Where do the Rockets go from here?
by grungedave on Jan 26, 2010 10:21 AM CST
in Random Commentary
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PrintThe Rockets are 4-7 in January.
Even though they could easily be 0-11.
Everything that could go wrong seemingly has gone wrong. And then some.
Carl Landry is no longer sneaking up on opponents. Trevor Ariza keeps shooting when teams intentionally leave him open. ABZ makes fancy layups, but still somehow finishes games going 6-20 from the field. Luis Scola still refuses to demand the ball from teammates. Shane Battier cannot find a burst of sudden athleticism. No one is willing to box out for defensive rebounds. Brian Cook continues to be worthless (and smiling about it all the same).
The starting lineup really only has 2 guys who can put the ball in the basket. But the reserves are quickly becoming a defensive sieve. What to do? If you're Rick Adelman you go into hibernation, but what if you are trying to do something? What would the options be?
Play Chase more? (That seemed to take place last night... same results)
Play JT?
Play Brian Cook? (hahahaha, just kidding)
Start Carl Landry?
Give more playing time to David Andersen?Bring back Tracy McGrady?
Trade for LeBron? (I hear he has an expiring contract)
Sign Godzilla to a 10-day contract? (He at least has the size to play center)
Bring back Robert Horry?
Practice free throw shooting and defensive positioning more?
Actually, the David Andersen thing is not such a bad idea. He's a very good player, but he's not the type of player that is efficient or productive in short 5-minute bursts. Luis Scola had a similar problem his rookie year. Remember......... the day Scola was named the starting PF, that was the same day the Rockets began their 22 game winning streak. Just sayin'. Andersen could easily start at center for us - he would provide a decent offensive option for the first team. And his defense isn't that much of a drop-off from the Chuckwagon's. Plus, it may provide our Aussie friend a boost of confidence. And even better - he might steal some shots away from Ariza.
Beyond that, I'm out of ideas.
All I know is that the Rockets looked awful the last two games. Awful.
Then again, I hate to say I told you so, but welcome to the predicted January/February lull.
/Hives'd.
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only one substantial shakeup I can fathom
is to try playing a big frontcourt of Landry, Scola and Hayes/Andersen from time to time. Getting more minutes for Andersen isn’t really an option any other way. Hayes is only getting 15 or so minutes, and I really big to differ with the “his defense isn’t that much of a drop-off from the Chuckwagon’s” comment. Andersen gets lots of fouls and has trouble staying on the floor against a quality post opponent, doesn’t defend the pick-and-roll nearly as well, adn certainly doesn’t take charges like chuck.
I’d like the see the 3-bigs experiment. Might be tough with Hayes, but Landry/Scola/Andersen gives you three guys who can all extend the defense a bit and also score in the post. There must be opponents who don’t have enough quality wing scorers to exploit that lineup at the other end.
I want to see the Brooks-Battier-Landry-Scola-Andersen lineup a bit. It would be even better offensively with Budinger in place of Battier, but then I do worry about the defensive end.
Ariza & Hayes need to go from the starting linup...NOW
Replaced by Andersen (who should of been starting from Day One) and Landry (who should of been starting since Dec. 1)
Besides these immediate changes, Chase and JT need more playing time.
Brooks
Battier
Landry
Scola
Andersen
Greatly improves the starting five, Battier has struggled really bad, but at least he leads plays D and DOESN’T put up stupid shots like Ariza.
Second unit would look like this:
Lowry
Taylor
Ariza
Chase
Hayes
Still plenty of pop with Chase and potentially JT and lets not forget Lowy’s play of late.
Ariza and Hayes provide solid Defense to this group…
Another idea is too simply go small with both Brooks and Lowry starting, but teams would kill us with that lineup…
by sarppeva on Jan 26, 2010 11:22 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
This looks like a possibility....
Better than what RA has been doing, somebody wake him up and tell him something!!!!! Hello???
starting out with ABZ and Lowry would be death for us
Teams would just post up our guards with impunity. It would get Carlos Boozer level ugly at that point…
thank you
for coming along 40 minutes later and exactly repeating my suggestion from above!!
I think changes needed to be make soon....
1. take TA & Battier, one of them out of Starter lineup, and rotate them to keep defense on other teams top scorer.
2. Put Andersen in for a little more minutes (minutes from Hayes, so Hayes will be Chuck, the bulldog), say 15-20 min on both each should be fine.;
3. work on your FUCKING FTs. yes, i am looking at your TA, Scola, Landry, and you (put your name here)….
just for the record, I did said it’s going to be a LONG January few posts ago… I am seeing a rebound coming not until All-Star’s over.
don't bully me, i am from the D(etroit)!!!
You may have missed it but...
Carl Landry is one of our best, if not our best Free Throw Shooter. get this one straight please. I’m beginning to think we are taking for granted the fact that our current best offensive post-player has guard-like free throw skills if we don’t even praise him for it. Does he have to be Yao-like in height for it to be noticed and praised like Yao with regards to the free-throw shooting?
the starting lineup doesn't matter much.
