We have a team whose starting bigs don't set decent screens. We have a team which our bigs constantly blow layups and dunks. We have a team whose starting PF doesn't rebound. We have a team in which opposing defenses collapse on our backcourt because it doesn't respect our front line. We have a team that has a hard time making outside shots. We have a team that gets dominated on the glass whenever Asik is on the bench. We have a team that's near the top of the league in turnovers committed. We have a team whose coaches are totally oblivious to matchups with the opposing players.......... Yet somehow, we won half our games........ There has to be a reason for that........ I think it's Lin's and Asik's defensive play that has been most responsible for that. Along with Harden's offensive play, in spite of poor shooting and the lack of screen help.
I will wish his contract was only one year if he's utilized on offense the way he's been utilized. I now know why Kyle Lowry wanted out of here.
Kyle Lowry flourished here as did the other Point Guard who tookover when he got hurt. One got a new big contract and the other netted a guaranteed lottery pick. Lin on the other hand....
I agree the Lin criticism gets ridiculous, but as another poster said, let them and they will move on to the next game. Lin has been the worst out of the starters shooting so far this season. Lin is also not a chucker, he rather make plays for other while he's not shooting good right now, because that would help us win more than him missing shots. Unfortunately I'm not sure what our offense is. Lin hardly runs any PNR, not sure why, but at the same time Asik is not the best finisher either. I'm glad Lin is handling the ball more than before though. We have so much to improve on, every player. Our defense also has been crappy.
What's funny is they I think got most of the 7 blocks early in the game. Then at half we are also only down 21-28 in rebounds ...then comes 3rd qtr., poof away, our great Asik. He tried, but could never get the tip, nor his hands on some passes. Man that second half in the rebounding dominance of SA killed us, of course, along with only Harden able to shoot tonight, and I guess our bk up PG TD had a better 9 shots than Lin. On the weaknesses that appeared tonight with Asik playing not so Asik like.... --Patterson taking 14 shots to get 10 points is playing weak! 0-3 from 3 was well not what we hoped for tonight, but does he really belong out there. Yes it stetches the D, but he is shooting (well now just under 36%)-prob.34.7% after tonight's game. He had several early plays where he put it right up for a slam, and then plays where I didn't even notice him around for a rebound, albeit, he did have 3 offensive boards...which probably came from the smart put backs I speak of above. (In sports illustrated battier said he'd welcome that shooting from even Kobe because in the interior the %s rise for any player-same philosophy here) --* The games where PP is shooting more than 13 shots, and is having a bad shooting game in the post fine. He missed a great hook shot/move early on in the first half, but this is the way I would want him playing if he is going to jack up 12 plus shots. He's had a few, or quite a few games outside of his 20 plus streak; where I questioned why he was shooting 15,17, etc. times. His 3pt % is ok, but a small sample size. Obviously he worked hard to add that to his game, but it makes him play even weaker at times. --I know Asik has eaten a lot of the rebounds this season, and Asik is playing incredible. Asik didn't tonight, and that is when our interior D shows it's weakness, especially against a team, as the Spurs.
again the only thing Lin did poorly tonight is shoot....2 for 9...THATS IT... if he had of hit 2 more shots he would have been what 45 %from the field....not much of a difference. And he would have had a decent half because really thats all he played....? whats the problem. He will knock those shots down....this team is winning a lot more games than anyone thought they would. Hey lets talk abour how bad asik was? OH wait, thats not Lin.....its idiotic.....
yuou guys talking about what this offense is...not sure what they are... Its the third higest scoring o in the NBA...what is the problem....talk about improving the defense....thats the problem.... have a top 3 d right now and they would win the title....
Aside from defense, I think you're wrong........... (Although his defense was still good last season. He did have better defensive players around him with the Knicks, and didn't have to do as much defensively.) His jump shot release is a lot slower this season. (What was his shooting coach doing?) His left hand is about the same. He plays not to commit turnovers, which is why he no longer gets to the FT line. His release is a lot slower now than before, and Lin senses the defenders flying at him. Wasn't even an issue last season. (Although he was open a lot more last season, because he got better screens.) I hope you're right, but I don't like the Rox' half-court system as currently constituted. It is not a point guard friendly system. I just hope the coaches realize that or the team gets a new coach whose system better matches the players.
Off topic, but... Does anyone think we can win all of the next 5 games? -Home vs. Dallas -Home vs. SA -Home vs. Washington -Home vs. Boston -Away vs. Toronto I think we can win atleast 4 of the 5.
Agree the other things he's doing is not as appreciated. But not being an offensive threat is also not good.
For his lack of rebounding and playing more like a SG than a PF, Patterson's biggest deficiency is lack of setting screens. It a major reason why he ends up shooting outside shots late in the shot clock. The opposing team will take the "PF" shooting jumpers all game long. What's frustrating about this Rockets team is their deficiencies are all fixable, yet the coaches don't seem to notice them. I personally think the coaching staff is the problem with this club.
It's pretty amazing isn't it. Our players have so much to develop and we still have won half our games. I do hope McHale comes back soon and fix our defense.
