Lets go for the 8-game winning streak because of the sched. tommorow against the clippers sat. against indiana and monday against sacramento. LETS GO ROCKETS! PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT!
Scola had a kevin martin-esque night. silently put up a monster game. 10/11 is just kick ass. And of course, Lowry. He was picking apart the Portland defense no matter what they threw at him. the funny part was, it reminded me of what brooks used to do against portland and his biatch Steve Blake. Great game. Wondering if we can keep this up.
fan-freaking-tastic. the first minutes of the 2nd half, particularly budinger's run of points there in a short span, were absolutely beautiful. and most important....THEY'RE PLAYING DEFENSE!!!
This. Adelman doesn't get NEAR the credit he should. For not only the game but the whole season he's had to outcoach being he's the underdog every night
Anyone else notice the Rockets starters actually played starters minutes? I'm guessing this is Adelman and Morey's way of going all in.
Your just a big ray of sunshine aren't you, excuse people for being positive for once, after all the whiney crap all season, its a nice change of pace
Lee's back to playing great ball as he did before Adelman's bullheaded attempt to re-incorporate Aaron "4-for-12-every-game" Brooks into the rotation. Brooks was killing Lee's game. I mean, every single bench player's play suffered greatly when Brooks returned, but Lee took the biggest hit. Lee's TS% dropped ~5% in that stretch of Brooks. Being a crappy shooter is one thing, being a volume crappy shooter who plays worse defense than Mayo does is quite another. Good luck in Phoenix, Aaron.
It's painfully obvious how improved our performance has been since the subtraction of AB and Shane-- on both ends of the court. While I like AB and Shane-- would love to get them both back in a few months-- it looks like the players we're left with are really working hard, and well. Nice ablative surgery, Morey! Dragic looks like he'll contribute. Carroll and Thabeet, well, please hustle, guys-- hope you both get a chance, and make the most of it! This will be an entertaining stretch run, after all.
Yeah, I'm glad AB and Shane are gone. Shane is a great guy, but he's on the downside of his career and wasn't even making his 3's. AB was hampered by that injury and mental frustrations that went with it, not know if he really had a spot on the team, and not being able to play like the pre-injury AB. Now we got guys who know their roles, and we got offense from the SF position to start the game. We don't have to make up 10-point first quarter deficits, but can if we have to. With the 2nd team, I think that Adelman should let Dragic and TWill switch it up sometimes. Dragic is a combo guard and doesn't look totally comfortable manning the point - he's kind of out of control and goes wherever his momentum takes him - which is sometimes sideways and flailing. I think he would work well as a Ginobli-type slashing 3 while Twill handles the ball. Twill almost needs to have the ball to be effective, cause his strength is penetrating and passing.
I listened to the game in the early hours (I'm in the UK) and have been at work all day, but may i just say......... .500 baby! Our commentators were loving the beat down.
Brooks hurt our chances of winning with his most sub-par play. I wonder how many more wins we would have had if Aldeman had not stuck with Brooks. I understand that perhaps the Rockets had no choice but showcase him to other teams.
agreed, they're one of the few opposing teams announcers that I enjoy listening to. People can trash our squad (usually Clyde or Bull), but our guys, for all of their internal Rockets bias (playing for them and all), call a fair game with a light sense of humor. There are a lot of announcers out there that are bitter homers who just whine and complain all game if the road team is doing well. Thanks Portland!
