They didn't allow Yao to get into the game. When the rockets run things through Yao they usually play better
you are probably right but i really don't understand why the heck we are struggling both ends, if RA's new system is an excuse then he should at least ask the players to stick to LAST YEAR's DEFENSE
Let's just say for every hour jvg spent on defense, adelman spends one minute. The players always knew what was coming at them when jvg was here.
yao had been good at post defense for most of the season. if i remember correctly, boozer and aldridge dropped midrange jumpers on his face all night long. tonight just goes to show yao's post defense is not that perfect. foul trouble also limited his effort a little bit but there's still no excuses being lit up by a scrub like darko.
I agree. I think Yao's effort tonight defensively and on the boards was inexcusable. Not getting enough touches is one thing but not holding your own at the other end is something of a completely different magnitude.
I have always thought the Rockets defense was overrated. It was good but not great. We do not have enough defensive-minded players. Defensively, Yao and Tmac are simply average. They don't think about shutting down anybody. BTW, I hope he will guard Kobe tomorrow since he is being guarded by Kobe. Battier does an ok job on Kobe, but Kobe can go off 50 tomorrow.
I guess every coach pays lip service to defense, but only some actually coach it and get their players to play it....
More like Darko was just hurtling Yao to the ground on all rebounds and the refs never called sh*t. That was so dumb to watch, I lost brain cells as they were calling blocking fouls against Hayes and Scola on blatant charges, and then that play where it was tied at 94 and McGrady got his hand hit on the jumper followed by Hayes getting called for the loose ball foul which was his sixth... Can we get the league office to double-check that Tim Donaghy memo? You mean refs are NOT supposed to gamble on basketball games? Whoops. Their bads.
JVG's D wasn't that good it some as well. We also had seberal games under Gundy where the D wasn't clicking and the other were shooting the lights out that. Happens. However, the trends seems obvious...
Yep, when the defense doesn't look so good, it's because Van Gundy is gone. When it does, it's because the team is instilling the defensive principles of Van Gundy. This will be a familiar refrain from a certain crowd all year I imagine.
Correcto! Everybody wants it both ways. No one wants to compare the box score stats of Rudy Gay and Shane Battier. No one wants to look at +/- unless it bolsters his/her argument. No one wants to look at the facts without coloring them. The JVG team defense was effective because it hid the weaknesses of individual players. Now that there is more one-on-one defense being played, the weaknesses of players like Hayes (height) and Battier (non-athletic impediments like slow foot speed) are being exposed. I know this is heresy, but we are only winning because, for example, under Adelman the team is taking about 20 more shots per game than under JVG. There are a lot of other factors, and I think we are further ahead of the game at this point than I thought we would be. However, few on the board are realistic when it comes to evaluating their favorites.
I would beg to differ. The Jazz series is the perfect example of JVG's stubborness. Not that Adelman has changed his defensive schemes in our first matchup... But JVG's reluctance to deviate from his master plan was very costly towards the end.
Yao was totally overplayed and looked helpless in the 4th quater. Maybe in his 'prime', Rockets should think of trade him for guys who can really brings a ring or a couple.
