I've done my own little analysis on why the Rockets break down. The two obvious things they do wrong in the 4th this season are turn it over and miss shots. Why? Confidence and poise go missing when T-Mac steps off the floor. Whenever he does, whether it be end of third or early 4th, the Rockets offense comes to a griding halt. The PGs just end up turning it over too much and then they come on this end and shoot bricks. Yao is in the game but he can never get the ball properly making his job ultimately tougher than it needs to be. The other team gets momentum and by the time T-Mac steps in, the Rockets have died and the other team has flourished. Now for whatever reason, T-Mac doesn't usually affect the game right away, often taking a little time. He doesn't be aggressive and drive it hard to the hoop. Instead he stills settles for one too many jumpers at the end and he's still in that "playmaker" mode until too late. The playmaker mode he was in saved the game this time though, he got our shooters some open looks, and they actually dropped them in. Solution? ...some how keep the poise. Keep control of the ball, slow the game down to Rockets pace, excecute on offense. The pace got too out of hand late in the game. T-Mac needs to drive to the hoop as well as create. Good thing he's got court vision. Just thank the Wizards for being as cold as the Rockets were.
Tmac may still be in a mini shooting slump but his sheer presence in the game makes the Rockets a better team. Face it, this team needs both Tmac and Yao. Without one of them, we won't go very far.
Actually, I believe the right answer is a stable 3rd option who can score. At the 4th quarter, the other team will always try to stuff the lane, double Yao and stop Tmac's drive, that opens up the outside, we just need a stable open shooter. Battier will not cut, he is always soft in clutch, Head can do the job once in a while as he makes a ton of mistakes when he has the ball---so he is not stable, needless to say Alston. The right person could be Bill, he needs more time to work on his TO and shoot. Novak...sign. Our biggest joy in the preseason now sticks to the bench.
You know, sometimes, teams make runs. Rockets make those, and the opposing team make those. It happens in the NBA, no sense creaming over it or piss your pants over it. Get League Pass and watch some other games for some perspective. I'm sick of people overreacting to everything.
I may be missing something here, and I know he "came through" at the end, but I find a lot of the offensive struggles seem to be when Luther is running the point. He shouldnt be doing it so much...with his 3 point shooting, he's really a more natural SG. He had a number of idiotic mistakes tonight before finally getting fouled on a three. Moreover, it is unexplainable why they stop going to Yao in teh 4th quarter. He'll make half of his shots, keep feeding him the ball. Shane Battier jacking up 3's with 20+ on teh shot clock...wtf?
the rox just need to watch tape of the spurs defense. if they have the right intensity, everything else will fall into place.
I agree your words on Head, he should be shooting instead of handling the ball. However, not giving Yao the ball is acceptable, Yao was heavily guarded and it was hard to give him the ball, there were open looks, it was just unlucky that our guys didn't hit them. I wish Novak can develop like Bill. He could be dead on in such circumstances.
Actually, if the Rockets learn to play 4th quarter defense the way they did tonight, they'll be winning a lot of games deep into the postseason. They went ice cold offensively for a long stretch there, but they effectively stifled Washington's run by completely denying any inside scoring and contesting jump shots. And mind you...Washington is one of the better offenses in this league -- they are known for scoring. I agree with the previous poster about Luther running the point ... it does seem to kill our offensive rhythm when he is handling the point. I believe JVG is letting Luther do it right now because he doesn't have the confidence in Spanoulis yet (although it looks like that will start to change as Spanoulis earns more playing time and continues to make the most of it). But it certainly has become a trend ... whenever both McGrady and Alston are on the bench, our offense pretty much stagnates. We also have trouble getting good shots when T-Mac is playing strictly SG rather than playmaking without Rafer in the game. So here's hoping that Spanoulis can continue to improve at this promising rate and eventually become a capable backup point for us.
Dude first of all I know teams make runs, and second of all I watch the Rockets through League Pass. I know runs happen to other teams. Every team has a game where they lose a lead in the 4th for a loss, for instance, tonight the Kings lost a HUGE lead against the Jazz and lost, but the only time teams make runs against the Rockets are in the 4th and that is the worst time possible to lose poise. The reason is directly related to T-Mac not being on the floor because no one else is poised enough to think for a second and see how to get Yao the damn ball. I'm not screaming or pissing my pants over it, but I do get kind of nervous when the Rockets can barely beat a team like the Wizards and have the same near-fatal problem every game. It's not going to cut it against a quality team (ex. Spurs game). We have a pretty easy schedule for the next few games the Rockets and Jeff Van Gundy have got to correct this crippling problem before it gets out of hand. Although the offense was terrible, the defense was good in the 4th quarter. The Rockets need to play more defense like that and find a way to excecute better as a team in the clutch offensively. I'm guessing only experience (and confidence) will do that. Only experienced teams (players) have poise.
Battier is money from the corner, or at least, he used to be. They left him wide open, and last year he was 43% from the corners. He was just as good during the World Basketball Championships. Battier started off 43.5% from behind the arc the first 4 games, but is down to 26% in the last 8. Battier is in a slump, but historically his corner shot is great, so hopefully he'll bust out soon. But Shane should shoot the open corner 3 in my opinion.
sounds like rotations and fatigue..... BTW it's the guards. But not trying to be a negative!!!! Just stating the facts, ma'am!
Bingo! They gamble on our perimeter shooters and our shooers suck. Novak is a solution and the only concern is whether he can make the shots under pressure. Anyway, give him a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let Novak punish them!!!!!!!!!!
4th quarter: Yao is tired and Tmac is not himself. When Tmac find the Tracy McGrady inside himself, Yao will not be as tired and Tmac will take over the 4th quarter at the same time.
Whenever Head mans the point, the ball suddenly stop going through Yao. It's not like Head shot the ball himself. It's just like the game suddenly not involve Yao on the O part. On the other hand, at the 4th quarter, Yao get really tired and cannot get good position around the post. He runs slower and has no strength to push back to a better position under the post. He's not strong enough to seal out his defender. Fatigue really kills Yao's efficiency at the 4th quarter. When the Rockets have trouble to score, I really hope JVG will substitute in Novak. But no, Pagette get play time when the dude cannot shoot a lick of 3 now a day.
The defense is not the problem then. When Yao cannot establish good position and Tmac keep missing jumpers, the team need someone else who can shoot the ball downtown. And we all know that person is Steve Novak. I don't know whose hand need to be broken in order to give Novak some playtime. Don't let it be Hayes, please. I'd trade Head's playtime in exchange for Novak's 3s.
