It's good that we're 6-2, but after watching the last 3 games we still have some weaknesses.</p> </p> 1. Rafer Alston.......................I've never been the biggest Rafer basher, but the guy has just pissed me off with his play this season.....seriously how many ill advised shots must one guy take per game....I counted 5 tonight...that's 5 wasted posessions in a close game......I'm seriously starting to think that we need to at least give Francis a shot at some playing time and if that doesn't work out then we need to look for a trade to get a PG in here that makes good decisions</p> 2. Still not big enough at the PF position....Memphis's long athletic front court gave us some problems tonight.....one more PF with some length wouldn't hurt</p> 3. We foul too much.....we have to learn to play defense without fouling....especially down the stretch....Memphis didn't even have to do anything offensively, because we kept putting them on the foul line</p> 4. Mike James............................I love the toughness and spark that Mike brings off the bench, but sometimes he gets a little too trigger happy and forgets about others on the court.......specifically Tracy and Yao.......................who are the superstars of this team</p> 5. Tmac...............thus far tmac has been having a great season, but some nights he seems more aggressive than others....I would just like to see him come out with the "attack" mindset that he had tonight and in Utah......he's as good (if not better) then any other player in the league when he does this..</p> </p> Okay I'm done ranting, but this is just one of those losses that's hard to take.......</p>
[quote name='THE DREAM']</p> 1. Rafer Alston.......................I've never been the biggest Rafer basher, but the guy has just pissed me off with his play this season.....seriously how many ill advised shots must one guy take per game....I counted 5 tonight...that's 5 wasted posessions in a close game......I'm seriously starting to think that we need to at least give Francis a shot at some playing time and if that doesn't work out then we need to look for a trade to get a PG in here that makes good decisions [/quote]</p> Yeah, Rafer hasn't played great. But when you're missing a large proportion of your shots, that tends to magnify your other mistakes. I think, overall, he's played alright. He just needs to knock down shots better.</p> </p> I'm actually not really concerned with this. I think the need for an "athletic PF" has been overblown, frankly. Gasol is the only player who's really gone off against our PFs this year. And it's not like he's a scrub. Hell, Yao gave up 21 points to Darko Milicic. He was throwing jump hooks over him with ease. Does that mean we need an even taller center?</p> </p> Against Memphis, sure. We got some bad calls, also. I haven't noticed this being a big problem for us more generally, though. For individual players, in particular Luis Scola, fouls have been a problem.</p> </p> I'm probably in the minority here, but I like his aggressiveness. We need another player who's capable and willing to create his own shot. When the rest of the guys are constantly searching out the stars, our offense tends to stagnate. He's just in a horrible shooting slump right now. He'll eventually snap out of it, and all those rushed shots will look like great shots.</p> </p> It's just not in his nature. Some nights he's feeling it, other nights he isn't. On the nights he isn't feeling great, I want him to refocus his energy on the defensive end. And instead of taking long jumpers to try to get into a rhythm, he should just attack the basket and get into a rhythm from the free throw line.</p> </p> </p> Please, rant more often. The Rockets forum has been like a mausoleum the last couple weeks.</p> </p>
The past few games by Alston and James have all been terrible. Sure, they made a couple shots here and there but I have the same gripe as THE DREAM. Alston takes and misses too many open threes, and both him and James can't get their "floater" to go down around the basket. I'd like to see Steve Francis at least get the chance to play 5 minutes here. Can't be much worse than what we've been getting from Alston.</p> I'm happy with Hayes and Scola though. Scola just needs to figure out the small things of the NBA and he'll be fine once he gets it.</p> Once again though, it's early in the season; I'd like to see Adelman tinker with his rotations a bit before settling on a 8 or 9 men one around January. Keeps players fresh and gives everyone a chance to play and prove themselves. Who knows?</p>
Btw, as for the pf position, I think it was Feigan that brought this up. He said something that Adelman wasn't just "satisfied" with the pf situation. He is thrilled with it.</p>
I'm seriously hoping that Steve isn't in R.A.'s dog house, because if Rafer keeps shooting this poorly we just might need him......................</p>
Well since T-Mac got injured tonight, so we might see Steve come off the bench sooner than later. I hope T-Mac recovers well, and that it's not too serious. Maybe he can spend some time with his daughter. This injury may be a blessing in disguise, rather than everyone expecting T-Mac/Yao to do all the scoring, they can get involved in the offense.</p> Our schedule is terrible. In the beginning we play the best teams, and near the end we play nothing but teams fighting for playoff seeds.</p> At least next month gets easier, although a lot of the games will be hard fough since badteams don't want to get too far under the 500.</p>
