Assigning Responsibility For Sixer Points -Overtime Edition

Actually most of the plays coming out of timeouts in the 4th led to really good shots. Parsons had a few drawn up for him that worked really well. Go back and watch the game. On LP Malik Allen (announcer for Philly) was very complementary of McHales plays he was running out of a timeout.

The problem is defense. You can't give up 120 points to a Philly team whose best players are James Anderson & Tony Wroten. That team shouldn't have been able to score 80 on the Rockets last night, but they ran the floor on the Rockets who couldn't get back into their half court defense, and allowed blow-bys all night long.

Play calling offensively out of timeouts was hardly the problem.

 

As much as I think they're bad defenders, reducing Lin and Harden's minutes to below 40s would really help. Too low and they'll suck, too high they'll still suck. McHale should know how to properly do the rotation. Brewer should have been given some minutes. Imagine if Lin and/or Parsons could have rested additional 5 minutes. It could have been a win...

 

Trust me, if this team doesn't show improvement on the defensive end this year, this Summer (if not sooner) you could see a huge amount of turnover with surrounding players around Harden and Howard. Those two aren't going anywhere though.

However I'm saying that would happen in the Summer if the season continued to be as disappointing as it had been so far.. not anytime soon. And I believe this team will get much, much better defensively as the season goes on. All the players sound like they know how bad they are. Just need to make it happen & get practice time in.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Howard

He shrunk 2 inches?

 

cherry picking is great!!!

 

I blame TT

 

I really dont see much fatigue in their games. Most of the defensive issues come from basic fundamentals & discipline. If they really were tired last night... I sure didn't see it. Tibs in Chicago is notorious for playing his guys 100 minutes a night and his guys ALWAYS execute on the defensive end. Fatigue isn't an excuse.

I do think that Brewer should get a little burn though even just for a few stretches. However last night it was obvious in the 3rd quarter that McHale was going to employ the 2012 version of the Rockets and go supersmall to try and outscore the Sixers at their own game in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Brewer hasn't played at all this year, and isn't really the guy you want in the game if you are trying to play 2012 Rockets style of basketball.

The small ball actually was working pretty well up until the 4th quarter when they had to shift back into their uncomfortable new style of play when Howard came back on the floor. That's when the defense really showed its warts, and at that point you pick your poison... you can insert Brewer if you want for Lin or Bev, but you wouldn't be putting Brewer in a great position to succeed since he hasn't even seen the court in weeks.

I want Brewer to get in the games, I just dont know when he would fit in really well with the rotation to fit the different styles they want to play. Just a tough fit until they find a specific style they want to stick with consistently.... which is another big problem for another conversation (opposing styles of play that is killing the Rockets identity).

 

Exactly, that was the black hole & death of the offense. Need to quickly figure out how to play an inside out game... but also balance it with guard-oriented style.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC3VBa6WOT8

Skip to the 8:10 mark.

I've stood next to Dwight a few years ago at the all-star weekend in Orlando and my friend was there who is 6'6" and he was only a couple inches taller than him... 3 inches at the most. He's far from being 6'11". However he PLAYS bigger than most 7 footers... that's the point.

Oh... but no... the NBA would NEVER lie about their draft measurements would they???

 

JCDenton style...

 

The Chuckster said it took him two pair of tube socks and some springy court kicks to get him to his NBA-quoted 6'6". Ditto for Mario Elie, who was 6'3" flat-footed.

Keep in mind there's doctor's office measurements, and then there's NBA measurements. One is subject to HIPAA, the other gets the player and his agent paid.

 

Each player is built differently. Some people have more stamina than others. In the 4th, it is possible Lin was getting gassed, as the 3 pointers he missed, it hit the front of the rim, meaning not enough lift. He adjusted later. But I think the defensive scheme sucks overall, just no one knowing what to do.

You are totally right about the small ball part, definitely reminded me of last year (which is not a bad thing really).

 

so what's the point of this thread? put blame on players for messing up their defensive assignments? if you going to do that, do it for the whole game..

 

Agree with you here. We have deep bench. Why arent we going for better rotations. Its really puzzling. Early season games are the best time to try out combination as well given the bench a feel of the floor and pressure.

With good rotations we dont need to get the starters burnout. They would be much healthier for critical games and playoffs.

 

They had 4 quaters to beat the MIGHTY 76ers and they didn't... I don't see how the heck that game even should have been close... Especially since Harden's defense is so horrible and the Rockets played so much better defensively without him... Every player in the starting lineup for the 76ers dropped at least 15 points. And two no name dudes in their backcourt straight up out played Lin and Bev and Howard missed 11 shots at the rim... It's plenty of finger pointing to go around.. And that's always the case after a lost...

 

The OP made an analytical report about our defense, which basically summarized to:

- We didn't play help defense correctly.
- Guys were not switching when picked.
- Players were going under instead of over a screen for a good shooter
- We were not getting back fast enough on transition

This happened the entire game. We're not playing TEAM defense. We're just playing one on one and pretending we can just simply "shut down" players 1 on 1.

But screw facts and statistics. It was Lin. It was Harden. They all suck, trade everybody! /sarcasm

 

Some report numbers of them with their shoes on. Other times nba just releases bs numbers (see: DMo's weight). It's not some infallible metric.

I believe there are many sources out there, including (I think) even Dwight mentioning how he's small for a Center and much closer to 6'9. He didn't shrink lol.

 

I'm seriously to the point where I actively cringe when parsons is in the game. He's either bricking a shot, driving and losing the ball, or getting beat on defense.

 

While fans are bickering over Harden/Lin/Howard/, Parsons is getting a pass in the GARM. Which sucks because Parsons has been sucking it lately and getting away with same mistakes game after game. Sure, he's hurt. Fine, put in the reserves then.