What has impressed you most about the preseason games?

Eddie and KT....and how easy it was to injure fingers and thumbs.

 

the most impressive has been eddie griffin by a mile for me. i enjoy his silent assassin approach but i've seen more excitement out of him in the last 7 games than all of last year. he's going to be amazing. second place would be tmo before he got hurt. as with eddie the confidence was taken to another level for him and hopefully it will still be there when he heals. other than that the main things i wanted to see where a good showing from mo and rice and i think both played well. mo doesn't seem to have any ill effects from the injury and the weight is a non-issue. his midrange game is still money. rice is a 17 year-vet? so he's not gonna go full throttle in the preseason but his shot was on and that's what matters most. i forgot to add kt in there. he doesn't have the long-range jumper that we've come to expect out of a rudy-t small forward but his hustle is always impressive and there's little doubt to me that he can play the position well.

 

disappointed with Rice .........

Did you have a bad batch of squirrel stew again ????

Rice looks ten times better than last year. He’s lost weight, he can actually jump this year.
( last year he reminded me of Mr. Glass when he was on the court, I thought his legs were gonna go at any minute ) Also, last year he couldn’t hit the side of a barn. ( IMHO )

I am most impressed with Eddie and Yao ! ( Double Dragon )

 

There are good impressions and there are bad ones.

Impressions-

Positive:
Eddie play at both ends, he deserves to be on a team with players who will put out as much effort as he does.
Mo Taylor (I want him to be good so he has trade value)
Morris looked good, but incomplete due to injury.

Negative:
5 man offense is just a new name for the same iso.
Francis getting 5 assists total in 2 games while taking 40 shots.
Either coaching or lack of team discipline.
Amount of standing still being done on the perimeter.
Defense was said to be much better. Improved, but not by much.
Cato is stil on the team.
Moochie is still on the team.
Rice is still on the team.
Collier is still on the team.

 

Very impressed with Eddie's improvement. Also, TMo when he was healthy. Yao impressed me more than I thought he would. Also...despite the inbounds pass....I was really impressed with Hawkins. I think he can fill a void that hasn't been filled since Mario left.

I have no qualms with Rice's performance. He's senior to everyone else, so he probably feels no need to turn it on in the preseason. His touch still seems to be there, and I really feel that he'll be a solid contributer.

Nachbar, Maddox, and Mo were less impressive to me. Maddox because I don't feel he's earned a spot on the team, Nachbar because he doesn't look like all that better than Dan L. on a decent day, and Mo because I have much higher expectations for him.

 

Eddie blocking, Ming's 13 against the Sixers, and Francis' solid play are pretty good signs that the Rockets will be awesome next season.

 

Yaos relationship with everyone on the team. I figured they would all be supportive, but guys like steve and cuttino seem to really be going that extra mile to make Yao feel at home.

 

Yeah. People were complaining when Ming was drafted that Steve and Cat didn't want him here, but it is obvious that they do want him here.

 

Positives: Eddie Griffin's weakside defense, Steve and Cuttino looked in midseason shape. Taylor looked in much better shape than I thought but so did Moochie, Kenny and Rice. Eddie also looked much more comfortable in the offense as the preseason went along and Yao Ming looks like he'll definitely be a contributor. Cato also had a few moments.

Negatives: Eddie Griffin will need help on strong side defense, expect us to double down low on pf's and centers who can score, motion offense looks stagnant at times, a little too much iso from Steve but the team looks so much worse when he's out. Nagging injuries to Rice bother me because he is our one true vet out there, the young guys could sure use his experience. Nachbar doesn't look ready but he shows flashes it may come in time. Kenny and Moochie missed too much time and Yao also could have better used his time on the court with the Rox so not only could he get used to them but so they could get used to him. All in IMO of course

 

JSB:
Griffin's shot blocking has been awesome. He has a legitament shot of leading the league in blocks. Ming and Grififn will block a heck of a lot of shots this year.

 

And speaking of which SF3, I was hearing during the 6ers game that the Rocks led the league in preseason blocks! I love that stat right there...and the fact that Eddie was the reason, being that he himself led the league in blocks as an individual.



Now, THAT'S impressive!

 

Yeah, that is pretty impressive.