What do the Rockets need to do in order to win in the playoffs? I know that we beat the Lakers, and the never-say-die performance in the overtime was a moral victory, but I believe that if our opponent was SA, Dallas, or Phoenix last night, we would have been blown out... and we can do a lot better. In fact, I don't think we are even close to our best performance yet. Below is a list of what I think needs to happen for us to be successful in the playoffs. 1) Don't let Rafer lose a playoff game single-handedly. Not to beat a dead horse, but Rafer started it by going 3-11 on 3 pointers last night. One of his makes was during Kobe's run at the end of the game. At the moment he shot it, I believe he was 2-10. Do we really want the game being decided by Rafer Alston's shooting on one of his "off" nights? He should never attempt that shot in those circumstances. There is always a better option. After doing this all season, and maintaining JVG's support, I won't suggest anything about Spanoulis. What is reasonable in this situation is for JVG to prevent Alston from having a 3-11 night on 3 pointers. Alston needs to be more willing to pass up shots and JVG needs to be more willing to substitute Lucas when Alston is having one of his extrordinarily bad days. There just doesn't seem to be any recognition that Alston is 118th of 119 players on FG%. 2) Play Bonzi. I like JVG, but along with the Rafer situation, this backcourt rotation is one of the most perplexing things I have ever seen. We practiced Head all season long, who is one of the best 3 point shooters in the league, only to abandon him because we are worried about size in the backcourt 10 games from the end of the season. Shouldn't we have worried about backcourt size in game 10... or game 30... or even 60? The league didn't get taller as the season went on. And why are we worried about size when we have Bonzi Wells? We sold our soul by bringing in Bonzi, so why not play him in our decent to He*l? He was deadly against the Spurs and offers good passing, and post play. Instead we go with Snyder, who apparently is a point guard (see #1 above). There may not be a perfect solution, but we seem to be COMPLETELY lost with the backcourt in a time that it is most important. 3) Get Battier into the offense again. Here are a few stats: Last 10 games - 8.0 points on 2.9 of 6.3 shots Last 10 games w/o Yao - 10.7 points on 3.5 of 7.6 shots High stat in Last 10 games - 3 FG, 9 FG attempts, 11 points High stat in Last 10 games w/o Yao - 6 FG, 15 FG attempts, 16 points 12 or more points in Last 10 games - 0 times 12 or more points in Last 10 games w/o Yao - 6 times We paid a heavy price for Battier, and the time for that trade to be judged is coming soon. Battier proved he was capable when Yao was out, and has faded into the background since his return. Battier needs to push his offensive game and prove his worth when it counts. 8 points on 3 FG made isn't going to cut it against playoff opponents. We'll lose without Battier or.... Rudy Gay. 4) Stretch the defense with Juwon. Like Battier, Juwon proved he could still produce in Yao's absence, and has since faded away. In this situation, the problem is different. Unlike Battier, who has voluntarily disappeared, Juwon has not been himself. Juwon is 10-40 on field goals over the last 6 games. I don't have any suggestions, but he is one more player who could be making shots instead of Rafer missing them. 5) Yao and McGrady must fock-ass. We saw it last night in overtime. Kobe made two in a row, and McGrady who knew his jumpshot was off went to the basket. Had he pulled up for a jumpshot and missed it would have been all over. Forget about the other nail biters in the forth quarter and the OT. This was the play that should stick in Tracy's mind. Hopefully, as Yao recovers from his leg injury, he will do what it takes as well. We can beat any team in the league but SA, Dallas and Phoenix with a less than perfect Yao and McGrady. To beat those guys in a series, it is going to take superhuman performances.
This makes no sense to me. If he's struggling, why would he be making those shots instead of Rafer? Juwan needs to watch the tapes and readjust his shot. And Luther didn't play because he was injured, I think. Not sure if it would have helped to play Bonzi in this game (when he's bound to be rusty) just to yank him out when Luther returns. JVG needs to decide soon whether he wants to commit to Snyder or Bonzi for the playoffs. He's not going to play both, and even one of them probably won't get more than 15-20 minutes a game.
Kobe Bryant is inhuman. If it was any other team I think we would have put them away but Bryant is all that he is hyped up to be. Thank god we're done with him for the year.
We don't put teams away because we lack depth....It's no secret why we're so good in the first and 3rd quarters and completely tank in the 4th. We have no bench. When the starters start coming out, our offense struggles.We have no back up PG, no true scorer off the bench. We need guys like Mcgrady and Alston to play 40 minutes per game. It's ridiculous. We should really try something different. BONZI please.
1) That's not something to be worried about. If the shot is open he must take it. I know he was off last night, but every time he shot it I liked the fact that it was a nice open look. I've seen guys pass up too many open shots only to result in a 24sec violation or a near impossible shot attempt. 2) Head had a shoulder injury, JVG wouldn't sit him the entire game because of a size mismatch, beside John Lucas III had some time, and he's 4 inches smaller. 3) True, I would like for us to give him a few post-ups every game. His little hook is money. 4) Juwan is gonna make his shots, all he did was offset that streak he had of not missing shots. They call it law of averages. 5) Fock-ass!!??
I couldn't disagree any more. It's like the anti-me wrote that message. Juwan needs to shoot better right now, we don't need to set him up. Bonzi is worthless, just forget about him. Rafer won the game last night with that 3 and those FTs, we would have lost if someone had told him not to shoot. Battier is fine, he's not a true offensive option anyway - he gets his points within the normal flow, no need to interrupt your offense. Yao & Mac are focused.
Yes, TMac must focus. But it would help if they could get him some easier shots! Post him up, run some more plays for him. Don't force him to bring the ball up and create his own shot from the top everytime, those are low percentage shots.
I'm right. In the most playoff-like game of the year, Rafer is 1-6 on 3 pointers and he attempts the game tying/winning shot. Of course, we lost. Rafer's shooting is going to become a much bigger issue in the playoffs since games will be getting closer. The more often he has the green light to try the game winning shot, the more the Rockets are going to lose.
we need a more aggressive tmac than this one today even if alston continues to miss 3 pters. And please dont pass to him when the game is on the line for a go ahead or lose 3 pter attempt.
Is that possible for Rockets to set up a fans think tank? I know those coaches, managers are professionals, but that does not mean fans's idea make no sense. Players, coaches, managers got to listen to what fans think about, they may find useful information to improve games.
I agree one hundred percent with the Battier thing. I would love to see him feeding Yao in the post and see Yao kicking it back to him for the open three.
