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What can Rockets players need to do to *IMPROVE* their games? Here's what I think:

1. James Harden - Needs to practice on his freethrows. He always gets fouled as he drives to the basket. He also needs to trust his teammates a bit more.

2. Jeremy Lin - I think we all know.

3. Asik - Needs to be more aggressive offensively.

4. Chandler Parsons - He's fine. Just need to practice on his freethrows.

5. Donatas Motiejunas - I don't know about him.

6. Carlos Delfino - I don't know about him.

give aaron brooks a chance. he can be a spark off the bench. you cant have someoen that good just to rot on the bench

rocketsballin wrote:give aaron brooks a chance. he can be a spark off the bench. you cant have someoen that good just to rot on the bench

I thought Dragic was too small, too quick for the Rockets to defend. AB would be able to matchup. This brings up the improvement on coaching is needed.

dunleavyjr wrote:1. James Harden - Needs to practice on his freethrows. He always gets fouled as he drives to the basket.

Huh? He's shooting a career high 86% FT, is the team's best FT shooter, and he just went 16-16 the other day. The correct answer is to play defense.

2. Jeremy Lin - I think we all know.

And what exactly would that be? I'm going to assume you mean improve his outside shooting? I've got a different approach. I think Lin should drastically change his shot selection. Here's something interesting: Lin's midrange FG% is 39%, which is better than Harden and Parsons. Lin's corner-3 % is 38%, which is the same as Harden. I think Lin should eliminate non-corner 3's and take corner 3's and midrange jumpers instead (that's what Tony Parker does). Oh, and not leave his man open on the 3 pt line.

3. Asik - Needs to be more aggressive offensively.

Yeah, dunk more, less layups.

4. Chandler Parsons - He's fine. Just need to practice on his freethrows.

Wow, I was surprised his FT% was only 72%.

5. Donatas Motiejunas - I don't know about him.

Get better on defense (will come with experience).

6. Carlos Delfino - I don't know about him.

Don't dribble.

As much as Rockets fans want the players to improve their offensive skills, the Rockets are already #3 in the NBA for pts per possession, so there's not that much room to improve. However, the Rockets are #23 in pts allowed per possession, so defense is where the team needs to improve the most.

^^^ madbucky, i don't think you know what i mean about mr. lin. not talking about this shot selection. everybody is concerned about his ability to handle the ball.

dunleavyjr wrote:^^^ madbucky, i don't think you know what i mean about mr. lin. not talking about this shot selection. everybody is concerned about his ability to handle the ball.

Uhh I'm not

Lin's penetration seems to have decreased in effectiveness since Patty Pat was traded. It is also worth noting that in the last few games, Bev has been playing more minutes.

I think every member of the starting 5 has improved since the beginning of the season. Those that did not left the team. I think Lin can confidently go left, his right to left cross over is deft, and any questions pertaining to his handles really are questions pertaining to his ability to change direction once he is in a full sprint with the ball, i.e. this is a quickness vs speed issue.

I don't think Lin is the sole problem. An across the board analysis of the +/- of players in games played since the trade deadline against the same teams before the trade would be a bit more enlightening.

That being said, with regards to last night's loss, the Rockets are one of the youngest teams in the League, with a new starter in the mix, on an away back to back against a team that is a lot better than its record would state. Half of the Sun's starting 5 played for us last year, and that was a 500 team in a slightly better western conference. Their personnel might not be star studded in talent, but it's not like we lost the to the bobcats from last year.

I understand everyone would like some seperation from the 8th seed and getting into the playoffs was a big priority, but we're doing pretty good on our first year of rebuild.

I'll play.

Harden - On fast breaks I notice that he rarely passes the ball even when he's got wide open wingmen or trailers. He's got a one track mind to charge to the basket even against multiple defenders many times resulting in bad shots or just hoping for a foul. Best player on the team by far but sometimes I feel that he's cares too much about personal stats.

