Rockets tumble into Hawks' trap NBA's worst offense explodes against Van Gundy's top-rated `D' By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle ATLANTA — From the first possession, even from the first seconds, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was yelling about defense, shouting out plays, calling for switches and help, even for his team to get into defensive position. "Get in a stance," he ordered. "C'mon D. Get in front of them. Everybody down." No matter how much he pleaded, however, the NBA's top defense could not — or perhaps simply would not — slow the league's lowest-scoring, worst-shooting offense until the Atlanta Hawks rolled through the final minutes to stun and humble the Rockets with a 105-99 upset Friday night at Philips Arena. "We didn't do anything right defensively," Van Gundy said. "They're hard for us because of their length and their athleticism. Our starters ... played no defense. This is the lowest-scoring team in the NBA, worst field-goal percentage shooting team in the NBA. And they shredded us. "We didn't take away anything from anybody. They got fast-break points. They got second shots. Starters scored. Bench scored. Fouled everybody. We didn't do anything defensively, and they did a lot of good things offensively." Averaging 92.3 points on 43.6-percent shooting this season, the Hawks made 37 of their 78 shots (47.4 percent). Their 19 second-chance points were the second-highest total the Rockets have allowed in a game this season. The Hawks scored on every possession in the last five minutes, converting on 10 of 11 times down the court, failing to score only when Josh Smith missed two free throws. The Rockets had held Atlanta to 68 points in December, allowing just 34.7-percent shooting. Smith, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds Friday, was out then after hernia surgery, but the Hawks have not changed much since, with Atlanta bringing the fourth-worst Eastern Conference record into the game. Confidence grows "When you're playing a team that has not won more games than you, you feel you should take care of business, take care of them from the beginning," Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo said. "We didn't play the same way we played them in Houston. We let all those youngsters get their confidence from the tip and shoot, drive to the basket the way they want to, put the ball on the floor, get a second shot. There's a lot of things we just didn't do. "Ask anybody in this room. All of us are very disappointed about our performance." They could not, however, change the way the game was going from the tip, or perhaps even from the moment Wednesday's win over Miami ended and the Rockets pointed to the trap they knew awaited them with a trip to Atlanta. Tracy McGrady that night labeled the opponents ahead as "roadkill." But the Rockets have lost their past three trips and five of their past six. "We were just not playing defense tonight, plain and simple," said McGrady, who had 37 points. "The thing that made us great, we got away from that. You score 99 points on the road, you're supposed to win by 15 points. They played hard tonight. We weren't moving our feet." If the Rockets could not avoid the trap they saw coming going in, neither could they find enough reason to muster consistent defensive intensity though never trailing by more than five points until the final minutes. Lead is short-lived The Rockets even took a fourth-quarter lead when Rafer Alston, who had 23 points and nine assists, sank a 3-pointer and McGrady made a free throw to put the Rockets up 87-86 heading into the final five minutes. The Rockets, however, never stopped the Hawks again. Atlanta scored on each of its next four possessions, outscoring the Rockets 8-1 to take a 94-88 lead. They clinched it in the final minute. Joe Johnson, who led the Hawks with 31 points, ran down the shot clock before beating Shane Battier off the dribble to put in a runner for a six-point lead with 49.3 seconds remaining. The Hawks made just enough free throws — four of six in the final 24 seconds — to close it out. The tone, however, had long since been set. "We let the Hawks get into a rhythm," Alston said. "We just couldn't stop those guys. We didn't take anything away from them. We just let them have their way offensively." Van Gundy could not have said it better, though in way, he was saying just that all night. jonathan.feigen@chron.com http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4578381.html
i think i understand what jvg was trying to do last night by keeping the starters in; force them to play better and improve during the game, because this team isn't going to win in the long run if the starters aren't performing. it makes sense. but what happens if we find ourselves in an elimination game, and the starters are dragging their feet, and can't seem to climb out of their funk? is jvg going to wait it out? there are games you use to teach, to get your guys to master the game plan, and there are games you try to win any way possible. i know jvg thinks the best way to win is to know who you are and to do what you do best, and i think that's right, but sometimes you just take a win any way you can, and that's by scrapping and putting in guys for different combinations to try and find some life when the guys on the court are clearly devoid of it. and i know last night's loss was only by a few points, but honestly, anyone watching that game knew it wasn't nearly as close as the score. the hawks had that in the bag and the rockets never posed any threat. there was never one swing in momentum, one play or one player that injected life into the rockets. i'm really concerned that when it comes down to it, jvg is going to stick with the same old, same old, on pure principle, rather than try something new just to grab a win any way we can. a lot of avery johnson's success comes from his willingness to throw combinations of players out on the court until something works. jvg has been amazing all season, but even he has his flaws and this is the biggest one for me. he's right to want to get the starters and his set rotation to play consistently, but when it becomes painfully obvious that on any given night, they haven't brought it, he should bust an avery and try something new instead of waiting for his guys to 'get it.'
JVG is going to wait out his starters in the playoffs and the Rockets are going to find themselves gone fishing again. The guy's done a good job without Yao but his stubborn inflexible ways will not get this team far when it counts most. We get bounced in the 1st round again or even the 2nd I say it's time to try a new head coach.
Just changed it a little. Guys shots start missing and don't get to lose balls when they are fatigued. This worries me how we expect to match up with the athletic forwards and guards of Dallas and Phx. We should be pinching more of Deke, Howard and Battier minutes for more to Hayes and Snyder. We have to be preparing our team for how it can beat Dallas and Phx even if we lose a couple of extra games giving vets extra rest with growing pains expanding the rotations--Snyder should be part of that plan.
