1) Defense. Wow. If we don’t start playing better D, it won’t matter that Landry looks good, or that Yao is tearing it up lately, or that Tmac will be back to full strength shortly. We won’t get into the playoffs, much less out of the first round, unless we can actually stop someone.
2) I love Landry, and I think he is better than Scola. I’m not sure if he will ever be a starter bc he is undersized and has a little trouble with defense, but I love him as a player. He is like Hayes with the energy and whatnot, but has a lot more offensive ability. However, I still think Hayes will be on the floor when the opposition has a stud scoring forward like Al Jefferson, etc. I do think that Landry’s production will tail off once teams actually get a scouting report on him, much like what happened with Millsap in Utah. But nevertheless, he is doing a great job of taking advantage of the time he is getting. He brings a lot more to the table than Novak.
3) Pg’s. I really don’t know what the Rox can do to solve this problem. Rafer isn’t cutting it, at least when Tmac is in the lineup. Rafer’s play dips significantly when Tmac is in the lineup, for whatever reason. But it isn’t all his fault. I have a feeling the coaching staff is trying to get him to shoot his way out of this hole he is in, for better or worse. The worst of it all is that there is no solution really. Say you put Brooks in the starting lineup, which is a stretch anyway. Fine, but then you lose his offense off the bench and put him up against starting point guards, which is a lot more difficult on a rookie. The other side of that equation is that Rafer does not possess skills which are really any help off the bench. He can’t shoot. As if that wasn’t a bleak enough situation, we don’t have any trade assets which will get us a decent point guard. Noone wants Rafer, James, or Francis. We have screwed ourselves by going after Francis and James when we should have looked to trade for Earl Watson or Ridnour from Seattle, or Antonio Daniels from Washington. We will never have a star point guard in Houston, just by virtue of having two stars already. But I don’t see us being a player in the trade market. Not to mention that Les wants to dump salary (see Fran’s blog), which means that likely we will not do anything this trade season.

Do you see light at the end of the tunnel for either the defense under Adelman or a resolution to the pg situation other than throwing a rookie in to run the point?

I am not sure if anyone noticed, but there were many times he could have passed to Yao but chose not to. It’s almost like he doesn’t want Yao to have a big night. And other players, like Bonzi, Alston and Luther are less aggressive when Tmac’s in the game. He also played horribly in this game on D.

I think the talk of Yao finally taking over this team has Tmac a little pissed off, and thus hurting the chemistry between him and Yao. Really at this point, I think the rockets need to trade Tmac or Yao. They are not Tmac’s team anymore, and they can win without him. I would really like it if they can package him one way or another to NJ for Jefferson and Kidd. Though that would be unlikely.

I also wonder how the Lakers would feel about trading Gasol + Bynum to Houston for Yao. Now that’s not a bad trade for Houston, and with Odom, Kobe and Yao, that’s a championship winning team.

this combo will damage any teams who tries to double-team Yao, caz Brooks can dribble and deliver assists to any open players for shots and lay ups, with Scola and Landry along Yao’s side, they all able to finish the jobs, get an offensive rebound, box out, and share Yao’s load, unlike Hayes and Battier, and Rafer, not a high % done deal.

2nd Unit :
Mutombo
Tmac (6-man)
Battier/Novak
Hayes
Head/James/Kirk/Rafer(would appreciate if he just sits through every game)

Since Tmac likes to be the super star, in 2nd unit, it would be a hard match-up for any teams 2nd unit, and his supporting cast would let him shoot as many shots as he likes to, without hurting Rockets that much, plus 2nd unit is a strong defensive unit, other teams would have a very difficult time to score, and Tmac can save his energy to join the starters in 4th quarter.

Rafer is the main reason that Rockets still remains to be an outside elite team contenders, Tmac’s ill-advised jumpers is the major reason Rockets scores are mostly behind other teams, he should ONLY shoot 10~12 shots a game, no 3pts, leave that to Brooks and Novak, they got better skills in that area, what Tmac’s remaining value is penetrated and dish out assists, attracts double-team and creates open shots for team mates, but I doubt that he is willing to take that role and think of the team 1st instead of himself and his name brand shoes.

If Rockets could trade Rafer, Battier, Hayes, and Kirk for a better/super point guard, with Brooks and whoever runs the back court, Rocket would be a very competed team next season.

Brooks needs more time to jell with their starters line up, once their chemistry being developed, they should be running like an well-oiled machine.

JVG

PLAY AARON BROOKS MORE MINUTES!!!

YAO + SCOLA + AB= ROCKETS NBA CHAMPIONS!!!