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What's the story behind 'We played with energy' after wins, 'We didn't play with energy' after losse

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Tuk88, Feb 23, 2015.

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  1. Tuk88

    Tuk88 Contributing Member

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    Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see Harden doesn't put the effort in his off-the-ball defense and that it has little to do with how much he handles the rock. I added Curry (and Paul) for comparison, and no one handles the ball more than them for their teams. It's not even close as far as comparing effort. There is either something up with Harden's conditioning/asthma, or his mindset. I would certainly assume he's not late-night partying in between games like he used to.

    For some reason, in Game 2 the Rockets starters were below their season average in game speed, and well below their playoff average. What is up with that? They certainly put in enough energy in Game 1 to win though.

    j@amc, looks like those stats for Game 1 weren't complete, Harden has yet to hit a 4 all season. That means his energy actually waned at the end.


    Game #2

    Distance: Warriors 16.66 > Rockets 16.26; UFGA: Warriors 37 > Rockets 28
    Average team speed: Clippers 4.16, Rockets 4.06

    Prigioni - 4.9 (-10)
    Terry - 4.32 (+12)
    Brewer - 4.42 (-23)
    Jones - 4.3 (+10)
    Ariza - 4.1 (+2)
    Howard - 3.91 (+4)
    Smith - 3.68 (-9)
    Harden - 3.66 (+12)

    Curry - 4.39


    Game #1

    Distance: Rockets 17.08 > Warriors 17.04; UFGA: Rockets 42 = Warriors 42
    Average team speed: Rockets 4.27, Clippers 4.26

    Prigioni - 4.98 (+10)
    Terry - 4.54 (-8)
    Capela - 4.47 (-1)
    Brewer - 4.37 (-5)
    Jones - 4.32 (-5)
    Ariza - 4.24 (+1)
    Smith - 4.17 (-5)
    Harden - 3.98 (-3)
    Howard - 3.85 (-4)

    Curry - 4.57


    Game #7

    Distance: Clippers 16.75 > Rockets 16.65; UFGA: Clippers 47 > Rockets 35
    Average team speed: Clippers 4.19, Rockets 4.16

    Prigioni - 4.82 (+20)
    Terry - 4.45 (-5)
    Brewer - 4.44 (+11)
    Jones - 4.15 (+16)
    Ariza - 4.09 (+6)
    Smith - 4.01 (-4)
    Howard - 3.94 (+15)
    Harden - 3.77 (+12)

    Paul - 4.1
     
    #161 Tuk88, May 23, 2015
    Last edited: May 23, 2015
  2. Tuk88

    Tuk88 Contributing Member

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    Game #3

    The Warriors ran like it was Game 7, by far more than any game the Rockets played all year. I give a lot of credit to Kerr for instilling that in their team. Harden and Smith did not bring it defensively. IMO the #1 need for the Rockets is a playmaking point guard so Harden has no excuses not to play with defensive intensity and focus - no team can make up for his lack of defensive effort.

    Distance: Warriors 17.22 > Rockets 16.54; UFGA: Clippers 41 > Rockets 35
    Average team speed: Clippers 4.30, Rockets 4.13

    Prigioni - 4.77 (-6)
    Terry - 4.49 (-21)
    Johnson - 4.45 (-8)
    Brewer - 4.16 (-16)
    Jones - 4.29 (-20)
    Ariza - 4.17 (-29)
    Harden - 3.99 (-31)
    Smith - 3.88 (-15)
    Howard - 3.68 (-16)

    Curry - 4.7
    Thompson - 4.44
     
    #162 Tuk88, May 24, 2015
  3. Tuk88

    Tuk88 Contributing Member

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    Game #4

    The Warriors still outran us noticeably and one stat stands out: 49 UFGA for the Warriors vs 32 for the Rockets. We simply give them too many open looks. Again, unless things change, we are going to get blown out in Game #5. The one glimmer of hope - Harden hit a 4 for the first time this season - maybe he actually went to bed at a decent hour and was fully rested this time. If this keeps up, the sky's the limit.

    Distance: Warriors 17.29 > Rockets 16.97; UFGA: Warriors 49 > Rockets 32
    Average team speed: Clippers 4.32, Rockets 4.24

    Prigioni - 4.93 (+3)
    Terry - 4.59 (+11)
    Johnson - 4.45 (-8)
    Brewer - 4.51 (-1)
    Jones - 4.17 (-4)
    Ariza - 4.14 (+5)
    Harden - 4.07 (+22)
    Smith - 4 (+15)
    Howard - 3.86 (+19)
     
    #163 Tuk88, May 26, 2015
  4. Zergling

    Zergling Member

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    So the Rockets won by double digits despite the Warriors hitting 20 threes and whatever distance/speed stats you continue to regurgitate in this thread.

    Data + Context = Information

    You've given us a lot of data basically without any context. Useless
     
    #164 Zergling, May 26, 2015
  5. banzai

    banzai Contributing Member

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    So funny,was watching a game vs. the Bulls in 95 on youtube and whorrell was talking about how the Rockets were known as a talented team but did not play hard every night. So funny the similarities.
     
    #165 banzai, May 27, 2015
  6. banzai

    banzai Contributing Member

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    James drives and takes contact A LOT. That's tiring. Curry is 1 a point guard and 2 a jump shooter and doesn't take contact... unless you blow on the back of his head. James exerts more energy than Curry. He has to conserve some for the scoring... since no one else is really a scorer. The only other automatic we had is in suit.
     
    #166 banzai, May 27, 2015
  7. PJ86

    PJ86 Member

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    The story is simple: when we bring the energy, we are a good team and actually great when everything falls for us since we thrive off of made baskets more than our defense. When we don't play with energy, we miss shots and things start to snowball from there. The crucial aspect is we let our offense dictate our defense just like last year. We are simply more talented than last year, but our lack of defensive focus is hurting us. We won game 4 with offense, definitely not defense.
     
    #167 PJ86, May 27, 2015
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