I'm proud of this team just like everybody else since they have been hustling, scrapping, fighting and really sent a message to the Lakers. That having said, we have not played smart except for some stretches in Game 1. Game 2 was far from good and I'll have the stats to back it up. Game 1: only 16 assists to 14 TOs, we gave away 12 offensive rebounds and lost the battle of the boards, 3PT shooting was atrocious, only 4 fast break points and 38 points in the paint to 50 by LA. We shot 47% from the field, 86% from the FT line which was better than LA. Conclusion: Looking at Game 1, we played pretty good defense to force LA out of their comfort zones leading to bad shots but gave away too much ground in the paint by not boxing out, letting them penetrate and getting offensive rebounds. On the offensive end there was not enough body movement nor ball movement, which lead to a lot of steals for LA with sloppy passing and lack of assists. The whole team worked hard but it was the individual performances that gave us the edge with Artest, Yao & Brooks on offense and Hayes & Battier on defense. Yao in particular was clutch with FT shooting and making outside shots while Brooks broke down the defense to give us the 4th quarter edge we need. Game 2 Negatives: Only 15 assists to 19 TOs, we gave away 14 offensive rebounds, had only 2 blocks to LA's 8 and missed 8 FTs for a lousy 72%. We shot almost 46% on FGs to LA's 50%, 37% from three to LA's 32% and had 12 offensive rebounds ourselves; lost the battle of the boards only by 1. Conclusion: Looking at game 2, we again showed the heart and hustle we needed. This time though the ball and body movement was almost non-existent. The assist to turnover ratio was terrible and again some really sloppy passing leading to fast break points. Gave away too much ground again in the paint losing the battle 34-44 points, their offensive rebounding killed us and we didn't do much to contain Kobe and Gasol. We did make up for their rebounding by getting some offensive boards ourselves, there was good penetration but not moving cost us dearly. We missed FTs and could not get a layup or anything close to the basket. Again individual performances kept us in the game but also contributed to the loss. Battier did not do as well as he did in Game 1 and was backing off way too much and didn't look quick enough. They should've at least put Artest on him or try to double-team. AB killed us with his chicken impression and again turning a blind eye to Yao. Yao didn't do a great job of sealing off his man but good enough to give him at least some touches every quarter. Lowry was 0-7, Scola missed a lot and Battier was again non-existent on offense. The guys that kept us in the game were Artest & Landry. What we need for game 3 is: - More ball movement --> swinging the ball from side to side with crisp passing, mainly to let Yao get in the position and also take advantage of what the defense gives them - Better boxing out --> Yao is getting held so he will never be really succesful and Ariza, Pau & Odom have a size advantage so we just need to be quicker and smarter. (Good example in game 2 was Scola waiting for the rebound while Ariza came from behind to snatch it away, that just cannot happen) - Better defense --> this involves double-teaming Kobe, getting back in transition and bodying up more to force LA out of their comfort zones like in Game 1 - EASY POINTS --> this to me was the most important thing coming into the playoffs and it still is. We need to run more, get something going quick and reward Yao for running on the break. Many times you see Lowry / AB speed up with Yao flashing in the middle but they are scared to pass. Wafer needs to get back to his running game like earlier this year. - Play with confidence --> I've seen a lot of times guys passing up shots which they could easily take. This goes mainly for AB and was again a problem in Game 2. He made the three late in the game from way out, yet passes up a wide open three to force a shot clock violation - watch the 24 second clock --> way too many forced shots at the end of the shot clock and also some bad decisions made forcing the violation. So they need to make a quick decision and run something and not pass it up with 2-3 secs to go. Yes, the Rockets have played hard but even there is some improvement needed in the foul area. I've not seen a single hard foul by the Rockets these playoffs, not one good hard playoff foul. Last year we committed only one: Shane on a dunk attempt by Millsap. It has nothing to do with being dirty, it's the playoffs so we better start acting like it. LA is fouling dirty, we are fouling like p*****s. This has something to do with the refs of course who are calling ticky-tack fouls on us but we cannot play scared. Play smart but not scared. Side-note: The rebounding stats for game 2 are deceiving because on at least 5-6 offensive boards LA went over the back and did not get called for it.
