One thing that stood out to me was when Kevin Martin was guarding someone in the last 5:00 (can't remember who). The shot clock was at 2 seconds and the guy was behind the 3 point arc. K-Mart played him normally (to prevent the drive) instead of right up on him with his his hands up. Kevin HAS to be more aware of the shot clock and know that there is NO WAY the guy can drive, so go up and crowd him.
Only in the first half....if KMart puts together a complete game, the rockets win handily. All that "efficiency" from KMart doesn't mean spit if the team doesn't win.
They all should get an 'A' because they all did their best. There is a distance between the lakers and the rockets.
Aaron Brooks - played exceptionally well offensively but there were several occasions where he fell asleep on defense, most notably in the final seconds where he gave up the game winning three. Grade: B Kevin Martin - like Brooks he was incredibly effective last night and he seemed to be at least trying on defense. He disappeared in the second half but that was mostly due to foul trouble, and I couldn't help but feel the rest of the team (mostly Scola and Brooks) were ignoring him in the 4th. Grade: A- Shane Battier - played poorly on the offensive end but he contained Kobe to a respectable number, and our defense looked more fluent with him out there. Grade: B Luis Scola - incredibly work on the boards but many of them were off his own misses, and his defense left little to be desired. Missed to many easy looks offensively. Grade: C+ Yao Ming - looked awkward at some moments on offense but he got the job done. 11 boards in 23 minutes is a very solid number and his presence out there defensively was huge reason as to why we jumped out early. Loved what I saw out of him. Grade: A Chase Budinger - definitely was the spark we needed off the bench. He was fluent offensively and his jump shot was smooth, loved it. He ran the break and played HARD. Grade: A- Courtney Lee - not a bad first game as a Rocket, he looked rock solid on both ends of the court. Grade: B Brad Miller - dished off some beautiful passes and rebounded well for the minutes he played. Didn't like him much defensively but he was solid. Grade: B+ Chuck Hayes - had a few good defensive stretches against Gasol but the 0 rebounds in 15 minutes jumps out at me. I love what he brings to the court but he couldn't handle the Lakers' length. Grade: D
Basketball IQ? I guess that wasn't Hayes who watched the BIGGEST FREAKIN PLAYER ON THE COURT (ODOM) DRIBBLE THE BALL FROM ONE BASKET TO THE OTHER WITHOUT STOPPING IT! Wow the Legend of Chuck Hayes! Well Who did Chuck stop last night? What rebounds did he get? Why no Jared Jeffries? Chuck is a D-leaguer people stop spewing the Rockets company line. Playing Chuck Hayes at center all of last year is one of the reasons superstar players (& the world) would NEVER take us seriously.
WHAT?? Kobe didnt do much???? Hmm he only had 27pts 7 assist and 5 rebs. That is probably better than any player on our team statwise. If that is called not doing much I want that on our team. Now ironically speaking of a guy not doing much there is a guy named Shane on our team that doesnt do much of anything but stand there and shoot 1 for 5 from the field. Also let's not forget Kobe was questionable for this game, but even a hobbled Kobe still scored 27 pts on shane and scored a very decisive 3 point play in crunch time over shane's suppose superior defense.
Dude People get on here and Bash Aaron Brooks, C-Bud, K-Mart's D, Lee's a chucker, Yao's fragile, and the moment you kill one of the untouchables everyone wants to call you a troll, get out, etc. Hey man call an apple an apple. If these guys can be criticized hell I know Hayes shiftless behind can. So cry me a freakin river.
also to the OP. It seems like the only stat you are looking at is the +- numbers. Seems like you put way too much weight on those numbers. Those numbers can be very misleading. It really depends on who is on the court with you at the same time and who you are playing against on the court at the time. Shane sucked
Based on last night performance, I would replace Battier with Courtney Lee. Battier is useless 6'9 around the rim...missing wide open layup...I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!! WHy the hell he need to rush...it was right there to do a layup.
Chuck Hayes shut Pau down when he was killing it in the 2nd quarter. He did exactly his role, defensive stopper and he did it well. DD
Shane gets a better grade than Yao?? Give me a break. Yao's defensive presence inside was HUGE nevermind about his offensive prowess.
Really? This should be in the post game thread and one game analysis doesn't seem that necessary right now.
It would have been better to grade the team for each quarter...Because is it me or does it seem like when AB is hot , everydamn body is hot ...Then he gets cold and the offense is stagnant
