I did enjoy seeing DMo out there. I hope he can produce down the stretch after he gets his wind. It seems like the Bucks were targeting him for physical play and he held his own. I would have like to seen KJ or Montrezl out there to see if they could get a few stops. Oh well, these next few games will be pivotal to see the least. Hopefully we can roll through the east coast and make it to #6.
We were not that bad when we had Papanikolaou weren't we? And bring back Prigioni, the Argentine fountain of youth.
This team is very reminiscent of the Texans last season under Kubiak. Just disappointment all around.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bev always up to something. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rockets?src=hash">#Rockets</a><a href="https://t.co/Yvi8r0A1UJ">https://t.co/Yvi8r0A1UJ</a></p>— PDS (@PatDStat) <a href="https://twitter.com/PatDStat/status/704484906353577984">March 1, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Rockets are 14-8 when they score 110. Incredibly, they have given up at least 110 25 times, losing all but six. <a href="https://t.co/EHHGM8e68A">https://t.co/EHHGM8e68A</a></p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/704521660251025408">March 1, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kept asking why the Rockets can't commit to defense. Harden: “It’s a question we’ve been asking all season. Frustrating, very frustrating.”</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/704531075758862336">March 1, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It is about commitment. JBB: "That’s a decision we have to make. Until we can consistently defend like we need to these nights will happen.”</p>— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/704531392521043968">March 1, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Until these players realize they just can't turn the defensive mentality on and off when they want instead of committing to it throughout the course of a game, their defense is going to continue to be the worst in the league.
Defense is about habit and even muscle memory. We're going to finish the season one of the worst defensive teams in the league, period. There's no fixing this many bad behaviors in 20 games.
You can start with this thing called a "defensive stance". Use it whenever your team doesn't have the ball. It tends to help.
128. The Bucks went 32-33-27-36 in four torrid quarters to reach a season-high 128 points. While the Rockets are not a pretty defensive team this season (they rank 25th on that side of the ball), the 128 points is the second-most the Rockets have allowed in regulation all season (they allowed 130 in San Antonio). 18/17/11. Nominally, O.J. Mayo started at point guard. Actually, Giannis Antetokounmpo ran the point for the vast majority of his 42 minutes on the court, orchestrating those season-high 128 points. 36. Points. Lots of points for Jabari, who scored the first four points of the game and just kept on with that. And he could have easily had 40, but on one fast-break he got a little excited on his way to 30 and missed a simple dunk, and on a different fast-break he went off the backboard for an alley-oop to Giannis. 5. Speaking of which, Jabari also tied his career high with five assists. A modest number, sure, but to do that on the same night that he obliterated his career high in points speaks to his all-of-a-sudden ubiquity. 6. Giannis assisted Jabari six times. After the game, Jabari said “That’s the kind of guy I want on my team the rest of my career.” 15-15. If there is one shooting guard in the NBA who is liable to go for 30 points on 11 field goal attempts and 15-15 from the line, it is certainly James Harden. But that line belonged to his opponent on this fine night. Amid the spring storm of Giannis and Jabari, Khris Middleton quietly played more minutes than anyone and delivered probably the most efficient game of anyone, too. In addition to canceling James Harden offensively, Middleton picked up five steals and was a general delight on both sides of the ball. 1. The Bucks held Harden to one field goal in the fourth quarter. That helped. .445. After missing the previous five games with a hyper-extended knee, Jerryd Bayless returned to play 35 minutes and hit 5-of-8 threes, raising his season percentage to .445, which is fifth-best in the NBA, is all. The Rockets shoot more threes than any team in the NBA (honestly, they shoot more threes than the Warriors), and the Bucks shoot fewer threes than any team in the NBA. For a while, the Rockets were trading threes for Bucks twos, and that is a hard way to survive, but fortunately Bayless has inexplicably turned into a premier long-range shooter this season. He played the entire fourth quarter and hit three massive threes in that final frame. 3-3. Rashad Vaughn has really been a rookie this year, but he pitched in confidently and competently and made 3-of-3, with that heavens-touching arced shot of his, because this was that type of night. 