The lack of fire on defense in the 3rd quarter allowing the Sonics to get wide open shot after wide open shot was the problem. The offense that Seattle runs is EXACTLY what Rudy is trying to do here in Houston. Payton takes the ball, beats his man, or if he is doubled passes to the open man....exactly what the Rocks want. However, you have to play defense...and the Rockets were beaten by a jump shooting team. They should have contested every shot....I don't know why Rudy does not use a zone more often.... DaDakota
No, it was a lack of intensity, PERIOD. We looked lifeless out there. I just want to know what Rudy says to his players in timeouts. He needs to fire his team up when they start going down. Somehow, I find it hard to believe he says anything of the sort. I don't need to see another 78 games to say that Rudy needs to go. I saw 82 atrocious games last season, and that was enough. He is clueless.
I thought they were running a zone and just got burned with 3pt shooting. The should have gone man to man and make them take us on the dribble. At least it would have been 2 pointers instead of 3's. The sonics seemed like they didn't miss one in the 3rd.
Nah, It was man to man, and they were doubling the ball, and Seattle was passing out of the double team. It was a variation of the inside-out offense that the Rocks used to run, but with Payton as the wheel. It is the offense that Rudy is trying to install, or at least one that is very similar. The Rocks still play like a very young team....they need to realize that games in the beginning count as much as the ones at the end. I would like to see more intensity and committment to defense. I don't have an issue with the offense, as when it is being run correctly it is working. DaDakota
Dada, the lack of defensive intensity was the effect. IMHO, the cause was the entire Rox team was lost in the Glove. GP had a career high assist game. He just tore apart our defense. And even Rudy was slow to adjust. This game was not too bad. We played a solid first half against a good team. The team just lost poise and patence when offense stalled a little in the 3rd Q. That was when Seattle put on its Glove and never looked back. It's a given that the Rockets have to improve its defense in order to get to the playoffs. Then again, it's just part of that growing pain. My only gripe of this game was Rudy's laid-back approach to the game. Too laid-back. Just my 2 cents.
WE showed great defensive intensity with great one on one defence early on in the first quarter! Why did we change, we know what worked?
Yetti, We changed because Steve and Cato got in foul trouble and we had to insert some guys that are not fully comfortable in the rotation... Ming and KT, and Rice.. It is a chemistry thing....plain and simple. If this game is one month from now, the Rocks blow them out. DaDakota
Exactly DaDa, defense is the reason this team lost, the offense wasn't bad. I keep throwing out these numbers, but people have to let it sink in, Francis WAS NOT the problem. The guy had a near triple-double, he had 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assist, what else do you want from the guy? Mobley had 22 points and 3 assist. People say that Francis and Mobley aren't getting the frontcourt involved, Griffin had 23 points 7 rebounds 3 blocks. The balance was there, the talent is there, but the youth is also there. This team is a work in progress. They have 50 wins written all over them, and Rudy will at least get them to 45 and the playoffs as long as they're healthy, but it's one lesson at a time. Your PG puts up 33 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assist and people want to disrupt him by moving him to SG? Let the team learn, the team better play defense though, that's something you don't have to learn like an offense, it's just something you need to do.
RocksMill.. I concur....also, I think Rudy will take the film of this game and show it to Steve as a way of looking at how he wants him to play. Payton is a savvy player, and once Steve gets close to his level of understanding the flow of a game.....it will be all over. I said it in another post, but it bears repeating here...if this game was one month later, the Rocks win in a blowout. DD
No problem Blood. I seriously doubt Jerome James shoots 85% in the next game once Ming gets his feet under him and Mo T is back. Good game for you guys tonight, I think your offense looks great. The defense for both teams was not real good....and you guys shot better. Good luck to you....but soon Payton will implode due to his contract situation. DaDakota
Yes we will. This is a new young team, the Sonics gave them their best shot, and won by 7. Nothing against the Sonics because you have a nice team, and an underrated team, but this Rockets team will be dynamite as long as they stay healthy, knock on wood. At full health and with the frontcourt playing well this team has as good a frontline as anybody they're battling for a playoff berth. Maybe as good a frontline as anybody in the NBA all-around. But I said it before and I'll say it again, while I love Kidd's game, all-around Payton is the best PG in the nBA.
agreed. the problem was defensive intensity. it also didn't help that the sonics drained every 3 they took but that's probably also a result of crap defense. secondly, mooch is playing way too much and until he gets his shot down he is a liability both offensively and defensively. he comes in and the game slows down almost unbearably. rest steve for 15 minutes and play mooch for that period and that's it. this is a great team in the making though.
Edit: RE:......if this game was one month later, the Rocks win in a blowout??? I thought you are a cool head. Who is going to match up with GP? The Rockets front court is not going to dominate the Sonics anytime soon. The Rockets just lost to a better team tonight.
Lost to a better team? LOL.... Come on, let's see what happens when the Rockets get healthy and get their real rotation going. Add a healthy Mo Taylor, and a healthy Terrance Morris, and a health Kenny Thomas, and a healthy Glenn Rice...and see how much better the Rockets play. I think that Seattle is playing very well, but they will not shoot 60% from the 3 point line very often. The Rocks lost, but the potential is there..... DaDakota
Sonics was a better team tonight. No? Health was not a legit excuse tonight. Glen Rice will never be that "healthy" one you expect. I have followed that guy since his days with the Hornets. Kenny is playing unhappy ball (the whole world knows the reason). I don't know MoT. So give you the benefit of the doubt here. I have never doubted our potentials. That's why this lost is just part of the growing pain. My, why am I an arguement with a cool Rox fan? Have a ggod night. I think I better go back lurking.
The Rockets lost to a more experienced team. Seattle is talented, and you don't know if Rice will be healthy, but this team hasn't even tapped into it's potential yet, but the Rockets talent for talent are better then Seattle in that respect. Payton isn't going to go off for 18 assist every time the Rockets play the Sonics, so I'm not worried about that. And 18 assist got the Sonics a 7 point win so I'll take my chances.
jxu, Your opinions are always welcome in here. I agree, the Sonics played great tonight...but the Rocks will get better and in my humle opinion have a higher ceiling then the Sonics. Progress is made through adversity. DaDakota
This was a horrible game for us. But I knew Payton was going to demolish us tonight. He did. But Steve matched up with him. It's too bad. I HATE losing at home. We'll get them next time.
It was more due to doubling, unjustifiably, than lack of intensity. It kept giving them open shots and we knew they were jump shooters. The fouls on SF did not help either. I just do not remember them taking a bad shot but I can remember a few of ours which promote fast breaks against us. I still believe our defense is significantly different. I am not sure I agree with the level of involvement of Nachbar. I would not let SF change a thing. He had nine assists and could have had many more. KT and Rice will get into the flow and even if they are left on the bench, I like the effect they will have coming into the game to keep things going. The Sonics are going to be around. They have great shooters and chemistry and they are not bad defensively. The West is going to be a dog fight.
