Down three, with 29 seconds left. Why didn't the Rockets play defense? Why did they foul? How can any team be so stupid? If they had gotten a stop, they would have had five seconds left to get a three-point shot off. Instead, they only fouled the Suns' best free throw shooter. What a pathetic display of basketball by the Rockets tonight. Oh, and how about fouling Outlaw HARD occasionally? Instead of giving the guy constant layups and dunks, they could have sent him to the line where he shoots a miserable 43 percent. Hack-an-Outlaw! Why not? The Rockets gave the Suns a late Christmas gift tonight. Now they are guaranteed to be at least 11 games under .500 by the new year. Nice job Houston. You managed to go 1-17 without Steve.
ZRB, I think that's poor coaching, not stupidity by the players. I can remember being down 3 against the Spurs (the game in San Antonio) earlier this year with 30 seconds left, and doing the same thing. If they throw it to a poor foul shooter, then you can foul, but you have a greater chance of them missing a shot and you having 5 seconds to shoot than you would the alternative. The best you could hope for fouling Marbury would be him making 1 of 2, then you would have to score, then another 1 of 2 trip by a guard, then another score... too many variables. Just play solid defense. I agree. BTW, Steve isn't the only factor in that 1-17 stretch... remember injuries to Mo, Rice, Oscar, Kenny, Cato, Walt, etc.
Not only did they foul, but they fouled Marbury. A bigger problem I have is their continuance of the isolation game. Rudy, for some reason, thinks that a player makign one good shot or good move means that the aformentioned player is on fire and will go to him the rest of the game. How many times did KT screw up after making a good shot, for instance. We are fortunate we are not exposed on this even more, as Mobley really may be one of the best, if not the best, one on one player in the league. Nonetheless, a play (other than the EG high pick and roll) would be nice once in a while. Its funny how the players cant even warm up properly. They do some crappy shooting, putz around on the layup drills for a few minutes, and then revert back to going one on one against each other (why not, thats all they do in the game!)
Come on guys, the Rockets hit a75% of their free throws and they win, simple as that. Oh, and TMO as a starter is bad. Oscar or Walt..but not Tmo. DD
I guess at the rate Marbury was going, he would have gotten a layup anyway. Might as well foul because defense and this team doesn't mix.
