[Chron] Road to test Rockets' mettle

Looks like even the Chronicle forgot that we didn't have McGrady for the last two games and won't for probably most of the road trip, if not all. Of course this team is not a championship contender without Tracy. Arguing about that is absurd since we will have Tracy for the vast majority of the season.

 

I generally agree with JVG to an extent...

....but...

In the Hornets game, Wesley scored only 4 points as a starter. In the Magic game, he scored 0 points of the bench.

Maybe we don't need him to be scoring machine. But 4 points in 49 minutes of play over two games is just not acceptable.

 

Very true. But we should be better than we are without McGrady.

I mean, without Duncan, the Spurs probably wouldn't win a championship. But without Duncan, I bet they'd still win against the Hornets and the Magic (both games at home).

 

Bingo, my thoughts exactly. I am very concerned, those were three wretched performances. Inexcusable.

 

I'm with you. I didn't watch much of the NOK game, but to me, they lost the Magic game because they couldn't hit a shot. I don't think we're that bad a perimeter shooting team. Teams can go cold at any given time in any given game. The Spurs could do the same thing. They probably wouldn't blow either of those teams out without Duncan if Tony Parker was out and they were trying to incorporate a new PG or if they were trying to incorporate other pieces to the puzzle.

This team is in a bad spot right now. There were going to be transition pains even with T-Mac playing when you're adding three new players that are expected to play significant roles. That was apparent on opening night and we still won by an easy margin. Now, the transition has been made even more difficult by losing the best player on the team for a couple weeks. It's understandable and excusable that there are problems.

It goes without saying that had we hit some jumpshots, we would've won the Orlando game. However, I think we would've blown them out had we been able to at least hit a three-pointer every once in a while. Instead, they were able to fall back on Yao making it hard to get the entry pass in. Make some shots and Yao will be able to get more passes in spots where he will be able to score easily.

We can argue all day whether they should've won those games, and they should have; however, to me, it's meaningless because a) the shots will fall and b) we didn't have our best player who will be back soon.

 

I'm not concerned...yet 3 games is just not enough to really formulate anything in my eyes/mind. I'm patient enough (not saying you aren't) to let JVG and the players get in the groove of things a little more.

 

Agreed. Add the fact that without TMac, Rafer is the only player who can dribble penetrate into the lane aside from Luther Head, it makes less and less sense to have Wesley out there and more and more to play Head more.

 

I am see fundamental problems. Some can be corrected, some are talent issues and that concerns me. Conversely, Swift and Luther H. have not had great performances, but their skills are apparent. Some skill sets don't mesh and that is on management and coaching. Ming's performances usually disappoint me; I need to significantly lower my expectations for him. He just does not have "it," and given his assets and potential, that is such a shame. Nevertheless, it has been very disappointing thus far; most of us had such high expectations, and the players talked about the importance of getting off to a good start. An abysmal start is almost a lock, probably far worse than last year.

 

I can't argue with you there. I guess although the start has been pretty poor, I'm still excited about this season, and just hope that, as you said, the problems we see which can mostly be addressed will be handled by the staff and players.

I guess it's kind of like watching Yao and just hoping he becomes a solid player, every day, every game

Well, now it's hoping that Wesley's shot starts falling again. Talk about being on the edge of your seat when he lets one fly.

 

Any pro coach is not going to panic after 3 games but JVG needs to make some adjustments and find the best team that can play without Mcgrady. I hope McGrady doesn't have persistent injury problems this year but its not looking good after only 3 games, knee problems and back problems will only exacerbate later in the season. I suggest the following:

1. Demoting DW is a start, let him get his shot back in practice, when he can start knocking down his shot blindfolded in practice is when he can return to the starters position.

2. Spree might also be a viable option at this point since McGrady's health might be a future problem. Spree I hear is considering signing somewhere else and CD needs to get into the mix to sign him.

3. Luther Head needs to be given a serious look. He knocked down the last shot, a three in the Magic game and we need to see if he can do that on a consistent basis.

4. Lets try a small lineup with SS at center and Juwan at the PF instead of the Deke replaces Yao rotation to see if the offensive flow is any better.

 

I wouldn't hold your breath on that one, I think his shot is gone. I have watched him closely since he arrived last season, good defender, poor shooter. Since he was once a good not great shooter, something has happened. Apparently his injures have significantly affected his shooting. He doesn't just miss, he really misses. He didn't even hit the rim a couple times last game. One time his shot bounced off the backboard about a foot from the rim. JVG apparently intended to start him, so this is significant.

JVG needs to tell someone to start shooting more, probably Austin. Also, I would like to see Luther H. and Swift getting more minutes. On offense, Swift should be going to the basket all the time, with or without the ball. I would also like to see Luther H. penetrating, dishing, or scoring.

 

lol... i wonder how many rockets fans shake thier head whenever Wesley misses wide open shots... If it's frustrating to us then you know it's double for him... i really hope he gets his shot back soon.

I'm going to wait til atleast 10 games before coming to judgement on what to do next. How many minutes has a line up of Skip/Anderson/Tmac/Swift/Yao even been on the court together yet? maybe 5 minutes? including preseason.. The players and the coach still have some work to do individually before our team can start diagnosing the team-based problems such as play execution and clear cut roles. Collectively our fundamental problems are rebounding and turnovers, individually it's shooting and substitution patterns (for the coach), obviously there are more but i'm just trying to show generally that it's way to early, this isn't the final product thats going on the shelf, we are still in production. We can't put the item on clearance before its even made

 

does anyone think maybe ryan bowen can start hitting people? the new ron artest?

 

We've also got three new guys in the rotation with T-Mac out (DA, Flyin' Ryan, Skip) ........AND we are missing Sura more then anyone is giving credit for. Sura is the spark plug, the guy who brings the intensity.

 

Yao needs to step up!!!!! Whats all this about him having a nice summer break and working on his stamina when he doesnt step up for Mcgrady?

 

I agree with most of your post. JVG did try #4. it didn't work b/c Swift was clueless. It was one of the first 2 games. I think this (our crappy playing) might be something of a blessing in discuise. Now the team will learn to depend on one another instead of depending on Tracy.

To all the Houstonians sp? You all know we play better when we are down. That goes for all the teams in Houston. Remeber the Oilers giving up thier lead to Buffalo. I still think no one has broken that record. We (Houston Teams) don't do well when we are expected to win.

I hope the Rockets keep getting killed by these low level teams ,so they get pissed. Then they will start playing ball the way we know they can. GOOD

 

In the NOK game, Yao was tearing them up through most of the game. In the last quarter, they realized that our guards couldn't get their shots to fall. So they put a double-team fronting defense on Yao. Two guys, fighting to prevent Yao from touching the ball. That worked. It shut down Yao. And it left our backcourt open to take open shots - which we missed.

I'm not worried. You're right - we'll get our shots to fall. And I'm confident that, when McGrady is back, we're gonna catch fire. I just get disturbed because:
a) we shoulda had all the cobwebs shaken off BEFORE the beginning of the season
b) Tracy is out at a time when we're about to go on a fierce road trip.
c) I get all pumped up for the beginning of the season and this bad start really takes the wind out of my sales.