Watching last night's game...I think our starters finally got it. They finally started getting the break working off the high energy scrambling D. They came out the 2nd half like they had been lit on fire. Their run was powered by forcing the bad shots and turnovers and then running it up the floor. I sense that they are going to keep up this scrambling style. And the key is if Hayes can stay healthy enough to get on the floor. They just seemed to gel on the defensive end and figured out that they have to overplay and force the opponent into hurry-up tempo, which then carried over with Brooks and Ariza on the run-outs. I sense a run coming into the All-Star break. I know it was Portland and they were injured but the hustle and energy was there from our starters in the 2nd half. Our lead dissapated when we took Hayes out but we maintained to the finish.
#1 it was one game. Second we played Portland. Third. Not every other team in the A has Portland type of players. You think the high power team plays like the blazers? Shooot last couple of years the 76ers blew us out. they had our number
Don't forget we also don't have Kyle Lowry coming off the bench for the next 2 weeks. We do have Shane's 'stache, though...
Well if Rockets lose you take the blame for the unnecessary jinx! But I have to agree, Rockets looked very good out there vs Blazers and the hustle was definitely there. If one thing could change for better it is Ariza's FG percentage.
we lost to them last year by TWO points and then by eight. They had to come back from 14 in that first game to win. Not surprisingly, rafer and ron were like 6 of 21. The year prior to that we lost by FOUR points the first game..where we had a 16 point lead. Luther and rafer were a combined 13 of 37. The second game that year was when they "blew" us out and we lost by 12. this year we beat them.
drugs are bad. i was fully expecting the Op to be sarcastic , i couldnt believe it was serious. no roy,oden,joel,(brooks playing out of his mind)came down to the wire. lucky win. i expect loss to suns,memphis etc...even philly will beat us unless they gut the team by trading iggy. amazing how 1 little win changes everyone from wanting iggy or martin to "we are going to win a championship in 2011 !!"
so right. anyway, u guys serioucly think we have a chance at memphis compared to how we played their last year and how they play at home this year.
Jop, I applaud your positive thinking, we need more of that. Every long journey begins with a single step !!! GO ROCKETS ! DD
Dont get to positive around here...the "contributing members" frown on this sort of behavior. *donates 10 bucks, stays POSITIVE*
I saw 1. Great, fast, defensive scramble from our starters. 2. Our starters creating offense off their defense, which is their true identity since we are starting Hayes, Battier, and Ariza together. 3. Brooks actually running down the floor and pressuring the opponent's defense. He got 10 free throws out of it. 4. Ariza taking it to the rack stronger. 5. Hayes taking it to the hole. 6. Battier taking it to the hole. 7. Not settling for the outside jumpers but offensive aggression to match the defensive intensity. I never said we were going to win a championship this year or 2011, although I do believe that we have a legit shot in 2011 and if we could make a major trade for the right pieces, we could have a shot at a championship this season. I never said I didn't want a trade now. I still want a trade. I do believe all the conditions are right for a little winning streak right now, going into the All-Star break. We've got a couple weeks here before all the guys know they are going to be getting some days off to rest. After watching our starters show a definitive change of pace mindset in the 3rd quarter, I sense they are going to give maximum effort and defensive scramble for the next couple weeks into the All-Star break at least. And I sense they discovered themselves and how they have to play. There was a huge key last night, ratcheting up the defensive pressure, forcing Portland to move the ball at a much quicker rate, and forcing Portland to take contested shots, and then forcing Portland to have to defend in the open court as we FORCED the tempo down their throats. The only player Portland was missing that would have helped them last night was Roy. Their big men would have been left behind with the frenetic pace. And their big men would have actually cost them if they had played. Roy is the only piece that they were missing and Fernandez gave them a lights out performance taking his minutes. If they had Roy, Fernandez' minutes would have been more spotty. And if we were playing other teams that aren't used to playing fast, our defense in the 3rd quarter would have done worse to them. Portland managed the onslaught well. We shot 43 free throws. If we stay AGGRESSIVE defensively and if BROOKS STAYS AGGRESSIVE with the handle and breaking down the defense and going to the rim, then we have a very good chance to go on a streak. Last night, we had 35 buckets, 25 of those buckets were in the paint (Free Throw Line and below), at least 17 of those buckets were layups/dunks. That is 5 guys being aggressive and working the ball to the rim. That is 5 guys looking for the mismatch and posting up (remember Shane posting up Andre Miller?, remember Hayes catching at the elbow and blowing by Aldridge twice? remember Ariza driving the ball to the rim instead of settling for the jumper? \). That is 5 guys working the ball and not settling for the jumper. That is 5 guys making good offensive decisions. That is 5 guys scrambling on defense and getting the opponent back on their heals by going to the rim. If we maintain the same aggression we had defensively and then aggressively looking to the rim offensively, we are likely to go on a streak.
Knee-jerk thread in the positive direction. Interesting. Yes, it was just a win over a Roy-less Blazers, but Portland got extremely lucky with Fernandez shooting like that. He's a great shooter, but last night was ridiculous. We also missed a boatload of FT's. The win should've been by double digits, so it was an impressive showing (except the first quarter).
