What makes you think that? I thought we would have made the proper adjustments to counter Portland and there double teams and fronting of Yao.
The Rockets obviously focused more on defending the Blazers' double threats after game 2. One of the ways they did that was, I believe, by cutting down on taking the 3's. When we take the 3 and miss, the rebound is usually longer, we usually don't get the offensive rebound and our defense has a harder time scrambling back. Roy, on the other hand, has it easier attacking the rim or taking a jumper with his defender still back-pedalling. We saw that happening at least once in the 4th quarter of game 3 when Wafer took an early 3 and missed - although it was another Blazer who ran down the other end and took a virtually uncontested 3. It was no surprise that Wafer was taken out almost immediately after that ill-advised shot. In game 2, the Rockets took 20 3PAs and caught 4 out of 34 rebounds off the Blazers' board (that's below 12%). This game, we took 9 3PAs and caught 9 of 32 rebounds off our opponents' boards (that's above 28%). Mainly, however, we managed to limit their twin threats to 12 of 33 shooting from the field. It's therefore no coincidence that together Brooks and Artest had only 3 3PAs in this game compared to 13 in game 2 and 14 in game 1. As always, our defence won the game.
This is post season, never expect beautiful win like regular season. 7 points by Yao is OK, but what we need is when they front Yao, some one can shoot the ball! Apparently, we couldn't do this in second half. Refs SUCK! Look again the third foul of Scola! what's the hell they thinking?
Great game by the role players. To be fair, it was an especially good game by Battier. I think this was only the second time in his entire career that he's actually shown up in the playoffs on both ends. Lets hope he continues this and doesn't disappear like he did in game 2.
I think Battier had a really good night - 16 points from 6-10 FGM-A and 4 blocks, playing almost the entire game (44 mins). My concerns are that our bench scored only 24 points compared to their 33, and we scored a total of only 38 points in the 2nd half. That was enough tonight but we can't count on it for the rest of the series. I'd like to also make a point about getting into a shooting groove. It's extremely significant in basketball and we can probably attribute Yao's 3 missed shots in the 2nd half to his failure to get into a groove because he was practically not taking any shots for the entire 2nd and 3rd quarters. In other games, we saw how our role players had difficulty scoring in the final quarter when Yao was taken out of the game (with fronting, double-teams, etc) - again mainly because they took very few shots in the first 3 quarters. In those games which we lost, many were bemoaning our 4th quarter collapse with some failing to recognise that it's difficult to just switch it on when you want to. So, if you asked me to choose, I'd rather have our opponents fronting Yao right from the beginning rather than only in the final quarter, if only to enable our other players to get into the shooting groove. In this game, we had Scola and Battier stepping up. We had Artest, Wafer and Brooks stepping up previously and we'll have yet others doing so in future games. In addition, however, we still need to find a way to get Yao involved more offensively on a consistent basis.
The Rockets seem able to BUILD a lead, they just don't seem able to HOLD a lead. Scary finish. Portland is going to be a tough out, and in years to come they are going to be a really tough out. I actually think we are watching the two teams in the West who could give the Lakers a tough series. I believe game four will determine which one goes on.
I think we need to stop b****ing about this. Yao's a big boy and he isn't the first center to get man-handled down there. He needs to win the battle for position AT LEAST SOME OF THE TIME. I'm proud as hell of the rest of the team. The defense was amazing. (and Portland started getting out of any sense of an offensive set as the game wore on)
I can't believe we have role players who are stepping up. Remember couple years back when we had 4 players score?
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y7wWD8thcZg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y7wWD8thcZg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
adjustment is that we won with Yao taking only ~7 shots.....other things open up when they front Yao and they took advantage of it this time....
I don't want to Yao bash at all, and neither do you, but I couldn't agree more with this post. (pun intended) He's got the legs and the strength to get position. Not to compare, but when I think back to a sub-par playoff game for Dream (25 & 12, with 10 pts in the 4th quarter versus triple-teaming defense), I just shake my head. I don't want Yao to be dream, but I just want him to fight more. I watch him and just feel like "I know you can win position there. You are smart and strong."
Yao was doing a lot of little things right last night, but he has to find a way to get himself into position -- he was ineffective on offense last night. Our role players aren't going to be able to step up game after game when Yao can't get himself set in position under the basket.
