It seemed that the Rockets played a decent game. Dallas has been red hot of recent. Just like last season, they are great down the stretch, thus they won quite some close games. Tracy had almost his career assist numbers. Yao finally played a great all around game. The lack of execution down the stretch cost the Rockets a game. It is NBA! Now move on and focus on the next. One could easily take the game like that. 5-5 at the beginning of the season is really not a big deal. What upset me is how the game was played. Rockets played almost the exact bball as last season except Yao had a little higher post positon and shot from a little longer distance. The Yao/Tracy pick n roll was right in JVG's playbook. Tracy was the player maker and Rafer, Luther, and Battier shot threes. It was how the Rockets won 52 games. It was also how the Rockets could not proceed in the play off. I had the feeling during the game so I checked the box score after it. I was astonished to see that when anyone came off the bench, the Rocktes were losing. I hate to say but it was the JVG way that was winning. Could it be set plays? JVG probably had the most set plays than any coach in this league; were the guys spontaneously executing the set plays? This team do need set plays because of a slow giant offensive player in Yao. If so, then it is easier to explain why the bench has not contributed: Scola, James and Wells are newcomers so they are not familiar with the set plays. Then what is coach A doing? Isn't it time to bench James and Wells and see what Stevie and Brooks can do? Will 5 in a row bring us Snyder and Landry? I am just sick of the JVG plays by Adelman. If the organization is going to play the old way, why not bring JVG back? Coach Adelman better hurry, since even Rudy might have worked better with this group of talents. Mavericks Field Goals Rebounds pos min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a +/- off def tot ast pf st to bs ba pts D. Harris G 31:36 7-13 1-2 7-8 +4 0 1 1 5 5 3 3 0 1 22 T. Hassell G 16:45 1-2 0-0 0-0 -14 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 2 J. Howard F 40:11 9-19 2-2 0-0 -1 1 6 7 1 3 1 0 2 1 20 D. Nowitzki F 36:55 8-16 0-1 2-5 +1 2 12 14 0 3 0 1 1 2 18 D. Diop C 16:44 0-4 0-0 0-0 -15 6 1 7 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 B. Bass 32:07 6-12 0-0 5-5 +6 1 5 6 3 1 0 0 1 3 17 J. Terry 29:60 3-9 0-1 0-0 +24 1 2 3 4 0 2 2 0 0 6 J. Stackhouse 25:21 4-12 1-4 6-6 +20 0 5 5 1 0 0 2 0 1 15 E. Dampier 10:21 0-1 0-0 0-0 +5 1 1 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 J. Howard Reason : DNP 00:00 - - - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 M. Ager Reason : DNP 00:00 - - - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 J. Barea Reason : DNP 00:00 - - - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 240 38-88 4-10 20-24 13 34 47 15 15 7 10 5 100 43.2% 40.0% 83.3% Team Rebs: 2 Total TO: 10 Rockets Field Goals Rebounds pos min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a +/- off def tot ast pf st to bs ba pts R. Alston G 34:04 7-13 3-7 1-1 +7 0 4 4 3 0 1 2 0 0 18 T. McGrady G 38:01 6-19 1-5 2-4 +4 0 7 7 12 2 2 6 1 1 15 C. Hayes F 31:14 1-3 0-0 0-0 +18 3 10 13 1 3 1 1 1 0 2 S. Battier F 38:21 4-9 3-6 1-1 +3 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 12 Y. Ming C 41:10 11-18 0-0 8-9 +7 3 12 15 1 4 0 2 6 2 30 M. James 16:04 2-6 1-3 1-2 -22 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 B. Wells 13:47 1-3 0-0 0-0 -17 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 2 L. Head 12:58 3-6 2-2 0-0 -16 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 8 L. Scola 09:31 0-1 0-0 0-0 -8 0 2 2 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 D. Mutombo 04:50 0-1 0-0 1-1 -6 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 S. Francis Reason : DNP 00:00 - - - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 K. Snyder Reason : DNP 00:00 - - - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 240 35-79 10-23 14-18 7 39 46 21 18 5 17 9 94 44.3% 43.5% 77.8% Team Rebs: 7 Total TO: 18
When McGrady was on the bench, Head was the PG. He was responsible for several turnovers and really bad shots. That cost the game right there.
The guys on this team are doing stuff that shouldn't be doing. Luther is a scorer/finisher type player, but he insists on handling the ball and creating plays. Rafer handles the ball, but he insists on shooting it. Mike James is a scorer also, but he's passing the ball too much. Yao Ming should be waiting for a post-entry pass, but he instead goes out to the perimeter to set screens. McGrady isn't being aggressive at driving to the basket. Bonzi won't shoot. Scola won't shoot. There is a major identity problem on this team.
Like I said, lets get Iverson and turn him into a passing guard with about 10 minutes of playing time cause he doesn't fit the system and Alston is taylor made for this offense.
It's a Coaching issue Scola had three plays ran for him, two were post ups and one was a mid ranger jumper? How's that not a coaching issue, he just had two 20 point games where plays for him were consistant and he hit at a high percentage How's it not a coaching problem when he insists on plays the players who insist on shooting when they should pass or vice-versa? Seems he plays them more the more they use their anti-skillset How his Head not going to control the ball when Adelman(the coach) has this line-up (which he had in the 3rd against dallas) Head T-Mac Bonzi Battier Yao so Head controlling the ball is also a coaching issue
