncan and Parker or Rasheed and Chauncey...maybe your other starters need to be better than Hayes and Battier.
I noticed Adelman sitting quiet on the bench the entire second half. Not what I would expect while his team is getting whacked.
Didn't we beat the Spurs before and got a close game with no T-Mac? This year is like Houston vs Elite = Effort, hustle, desire, concentration, execution. Houston vs Average/Mediocre = lack of concentration, heartless effort, lazy game all around game. Last year we beat all the bad team and lost all vs elite team. I prefer beating the good team if I have to chose but I prefer beating both.
DH in wins 21-14 DH in lost 28-17 Yao in wins 24-11 Yao in lost 20-9 When Orlando wins DH get an alright game, when they lose DH is a goat. When Yao don't get like he should Rox lose, when he get involve in the offense Rox win. GREAT GAME FOR DH = Orlando lost GREAT GAME FOR YAO = Rox Win. Conclusion Yao is more important for Rockets success than DH is for the Orlando.
No a good comparison. Is Duncan, Parker and Manu (Manu is more important than Parker). Rasheed, Billups, T. Prince. Rip. (Rasheed and Billups will get kill if they have to carry that Detroit offense.
Thanks Captain Clueless! You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Do you have short-term memory loss? What happened when Yao was out last season? Look it up since you didn't watch. Take Howard off the Magic and they are a lottery team with the worst defense in the NBA by far. Watch a couple of Magic games to see how valuable Howard is to them and why he's an MVP candidate.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Our assistants came up big for us the past few seasons. They were all leaders too, even Ewing, and they worked very closely with the players. Now they're in Orlando and Boston, the 2 of the top 4 teams in the league.
Ewing? I don't remember him doing a damn thing while he was here. The only reason he has a job in Orlando is because JVG's brother is the head coach.
You both are clueless. Howard is deservingly an MVP candidate however the magic without DHoward would not be a lottery team. Watch the players and coach around him. You'll see how integral they are to Howard's success. It goes hand in hand.
This is not a new problem; the best players on this team, Yao and TMac just do not have fireball temperaments. They only "flame-up" on rare occasions. They tend to get discouraged easily, and they take games off. When you throw in perhaps the weakest starting supporting cast in the entire NBA, role players who can not shoot consistently, and a "laid back" coach who looks like he is in a stupor, you do not have a formula for progressing deep into the playoffs. I am starting to wonder if this team is even going to the playoffs.
Tmac and Yao are going to be with this team for a long time, at least through this season. So what's the point of saying they ain't working? Give up the season? It becomes so obvious that as long as the opp team can deny Yao the ball Rox will lose over 80% of times. Spurs don't even need Duncan to win. So maybe finding a way to fix this issue is what really matters, or not?
I would be more inclined to believe that if you posted after a win. Anywho... I think there is something to be said about having two superstars that are finesse players through and through (nothing wrong with that, they can't change their style, that's part of why they're great players). Ideally in this league, you want your big man to be a banger, unfortunately Yao is pastry soft. But that's his style and won't change, he will still get you 25/10 on any given night. The second most ideal thing in that situation is to put a 4 around your finesse big man who's a banger. Scola is talented and will be great for us, but he's of the same Yao/Tracy mold. Well, then you're left with one option. Short of trading a superstar (highly unlikely, and for good reason since no one gets a superstar in return and would be a lose-lose unless you're rebuilding), the least preferable solution is to surround your soft but immensely talented stars with pit bulls who have at least moderate talent. Unfortunately, Sura went down a few years back and we don't seem to have had that since, although we thought James (he's gone soft) or Francis (untested, but there is potential) would provide us with that. But even if they did, one or two bench players ain't enough. You need at least two of the five starters to be that and hopefully a couple of the guys off the bench can 'bring it' whenever they're in. But being soft should still at least get you somewhere in the playoffs. If we can even have as much success as the Mavs have had in the last few years as an equally soft/heartless team, I would be pretty happy. So soft can still get you places, we just need our two stars to avoid that other equally embarrassing (perhaps more so) label of chokers, which they've earned the last couple of times around. In fact, they've repeatedly shown that they can defy the odds and sink when it counts...not once, but TWICE! Hopefully that will change... On a related note, it doesn't help much when your two soft stars are being coached by someone who's so laid back and 'untense' as Adelman is. Guys like Yao and McGrady need to be pushed to the edge, and be kept there. A 'relaxed' atmosphere won't likely contribute much to 'toughening' them up.
He was apparently responsible for Yao in his (Ewing's) first season here. Then JVG had Thibodeau working with Yao, and Ewing switched to helping all the other big men. Ewing also helped in the development of other young players and gave them guidance on the league. I remember Mike Wilks said Ewing helped him a lot. Oh, and by leader, you should know that Ewing was much more a leader than TMac and Yao ever have been. I won't be surprised to see Ewing coaching college sometime and being successful.
