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The Rockets are playing incredible ball... but I have just two recent concerns.

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by SuperMarioBro, Mar 16, 2008.

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  1. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    Everything is roses in H-town right now, as it damn well should be; this is freaking amazing... But there are just a couple recent developments that concern me a little.

    1. I feel like Luis Scola has actually been LESS aggressive on offense since Yao's injury. Maybe it's smart the way he's playing (I can't argue with results), but it seems strange that almost all his points now are coming off of cuts, put backs, or open 12-footers. Before, Scola would make at least a couple pretty great post moves every game. Some spinning, twisting, triple-faking magic that usually got him a great look. I would think he would go to that more with Yao out, but he's actually done it less, for whatever reason. Has anyone else noticed this? Don't we need that post up presence now? Seems like Landry has actually done more in the post than Scola, but maybe I'm nuts.

    2. In each of the last three games, our Assist/FG ratio has been less than 50%. This is mostly a statistical observation, as I don't have a well enough trained sense of team basketball to tell if we really are moving less (sometimes it feels like it), but it's a little strange. At first I just attributed it to the fact that McGrady had to do a lot by himself since everyone else was shooting so poorly... but tonight, McGrady was shooting poorly, and everyone else was shooting so well, but we still had a low A/FG ratio. It could just be tougher defenses, as teams have really been clamping down to try to end the streak.

    Maybe this is nothing, but I just wanted to get it out there and see if anyone else noticed this. Do you think it's something we should be concerned about? Or am I just nit-picking?

    Either way, we are still playing incredible basketball.
     
    #1 SuperMarioBro, Mar 16, 2008
  2. GAY4WHO???

    GAY4WHO??? Member

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    we are willing ourselves to victory but i dont know if this will hold up in the playoffs...
    and yes the ball is not swinging as much as when yao first went down...those first five games the ball was continously swinging...right now there just isnt the same ball movement that we previously saw
     
    #2 GAY4WHO???, Mar 16, 2008
  3. GAY4WHO???

    GAY4WHO??? Member

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    and you can see this by the drop in assist and just by watching the games...we have had some moments like that one sequence where mark jackson broke it down and it showed the ball moving 5 times before it found an open head for a bankshot...thats what we need to make the defense rotate and keep moving the ball until the defense breaks
     
    #3 GAY4WHO???, Mar 16, 2008
  4. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    Scola has been picking up more fouls and has been attacking less on offense. Slow to decide on jumpshots etc.

    I think its a minor confidence problem that will go away soon.
     
    #4 Bandwagoner, Mar 16, 2008
  5. badgerfan

    badgerfan Member

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    There may be a little issue with fatigue here. There were some real offensive breakdowns in the last three games.
     
    #5 badgerfan, Mar 16, 2008
  6. JeopardE

    JeopardE Member

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    I'd say the second point is a nitpick, but I do agree about Scola. He's getting his points and he's contributing a lot on defense and rebounding, but I've been wondering for a while now why the Rockets don't try to establish him in the post for once. What can we say though ... they keep winning, so it's really, really hard to question Adelman's game plans.
     
    #6 JeopardE, Mar 16, 2008
  7. Nitro1118

    Nitro1118 Member

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    My biggest concern is the 1-7 type halves from T-Mac. He cannot constantly expect he will catch fire and go 9-12 in a half...he has to be more consistent quarter to quarter.
     
    #7 Nitro1118, Mar 16, 2008
  8. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Scola's role changed when Yao went out...

    No longer are teams packing in on Yao and opening up the elbow jumper.....he has to make his baskets on the wings now.

    And he is playing great.

    DD
     
    #8 DaDakota, Mar 16, 2008
  9. codell

    codell Member

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    Scola scoring mostly off the PnR is by design. They are using him as the picker alot. Posting him up doesn't help setup our offense because he would not see very many double teams.
     
    #9 codell, Mar 16, 2008
  10. JeopardE

    JeopardE Member

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    True, but there have been times when opposing teams switch on the PnR recently and the Rockets looked like they needed some kind of inside presence badly. Those are the times when I wonder ... you've gone 4 minutes without a field goal, why not put Scola on the low block and let him go to work?
     
    #10 JeopardE, Mar 16, 2008
  11. t_mac1

    t_mac1 Member

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    CARL LANDRY

    when will people understand our offensive struggles came when he went down.
     
    #11 t_mac1, Mar 16, 2008
  12. saleem

    saleem Member

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    Scola's main strength is his low post scoring.He has gotten away from it which does concern me.It's true he won't command double teams but he still can do some damage in the low post. I was encouraged that he got 5-7 from the free throw line tonight,he could have done more if he hadn't gotten into foul trouble which remains a problem for him and the team. Jump shooting isn't his strength,that's why he still hesitates to take them sometimes, although at times he does make some of them.
     
    #12 saleem, Mar 16, 2008
  13. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    I somewhat agree with this (although it really started a couple games AFTER he went down). The energy and intelligence he brings us on offense is very valuable.

    Also, I think it has something to do with the fact that our last few opponents have been extra motivated on defense. People are dying to end this streak.

    So I still believe we'll get out of that lull before too long... You gotta love, though, that we can slump on offense for four straight games, and win all four of them, haha.
     
    #13 SuperMarioBro, Mar 16, 2008
  14. ColdspringX

    ColdspringX Member

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    I really really hope thats what all it is, nothing else ... I m concerned of our offense too.
     
    #14 ColdspringX, Mar 16, 2008
  15. SuperStar

    SuperStar Member

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    Missing Carl landry is like missing 5-6 assist per game! Tmac does a great job of finding him and he does a great job of finishing.
     
    #15 SuperStar, Mar 16, 2008
  16. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    At the same time, our offense shouldn't depend so heavily on someone coming off the bench.

    Oh well, unless it continues for another few games, I'm willing to dismiss it as a slump resulting from some temporary external factors.
     
    #16 SuperMarioBro, Mar 16, 2008
  17. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    It's also worth pointing out that while our offense started lagging, our defense stepped up.
     
    #17 SuperMarioBro, Mar 16, 2008
  18. ferrarif1286

    ferrarif1286 Member

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    Rox are winning with team effort. Every night someone steps up, today its rafer and bobby jackson's big threes. Tmac isn't shooting very well until 4th quarter. Before that its all battier guarding kobe, everyone else hustling, role players picking up the offense, and Skip To Ma Louuuu!!! with this type of team work and spirit, it'll be hard to be defeated.
     
    #18 ferrarif1286, Mar 16, 2008
  19. t_mac1

    t_mac1 Member

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    again, when our guards drive, esp. tmac, hayes/deke is all he sees. remember, we could have played scola AND landry at the same time -> no offensive liabilities.

    without him, there is ALWAYS one offensive liability on the court. that's the big difference.

    i'm not saying landry is the end-all-be-all, but he gives the guards another option as a finisher (our best finisher).

    plus, he gets a lot of offensive rebounds AND finishes those, instead of passing those out.
     
    #19 t_mac1, Mar 16, 2008
  20. hooroo

    hooroo Member

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    give some of hayes's minutes to harris in the meantime
     
    #20 hooroo, Mar 16, 2008
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