Seriously, what is wrong with our fans? Talk about knee jerk reactions to a 4-2 team that is leading the division and could be easily 6-0....wow. This team is adjusting to each other plain and simple. I'm not saying we look great (in actuality we certainly look average), but we are winning games. Break it down however you want but it's a fact. Some of the ridiculous posts are making the board unreadable. First off, we need to let this team grow. Practice and pre-season aren't adequate to prepare a team for the regular season. That's basic basketball knowledge. Ron's adjusting to the team. It's difficult to go from a number 1 option to playing with two other #1's. No matter what anyone says, it's the truth. Granted, Ron's defense and offense have not been up to par yet. However, he is giving us 100% and is listening to his teammates and the coaching staff. Let's give the guy more then 6 games before we start worrying. He showed a lot of improvement tonight. I'm positive he'll carry that into the Lakers game. Ron will be fine. TMac is playing with nagging injuries. Sometimes, it's harder to deal with that then just taking care of a major one. That being said, he's sat out 2 4th quarters and we've managed to win. He's also played two very good games. Against Portland he was outstanding. It's going to take a while for him to be able to give us big performances in back to backs. He is also a different player now. the sooner people accept that the better. Yao is struggling. We can all see that. He's tired and he's lost some confidence. Do people really believe that he won't pull it together? I'm certainly not worried. Yao is a grear player, teammate, and most importanly, smart player. He will adjust, fit in , and be the player we've known for his tenure in Houston. Rafer has now had two straight good games. Look, he isn't a superstar point guard. That's certainly not a secret. However, his defense, leadership and intagibles make him a vital part to this team. Look at what he did to Davis tonight. Davis single handedly kept LA in the game and put Brooks on the bench. Rafer stepped up to the challenge. He's not ever going to be a good shooter. Look at the career stats, they tell the story. I know a lot of people here under estimate him, think he sucks, ect...but they don't understand what he means to the team. Sometimes, leadership as well as respect matter more then numbers. Scola is going to be exactly what you see. Offensively, he really helps the team. He plays smart, always is in good position, makes up for his lack of athleticism with great positioning, passes well, ect.....I'm sure everyone gets the point. He's going to kncock down his jumper as well. Defensively, he's going to hustle all over the court, but you can't expect much more. He's going to give you 110% every night, but fans need to realize he is somewhat limited. I can say this with confidence, he would be a solid player on any championship team. Brooks has looked great. if nothing else, he has shown he will be a great contributer throughout his tenure as a Rocket. The doubts have been erased. His confidence is high and he's playing like he did at Oregon. We have a reason to be excited. He will never be able to play defense. Every player has a weakness and this is his. It's fine, he'll develop somewhat in that area. His points off the bench and ability to give rafer a break are a major boost to this team. Landry is coming on strong. He has developed a midrange game, his explosiveness is back, he plays bigger then he is, and he meshes perfectly with Scola. He's a great energy guy for our team. He is going to be a key factor in our run to the Championship. Yeah, I said it. Hayes is going to give us solid defense. He wil never contribute much on offense but he knows his role. He does all the dirty work without complaint. He works his ass off and is a great situational player. A lot of our fans don't realize just what he brings to the team. Look what Leon Powe did for Boston last year. That's what Hayes and Landry can do for us. Barry is playing solid. He's great for our team. You will never find yourself yelling at Barry. Just a solid player. You can count on him night in and night out. Defensively, we know he can only rely on savvy but that's fine. I'm happy to have him. Luther Head is not as bad as people here make him out to be. He lost his confidence last year, but had a big camp and has delivered when called upon. I'm not as eager as most ot just ship him out the door. It never hurts to have a shooter who knows the sytem on the bench. On to the rest. We need Mutombo and I see him being back soon. The Rockets know they need him, and he wants to play for us. The situation will work itself out. Francis is done, gone , finished, ect.......Stop waiting for a miracle that isn't coming. Dorsey isn't ready. He needs time in the D-League to fine tune his game. Offensively he has nothing and he has to adjust his defensive skils to the pro level. We have him for 4 years so we can afford to wait. Von Wafer might as well have pom-poms. That's all you can expect from him this season. That's fine, no big deal at all. Let's not forget we are yet to play with Battier. We all know what he brings. Some people here still discredit him, but that's just a case of not knowing basketball. Players like him win you rings. In closing, we are yet to play to our potential and we're 4-2. SA is done, Dallas is weak, NO is not near as good as everyone thought they were (cue Dennis Green) and we are in great shape. We are a miracle 3 (and pathetic time keeper) and a decent game away ferom being undefeated. If someone told you we'd be 4-2 to start the season I know everyone would take it. Sit back, relax, and enjoy what is going to be a Championship run, I'm also fine with tl/dr as feedback. Just something I felt like posting Oh yeah, Keith Jones is the best trainer in the league (that's for the idiot who blamed our injuries on him)
Great post. It's the truth. But you made a lot of points on a wide variety of topics...therefore you leave yourself a lot of weak points for the haters to jab at... We're (probably, but hopefully not) going to get destroyed by the Lakers this Sunday. If it's a close game or we win, i'll be happy/ecstatic. If we get blown it, it will be almost expected. This team is barely playing up to par with the Blazers and Clippers...we can't expect to be within 20 points of the Lakers on Sunday with this kind of effort.
Thanks. Let people hate if they want. It's the internet so I'm certainly not worried. I just find it sad trying to read through all these threads that make us sound like a 2-4 team instead of a 4-2. Honestly, I think we play to the level of our competition. I think we'll be fine against the Lakers. If we lose, I'm fine with that. I don't think we'll get blown out. We have a full day of rest and a shootaround to be ready for LA. I wouldn't be shocked if Shane was on the floor either. It's definitely a hope, but the only thing keeping him off the court is us playing safe (and that's fine too)
Fans are idiots sometimes. You have fans that talk pure nonsense, fans that are totally getting on my nerves but I guess people don't have nothing to talk about, we lost two close games and they all start bashing, that's wrong, what if we were Clippers or Spurs?