Maybe it is just my perception, but when I watch the last few games since the deadline activity, and ask myself 'WHY are these guys suddenly playing with some heart and some grit?', it seems that it cannot be a coincidence. So is it really JUST the removal of Battier and Brooks from the roster? Yes, I know we added 3 more players to the mix, but I am not prepared to credit the presence of Dragic, Carroll and Thabeet just yet for this new-found intensity. So is it just removing those two guys? Maybe so. I think it is a given, we all love Battier. He is a remarkably *good guy*. And a very smart basketball player, especially on the defensive end. But we are all so aware of how *smart* he is, because we have all always also been painfully aware of how much he is lacking in the 'naturally athletically gifted' department, which necessitates his 'smartness', in order to compensate for his lack of sheer natural talent. I do not mean to kick dirt on the guy, but he is what he is - a solid smart defender who will occasionally knock down threes. And Brooks? Well, we all saw over the last couple of seasons what he COULD do, which made us again painfully aware of what he was NOT doing this season, for whatever reason (or combinations of reasons). So, is it just the removal of these two guys? Is it likely that 'chemistry' was harmed by these two players, and the mere fact of their absence has suddenly granted the magical Holy Grail of *chemistry* onto the remaining players? There is probably not just one answer to this question. Regarding Battier, I find it impossible to believe that Shane could ever do anything but enhance and increase that mythical 'chemistry' on any franchise. So, where he is concerned, the answer I think is no. But for Brooks, it's a different story. Here was the MIP of last season, a player you could have legitimately expected to be an All-Star in any season from then forward, and he had the bad fortune to have his contract situation be such that his backup, the very feisty and capable Kyle Lowry, came up for renewal and a big payday a year before Brooks was due his. Now Brooks knows the same thing that everyone else knows - oftentimes players will have their contracts renewed or renegotiated earlier than their due date, and the fact that the Rockets paid a premium to keep Lowry, while at the same time being content to make Brooks wait for his big payday - well, anyone who believes that this did not absolutely destroy Brooks' mental state simply hasn't been paying attention. Now that might have all been tolerable, were it not for that slime-ball Ginobili, who without a doubt dealt a dirty play unto Aaron and the Rockets by pointlessly undercutting Brooks on an end-of-quarter 3/4-court heave - thus effectively ending Brooks' Rockets career. This really nasty injury, coupled with his shattered attitude, ruined Brooks' chances to repeat his performance of last season. So, in Brooks' case, I think the answer is a solid 'yes'. But really, we are talking about the play of this Rockets team NOW, not the play of Brooks and Battier. WHY would it be that removing those two players would transform the play of the remaining players? It's easy to see that Chase is more comfortable as a starter being integrated into the flow of the offense from the beginning. He is still working on his consistency, but without question, he is growing in confidence daily, and it shows. But the real reason, I think is Lowry. All season long, Lowry has played like a man being pulled in different directions: on the one hand, he is the backup to Brooks, and nobody ever questioned that Brooks was the 'starter'. Nobody ever questioned that Brooks was therefore the *better player*. And while Lowry 'filled in' as the starter all season long, and admirably-so most of the time, he played as though he (and everybody else) always knew that he was just a fill-in for the REAL starter. He was the second-best point guard on the team, and therefore he wouldn't, he COULDN'T be the true leader of the team. On the other hand, he had been paid (some said over-paid) like a starter, and he was playing the lion's share of the minutes. He had seen his shot become better and better, and he seemed to be growing bit by bit into a leadership role, out of necessity rather than anything concrete. And it could all be taken away at any moment, because, well, *he was just the backup*. He couldn't really be 'all he could be', so to speak. The result of this situation, I believe, was that on many nights, the team just seemed rudderless, listless, lost and lacking passion and fire. We all saw those nights. But what happens when all of a sudden the team, the franchise, the whole city really, stands up and says 'Kyle, you are 'The Man'. You are the leader of this team. You have the kind of guts, fire and determination that we all admire, that we all need. Here are the keys to this team, Kyle. You are not the backup - you are the Top Dog on this team. Now get out there and show everyone that this is the right decision!' In particular, the last couple of games, Lowry has gone above and beyond, and really shown, both physically and vocally, how much heart and desire he has, and has been seen genuinely angrily demanding it of his teammates - 'COME ON!' he yelled at his team as they were making their come-back against the Hornets. Again he screamed as he willed himself to another bucket amidst the trees in Portland. Youth, passion, fire, energy, swelling confidence.. and not really so much because of the subtraction of those two players themselves, as much as the change in the remaining players, whose time it is now to shine. Could this all come crashing down again, as early as tonight in Clip-land? Maybe. They are exceedingly young, these guys, and there will no doubt be plenty more bumps along the road. But with each successive game, and each new challenge overcome, this team may begin to scare the hell out of some other franchises as we come down to the end of the season. Suddenly the Rockets are starting to have the look of a team nobody wants to face in the playoffs. Regardless of how things go, I wish Shane and Aaron the best, and I will definitely be watching the remainder of the season with keen and renewed interest. Keep it up guys!