17-10. No team in the NBA has a more extreme home/road split than the Bucks, who improved to 17-10 in Milwaukee this season, compared to 8-25 on the road. Home court advantage is quite real, and nowhere is that more true this season than here in Milwaukee. http://www.nba.com/bucks/features/boeder-10-numbers-bucks-win-over-rockets The only mystery about why the Rockets have fallen from their contender expectations to fighting just to make the playoffs is why there is a mystery at all. For all that has been said and written about the Rockets issues, it has been as clear from the season opener as it was from the tip of Monday's game. They still have not committed to defense. They have some stretches. They change schemes to simplify things and put them in position to help against their shortcomings. But at some point, they have to make it their top priority and four months into the season, they still have not. They do often try to crank it up as they did when the Bucks scored on seven of their first eight possessions, failing only on a missed dunk. But by now, habits are ingrained. The Rockets do not often dig in to stop dribble penetration. When they force help to come over, they don't reliably make the second efforts to contest the shots created by the penetration. Against the Bucks, they started the game allowing almost anything the Bucks wanted. As poor as the Rockets defense has been this season, no team has shot as well as the Bucks' 59.3 percent. Only the Spurs scored more than Milwaukee's 128 points in four quarters and that game was an early, bench-clearing rout. On Monday, the Rockets were in the game until the final minute. They never could defend well enough to win. There should be no question about why they find themselves two games below .500. The Bucks were shorthanded with Michael Carter-Williams and Jon Henson out. The Rockets were in a rare game at full strength. Naturally, the Rockets bench was badly outplayed, as has become a frequent issue. The Bucks got 35 points from Greg Monroe, Jerryd and Rashad Vaughn. The Rockets second unit of Donatas Motiejunas, Corey Brewer, Ty Lawson, Terrence Jones and Jason Terry had 22 - 12 from Terry. The Rockets were outscored by 24 points in the 12 minutes Jones played and the 13 Brewer played. At the start of the second and fourth quarters, the Rockets could barely get into an offense against a team that is in no way strong defensively. Terry hit a few 3s to make that work on occasion, anyway, but the Rockets had five starters in double figures, three scoring 20 and could not keep pace. That was largely because of their defense, but it did not help that once again the second until was outplayed, this time by an injury-depleted bench. The Rockets were in no mood to celebrate Trevor Ariza's statistical milestone, but it said something about the loss and how disheartening it was that Ariza's career-best 11 assists were barely a footnote. When the Rockets were doing little right in the first half, he kept them in the game, providing time to right themselves. He had 20 points and eight rebounds to go with his assists. He set a tone of ball movement, with the Rockets getting assists on 30 of 41 field goals. It was all wasted by the defense, but Ariza had given the Rockets a chance. That was as easy to forget as a career-best in an area the Rockets have needed the help. http://www.chron.com/sports/rockets...akeaways-from-the-Rockets-loss-to-6862827.php
" 15-15. If there is one shooting guard in the NBA who is liable to go for 30 points on 11 field goal attempts and 15-15 from the line, it is certainly James Harden. But that line belonged to his opponent on this fine night. Amid the spring storm of Giannis and Jabari, Khris Middleton quietly played more minutes than anyone and delivered probably the most efficient game of anyone, too. In addition to canceling James Harden offensively, Middleton picked up five steals and was a general delight on both sides of the ball. 1. The Bucks held Harden to one field goal in the fourth quarter. That helped." Murdered.
This team both collectively and individually has no pride. Every post game it's the same lines regurgitated, "we have to do better, we have to figure it out". How about just making a stand and saying enough is enough? On an individual level these guys need to take it upon themselves to keep the offensive player in front of them. That's step 1, we give up penetration so easily that it leaves our defense scrambling. No team is good at defense when you consistently give up dribble penetration.
6. Giannis assisted Jabari six times. After the game, Jabari said “That’s the kind of guy I want on my team the rest of my career.” <3 that's so cute. And to think until last month there were too many people saying they couldn't play together.
we had defensive intensity in the first couple of games after the allstar break. that has disappeared since we played the spurs. and this is what bothers me the most. playoffs, make or miss, probably wont matter that much no more. and i dont even care if our pick goes to denver, or not.
Does JB not realise were almost out of time to turn it around. 5 games back of memphis and 3 games back of dallas
On this we agree. Firing McHale after 11 games only to throw a rookie coach into this mess was a ill-conceived and foolish move on the part of Morey. So I am NOT surprised at all at what we're seeing from this team. I live outside of Dallas and Morey's entire approach at team building is a lot like Mark Cuban's - which is to say that both are looking for the quick fix or some shortcut means to putting a team together. There is NO real long term plan much less a consistent basketball philosophy on how to build their respective teams save for the (endless and fruitless) pursuit of "star" players. Already, we see Morey gearing up to tilt at the Kevin Durant windmill come summer which will likely end up like his other pursuits of Bosh and the others. It makes great press but does nothing to further advance this team's fortunes. Meanwhile, nothing will be done to change the culture or add any leadership on this team. Morey will continue to reshuffle the deck (coaches & players) as this team and organization continues to lose ground in the West.
Foolish, absolutely; ill-conceived, no question about it, but I believe DM, for all his faults, did not make this move, nor approve of it. It was made by Les and DM could either do it or also hit the road. He choose to stay. Only Clutchfans praised the move. They were so hung up on their blind hatred of "milkhair" that they could not see the big picture. Most knowledgeable NBA fans elsewhere saw it for what it was...foolish and ill-conceived knee jerk reaction by the owner.