I wonder if Adelman replaces T-Mac with Snyder or Francis in the rotation. I think he might favor Snyder, actually.</p> BTW, Fran Blinebury reports that T-Mac shouldn't be out for more than about a week:</p> http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/2007/...ac_its_onl.html</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gambitnut)</div><div class='quotemain'>Any Aaron Brooks fans here?</div></p> I love his speed with the ball, and he's a dead eye shooter. A great penetrator, with decent passing skills. But a severely undersized rookie is going to struggle big time on the defensive end.</p> </p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (durvasa)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> I wonder if Adelman replaces T-Mac with Snyder or Francis in the rotation. I think he might favor Snyder, actually.</p> BTW, Fran Blinebury reports that T-Mac shouldn't be out for more than about a week:</p> http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/2007/...ac_its_onl.html</p> </div>Well, given the fact that Snyder got into the game last night, he seems like the favorite to benefit from this.</p> </p> Other than his size, does he deserve it though? I'm of the opinion that he was the worst performer during the preseason.</p> </p>
The main beneficiaries will be Mike James and Bonzi Wells getting increased minutes. I don't think Adelman needs to work anyone else in the rotation unless he wants to use a bigger lineup and give Scola more burn. Wells is versatile enough to play either SG/SF, which would allow Battier to slide to SF and play Scola more minutes at PF.</p> What happened to Luther Head's PT this season?</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shapecity)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> The main beneficiaries will be Mike James and Bonzi Wells getting increased minutes. I don't think Adelman needs to work anyone else in the rotation unless he wants to use a bigger lineup and give Scola more burn. Wells is versatile enough to play either SG/SF, which would allow Battier to slide to SF and play Scola more minutes at PF.</div></p> You're right. Probably increased minutes for Bonzi and Luther.</p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>What happened to Luther Head's PT this season?</p> </div></p> </p> Bonzi Wells and Mike James happened.</p>
I have a feeling Adelman is going to start Luther Head at SG and keep Bonzi and James coming off the bench so there's some consistency there with the team's roles and rotations. So the 9 man (10 if you include Deke) rotation is intact - Head might see 20 mpg while TMac is out, with Wells and James picking up 5-10 extra minutes each. I'm also thinking Adelman is going to keep Alston in there as the starting PG for a while longer and let him break out of his own shooting slump. Replacing him now with Francis might make him lose even more confidence with his shooting. Then again, the longer Francis doesn't play, the higher the likelyhood that the ticking time bomb goes off.</p>
^I like that idea, but it will make us a lot smaller. Guess Luther better get use to guarding bigger defenders if he wants minutes in the NBA.</p> If we're playing teams who have a SG with really good post game, say Mobley or Hamilton, we would be better off with Snyder or Stevie starting.</p>
Rafer Alson has to go. I would love to see us get rid of him completely but since that is unlikely, he has to be removed from the starting lineup. He flat out can't shoot the ball. For those of you arguing that this is just a shooting slump at 31.5%, you need to wake up and realize that he is always been a bad shooter 38.3% for his career.</p> He is only shooting 20.5% from the three point line THIS year. In the last five games he has shot 12-44 from FG range (27%) and 4 for 23 from 3pt range (17.3%). He is a pathetic waste of our time.</p> Aaron Brooks is a solid offensive player but he is a defensive liability (not that Alson is any sort of defensive presence). I am for giving Steve Francis a legitimate shot to prove himself. If nothing else, he can at least shoot the ball when he gets the chance to.</p> With Tracy out, I would really like to see the Rockets give Luther Head some more PT to try and prove himself. I wouldn't be surpised to see Wells start though over Luther, just to help make up for the offensive we are losing with T-Mac off the court.</p> Getting rid of Alston and giving Francis some actual PT. That would make me smile.</p> </p>
Well Francis got some playing time last night, and I really liked what he was able to give us. He didn't look like the old Steve Francis that would overdribble and look for his own shot first, and showed us he could play in a controlled system. Unlike Rafer, he was able to constantly keep the defense on its heels with his ability to get to the basket at any time. Rafer with his floaters simply can't do that.</p> If Alston continues his shoddy play there's no reason Francis shouldn't start over him. </p>