Hayes has been getting 15-20 minutes/game recently, and that’s about what most people are suggesting out of him off the bench as well. And you certainly can start Ariza and Battier, but still manages the substitutions so that at least one of them is always on the court for defensive purposes.
It’s reasonable to suggest removing one of Hayes/Battier/Ariza from the starting lineup to avoid having 3 players with limited offensive skills on the court at the same time. But no matter what, the Rockets are going to play 2 of those 3 together quite a bit unless a big trade is made. There’s just no getting around that with the current personnel.
Might be right there...Personally think that by the time Feb. 19th arrives...
Rox might have played so poorly that it won’t matter what trade/value they get for T-Mac, as we be out of contention for the playoffs…I wish we could do something now and not wait for the actual deadline….
the trick is...
With Hayes in the lineup, the Rockets start so slowly that they spend the rest of the game trying to play “catch up” — and by then they are mentally exhausted and unable to close out the 4th quarter with any real burst of energy.
That's a good point - it might be worthwhile to hold Chuck out under 2nd/4th quarter, unless Anderson is just getting worked
or is still getting the rookie whistle.
possibly if anderson is in the starting line up
Refs might be less inclined to blow cheap fouls as they know that he’ll be playing more then 10 mins
2/3 OF THE EARTHS SURFACE IS COVERED BY WATER, THE OTHER 3RD IS COVER BY CHUCK HAYES
Or they might call the new "Double Secret Foul"
which they invented for Andersen.
One call is a super cheapie, the other is a secret, but it counts as 2 fouls. The opponent gets 5 foul shots.
some of this is on point
1. Andersen needs to start, like Dave said, to take shots away from Ariza. As we stand currently, we are really playing 2-on-5 on the offensive end in terms of considerably effective players (Scola and Brooks). Andersen is a capable offensive weapon whose post strength is only going to get better with increased playing time. He has a nice jumper, and has moves down low, he needs to be able to work on them.
2. Benching Ariza or Battier for the sake of starting Budinger would definitely increase our offensive output from the get-go as well (in his start against Detroit, he tore them up). To me, it seems like this would also create playing time for JT, who i think we need to begin to test-drive seeing as how our current rotation is really struggling to get anything done consistently on the offensive end. Moving one of our starting wings to the bench does this because we can keep whatever defensive assets they bring to the court in the game at all times without sacrificing scoring. This team is very unbalanced right now, and a much more balanced rotation would consist of:
1 – Andersen, Scola, Battier, Budinger, Brooks
2 – Hayes, Landry, Ariza, Taylor, Lowry
Side-note: I think a player like Taylor would really flourish playing with the kind of passers Lowry and Hayes are.
Side-note 2: Adelman pulling the regular rotation players and throwing in the benchwarmers as early as he did last night (approx. 2 minutes left in the game, still enough time to potentially get back into it with some clutch shooting and 2 defensive stops) seemed to signal this was the annual ‘wake-up call’ game of the year (last year’s was against philly i believe, although it could’ve been that milwaukee game too). Hopefully it was that game, and I am crossing my fingers that the failures against Atlanta amount to some lineup changes and the hopeful trade of T-Mac and some other players for some nice pieces in return.
Wafer . . . again. (Marv Albert, HOU v. CLE Feb 2009)
-one of the FEW at Toyota Center who has the Wafer jersey
paying as much as we did
to draft JT is really a disappointment on the managerial side of things relative to the amount of PT he gets
Wafer . . . again. (Marv Albert, HOU v. CLE Feb 2009)
-one of the FEW at Toyota Center who has the Wafer jersey
remember...
Carl Landry was a late-season bloomer, too. In his rookie year, he didn’t get ANY playing time until mid-January (against the T-Wolves)… and then he blew up. Maybe the same will be said for JT?
I think the Rockets are content to let him (and his "D") come along slowly
since they got so much more out of Budinger than they had planned for.
But if Taylor could play a little D, then he could take minutes away from Ariza at SG and maybe end up being as useful due to a higher offensive output. But that might be next year, or never.
so....
Why is bring back T-Mac the only option that is crossed out? I really doubt he will ruin any chemistry on the team or whatever reason led to his exile. Why not let him prove himself now if we’re not expecting to go past 1st round this again this year?
by Rocket's Red Glare on Jan 26, 2010 2:43 PM CST reply actions
Because TMac chose to go on sabbatical and demand a trade.
I think the Rockets would work fine with him. If he had been willing to work his way back into the lineup he’d probably be up to about 20 minutes a night by now. But he just couldn’t do it that way.
Funny thing is
Didn’t Tmac say something along the lines
“I just want to play the game. I want to be out on that court contributing anyway i can.”
Another thing… if he’s healthy and can play, why are the rockets still signing checks for him?
An excellent question.
You’d think he’d do anything he could, including play 10 minutes a night for a while, to prove he was ok. He didn’t. What does that mean? I have no idea, but that is the fact.
I'd say we played well vs The Spurs.
That’s not much, but something.
Also, do you hate saying you told us so? Do you really?
I’m sticking by “we’re tired – it’ll pass” – since we got 3 games in 4 nights, including one in SA.
I know your love for the Rockets is stronger than your schadenfreude
I’m still hopeful, but we’ve got to win the next 4 – no easy task given the opposition.
