[Chron] Rockets far from polished gem as season nears

theREALDEALkid · Oct 27, 2008

Link - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6079599.html

The sweat-soaked Rockets trudged off the Toyota Center practice court. No one stayed behind for the usual post-practice sessions of shooting games and trash talk. Tracy McGrady moaned, “I’m a zombie right now.”
Rick Adelman did not intend for Sunday’s practice to be so long and tough, as demanding even as Saturday’s. But there was just so much to repair, so much the Rockets knew was not regular-season ready.

With the season to open Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Rockets were in many ways not where they wanted to be. That they are roughly where they expected to be — after a preseason marked with inconsistency and injuries — offered no consolation.

Instead, the Rockets pointed to their improving health as an indication of improved play to come, and insisted that heading into a season filled with great expectations, their displeasure is more about the level of play they are seeking more than genuine problems.

Nowhere close, yet

“We’re nowhere near where we wanted to be,” Adelman said. “I don’t think that’s possible with Tracy not playing that much in the preseason. We’re going to still be feeling our way along. I think we’re good enough that we should go out and play pretty well. But we have a long ways to go.

“You know it’s a long season. You don’t get everything done at the start of the season. You want to get enough done to win. But we’re going to be a work in progress.”

The Rockets did not play badly in the preseason. They went 5-2, though that came against competition ranging from the past two NBA champions, Boston and San Antonio, to some of the league’s expected worst teams, Memphis, Sacramento and Oklahoma City.

There were encouraging signs, highlighted by Yao Ming’s and Rafer Alston’s comebacks from injuries, and Aaron Brooks’ and Carl Landry’s encouraging growth and play.

They also struggled badly defensively, rarely measuring up to the standards of the past five seasons. Offensively, they often had trouble getting Yao enough deep touches and have been occasionally turnover-prone.

“Protecting the paint, not taking care of the ball, not being so stagnant on offense and just competing,” Chuck Hayes said of the list of issues. “We’ll get killed one quarter, like we did in the second quarter in Sacramento, giving up 35 points, and then give up 37 the whole second half. We got a lot of guys back from last year that tasted success, so we expect a lot more from ourselves. We expect us to be better than we are.”

But the displeasure has not come solely from the inconsistency of the preseason games or the typical coach’s drive to improve. Adelman was clearly not happy with the results of the weekend’s two grueling practices.

“I don’t think you’re ever happy,” Adelman said. “Tracy has only been back for the one game. We got a lot of work to do before we play. We have to get a lot more efficient in what we’re doing at both ends of the court.

“We have to be consistent in what we do. We’re trying to tweak things offensively to make sure we get the ball into our main guys’ hands. Our concentration has to be there so when we make a call, everybody knows what we’re doing. If Yao’s posting up, you can’t just mentally go into a vacuum and not understand what we’re trying to do as a team.”

There might be greater hopes for this season, but also a sense that even if the Rockets are not ready to roll from the start, it might be more important that they can steadily improve.

“Our team is excited about the season, but I don’t think anybody in our locker room is getting ahead of ourselves,” Brent Barry said. “We’re going to have to (be patient). There are going to be times the team is not going to be clicking and the team is not going to look as efficient as you’d like because our training camp hasn’t afforded us the opportunity to get those repetitions. It’s going to rear its head at some point during the season.

“We have to be strong enough to just work through that. It’s about staying level -headed and making steps in the right direction. It’s about progress.”

Still, Barry said that with more playing time with McGrady and with the return of Shane Battier, he does expect that improvement to come. As unsatisfied as Adelman was with the Rockets’ play, he also said he believes the team can win right away. If anything, the Rockets described their critiques of their play as a part of being the sort of team they still believe they will be.

Work in progress

“Definitely, we’re not at a really, really high level right now,” forward Luis Scola said. “I don’t think we’re supposed to be at a really high level. Based on the things we had to go through in the preseason, I think we’re OK.