Almost all-inclusive analysis which left me only one to add that the Rockets must repick thier concentration as what they did in game 1. It just seemed to me that they played a little loosely in game 2 that Yao was involved in the foul trap by Gasol early in the first quarter and I can't remember how many turnovers made by the whole team especially in the 4th quarter. Besides the key to win lies in our bench as they really surprised me in the 2nd quarter in game 2.
very nice analysis. what rockets team gained in the firsrt two games, is confidence. Especially in Game 2, lakers brought their A game, yet rockets were able to keep with them until Ron was tossed in the 4th. Either rockets take them in 6 or streched to the Game 7, in which case pressures will be all on the fakers. This rocket team really make me proud. No matter how the remaining games played out. I consider this is a successful season. Go Rockets!
I think you are quite right in your analysis, it seemed to me that for game 2 there were no plan b for the Yao fronting/foul trouble. In the portland series it was clear that we were looking for yao the first 10 seconds and then swing the ball away primarily loooking for scola and then other, that plan was not executed in Los Angeles. When they found Yao was fronted they relied on one on one and 3pt shots, which is never good. I think for next game the strategy will be much better defined, i expect rick to give Scola and Landry the order to catch and shoot so they are not hesitant to shoot the ball from midrange.
good analysis! .. what's encouraging though too is watching these past two games, houston has shown the ability to adjust which I haven't seen often form previous postseason. hopefully that'll be the case all series and specially game 3. yao needs to stay out of foul trouble and ab needs to get him the ball somehow someway! thank goodness we dont hav eto worry about doug collins calling this game! lol
Nice post. Better passing for sure, Hayes mentioned this in an interview as something that needs to be improved. I agree more doubles of Kobe are needed, most guys don't want to double him but he can take over the game. I think we should double him in his hot zones near the basket when there is another defender in the area but not in open space. Let him take the 20+ footers single covered by Shane but crowd him close to the basket.
Give more second touches to Yao and discipline not to stray away from that plan after some turnovers. More off the ball movement would be nice too.
very good point. TOs are definitely killing the rockets. an example during the 4th quarter of game 2, for 3 straight possessions, brooks and artest drove right into traffic and had the ball stripped, which led to 2 fastbreak layups. they should have known the first time that it wasnt a good idea as the lakers were just packing the paint, but they did it 2 more times. got to play smarter
you made some good points, but i think you're wrong about some as well. You can't have hard fouls when you're not letting opponents into the paint to begin with. It's unfair to accuse them of not fouling hard when they've done a good job of keeping them out of the pain for the most part. Also, this may not be the series where you want to give someone a hard foul when they are up in the air, the refs will be quick to call a flagarant. I'd rather just give them a regular foul, than rish being called for a flagarant 1 or 2, giving up points and a posession. Rebounding. It's not as cimple as just going and getting them. we are at a HUGE disadvantage in height. They at time can have a lineup up of a 7 footer, a near 7 footer, and a 6'10 forward. After Yao our tallest player is scola at 6'9, and he doesn't not jump well and is not long. After that we have a bunch of 6'6 to 6'7 forwards, who are also not long. The fact that they haven't destroyed in rebounding is actually a good thing and shows we've done well. We've only been outrebounded by 5 rebounds TOTAL. You also point out the over the back fouls by LA, so houston can't really do any better if the fouls aren't called. They did what they were suppose to. I think you're not giving LA enough credit. They have a long, tall, and pretty athletic team. They're going to get offensive rebounds, steals, etc. The turnovers (the ones they created themselves) and ball movement were the true biggest problems for Houston. You want to double Kobe more? Then how will we box out better with a potential rebounder now doubling Kobe?
Good point, I don't care if they lose but lose fair, thing about the game two is that LA had some calls in their favor. But it's the playoffs, I haven't enjoyed playoffs since I can remember rooting for the Rockets so I feel as a lot of fans
