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The Rockets have lost 4 of their last 6 games. What gives?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by CrashTheBoards, Dec 29, 2014.

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What's the problem?

  1. Poor FT shooting

    31 vote(s)
    12.5%

  2. Howard’s post ups

    27 vote(s)
    10.9%

  3. We shoot too many threes

    13 vote(s)
    5.2%

  4. Nobody looks to get the ball from Harden, only give it to him

    8 vote(s)
    3.2%

  5. Josh Smith

    37 vote(s)
    14.9%

  6. McHale

    49 vote(s)
    19.8%

  7. We don’t flop enough

    12 vote(s)
    4.8%

  8. We shoot too many threes

    9 vote(s)
    3.6%

  9. Not enough D-Mo post ups

    33 vote(s)
    13.3%

  10. Our role players (Ariza and Beverley) are too inconsistent

    29 vote(s)
    11.7%
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  1. ryandoc

    ryandoc Member

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    ...also factor in that we acquired 3 new players in the last week n half, on top of all that.
     
    #141 ryandoc, Jan 3, 2015
  2. CrashTheBoards

    CrashTheBoards Member

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    I will stick with we feast on bad teams and struggle vs good teams. Here is my post from the game thread:

    The Rockets vs. the top 5 teams in each conference:

    vs. Hawks- Loss
    vs. Wizards - Loss
    @ Warriors - Loss
    vs. Warriors - Loss
    vs. Blazers - Win
    @ Grizzlies - Loss (26 point blowout and both teams were healthy)
    vs Grizzlies - Win
    @ Grizzlies - Win
    vs Mavericks - Win     (harden clutched it)
    vs. Clippers - Loss (lost by 17)

    6/10 losses vs top teams. We beat Portland without Aldridge or Lopez, and the Grizzlies once in OT when Randolph was out and they were forced to guard Josh Smith with Vince Carter.

    I hope this changes before the playoffs where, you know, we will play a top team up to 7 times in every round.
     
    #142 CrashTheBoards, Jan 3, 2015
  3. ParaSolid

    ParaSolid Member

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    New starting line-up, Dwight is still rusty from sitting out a bunch of games, new rotation guys.

    Even without the above circumstances, teams go through ****ty times like this over the course of the season. What matters is how they get back on track. I'm pretty confident they'll bounce back.
     
    #143 ParaSolid, Jan 3, 2015
  4. NL Rocket

    NL Rocket Member

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    Howard has been a non-factor, Josh will never thrive under a coach that lets him do what he wants (that's in fact his #1 problem, doing too much), Morey does not understand that player turnover and roster changes have a serious effect on chemistry, Beverley has been figured out, Ariza will also not thrive under a coach that let's him shoot so much, Harden has been showing some bad defensive effort lately and this whole team has no identity since Howard came back. Before that, we were a hard working defensive team. Now we are a team that tries to outshoot the opponent against like last year. We are on our way out of the playoff picture soon and if by a miracle we make it, 1st round exit coming up.
     
    #144 NL Rocket, Jan 3, 2015
  5. CrashTheBoards

    CrashTheBoards Member

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    Comparing this team to last one number that sticks out:

    2014 FG% = 47.2
    2015 FG% =42.9

    Why are we shooting so poorly?
     
    #145 CrashTheBoards, Jan 3, 2015
  6. Pirytic

    Pirytic Member

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    Takes time to add new guys. A good move rarely looks good right away. The worse it is at the start the better it usually ends up. Not 1, not 2, not 3...
     
    #146 Pirytic, Jan 3, 2015
  7. CrashTheBoards

    CrashTheBoards Member

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    We are 27th if FG% this year. The teams below us:

    1) Hornets
    2) Pistons
    3) 76ers
     
    #147 CrashTheBoards, Jan 3, 2015
  8. CrashTheBoards

    CrashTheBoards Member

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    The easy answer is because we are taking more threes right? Except just on 2s:

    2014 2PT% =52.9
    2015 2PT% =48.9

    We are also averaging 3 more fouls per game and 6 less free throw attempts per game this season. Is Harden not getting the same calls he used to? Also, how are we averaging almost 1 less block per game?

    On a positive note, opponents only shoot 30.7% from three against us which is down almost 5% from last season. But they are attempting 2 less threes per game as well. This accounts for the very small drop in FG% against the Rockets, because teams are actually shooting slightly better from 2 against us this season. This could be because they are getting to the line slightly more (1.6 times to be exact).
     
    #148 CrashTheBoards, Jan 3, 2015
  9. CrashTheBoards

    CrashTheBoards Member

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    We have Dwight Howard and yet we are the 8th worst team at guarding the rim.

    Opponents make 17.7 shots against the Rockets within 5 feet which is the 8th most in the league. Their FG% is 60.3% within 5 feet which is also 8th worst. Here are the teams that give up more baskets within 5 feet:

    1) Celtics
    2) 76ers
    3) Lakers
    4) Suns
    5) Wolves
    6) Pelicans

    http://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!/oppshooting/?sort=25-29 ft. FGM&dir=1

    This things says the Rockets REALLY want teams to shoot 15-24 feet away from the basket.
     
    #149 CrashTheBoards, Jan 3, 2015
  10. Key

    Key Member

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    Well, the schedule got really tough, let's not forget that. When the PO time comes we only have to win 4 out of 7 against these teams. That said, rockets have to start preparing for PO basketball sometime soon, cause this team needs some tweaking.

    1. Widen the rotation in hopes of keeping guys fresh and preventing injuries, giving role players more practice for when they will be needed in certain matchups.

    2. Playing smarter half-court offence with less pull up threes in transition, more fundamental p&r, screens for cuts, post-uping the right people.

    3. Building the right habits, chemistry and accountability. Just bench the players who need to be benched in the games when they have to be benched. Benching is healthy when done for the right reasons.

    And seriously, give post-up touches to the right people...

    [​IMG]
     
    #150 Key, Jan 3, 2015
  11. RoxBeliever

    RoxBeliever Member

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    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Rockets are 6-6 in past dozen games and needed double-digit comebacks in four of those wins, three in overtime.</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/551229982627098624">January 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
    <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

    Our problems started way before we got Smith.

    He has exacerbated them however by not contributing anything positive.
     
    #151 RoxBeliever, Jan 3, 2015
  12. Normalus

    Normalus Member

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    Donatas was lost on defense today. He just try too much on help defense and AD with Cunningham took advantage of it couple of times from midrange.

    But Asik blowing by Howard and dunkin'....team looks so awful now, and there is no excuse
     
    #152 Normalus, Jan 3, 2015
  13. RoxBeliever

    RoxBeliever Member

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    Morey will do what he does best. Tinker with the line-up again by trade deadline. This team has sprung holes, a lot of them.
     
    #153 RoxBeliever, Jan 3, 2015
  14. Hwon

    Hwon Member

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    During the stretch with all the injuries the younger guys who were hungry for chances to play were bring a lot of energy and intensity to the team as a whole. The healthier more veteran line-up hasn't shown that intensity or hunger to play.
     
    #154 Hwon, Jan 3, 2015
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