“Championship teams and contending teams get better as the season goes. Hopefully, you reach your highest point when the postseason comes.”
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Bassem · Oct 27, 2008

We got a lot work to do, and I'm sure we'll catch on. Our guys are more comfortable with Adelman's system, but since T-Mac and Shane haven't got to play much with Artest and Barry, and the players aren't completely used to each other and Rick's system, it will just take some time before the team starts to perform at a really high level.

Kinda like last year, when the team started clicking in mid-January, but I expect the team to better in everything this year, and I think their hard-nosed defense will get them the wins needed until they can master Adelman's offense.

Just be patient, and as long as we can stay healthy, this team will just emerge to the top.

aussie rocket · Oct 27, 2008

Really don't know whether we should feel encouraged by the fact that they recognise the issues, and are putting time into correcting them - or concerned because they are heading into a treachorous first month of the season apparently playing like ****.

Grandpappy · Oct 27, 2008

No wonder Tracy's knee is still bothering him - he's wearing the brace all wrong!

mrfirefly7 · Oct 27, 2008

recognizing problems is always the start, and Rockets are working to improve the problems they see

BMoney · Oct 27, 2008

It's all about April, May and June. If the Rockets are healthy then, they will be one of the favorites.

northeastfan · Oct 27, 2008

It's worse than I thought. No T-Mac. No Brooks. No Battier. No defense. Idleman has to teach these guys how to play basketball?? Maybe we'll go 3-7 or 2-8 in our first 10.

theREALDEALkid · Oct 27, 2008

northeastfan said:

It's worse than I thought. No T-Mac. No Brooks. No Battier. No defense. Idleman has to teach these guys how to play basketball?? Maybe we'll go 3-7 or 2-8 in our first 10.
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We do have T-Mac, and we have Defense, they're not going hard in practice for no reason...we just going through the bumps right now, it'll smoothen out eventually

nolimitnp · Oct 27, 2008

Grandpappy said:

No wonder Tracy's knee is still bothering him - he's wearing the brace all wrong!

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LMAO. Good one.

SeeingRocketRed · Oct 28, 2008

When I suggested before that we bring Van Gundy back as a part-time "defensive coordianator" on another thread, I was being serious. Is that an option? Two years removed from his coaching, perhaps we are slipping a little on that side of the ball. I know we have excellent individual defenders in Battier and Artest, and good individual defenders in Rafer, Yao, and McGrady, BUT defensive schemes are important too.

francis 4 prez · Oct 28, 2008

SeeingRocketRed said:

When I suggested before that we bring Van Gundy back as a part-time "defensive coordianator" on another thread, I was being serious. Is that an option? Two years removed from his coaching, perhaps we are slipping a little on that side of the ball. I know we have excellent individual defenders in Battier and Artest, and good individual defenders in Rafer, Yao, and McGrady, BUT defensive schemes are important too.
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while we can't predict the future for this season, last year we were #2 in defense, behind one of the best defenses ever in boston. any slippage will be a new thing.

D-rock · Oct 29, 2008

SeeingRocketRed said:

When I suggested before that we bring Van Gundy back as a part-time "defensive coordianator" on another thread, I was being serious. Is that an option? Two years removed from his coaching, perhaps we are slipping a little on that side of the ball. I know we have excellent individual defenders in Battier and Artest, and good individual defenders in Rafer, Yao, and McGrady, BUT defensive schemes are important too.
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It would have been smarter to have retained Thibodeau. He seemed to do wonders for Boston, besides, Yao loved the guy.

walker · Oct 29, 2008

D-rock said:

It would have been smarter to have retained Thibodeau. He seemed to do wonders for Boston, besides, Yao loved the guy.
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I totally agree. I thought the exact same thing when I saw him recieve his ring before the Celts/ Cavs game Tues night

battousai · Oct 29, 2008

nolimitnp said:

LMAO. Good one.
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hello, he's is resting therefore he is letting his knee breath a little. That's why he got the brace pulled down a bit. I am sure he knows how to wear one.

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[Chron] Rockets far from polished gem as season nears

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[Chron] Rockets far from polished gem as season nears

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