Yeah.... Wall is pretty good..... but his team is not..... I don't think you can call him superstar now.
Yup... the 14th pick, and another really good draft pick for the spot by Morey (see: Brooks, Patterson, Morris, Chase, Parsons), but NOT a game changer ....
You haven't noticed the trend have you? Dragic has been more detrimental than Jordan Hill. The team loses it's rhythm the second Lowry is off the floor. He might have the good stats but this is a team game. He has demonstrated that he plays ok with the starters but that is not his reality and the onus is on him and the coaching staff to stop the serious bleeding, it's been horrible. Funny thing is last year we had the same bench problems until we traded for Dragic and he fueled a new life to our bench. What's so different now?
Dragic will go the way of Aaron Brooks and the Rockets will draft another point guard. I know Patterson has some health issues, but his play is puzzling. I was not a big fan of him when we drafted him, but he did very well last year, curious as to what his issue is exactly.
it's time unleash Thabust and play him for a few minutes over Hill. He makes me cringe. He travels, throws up bad shots and thinks when he gets an offensive board he has to throw the ball staright back up... He also misses defensive rotations on every drive. I've tried to like him, and at one time was a big fan but Hasheem can't be worse than Jordan. Otehrwise a win is a win
Exactly PPat has not been playing like he did last year. He just doesn't seem to have the drive this season. The starters have been playing a lot better and now just need the bench to get going. I hope it is sooner than later.
anyone think jason thompson is worth going after? he could be cheap maybe for a 2nd round pick he has alot of upside and we always have good relations with the kings .
At this point, anyone other than J-Chill. Not sure that Thompson necessarily has "a lot of upside" (as Hollinger points out), but he may be worth a look. Cole Aldrich (OKC) is another option that could probably be had at a very reasonable price. Carl Herrera's boy, Aaron Gray, is another candidate... though he's already 27. Here's Hollinger's take on Thompson: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/player/hollinger/_/id/3462/jason-thompson
You bring in as a backup and that's good enough..... Maybe you want him develop into a starter eventually but it takes a lot of time for big men. I would rather trade for a finished product or sign one. You can see it with Dalembert.
patterson is avg 40.3% and hill 49.1%. ideally a team wants their frontcourt making above 50% of their shots. kmart also seems to be taking over playmaker duties more when lowry is on the bench.
I think last year Patterson probably benefited by playing with Brad Miller and Chuck Hayes. Hayes and Miller would play away from the basket and could pass the ball. It's still early, I think Patterson will do fine.
I actually think Patterson have been playing good basketball. He is doing all the little thing that will help us win the game...
accord. to hoopdata.com he's 41.7% at the rim and 22.2% at 3-9ft. last season 50% of his shots at 3-9ft were assisted. 0% this season. so he's trying to post up without much success.
A couple of friends and I made our annual trek down to the Verizon Center for the Rockets game today. A few observations from today's game: -At last seasons game, attendance from the Chinese/Asian population was palpable. I remember announcements being made in Chinese and the half time show being a Chinese dragon show thing. Today's game had little to now Chinese/Asian presence, and although that's to be expected at some level with the loss of Yao, I still assumed that a Chinese/Asian presence would remain. Definitely lends itself to the question of how many 'Yao only' fans we've had over the past few years vs. overall Rockets fans from that demographic. It's only one game (and an away game at that), so take this for what its worth. -That said, did see a few groups of guys donning Rockets gear rooting for the Rockets. As for the game, let me start with the Wizards: -McGee's presence in the middle was definitely causing the Rockets issues in the first quarter. McGee's been labelled with 'potential' his entire career, but at this point, I feel that he's pretty much what he's going to be. The guy has phenomenal athleticism, but his basketball IQ needs help. He overcompensates trying to block shots rather than being satisfied contesting shots and ends up placing himself out of position, which leads to easy put backs, offensive rebounds, and points for the other team. If he simply settled for contesting shots (hand in the other guys face, altering shots) and boxing out to get the rebound, he'd be a much more effective player defensively. Unfortunately, I feel some of the hype resulting from his 'highlight reel' worthy plays have caused him to alter his game to get more air time. This would appear to be a more likely reason for his off the backboard slam than 'hyping' his team, but who knows. At the game I didnt know that Flip benched him for that play, but knowing how undisciplined and reckless the Wizards have been this season, I cant blame him. -Blatche: I thought this game was going to be a repeat of last seasons performance where he dropped 20 points, especially during that one stretch where he scored back to back baskets on PatPat. Thankfully, PatPat settled down and improved defensively against Blatche. More importantly, Dalembert completely shut Blatche down when he was in the game. Blatche was a non-factor offensively when facing Dalembert, and defensively looked over-matched by Dalembert's size and skills. -Wall: one of his best games this season. He was clearly the most comfortable when he was able to get out on the break, and had it not been for Wall, the Rockets would have really run away with the game early in the 4th. -Nick Young doesnt pass. This has been an ongoing criticism of Young throughout the season, but when he touches the ball, you know the ball is going up. Rockets: -Dragic did not play one of his better games. Defensively, he plays way too close to the defender and is literally in the face of whoever he's guarding. The problem with this technique is that he becomes easy to get past, especially for quicker guards. John Wall is shooting 35% FGs and has yet to make a 3 pointer this season. Last season he shot 41% and 29.6% from 3 point range. Long story short, Wall is not a 3 point threat and overplaying him like that doesnt make sense. He should have been daring Wall to beat the Rockets with his outside jumper rather than giving him an easy lane right by him and forcing big men to help out. Offensively, I felt like he forced the drive into the middle of the lane and didnt always know what he wanted to do with the ball. Dragic has shown in the past that he's got a jumper and can be an effective scorer, which is why I'm shocked by how frequently he passes the ball off or drives into the middle looking to dish rather than shooting the open 3. -Same goes for PatPat. He is way too passive on the court and needs to be more assertive in looking for his shot. On offense, he runs to the top of the key, makes a pick for the guard, and runs down to the middle looking for a rebound. He has to realize the offense isnt going to run through him but he's got to work harder to give himself opportunities to shoot. He has a decent mid range jump shot and he needs to showcase it more often. -Again, amazing game by Dalembert. He was really the game changer today. -I know CBud's been getting ragged on recently by a lot of people on this board, but one thing I really appreciated about his game today is the hustle you see out of him on the court. Whenever a shot goes up on offense, you see him running to the hoop for the rebound and possible put back. -KMart: when you observe him on the court against other players, his frail frame immediately sticks out. Every player on the court is bulkier than him, and the effect is noticeable when he's on defense- anytime an above average SG drives to the basket, he's helpless. Offensively, I felt like he was looking to draw fouls way too often. Part of me wishes he would just try to play rather than get guys in the air and jump into them all the time or flail his arms all over the place. That's it for now, lol. It's a lot to extrapolate from one game, but I thought I'd share my observations.
Patterson is a lottery pick. We want to see if he can do big things. Put him in the high post and see if he can pass the basketball to our cutters the way that Hayes and Miller did. We got too many players that just do the little things.
