Have the Rockets ever had a good last play this year?

This is where I think the coach should earn his money. This is where you KNOW the coach is behind the action and if he's anywhere near competent, he has a good diagram ready. I really like Adelman and I have defended him on other choices, but this is indefensible. Have we EVER had a good last play this year? I think back, and all the clutch shots were basically "get the ball to Yao and pray". Against Minny that worked. Against Portland it worked too, even though the ball was given to Yao in a near-impossible position and it was a near-miracle that he made that 15-footer while being hacked and I'm only thinking about these last plays because WE ACTUALLY GOT A SCORE ON THOSE, so I'm 100% sure there have been other instances of failure like the Wizards game today.

Today was just the boiling point. You give it to Yao with 3 seconds on the clock and don't even bother to ISO him so at least he only has ONE guy on him. Instead, Battier passed the ball so close that there was an instant double and Artest was still on the same f****** side! (along with his defender) Really, was the best shot we could get a fading jumpshot from Yao with two guys on him and one guy rushing forward? I don't even blame him for missing, he was put in a f****** impossible situation. 2 seconds left, everyone on the court knows he's putting it up. You could argue inside-out, but with 8 seconds on the clock? yeah ok, unless Ricky A has a different definition of time then the rest of us, it does NOT take 8 seconds for Yao to get position, then the pass and then the kickout for the jumpshot.

I mean think of the alternatives! This is supposed to be a motion offense, and if we can't implement that on a SHOT WE NEED TO WIN THE GAME...

Hell, I'm a nobody, an armchair GM and I was even thinking up ideas before Yao shot the ball...yessh yessh yessh.

Battier inbounds the ball to Artest, cuts to the basket after Yao sets a flare pick on the side. Artest dumps it into Battier, score.

Yao on the high post, McGrady cuts through the basket area, Battier inbounds to Alston, Artest sets a flare pick as McGrady is running to the other side and McGrady should get an open 20-footer. I'd say score, but judging by the rest of the game, that's like a 60% score.

Battier inbounds the ball to Artest. Yao sets the high pick and roll, McGrady and Alston run around on the other side of the court, Battier sets himself on the corner. Artest either takes the three or dumps it to a penetrating Yao OR as a last resort, passes it to Battier for the three.

I mean, come on, it's not that hard. I'm not saying these would work 100%, but if Rick Adelman can only come up with "dump to Yao" with the weapons on this team and I can come up with like 3 different alternatives...*******, something is wrong.

We're left with a couple of truths we have to swallow about our coach, each one unpleasant in their own way.

Either a) Adelman is a complete r****d at diagrammed plays, which just spells failure in the playoffs and thankfully, just some games in the regular season.
b) The players are not listening to Adelman at all and running their own plays which spells failure in the regular season and playoffs.
c) Adelman is letting the players play without a diagrammed plan, something I could see his "laissez-faire" attitude embracing. That should be grounds for a firing if this is true (I doubt it, but the way things looked...)
d) The Yao Ming shot resulted from a broken play, which means a), because it was poorly planned but also means b) at the same time because either Adelman has no contingency plans or players just panic and give it to Yao.

I have to say however, the blame doesn't just lie on him. What I saw from the starters was sickening especially Yao and Mac. At one point it was just comical, especially Yao. They'd repost Yao like three times and he'd refuse to shoot. It was like he was scared that he'd be the one responsible for the loss. If this is how the "Big Three" respond to pressure, then wow, might as well just give up already.

 

Lol, actually, I kinda limited it to this year since I also remembered that...but also because I kinda gave some slack to Adelman since he was getting used to the roster and all that. But it seems to be regressing for some reason...despite his increased familiarity with the team...this year, I really can't think of one good last play. Maybe something is slipping my mind, but really, I dread last plays now. Every time, the Rockets either get a bad shot to roll in or the bad shot does what it's supposed to do and clunks out of the basket.

 

A fine last play...

7'6 man fading away from about 18 feet out, two guys on him with 3 seconds left.

Even if that goes in, when you look back, that has to have been the most inefficient shot the Rockets could have gotten from that last play. Considering how cold Yao was on his jumpshots just makes it worse. I'd have been more comfortable with a contested three by Artest, something the Rockets had right from the beginning of the play. Hell, pretty much ANYTHING would be better then that shot.

 

Battier's man was right there, since Battier passed the ball by about 5 inches to Yao. Yao was 2-11 on jumpshots this game. It may not have been 18 feet but it sure as hell wasn't 5 feet either...his feet were out of the paint and Yahoo pegs it around 12-13 feet away and he was fading away. That's just a poor shot in my opinion.

I have to agree with the rest of your post though. I don't think I've ever seen a game like this where the entire team just plain sucked.

 

I mentioned that in my post, but I don't consider that a good play. Are you really going to count on Yao Ming making tough fade away jumpshots while getting fouled on the arm? If the Rockets could, they wouldn't need a coach.