http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/03/rockets_win_but_will_they_lear.html There have been times when Rick Adelman has been patient, understanding even as the Rockets went through the rocky times of revolving lineups and incredible inconsistency. There have been stretches that he maintained perspective, knowing that the Rockets were winning, keeping themselves in the thick of the tight Western Conference playoff race. Then Friday, they beat the Bobcats, which is not an automatic 'W' these days. Ron Artest hit a big jumper and blocked the Bobcats' final shot. Yao Ming nailed a key 3-pointer. The Rockets had won three of the first four games in their five-game week, winning twice on the road. They have won 12 of 15 games since their rock-bottom loss in Milwaukee, ending Tracy McGrady's season. Adelman, however, had issues that he did not leave the postgame locker room without addressing. Before a question was asked, in his nightly opening statement, Adelman skipped past the late blocked shots or long jumpers and went right to what was wrong. "We were just very fortunate to get that win," Adelman said. "We had it in control and we made three straight mistakes. They had a chance to win it. Fortunately, we were able to pull it out." The playoffs are a little more than a month away. Close games decide playoff series. Give one away, as the Rockets nearly did again on Friday, and another season ends before the second round. The Rockets head into Saturday's game against the Spurs trailing San Antonio by a game-and-a-half for the division lead and the second seed. There is still a long way to go to determine the playoff order, but the eight Western Conference teams seem certain. Ninth-place Phoenix trails Dallas by six games. As much as the remaining 15 games will be about playoff positioning and the pursuit of home-court advantage, for the Rockets they are about honing the way they do things, especially at the end of games. They are about Aaron Brooks running the offense, about Ron Artest getting under control and about Yao Ming getting the ball closer than 25 feet from the basket. "It's still our goal, to learn how to finish games," Brooks said. "It sounds like a broken record, but yeah, that's it." With the playoffs looming, Adelman did not let them leave the locker room without hearing it. "I told the team, if you're going to get to the playoffs and have any chance to succeed, we can't continue to make these mistakes," Adelman said. "We've been making them. You can call it youth, but youth's over with. We have 15 games left; we can't continue to do that."
How is playin the bobcats an automatic win?? After Utah, they were probably the hottest team in the nba having won 6 in a row...they lost IN San Antonio which is a tough win for the bobcats regardless but they are still a hot team They are trying to make the playoffs which is extra motivation for them, but the rockets played good to overcome them
I doubt the Rockets learn until they get a new wrinkle in the offense that allows them to get the ball into Yao with enough weakside movement to occupy the defenders and slow down the help D.
RA is pointing out to the team of what they must do in order to play through the playoffs. The silly mistakes are what will doom the team if they don't play smart down the streaches in games. RA can only coach them he can not play the games for them. I hope the young guys can get over being that as an excuse because they have played enough to undersand what it takes to win games. GO ROCKETS!!
It's not about age, it's all about mentality and skillset. Ron will always make mistake and bonehead play and sometimes lose focus, AB never be a pg who can run offense. Battier will not make mistake. That's the nature.
