The only reason I think Deke didn't play tonight, is that he wouldn't be able to guard there big men when they went to the perimeter. Hopefully he gets used against teh Pistons.
The Pacers announcers mentioned how on defense, Battier could be heard shouting to his teammates to watch for a certain pick way before it was set, and how this was something Battier could've known only by studying the Pacer's offense beforehand. They said this in admiration, and that this kind of preparation is what sets Battier apart. OTH, you could tell Battier has not fully healed from his injury. He's a step or two slow and his man-to-man defense particularly shows this. And the worrisome thing is that Battier himself said he didn't think he'd completely heal during this season.
The Real Summary: Over 44mil in our salaried players were not on the court (this is more then 2/3's of the cap). Other Things: 3 2nd year 26th pick and higher players mostly. Young team on the court. Although both sides will always say bad ref'fing I kinda feel this was way biased agaisnt our bigs (saw too many uncalled for Landry and especially our international players Yao and Scola). As if one ref had more calls then the other two combined. Scolandry played very good, a lot of hustle. We had too many missed FT's. Are other two big three are still getting rest and hopefully we see them al together again in Detroit. Brooks, while not completely out of his slump is getting it back. Just remember a shooters mentality especially that of someone still in his first contract will hate to touch the ball if he has been off. Kudos to RAdelman for playing him through. Another kudos to RAdelman. While us fan bash him for not taking a player out or putting one in he has done a good job regardless. RAlston has come out of a slump (hopefully thats what it was) from playing through it and so will After Burner. He plays Yao through his slumps as well. It is his way and seems to be working for the better in the long run which is more important right?
Yeah, we can only hope that Battier can at least get back to 90% after the all star break. He said he was going to use the all star break to get back to his old self. Whether or not that happens will remain to be seen. But he is an integral part of the Rockets success.
A loss is a loss, but I still felt we showed how deep our bench is. Yao played 17 minutes, T-Mac/Artest still out, and we kept pace with them. The more I watch the Rockets play, the more I feel that our team is an elite if everyone plays at the same time. I'm not saying it will happen, but it still gives me hope as a fan.
http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html oh wow, Minnesota is now competing for the top spot
I've told anyone that wants to listen that adelman has a thing for morey and its not a good thing either.
This is an example of what happens when the other team doesn't have to double team any of your players. Really missed Ron and Tracy tonight.
Yao needs to go Dream like and start wearing the knee pads. Read the current Chronicle game article where Yao mentions that he has been hit on the same spot on his knee the past 10 games. I wish he would consider it since his been hit on the same spot for awhile and he could also wear the elbow pads like Dream did.
I was most disappointed by the defense - gave up so many points right down the middle of the lane. The last three games - where has our interior defense gone? We went from a team that forced the opposite team to take jumpers to a swiss cheese get a layup on us team.
