How to do this? I guess I'll start with some player comments. First of all, Eddie Griffin. This seemed to be a VERY reproduceable(?) game for him, and as a 19 year old, he had 17 points, 8 boards, 3 blocks, and shot over 50%. Most of his buckets came on the baseline, with the exception of a pair of triples. Slowly, his offensive role is being morphed into what has the appearance of what could be the go-to guy. I thought the offense ran best when Eddie got the ball on the elbow or the free throw line, and then the rest of the team cut. Moochie is very effective when he's cutting to the basket without the ball. He managed 8 boards, without an offensive rebound. I'd rather the guards get the offensive board, and have Eddie back. Eddie got some high post action. His turnaround didn't fall, but this is really the first game he got to use it at all. He can hit that shot. Interesting stat-The Lakers scored 32 in the 2nd quarter, in which Eddie did not play. I'll talk about defense later. Cuttino Mobley. This guy is hurting. He was limping the whole game, and was doing way too much. Managed 18 points, had to chase Kobe, grabbed 8 boards, blocked 2 shots, 7 assists, and a steal. He shot 2-17, but he was taking shots he usually hits, and somehow scored. I think if Steve was playing, Cat would've sat. Kobe shot 7-17, and only got 2 FT attempts, and Cuttino deserves credit for that. He played with heart, though not well, which is more than can be said for some of his teammates. I thought Moochie turned a corner vs. GS. He wasn't dribble dribble dribbling, and was going to the hoop. Today, he led to stagnant offense. Moochie was flat out terrible. Kevin Willis is becoming hurtful to the team. Dropped more passes, and completely disrupts any offensive flow. He's basically a giant Moochie Norris. It should be noted that he and Griffin do not mesh well at all. Griffin, like the rest of the team has to stand around and watch when he gets the ball. What in the world is wrong with our defense?!?! Moochie Norris deserves a large part of the fault for this. Hunter, Fisher, and all other guards got right inside the defense, or shot over him at the 3 point line. Once inside, Griffin and Cato were forced to help, which left the team vulnerable and out of position. When that happens, the opposition can rain open 3s, and the Lakers hit them. Our team defense sucks. Part of the problem is the lack of continuity, and the youth, so communication, rotation, and defensive assignments often get confused. Griffin was forced to help way too often, and therefore often got burned. He got bullied down low by Samaki Walker (I've been impressed with him--he's added some game this summer), but was only on him when the defense was broken down, as often as it was. THIRTY ONE ASSISTS. That's more assists by the Lakers, than the Rockets had field goals. That is pathetic. On a final note, Collier looked ok. He spread the floor, and hit the 18 footer he took. He was pretty solid inside, and played unselfishly. Two things were ugly-his first FT attempt, and those high black socks.
This was a very ugly game by the Rockets. The defense was horrible and the offense was horrible as well. And it got worse when the bench came in. Tierre Brown was making stupid plays and turning the ball over and Tmo was Tmo, that is, he was horrible as usual. I have seen enough of Tmo. He doesn't need to get anymore meaningful minutes. Willis is sucking too these days. One key reason why the Rockets looked so bad tonight was the offense was totally dominated by one on one play. No passing, no flow, it was hard to watch. This team has no real offensive scheme whatsoever. When Steve is in there, it looks better because he is the best creator on the team. Without Steve running this team, this team has no chance. Another solid game by Eddie. He got down with foul trouble in the 2nd, and ironically that's when the Rockets went south.
http://www.clutchcity.net/game_boxscore.cfm?gameID=195 And just 3 turnovers forced by the Rockets.... <I>three.</I> The whole game. That's an assist-to-turnover ratio for the Lakers of 10.3 .... unbelievable. Also look at the bench differentials.... not pretty.
The bench was totally inept out there tonight for the Rockets, especially in the second quarter. Tierre Brown needs to go back on the IR or something when Francise is fully back. Moochie, except for tonight, is playing better and not dribbling as much. As for Tmo....... HE SUCKS!!!! Which has been said more than once around here.
Someone said the other day that TMo is not a three-point shooter, and they were right. He looks a lot better in between the bucket and feeding off of offensive putbacks and slashing to the lane. I really payed attention to him tonight, and he looked a lot better hitting that one handed 10-footer than shooting threes off of the back of his feet. He is definitely more of a rebounder/defensive player than a shooter. I hope Rudy starts getting him closer to the bucket, rather than sitting him out on the 3-point line waiting for passes so he can brick the three, similar to the days Quitten was here.
Regarding Moochie's D - he just does not ever contest jumpers. Any PG that can hit open J's puts on a shooting exhibition when Mooch guards em. Is it laziness or pure ignorance? Even NBDL players can drain the open looks Mooch offers up the opposing PG's.
I noticed that our big men (mostly just Cato and Willis) did an allright job when their man had the ball ( they didnt do a great job but i'll take it) but as soon as a man was beaten on the parimater, they would either rotate over too late, with no effort, or not at all. This is why our interior defense was so bad.
And it doesn't help when you have Moochie standing at free throw line giving Kobe, Hunter, and Fisher open three's.
Please shorten your sig Fade...maybe cut it down to 3 or 4 quotes? It would be greatly appreciated... -BGM Sig Police
The offensive production of our centes are so low, it is now time that we take a good look at Collier. I know he is big and slow but so is Cato who is also two left-footed. The ability of Collier to hit those jumpers plus being a wide body may be a bonus we cannot do without at this time. I know there is a strong voice to have Griffin get some center minutes but the trade off may be to have Walt get less minutes. The team is also doing a lousy job of advancing the ball with the pass. There are many times when EG beat his man down or has a step on him and we do not pass to him. That early in the offense does not mean that he is going to take a shot but it could result in him sucking in some attention and then we go from there. Also with our rebounding improvement, the guards like Cat and Francis should stay out of the low post, more and more to improve the chances for fast breaks.
