FanPost

Some Thoughts on the Miami Game


I started perusing the internet after that atrocity (arguably the Holocaust of Rockets Basketball) on South Beach, and noticed a couple consistent observations:

1. This loss is Rick Adelman's fault.

2. We need McGrady back.

3. Aaron Brooks has got to go.

The first point is kind of, for lack of better words, retarded. Adelman yelled at the players during halftime, made several rotation adjustments; it was the team not executing.

I'm a former McGrady defender - I still think the way the team handled that situation was flawed, but that ship has sailed. He is not walking through that door, so clamoring for his return is like asking for God to pay your rent. It's just not going to happen.

The 'run Aaron Brooks out of town' argument is also bankrupt - the fact that he's a shoot-first pg is a no-brainer. He's the kind of player who needs a wing who can handle the ball that is talented enough offensively to create a shot for him. In a Yao-centric system, he fits perfectly into the inside-out game, as demonstrated in the final months of the Rockets season. That kind of play is hard to defend, so long as there is motion on the perimeter (as opposed to guys standing around and watching Yao go to work).

We need a post presence, a ball handler who can score and a lot of shooters (in other words, an Orlando Magic replica with comparable or better talent). We already have two of those things for the most part (though one is out of commission and the others [the shooters] are being overused on the offensive end right now, causing a lot of our offensive problems. No one has space because to defend the Rockets well, you first play tough one-on-one defense, and once they get trigger happy and start to brick, you collapse into a zone to prevent them from establishing momentum).

The team overachieved in the first half, and has now been figured out. A new player is glaringly necessary; that wing who can create and score, and the debate over who should fill those shoes is ongoing (be it Kevin Martin, Andre Iguodala, Caron Butler or someone who hasn't popped up in the blogosphere). Most of these players will require some bad contracts to go with them, but that's what the championship teams deal with. The Lakers picked up Shannon Brown in a trade, but had to take Adam Morrison with them. It's the nature of the beast, and a bullet I don't think Les or DM are too apprehensive to bite. As an aside, I think Iggy, signing another shooter (Wafer is what my heart desires) and retaining Lowry and Scola, while costly, genuinely does make us contenders.

Okay back to Foucault.

No cursing in title. No pirated material, such as links to online game streams. Do not cut/paste entire sections of content from other websites. Thanks.

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