Lin - Needs to be more consistent I don't know of another player in the NBA as inconsistent. It's a crapshoot on how he's going to play on any given night. I'm thinking that this may have a bit to do with the coaches not instilling trust in him so he could never really get into a comfortable role. A young player needs to have his confidence built up, not torn down. A couple of weeks ago he was looking pretty smooth and in control but the past few games he's been shaky with his decision making and shot selection. I'd also like to see him fix his shot to have less of an arc on it, unless you've got a silkly smooth release like Nowitzki, those rainbow shots are often prayers.

Parsons - Can't complain much about his play as of late except maybe he needs to get more involved in crunch-time situations. Been pleasantly impressed with this progress.

Delfino - Good streaky shooter but I also notice that he takes a lot of shots with defenders right in his face. He doesn't seem to have the vision to pass it off to a more open look mid-shot attempt.

Asik - Excellent defender and rebounder but on offense, his hands of course and ability to finish. Please only take close shots, no mid-range shots.

DMO - He likes to hang around the permiter a bit too much, get in there and work your post moves. With his size he should be working the trenches for rebounds etc.

Beverley - Needs to be able to create his own shot rather than just defer to Harden all the time because it can get too predictable. Great energy especially on defense and on the boards though.

Robinson - Good in transition but lack of post moves and knowing where to move around without the ball. No real shot either.

Greg Smith - Always liked him but he needs to build himself a stronger identity on the team, I think he saw more action before the trade which doesn't make much sense to me.

Coach McHale - Weird substitution patterns especially with the treatment of Lin and Asik down the stretch of many games. I know you've guys heard this hundreds of times before isn't it obvious that no other starting pg gets put on a short leash the way Lin has been. It's become clear to me that there have been some behind the scene issues between Kevin McHale and Morey. The way that he was praising Dragic last night and trashing his own players leads me to believe that he's still griping over the off-season moves and is letting his ego get the best of him. He needs to move on and support his young players rather than feed is own ego. I also don't like the fact that he makes very little effort to develop the young guys like D-Mo or T.Jones, it took Morey the unloading 3 PFs for D-Mo to get playing time. I have no idea where T.Jones is either, still in the D-League or just riding the pine? He seems to Like T.Robinson though which I'm not too high on yet.

Facial hair. They all need better facial hair.

13th Man wrote:I'll play.

Harden - On fast breaks I notice that he rarely passes the ball even when he's got wide open wingmen or trailers. He's got a one track mind to charge to the basket even against multiple defenders many times resulting in bad shots or just hoping for a foul. Best player on the team by far but sometimes I feel that he's cares too much about personal stats.

I don't think he does that because he's worried about stats. I think he does it because that's just how he plays, tunnel vision at times. He's always had success either finishing or drawing a cheap foul while driving in, so in his mind, why fix what isn't broken?

Also he needs to work on his iso game. His iso game is really limited. He's just not a dynamic ball handler unless he's going downhill, eurostepping. On his iso's his feet are more or less nailed to the ground while he tries his dribbling exhibitions. He can't bob and weave off the dribble like other elite ball handlers. His feet aren't quick enough. But at his age, I'm not sure how much that can be improved.

In lieu of that, he can try to add a back to the basket game, so he can take better advantage of smaller guys guarding him. I'm thinking of Kobe. Off the back to the basket game he'd need to add various moves off of it, like the dream shake, up and unders, baseline spins, drop steps, turnaround jumpers, and running baby hooks. Not sure if he can completely transform his game like that though. If he could he truly would be a beast.

Oh also, why not add the curl catch and shoot aspect, and/or floppy sets to his game? Not sure if he can do that either though.

LOL I guess it's a lot to ask, but then again he's being labeled a superstar. T-Mac could do all that stuff. Maybe that's too much to ask of Harden?

13th Man wrote:
Harden - On fast breaks I notice that he rarely passes the ball even when he's got wide open wingmen or trailers. He's got a one track mind to charge to the basket even against multiple defenders many times resulting in bad shots or just hoping for a foul. Best player on the team by far but sometimes I feel that he's cares too much about personal stats.