Basketball understanding, Thank you. I just hope Francis isn't done! And that we hurry and get some interior (the box/or the key) fear (Deke or anyone that can bring that missing ingredient) back, were so greatly need that!
It should be common knowledge among REAL fans that this team doesn't hit its stride till All Star Break every year.
awesome post!...i too was getting tired of reading all the negativity despite a 4-2 record with two close losses against 2 quality opponents...well said homie
Does it mean much to beat a team like the clippers? Take a look at the six games we have played this season, except the winning game over mavs, no other game deserves to be boasted of. Now the best teams in the southwestern division are Rockets and Hornets, rather than the traditional contenders like mavs and spurs. I mean, beating mavs is still not a big achievement. In addition, I don't think the spurs are able to break into the playoffs this season even after manu and parker coming back. Spurs is just going to rebuild when this season ends, and it won't be long before mavs start to rebuild their damn team. Hornets are in advance while we have advanced and are in prime now. We deserve the championship so morey and ric, please don't disappoint us, morey and ric, God bless you and the rockets.
Seriously, what is wrong with some of you? I don't mean to insult anyone here; I'm a long time reader and contributer to Clutchfans, and a Rockets fan since the early 90s... but some of the topics and posts I'm seeing on here lately are ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Our team is 4-2 and it could very easily be 6-0. We lost the Portland game due to dumb luck, and we nearly beat the best team in basketball-what the hell is everyone complaining about? It looks to me (and it's very early on so every observation has to be taken with a grain of salt) like this team is very easily a title contender. We have 3 top 25 players on this team with Yao, T-mac, and Artest, and our roleplayers and depth are just incredible-top 5 in the league easily. We no longer need huge games from Yao and Tracy night in and night out to win; both are still capable of 20+ppg, and both will still put up respectable numbers 90% of the time, but they don't need to control games the way they did in previous years because Scola, Landry, Brooks, Alston, Artest, and the rest of the roleplayers can step up and help the team to a win. I concede that Yao and Tracy haven't quite played up to the expectations created by their past play, but there's no real reason to believe that they won't get their offensive game going once they shake off the rust. Yao has been showing flashes of his ability to completely take over a game inside, and Tracy has been hot and cold (30pts one night, barely any another night) but T-Mac always seems to find a way to contribute to the greater team effort-be it thru assists, defense, or whatever else. The great thing though is that Yao and Tracy don't always have to dominate; our roleplayers are proving they can step up, help take over the game with balanced offense and shut down defense, and ultimately assist in achieveing a win. Even though I'm not entirely happy with the way our team has played, every thing about this team indicates to me that it is definitely a title contender. I'd like our team to be 6-0, but it lost two close games to two top teams, and to see some of you crazy, reactionary morons calling for Adelman to be fired, and creating pitiful topics asking what could possibly be wrong with our team... well it's just ridiculous. This board has always been the reactionary community versus the reasonable community, but here lately it has been completely insane considering a) how early in the year it is and b) that our team is actually looking pretty good. If this team can stay relatively healthy throughout the season, make it top a top 4 seed, and get completely healthy for the playoffs... watchout. If this team doesn't win a round in the playoffs it might be time to shake things up and reconsider our direction moving forward, but honestly... I don't think we have to worry about that. This year, barring complete meltdown and disaster, with all the talent and depth we have on this team there is no reason we shouldn't make it to atleast round two. And frankly, I believe it's WC Finals or bust, and to all you non-believers and reactionary pricks... calm down, the season is still young, so enjoy it while you can-before you know it another season will have passed us by.
1) We could have been but we are not, pretty easy task. 2) We can't call ourselfes even a team so contenders right now is pretty ridiculous 3) So fare we have played poorly. Defensivly and offensivly. We can't put points on the board, we relay on McGrady or Ron too much. There is no team play and we can't play consistently either on o or d 4)Please stop making threads like 'seriously, what is wrong...' Chill out guys. I understand some of you may be fed up a little bit (at least I am) but come on.
seriously, what is with all these 'seriously what is wrong with...' thread but u do have a point, some fans just find things to complain about. but from what ive seen from lurking here a few years, this is nothing new
Having spent the last 5 months without watching a Rocket game, it's understandable that some of the young fans' would have difficuty to hold their eruptive fountain of eagerness. Relax, guys.
On offence - TMac is our key off. player and AB from bench. AB need to know this when our big3 are heavily defended. 2nd option - ScoLandry is our focus scorers as well as Barry because they are always left open especialy after pnr. They must make sure to finish the catch-and-shoot. Happy to see Barry shot 54.5% and 44.4% on three in last 4 games. Since Mac ScoLandry and ABarry may not so good on defense, they need to score as much as possible. Last 4 games, they were so efficient, took 53% of team total FGA and made half of them. On defence - Yao, Ron are keys to our defence system, so is Shane. They are not the best at score but doing good at defence. They may be on fire anytime but also can be off by double team. Coach leaves them on court even when they shot below 40% because they are so important to this team on O and D. Look at the 3pt defence, RA are doing good on this. Yao maybe not good at pnr D, but he draws so much attension that gives our pf alot space to work. We can see this from last game vs LAC. 2nd on defense - Hayes and Mutombo are league best defenders. They may not on court when we meet some team with weak C&PF, but they will shut down every league best post C&PF when needed. Rox will eventurally find their O and D. Be patient.