It’s a homestand, a homestand from Hell.
Good to lose some games like this
This will force Morey to really seek a trade for T-Mac….cuz we surely need a big guy.
Serious suggestions ...
1. Since our defensive rotation is unexplainably mssing (fatigue? mismatches?), why don’t we try the zone or a variation of it? Don’t we have it in our defensive arsenal?
2. Bench RA!!!
No, seriously, RA needs to try new combinations. The old ones have reached their expiry dates. Since this is partly a developmental year, we should take a look at what JT and JD can bring. Brian can continue smiling on the bench. What thick skin that person has. He doesn’t even give way to a legit player.
Also, does RA only know motion offense? When it’s not working, or the team can’t play it well, don’t we have alternative plays or plans?
Either RA is too old or he’s too stubborn. I liked him a lot, still do, but he’s beginning to get on my nerves. DM, talk to him about changing something, anything!
3. DM, get a trade done sooner than later. I know he’s a stats geek, able to find undervalued players that are doing well for us, but I don’t know how much of a “businessman” he is. His timing sure sucks and why is he so cheap?
We had high value a few weeks back, we could have gotten good deals (the best was Iggy + Dalembert, no matter if ti meant going over the cap, and we still could have signed Lowry and Scola for next year by going over the cap). I’m afraid with our team’s weaknesses exposed, other teams will hard-sell us all the more and we lose value.
tough job, that NBA coach thing
Adelman was a consensus top 2 or 3 for coach of the year a month ago. Now somehow he’s a disaster who should be fired because this team is playing now like most thought it would the whole season?
just a thought, but
Maybe this is why COTYs typically get fired the next year. They never really do as good a job as you think they are in their “magical” season.
This is probably the easiest coaching job Adelman has ever had. He has 11 guys who are consummate professionals (and Brian Cook). With McGrady jettisoned from the team, all Adelman has to do is stay awake during games. But……..
Of course, two losses (or even the next 3) don't make a season but there's a reason the team for the first time this season looked so dejected after the game. For the first time, they realized intensity and effort ain't enough to win.
but unless we plug our weaknesses, these losses may bite us in the end, when we barely miss the play-offs and we point to those 1-pt losses to Atlanta and LA, or the horrid meltdown vs. NO and Charlotte.
It's time to call T-Mac...
…but I’m not gonna dwell on that. I agree that Adelman should go with the bigger lineup. But in my version I think I’d try Andersen at the 3, and Landry at center. I have this vision of Andersen being like our poor man’s Nowotzki. Now I wouldn’t try this same match-up on the defensive end…Landry would have to guard the other team’s SG.
But on the offensive end, Landry has shown he can play with the bigs in the west…and Andersen can be an interesting mismatch. He’s tall enough and has a good enough post up game and outside shot to either shoot over or post up most SFs.
by ReverendRocket on Jan 26, 2010 11:29 PM CST via mobile reply actions
Call him what?
Seriously, why call him? Thinks aren’t going well, there’s certainly no indication he’s burning up the phone lines asking to play. He asked to be traded, and basically went back to Chicago to keep working out. Good for him, but he was unwilling to accept his assigned role and left. Where, exactly do you go from there, as Rockets management?
As Rockets management with a player still under contract...
…they should tell his punk ass that they expect to see him back in the office (or gym, locker room, whatever) on Monday (to give him a few days to get his bags packed and find his uniform). Just because T-Mac is acting like a lil spoiled baby doesn’t mean that management has to entertain that behavior. Seriously…what kind of boss would just shrug thier shoulders and let their highest paid asset just stay home?!? And still get paid! That right there just rubs me the wrong way. It takes a pretty soft boss to pay someone that much money and let them just ride out the last few months of their contract. I mean, it’s six months left…then tell him to take a hike in the summer. But as of right now, I think the two desperately need each other, and are letting their pride get the best of them. How can you expect to trade a player nobody has seen play since coming off a serious injury? And you certainly can’t expect to get an All-Star type player in return. And how can T-Mac try and dictate his playing time when he hasn’t so much as played a full preseason level game. So both side have been frustratingly stubborn in this case IMO. But the Rockets need some scoring, and T-Mac needs to show that he can still play if he expects to get a decent contract with anyone next season. So it seems to me to be a win-win if they could all pull their big heads out their behinds.
by ReverendRocket on Jan 27, 2010 2:44 PM CST up reply actions
You can also see the starters with a +/- of 43 and the Brooks, Lowry, Bud, Landry, Andersen lineup with a +/ of +52. It’s interesting to see that Andersen, Landry, Budinger and Lowry are in both of the 2 best lineups.
A huge reason is they play against the benches of our opponents.
How will they fare against starting units? Only one way to find out.
amare equals amore
dudes….lets go out and grab amare…. trade off mcgrady and scola get amare….instant playoffs ….now that’s a dream
no no no
Amare might be the dumbest person not named “Gilbert Arenas” in the entire league.
WHY would we want him on our team???
Nah...
He doesn’t play smart. I think we should get David Lee or Troy Murphy.
by inquisitiveman on Jan 28, 2010 10:16 PM CST up reply actions
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