Being in NC, I got to see a rare Rocket game on TV. That first quarter was a thing of beauty-- if you are a Mavwreck fan. IIRC, we were down by 19 at one point in the second quarter. Josh Howard and Antoine Wright were just slipping into open space and draining mid-range jumpers. Two questions... 1. Why can't the Rockets find scorers like that? Both those guys were mid- to late-first round picks. 2. What did the Rockets do to shut that down? Anything? or did the Wrecks just stop doing that which was working? Loved Brooks-- forced things too much in the first half. Liked Lowry-- he'll get better but he brought some toughness and aggression that was great to see. Still not crazy about Artest. Wasn't he the one who let Howard get off with 12 first quarter points? Hubie scolded him a couple of times for being lazy on transition defense. He can score some but other than the occasional jumper he reminds me of Barkley on offense. Ugh. Yao is a force. Scola is a blast. Wafer disappointed-- he looked like he was desperately trying to leave an impact instead of getting in the flow. Barry and Hayes did what? I'm glad we won. We were without McGrady but the Wrecks were without Jason Terry (legendary Rocket killer) and Dirk was a shadow of himself. I don't hear how the Mavwrecks score or play better without either of those two guys in their lineup...
He brings it ever game and the Mavericks was probably thinking about what he did to them before in Memphis. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sCAhOmxsnq8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sCAhOmxsnq8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
we do have players like that.....brooks? landry? id rather have finishers than starters....howard and wright can score all they want in the 1st quarter, but if they can't do crap in the 4th it doesn't matter
and their pt guard, the barea guy. he was killing out there, hitting shots after shots. we need to defend better and help out brooks if possible
Barry scored 5 points in 8 minutes. On 50% shooting (from 3 an overall). Barry, imo, is another reason Morey was comfortable with the trade. Yes, Lowry isn't a great 3 point shooter, but Barry has been shooting well since recovering from his hand injury, and will likely get more minutes with Rafer gone and T-Mac done. As for Wright and Howard. Well, Wright first. He came out with a lot of energy and started great, but as typical for him couldn't sustain it. He's as likely to score zero as he is 20+. Howard did exactly what Hubie said he would. He scored what, 12 in the first quarter, and finished with 21....and that's with the late three. Granted, it was horrible defense, as Artest was gambling too much (as usual) and going for steals/offensive rebounds which led to Howard open in space. If there's one thing to be concerned about, it remains PG defense and pick and roll defense. If we're having trouble with JJ Barea and Brandon Bass in the PnR, then we are going to be screwed when (if?) we meet a Paul/West, Williams/Milsap, Billups/Martin, etc. Yao is part of the problem there, as he doesn't have the lateral quickness to defend the guard, but it wasn't just Yao...when Barea was hitting open three after open three, Yao wasn't the big in the game. The only constant was there was a PG involved and Adelman made no in-game adjustment to try and fix. Also, you're analysis of Wafer was spot on....for this game. I don't know why he was pressing. He normally plays a lot better.
Well maybe... except that Brooks plays the 1 (ball-handling) and Landry plays the 4 (power position) while Howard and Wright play the 2 and 3 which are more "lane-filling" positions in transition basketball. It's not just about shooting skill, it's also about opportunity to shoot.
Good summary and analysis, Jayz750. The Mavs were simply on the fire in the first quarter. I must say Josh Howard has to be one of the worst teammates and players to coach there is. He's never met a shot he didn't like. Not only that but his shot selection is pretty poor too. He pulled up for a jumper on at least three fastbreak or 2-on-1 opportunities. That's terrible fundamental basketball and pretty much inexcusable.
