Lowry's +/- is high because of Brooks. Brooks didn't miss a shot with Lowry in the game IIRC. They play well off of each other
Maybe, but Brooks has a tendency to stop executing and to stop doing what have to be done when difficulties emerge; instead, he starts playing alone. And that's a sign of bad PG.
DD is right on this one. Either Ariza or Battier need to go from the starting lineup. They absolutely cannot be on the floor at the same time together. Hayes works well within the offense but that's because he knows how to pass and cut.
We need wing players who can actually dribble the ball. I'm all for benching Ariza or Battier at this point.
Rank them in order Scola: -12 Brooks: -14 Battier: -20 Hayes: -20 Ariza: -22 Just a 1 game sample and I'm not really into the stat. But is there really any surprise how that'd shape out with how THIS season's gone?
Brooks is a good scorer but not a good point guard at all. That is an old story and I am tired to repeat. The team (generally the starters) looks horrible in the 4th quarter and Brooks was playing alone. The fatal error is that he could not make his teammates better, which Lowry always does.
I'm amazed (not really, given the nature of this board) that people are trying to blame this on Brooks. He gave his teammates plenty of good shots in the 4th. They missed damned near all of them. With the Sixers doubling Brooks and the only other legit scoring option, Landry, of course things went to hell. Brooks had two options - try to beat the double team himself, which he struggles with at times (especially when they double him off the pick and rolls, it's better to let him break his man down one-on-one) or give his teammates a look. His teammates missed several open shots (Battier clanged a few threes, Scola missed several jumpers in his range, Chuck blew layups) so he tried to do it himself. Given our weapons (or lack thereof) we're going to struggle. The loss of Lowry hurt a ton as well since he's offers something nobody else on the team does with his drives, but he couldn't do it alone either. He makes his teammates better, sure, but only if his teammates are hitting shots. He had quite a few assists, or hockey assists, to Brooks during the 2nd quarter run when Brooks didn't really miss. They play off of each other well. Lowry's lack of shooting would hurt us in other ways if he was running the show alone since people would just start playing off of him to prevent his drives and dishes. A few teams have done this already. Without some better options on the wings we're hosed no matter who runs the point.
We agree on this big time. Guys like trugoy are wrapped into this positional stuff. Brooks is the rockets best player no doubt. Teams view him as the biggest threat and gameplan against him. Teams also view landry as a bigtime 4th quarter so they are going to take him out the game. Lining up hayes,battier,and aiza in a close game and expect great results is foolish.I just think adelman is handcuffed by his roster. Personally i think morey did adelman a huge disservice with the lack of size and one dimensional guys on this roster.
but you know what... how about these numbers... Starters: +130 Bench: -20 http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AoGRKDfUqYqqewz_nphKYmKQvLYF?gid=2010020210 Guys we have consistent talent from top to bottom in our rotation players. All of them do something very well. That means that there is going to be a lot of parity overall. Some games, the starters are going to do well. Some games, the bench is going to do well. It just depends on the matchup and the level of competition. Get over the who plays when and pay more attention to whom plays against whom on the other team.
I remember looking at that stat after the game and I was extremely surprised because I couldn't even remember the last time that happened. It's almost always the other way around. See for yourself: http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus/plusminus_sort.jsp?pcomb=1&season=22009&split=9&team=Rockets Brooks/Ariza/Battier/Scola/Hayes: -96 Lowry/Budinger/Landry/Andersen/Dorsey: +308 404 point differential on the season
So I was watching the game seeing us win then Ariza got hurt. I turned the tv off (knew we were going to lose). People still havent realized that the problem is Battier not Ariza. Battier cuts through the lane being out of bounds. WTF!
He had to play alone because landry was double or triple teamed, and brooks was the only offensive threat left. Ariza battier and hayes were useless.
You basically prove my point. Because of the parity... our starters are doing great if they can keep up with the other teams starters... because when the other team is forced to go to the bench.. we have no let up. Hence our bench plays against a lower level of competition... so they should be able to outscore the other teams bench. From our #1 to our #8 player there is not a huge difference in talent level... hence you get the same thing from both groups. Honestly, I don't care who starts, who finishes, or who gets the most minutes as long as they do their job when they are on the court. If each of them does what they do best then this team wins. When more than one or two guys have a less than stellar night, then we struggle to get the W.
Ya, that's something I've thought about. I wouldn't go so far as to say I prove your point though. You could say I didn't refute it. But of course you can’t really be sure if the bench is so much more efficient than the starters because they’re playing lower talent or because they really are more efficient players on the whole. I admit the former probably has a lot do with it but for such a large discrepancy the opposing team's benches would REALLY have to suck.
We will have to ask durvasa where to find it, but I know from Bull and Bill that our bench is among the league leaders in points scored... I want to say we are number 2 or 3. Which means they are a more efficient than most all of the rest of the teams in the league.
I would prefer to see Chase in there too,however he hasn't done well when he has been given extended minutes in the few occasions he has been out there. His time should be increased gradually. Ariza is doing a bit better than before. Chase should take up Battier's minutes. Shane can come back as a starter if it doesn't work out. Landry should also be considered as a starter instead of Luis. Edit: Chase will undoubtedly be moving into the starting lineup now that Ariza has gotten hurt. It will be interesting to see how he plays.
