Reminds me of The Mask of Zorro: Hopkins: "Do you know how to use that thing?" Banderas: "Yes, pointy end goes into the other man."
When you have outstanding management and coaching along with a group of players who are a strong, cohesive unit that play solid defense, understand their specific roles within the offense, and who aren't being bothered with a diva on the court trying to act like a superstar, You've got something pretty special... A basketball team that overachieves because they understand basketball philosophy better than the more talented teams. The Rockets don't win games, they make the other team lose them.
There appeared to be a difference in approach with Morey and Adelman. Players like Yao, Battier, McGrady and Artest didnt really fit the philosophy. Then it seemed Morey just got a bunch of stumpy short guys and Adelman had to make do with what he was given. But really they are both similar in that they have styles that dont require a mega star to make things go. The effectiveness is within the method. Where each player contributes it. No one takes opportunities away from each other, no one forcefully gives another player a disproportionate load. There's a constant moving fluidity to basketball, buts like football and baseball where you dont take plays off, dont take pitches off, gotta keep your eye on the ball on BOTH sides of the ball. Each possession counts. As far as McGrady taking away from the bottom line W/L, last year was the first year he had a worse winning % in games played than team record without. All things considered it was exactly a horrible record (20-15). This year he was a -2 in the +/-. Not really conclusive, played against the Nuggets, Magic and Mavericks. In his Rockets tenure, he did what he had to do for the regular season. Though its, is it worth FIVE times the overall agonizing experience to get 3-4 more wins. Its relieving to know the team can move on in spite of him. Expendable superstars is oddly a good thing.
I will step up and say I didn't predict it; I didn't think they would break eighty points per game. They looked like the "little sister's of the poor" on paper. Really, a starting lineup of Chuck Hayes, Ariza, and Battier!!! In the NBA!! Throw in a midget PG and Mr. Argentina, Jr.!! Their performance is worthy of scientific study. Also, in the TMac/Yao era the fourth quarter El Foldo became an art form. This team actually closes people out.
I get what you are saying, but I'd say we win games. And that other teams aren't as focused on winning as we are. At least as a unit. As a unit we are greater than the sum of our parts. Kinda like Voltron, which i had when I was a kid.
That is pretty crazy about the techs. We avg .5 techs while our opponents avg 1.2. Without the the tech our point differential might be like .5.
If the game is being broadcast on National TV, it is Talent. If the game is Not being broadcast on Natl TV, it is Hard Work.
Our role players are just awesome, and our offensive game allow us to distribute the ball in such ways. Just to say how awesome our role players are, we constantly have a triple threat on the floor. Point-blank range, mid-range, and long-range shooters. And we can create shots based on those threats. We have a really deep bench. Our bench players come off the bench and score at least 1/4 of all the points. This means less pressure for the starters. Do we have the hardest-working team in the league? I would definitely say so. But this is the most obvious fact about the Rockets. People who keep talking about chemistry, I partly agree. Yall need to look at the games and notice the amount of TOs we get. That's a clear indication that the Rockets still lack something in the chemistry.
We win cause: -we play as a team -we trust one another -we have the talent; deep enough team -no drama -maybe cause we are underdogs, we draw motivation from that. -Rick Adelman knows what he's doing - and Daryl Morey
What I mean is The Rockets mentality isn't about out-gunning teams and getting into shootouts. Its all about winning by making the other team take bad shots and make mistakes, taking charges, etc. Its a mental toughness that the winning teams possess. So be definition, the Rockets have found out how to win games.
