Like most in the board, I am beyond excited about the start of the season and believe that the Rockets have added SUPPORTING players that can get us far in the playoffs. However, something still worries me and that is I do not believe that we have a player that can take over in close games. Last year's playoffs (especially game 7 after the Rockets were up by 5) showed that T-mac is not always capable of closing out games. Yao turned the ball over and over again, and though I am a huge fan of Steve Francis and do believe that he has matured, I still don't trust his last minute game decisions. It still seems we are missing that player in whose hands we can trust in the last minute to make a play. I was wondering if you guys also have the same worry, and if this has been discussed before than sorry for the repetition.
Mike James. He has the personality (read: huge ego) and the skills to do it. Or had. I don't believe that in 1 year, he has taken such a huge step back in terms of skills, but the Mike James who was with the T'wolves last year was just whack. If he were to play like he did when he was with us and following that, the raptors, I fully expect Mike James to be one of the weapons that teams will have to look out for in cruch time. Francis...still has a lot to prove in my opinion. Ability-wise, there was never any doubt, but in terms of decision-making, you can still say he has a lot to prove, especially about whether he has really matured or it's just all talk.
I agree about James, but Brooks may surprise us all. He appears to have the "attitude" and skill to hit the clutch shot.
who needs a closer, when we're winning by 15 with 1 minute left? seriously, if it comes with last poseesion, i would liek to run the play when mcgrady drives in, and pass it out to battier and head. even though their not creaters, like francis, yao, james, tmac, they are clutch.
in 04-05, tmac was MAAAAAAAAAD clutch. he hit like 6-7 GW shots that reg. season, along w/ a bunch of clutch plays. v. dallas, he was mad clutch. we just sucked in game 7 b/c we ran out of breath as a team. i think tmac loses his conditioning so easily last yr that he fades. hopefully that'll change next yr. but we also have mike james (who was clutch for us when he was here). steve francis is a clutch player. so if tmac and yao are gonna struggle, we have the clutch "role" players. like the spurs have w/ horry and finley.
I'm not quite worried about hitting a game winning shot. A lot of players on our team can do that. But I'm worried that as a team, with 5 minutes left and the game close, we might not be able to close the door (something the Rockets have been notorious for)
actualy, i blame those "droughts" on jvg. closer the game is, the less time is left, teams tend to pick up their intensity. jvg, went with the same offense, even if the other team may have changed things up a bit. starters playing tons of minutes like rafer could have gotten tired. yao turns the ball over alot more when hes tired. and tracy lost lots of conditioning. but, with adelmen, i'm hoping to see lots of fresh rotations
i am really worried more about how quickly this team will come together. a whole new coach, new philosophy a lot of talent guards all wanting some PT, a brand new forward new to the NBA and its style. i will worried about the playoffs when they come but I think tmac will be fine...this past season he was asked to do more than he has ever done and he got worn out especially considering he hardly played the year before. I think his conditioning for the upcoming year will be a lot better. he looked much sharper the year before the injury when there were other playmaking guards (james,sura) to help take the load off but we lost to dallas because they just were that much more talented than us. (remember yao was good but inconsistent) if adeleman can get everyone on the same page and keep everyone happy..i see very good things for this team
...is the fact that we still didn't find a "mad dog" alongside Yao to get those defensive boards in the closing moments of a game. After all, that whats cost game 7 for us last year. The offense will come with our lineup, but can we get someone to pull down those rebounds. Wish we had a ben wallace with us or a young Charles Oakley
The interesting thing about Tmac is that he can be considered a clutch player, however not a closer type player. Tracy has a pretty strong will, and is capable of taking over a game by himself. But normally when Tracy is on one of his hot scoring bursts, it is mostly due to a string of consecutive made jumpshots. And jumpshots are a pretty unreliable and uncertain thing to count on at the end of the game since adrenaline might be running higher. In terms of killer instinct, I think Aaron Brooks is the best, although he is still a rookie. Yao doesn't have it. Wells hasn't given anything to the Rockets yet. Francis still seems to be a turnover-prone player. Head doesn't really know what he's doing half the time he's on the court. Battier is too much of a hustle-type player to be a closer. James is also more a jumpshooter like Tmac.
You said better. I have the same feeling. So I expect the first 3-5 games will be not so good. Hope they can figure out soon.
Seriously, all these years of Rudy and JVG has made Houston fans unaware of the "team concept" on offense. It's not a matter of having a closer. Sure, having Kobe or DWade, who can take over games by themselves, help. But good offensive teams simply execute in the clutch. That means shooting high percentage shots, not turning the ball over, etc. With Adelman on board, I expect that during crunch time, the team will continue to execute on offense with crisp passing, cutting. Rather than get bogged down into T-Mac shooting fadaway 20 footers, or ball bouncing off of Yao's foot in the pot. If we still can't do that, then bringing in Adelman would be a huge mistake. He came because the management expect him to rectify this problem.
Games 3 and 4, TMac choked down the stretch. However, I disagree with the poster. He's right in his assessment, but Francis and Mike James are the cold-blooded guys who have no problems taking over. THey'll get TMac, Yao, and Battier over the hump, finally.
i said in 04-05 tmac was clutch. i don't think he was very clutch this yr, including the playoffs. so tmac does have that clutch factor in him. i remembered in 04-05 he was making TONS of clutch plays and game winners. so it's in him. we just have to hope he'll fully bring it out next yr. hopefully next yr will be the start of something truly special in his career. maybe tmac's a late bloomer
Im sorry, but if a team with such an array of offensive arsenal including the likes of Tmac, Yao, Francis, James, Bonzi and Head cant find ONE person to close out the game, then they have a MAJOR problem. I think you will find that whoever had the hot hand out of Yao, Tmac, Francis or James will take majority of the shots down the stretch because they are the 4 guys who i believe will definantly be there at the end of tight games. All of them have the ability to make shots when called upon. This is the luxury that we now have unlike previous years where if Yao and Tmac were off then we would struggle to break 70 points
Im sorry, but if a team with such an array of offensive arsenal including the likes of Tmac, Yao, Francis, James, Bonzi and Head cant find ONE person to close out the game, then they have a MAJOR problem. I think you will find that whoever had the hot hand out of Yao, Tmac, Francis or James will take majority of the shots down the stretch because they are the 4 guys who i believe will definantly be there at the end of tight games. All of them have the ability to make shots when called upon. This is the luxury that we now have unlike previous years where if Yao and Tmac were off then we would struggle to break 70 points
T-Mac didn't take over in game 7 but as you did see he did all on the floor. He was a passer scorer...He could be tired
