wow...i find it amazing how people can think that we are a better team without JC. I dont know if you guys have noticed but houston is absolutely terrible. He never gets enough seperation to get off his shot. He cant get around screens to gaurd his man and he cant play d. It is a constant mismatch every time he steps on the floor. People need to realize it is not h20 that is making this team win. It is lenny finally. He is in a sitaution where he needs to use his bench. And now e is seeing what it is like to be a real coach. As for h20 he is done. He is incredibly slow. I dont know if you guys saw that one play when stephon tried to pass the ball to him on the three point line and it went off his hand out of bounds. He refused to move for it. He is still hurting and will never be the same.

Yep, Houston can't move, can't lift off on his jumper. Maybe he'll get better if he can heal but, it's a very big IF. We'd be nuts to rely on him. All we can do is hope that he's physically going to be able to improve. Bottom line is, we certainly can't afford to trade Crawford... and doing it for (the D word) is laughable.

[Edited by - Pike on 12/30/2004 12:39:13]

Talent wise, we are not better without Jamal, BUT we are playing better without him right now. Our guys have been more focused about teamwork and finding the open man without him.
Jamal is still a work in progress. I'm praying he sees the ball movement as of late and is willing to play that way.

As far as Houston goes, he is playing pretty well overall, with the exception of last night (but an off night shooting for H20 only comes once a blue moon). I love the arguement for his defense by the way. Don't worry, you should feel better once Jamal and his amazing D are back on the floor.
Houston is not MAKING this team win, Marbury is. However, Houston is helping, apparently more than you can see. A shooter like Allan spaces the floor for guys like Marbury, or Jamal when he gets back, and allows them to drive. His defender has only one thing on his mind, "Do NOT let him get an open look!".

Houston obviously is not our solution at SG longterm. Jamal is. It's extremely hard for me to see how Houston is hurting this team. His D may not be great, or even all that good, but that's why Lenny has that Houston/Ariza flip. I love it!
We don't know how long Houston will be here, so why not just enjoy it for now?

Posted by MaTT4281:

Talent wise, we are not better without Jamal, BUT we are playing better without him right now. Our guys have been more focused about teamwork and finding the open man without him.

The team is not, "winning" becase they are playing without Jamal. Jamal being injuerd is a big minus and the sooner he returns to the lineup, the better.

As far as Houston goes, he is playing pretty well overall, with the exception of last night (but an off night shooting for H20 only comes once a blue moon).

Out of the last 4 games, he shot 30% and 18% on 2 nights. 2 for 11 and 3 for 10 (Boston. Dont forget any games please). Thats 2 out of the last 4 games. Slightly more than "once in a blue moon"

I love the arguement for his defense by the way. Don't worry, you should feel better once Jamal and his amazing D are back on the floor.

Who is saying Jamal plays amazing D? Does it have to be extreme's? NO! Jamal is better defensively than Houston. MUCH BETTER. An injured, old Houston.

Houston is not MAKING this team win, Marbury is. However, Houston is helping, apparently more than you can see. A shooter like Allan spaces the floor for guys like Marbury, or Jamal when he gets back, and allows them to drive.

Of course he helps the team! That does not mean that you should depend on him for any kinda scoring? As soon as the team starts to depend on Houston for scoring a certain amount of points a game, the trouble starts. The scoring should be coming from Stephon, TT and Crawford. Whatever Houston gives us is cherry on top. His job is to space the floor with his shooting 20 mins/game.

His defender has only one thing on his mind, "Do NOT let him get an open look!".

Which is not hard to do cause he shot terrible in 2 of the last 4 games. As you must've seen, its hard for him to get the separation he needs to shoot.

It's extremely hard for me to see how Houston is hurting this team.

When his jumpshot is off ( 2 of the last 4 games, thats 50% of time) he is absolutely worthless and a huge liability! Thats how he hurts the team. If his jumpshot is on, he helps space the floor for Stephon and Jamal!

[Edited by - Silverfuel on 12/30/2004 15:27:19]

Frankly i find it hard to believe that everyone loves Crawford so much, the guy takes terrible shots, kills the flow of the offense and doesn't play defense...

He looks for his shot everytime he touches the ball and we are 3-0 without him....Houston just needs time, he has had a couple of tough games but is more efficient and is going to make clutch baskets

Houston may never be the player he was but he will always space the floor because no opposing coach will ever believe that he'll continue to have bad scoring nights. Houston has always had trouble when defensive minded players man up on him. I don't know what to do with him, it's gonna take some time to get used to the pain he feels night in and night out. He's gonna have to find out the difference between hurt and injured and trust that his knee is ok and it will always hurt from now on.

Allan Houston if used right can still be a force, only if Lenny uses him right.

Remember Dell Curry, what he did was sit in the corner or on the top of the key, not running around trying to get his shot off one on one.

[Edited by - playa2 on 12/30/2004 18:14:53]

We are winning because we don't just fly by the seat of our pants like most fans.

We give so little credit when they fail, and its like some miricle when they win. THis week lenny is a genious!

We are winning because the SYSTEM in place did not give up on TT, does not trade after a bad game, give too minutes to sweets, the SYSTEM is letting Alan work his way back, lets KT have a career years , lets NAzr have a Career year, and the team is mature and getting along with each other. No public bickering, and no drama.

The System has faith in itself and lets lenny work the team together thru mistakes and bad games.

this is why I would like to see Crawford come off the bench and play 33mins instead of the 40mins Wilkins was playing him. Jamal being injured might've helped Lenny realize that in order for this team to be successful we have to use our bench because the starting lineup alone is not spectacular.

You notice when houston is in there instead of Jamal that when the ball is kicked out to the perimeter it doesn't stop there. It gets dished inside or back to Marbury. Now flash back to Crawford, as soon as that ball is in his hands he is going to shoot the ball.



[Edited by - gunsnewing on 12/31/2004 08:39:06]

Sometime I just dont understand what people are watching. H20 fans i know you love Allan but I'm sorry he is just not going to be able to be the same. I find it funny how you guys use the argument of H20 spacing the floor. That is not the case. There is no difference in the offensive sets we are running. The only difference is that Marbs is being 10 times more aggressive. Crawford is just as much of a force as allan is with his jumper. Yes JC takes crazy shots but thats why this is a blesssing that he injured. He will have to play d and play smart in order to get PT. But the fact remains H20 looks real hurt he cant drive and he just looks scraed everytime he does drive. He can jump anymore he is done

Posted by kNYks342:

There is no difference in the offensive sets we are running. The only difference is that Marbs is being 10 times more aggressive.

This is pretty true actually. I haven't seen much of a difference in our play calling. No iso's!

But the fact remains H20 looks real hurt he cant drive and he just looks scraed everytime he does drive. He can jump anymore he is done

He could never drive! Either that or he has been injured since 2001. Houston is a jumpshooter who could not break the Zone D Boston played. He might not even last the entire season. Any that thinks we should trade Crawford is not being fair to himself. There is no way you can depend on Houston for the kind of scoring the way you can depend on Crawford for.