Aside from two players on this team, no one knows how to run the fast break... never in my life have I seen so many fails on a fast break with numbers the way everyone pounds the hell out of the ball into the floor instead of passing. smh


Asik:

Overrated by us fans, yes I think he is great but he plays down to his competition, getting outplayed by Hadaddi, and some of you don't want Dwight, smh.
Asik doesn't block as many shoots as I would like, nor does he really alter as many as I thought he would... I assume its to stay out of foul trouble which was a big issue we thought we'd have this year with him.


White LBJ:

Needs to follow Black Chandler Parsons and get with Hakeem this summer... Parsons + a post game , he really needs one.


Lin:

Freak athlete, get by people with just his speed but his handles are pretty weak i've seen him iso on Jamison and couldn't drive by him. Not a very smart player though, still jumps before he knows what to do with the ball, needs to learn to move off ball make cuts, needs to quit over helping on defense, he would be a great defender if he quit gambling and over helping... Needs to only use his left hand this summer, and get a different shooting coach.


Harden:

Underrated here, needs to give more effort on both sides of the ball. Not playing like a smart player.
I know he is a good defender and off ball player cause we saw it in OKC... Here he just ball watches when he doesn't have the ball and he slacks off on defense. He needs to move & defend like he did in OKC. Having a 1st option(Howard) will help.


Captain Beverley:

Best handles on the team, moves well off ball, great defender... Probably 2nd best rebounder on the team just cause he is so active.
He desperately needs to work on his shooting, these past few games he passes up on wide open looks because he lacks confidence in his shooting, sill manages to find good looks for teammates. He and Jeremy should work together a lot.


Thomas Robinson:
Everything.


Donatas Motiejunas:

Only thing he needs is more game time to help him defensively, and improving his shot, his post game is sick, 2nd best scorer on the team.


Terrance Jones:

Needs to buy McHale something nice, suck up idk... needs to keep working hard to get PT.


Greg Smith:

Needs a lot more work defensively, going straight up as not to draw so many fouls... needs to work on outside shooting, or putting the ball on the floor if he wants to play at the 4.



In short the team isn't very smart....

Harden - Play better defense. Cut down TOs. Continue to improve playmaking.
Lin - Incorporate more variety of handles. He has absolutely no moves off the dribble. He actually has a great first step off the triple threat, not so much from a live dribble. Improve shooting.
Asik - He needs to carry a basketball around with him all off season, heck, all day everyday. He has some stone hands.

bigbreakfast wrote:Lin - Incorporate more variety of handles. He has absolutely no moves off the dribble. He actually has a great first step off the triple threat, not so much from a live dribble. Improve shooting.

One thing I notice Lin does A LOT is off of a live dribble, he'll throw in a hesitation dribble, where he'll nearly carry the ball, and do a little hop into the air. Normally when players do this, upon landing from the hop they explode immediately to get past their defender. But Lin does it so slowly, when he lands from the hop, his explosion isn't much of one lol. He does it a lot, I'm sitting there watching thinking, what's the purpose of that move? I call it the slowmo hesitation. Watch for it next game if you haven't noticed it already.

easy
trade Asik for Howard
trade Motiejunas for Durant
trade Parsons for James
trade Harden for Bryant
trade Lin for Paul
there you go

Keep core together. D-Mo has sort of been thrust into the starting PF spot with the trade of Morris and Patterson. I think he needs time, or it is the only position we try to upgrade over the offseason.

Look at Asik now, as compared to the start of the season. He's much better.

Harden needs to run less ISO plays, or if he does, he needs to make his move quicker.

Lin needs better decision making.

Parsons needs to become Black, only for credibility's sake.

D-Mo, whatever it takes to improve.

I won't bother with the bench. Except fror Beverly and Delfino, they are all expendable.

But give AB a chance. It's a different system to when he was last in Houston. I'd like to think we will see him on the floor soon. Otherwise his signing makes no sense whatsoever.

What you wrote:

bigbreakfast wrote:Harden - Play better defense. Cut down TOs. Continue to improve playmaking.

What I read:

bigbreakfast wrote:Harden - Play better defense. Cut down TOs. Continue to improve planking.