The Spurs bench is really awesome. Unselfish passing game with a incredible shooting efficiency. They've been consistently good, and their tough game against Miami is just an example of how oiled that bench is. That was one of the keys for the blow out. I think we would have lost this anyway, but probable the point difference would be less embarassing if their bench didn't overperform our bench, and even our starters. That being said, also, we had a very bad shooting night. OK, the Spurs' defense is good, however, did you notice how many open looks we've missed tonight? Lin, Parsons, Patterson, Morris, all of them missed open shots consistently. To miss that much of open shots is not directly related to the opposing defense, it is just an off night. I agree with torocan that we have this young team that will lack consistency and is likely to have some other nights like this one. However, I think that what people here are also mad of is that this loss was not only merit of Spurs defence and wonderful offense, but also due to our team performing way bellow average. If we have just had an average game, hitting some more of the open jumpers, maybe the game would have been closer by the end of 3rd quarter, and we would have lost by 10 points. That would be expected, acceptable, and probably we wouldn't be feeling that we could ask for much more from our team. I, personally, don't believe at all that our team is one to be beaten by 20-30 points by the Spurs. We could loose 4 out of 5 games against them right now, but I feel that the differential would have to be between 5-15 points. That's why I think that we have the right to be mad right now. Not for the loss, but for the way it came. About the players tonight: Lin: his biggest problem, in my vision, is lacking confidence, and I really don't believe it is lack of practicing his shot. If I had to guess, I would guess that he practices and hits a lot of them in practice actually. But he is clearly playing with some kind of fear, and if he starts the game missing 2 or 3 shots, he is never recovering again and then he has an awful game (like tonight's). You know what? I just wish he could forget about that and keep shooting, just like Harden did tonight. If I remember, Harden started missing several shots, but he persisted and then eventually they started to get in. Lin has to be less timid, even less reasonable, and try to insist being aggressive. Sometimes, it is like Lin is too reasonable and rational and stops shooting (and starts deferring) when he sees the first ones didn't go in. I wish to see more swagger, more belief that the next one is gone get in. Specially in the 1st quarter. You can see sometimes that he is on the corner, passively waiting. This, of course, can be due to coaching, however, the way he behaves in this kind of set up can make a huge difference. For now, sometimes he is almost hiding there, not being active to step a little bit to the side or just a little bit towards or away the ball, constantly positioning himself off the ball to get open to shoot or penetrate when the defense tries to reposition. He has to do that, show some aggressiveness off the ball, in the way he positions. If the coach tells him to be open in the corner, so be it, but make the most of it. Also, if he gets a screen and his defending man goes under, he has to shoot. No hesitation. That's what a point guard is supposed to do if he wants to keep defense honest. If he keeps shooting I'm sure eventually it will get in, specially if he make his 1st quarter more aggressive, and his confidence will improve. If by halftime he is still cold, ok then, stop trying so much, but I thin Lin is giving up on his game way too early. Currently, his hesitation when he are in a position to shoot from midrange is showing how shaken is his confidence. Harden: I just wish the team gave him the ball more when the difference came down to 8 points. Harden was hot, hitting jumpers and drawing faults, and suddenly the ball was not coming to him anymore. And not because of Spurs defense, but just because other rockets took the shots. Sometimes, we have to be smart to realize when someone is on a hot strike, and keep feeding him the ball. Harden, tonight, was the only player from our side who was having a not bad night. Parsons: His shot was off. Missed several open looks, layups and was not as good defensively as usual. His game was just missing tonight. He took the right shots, but almost none got in. The Spurs did a good job cutting his lines, and keeping him from geting to the rim. Once his jumper was not ok, it pretty much neutralized his game tonight. Patterson: another one with a very bad shooting night. His mid range jumper, that is usually money, was not tonight. He could not defend Duncan or Splitter, and did not cover the picks on Ginobili and Parker when it was on his side. Asik: well, an off night. Not much to do other than learn and get tougher. He has credit, but tonight I hope he realized that a center has to protect the ball high, and with his body. Several times he lost the ball or were not able to elevate to a dunk or layup because the defender struck the ball when he was holding it bellow his chest line. For me, his problem was not not trying to go for the dunk, but the way he prepares for that. He has to lear how to create space with is body and back to keep the ball away from the defender behind him, and to hold the ball high and firm to not get picked by the guy in front of him. But, let's face it, the Spurs had Duncan in a nice night, and Splitter is a center that is highly effective and smart (even being soft, and not dunking, he has a way of putting the ball in, by positioning well, pick'n rolling constantly). Even Smith was owned also by them. It was definitely not easy for our centers tonight. Bench: well, we were severely outplayed by they bench. Morris didn't add much, Douglas did not improve a bit what Lin was doing, and Smith was owned in the paint. Delfino hit some 3 pointers, but that was it. Their second unit were just too good for us. But hey, if they could almost beat the Heat, it was kind of expected that he could make our 2nd unit looks lame. Coach: honestly? Not much to do. If the players do not hit open jumpers, and the subs keep playing as bad as the starters, or even worse, it is really not on Sampson. Once the team had open jumpers and one-on-one situations near the basket, it was the players responsability to make them. Off course, our defense has been consistently bad. We re not able to defend the pick'n roll. The guards, either Lin and Douglas, are not keeping up, and the centers/forwards are not helping much blocking the opposing guards way. That is something Sampson is really lacking. Of course, the Spurs have a passing game that is very hard to defend. They can really get any defense off balance and make it collapse. However, we should have been able to make them do one extra pass. We were collapsing way too early. The thing I really didn't like is that he could have put Dmo way early. Well, overall, a game to remember and learn from. We are still promising, still 0.5, and still having a much nicer run than we thought at the beginning of the season. I still see a lot of upside in this team, and I foresee a very nice 2014-15 if we can keep the core together. Sorry for the long post.
The SA game is a lock loss. The Boston game will depend on how well we open ourselves to transition baskets. The remaining games are definitely winnable.
