Exactly in loses you always give away a lot of points because once you are down you need to foul to stretch the game, I seen sometime in less then 40 seconds a team going 4 times to line to shoot 8 FT just because you need to stop the clock. Is like 11 minutes 40 points combine last minute 12 points combined. Key for Houston lo lose are T.O., Fast breaks a result of T.O., Second chance points and no Ball movement and unnecessary fouls. Once we play like that we always lose. If you turn the ball over can't play effective defense, and can't control the tempo. If you allow to many second shots opportunities can't finish good defense and run. And fouling only give easy opportunities to score as well as getting early into the penalty. T.O. is the key, once our T.O. are low we have enough talent to beat any team in the NBA
I wonder why we don't run Scola a couple isos in the 4th, he seems like the only one who's not scared to put the ball in the hoop come crunch time.
I have no idea I think the coach don't trust him yet. not only iso, but that Pick and put the guy is money remember he been the go to guy in Euro, so he knows what it takes.
OMG Golden State just allow 46 point in the 4th quarter and blow a 14 point lead Who this happen Houston suppose the only one to blow a lead in the 4th to a sub 500 Eastern Team?
This isn't the problem, Id like to see it when we are winning. Blowing the big leads is what has killed us
Totally agreed - especially Yao: Total less than 36 minutes with at least 3 minutes rest during the 4th.
Ok The title said 4th Quarter Collapses are nothing new... And they make it seen like Houston is the only one that blow leads from time to time. And I just show you the team in the 8th seed of the western conference playoff just blow a 4th quarter lead to a bad team and allow 46 pts in the 4th. This will demonstrate that no team ahead of us is better on holding leads, it happen all the time, bad team beat good team, playoff team Collapse in the 4th quarter too. We just see this team the most and we think is a pattern but other playoff teams in the West do it too. We always microanalysis every lost and try to blame everything, and anybody who got a bad night that game. We are improving, we going to get mac back, we are one of the best of winning when we got the lead after the 3rd quarter and teams ahead of us in the standing will not runaway, because most of then are not better than us when fully healthy.
From what I recall the Rockets have an absolutely awful record when they trail in the 4th. I also have to wonder what their record going into the 4th ahead is against teams over the .500 mark. Looks to me like a pattern of choking in the 4th.
Caught this on Fox 26 tonight: According to TMac, Toyota Center is part of the blame for poor shooting, and he says opponents have said this also. Something about the depth of the seats around the court and the seats too close to the courts.
Maybe it's the change in color of the court. Which if this is the case they should just paint it Red again.
i think that quote is old. he replied that in response to the question: "why do you play so much better on the road than at home?" TMAC responds by saying that. back to the OP's point. EVERY team will have collapses here and there. EVERY team. but our team has it TOO OFTEN. that is the problem. if we have it say every 15 games, i don't mind it. EVERY team can get lackadaisacal at times, even the best teams. i have several reasons for why our team RARELY comes back in the 4th quarter when we are behind or RARELY shuts down a team if we're a little bit ahead (remember our record of having a lead going into the 4th is pretty superb though i do not remember the exact record). 1) our role players get tense and resort to POUNDING it to our superstars. u ALWAYS see tmac touching the ball all the time in the 4th. u ALWAYS see we isolating yao and trying to post him up. there is absolutely no ball movement. when our stars see this, what else can they do but try to do it themselves? and it's tough b/c the double and triple teams come HARDER than before. SOLUTION - make substitutions at the first sight of a drought. last night, aaron brooks and bonzi should have came in. brooks would have provided the quickness to alter the slow pace that we were on. bonzi would have provided another post up game plus the defensive rebounding (head was horrible) 2) our stars have zero room to operate b/c everybody is STANDING IN MUD. as a result, the other team can key in on tmac or yao much easier. when this happens, we resort to tmac isos or pick and rolls or yao isos. they rarely work consistently in the 4th. SOLUTION - well, if we solve the first problem, the rest would be much easier ultimately, i think it all comes down to the role players. they have to not panic and run the system at all times. they cannot afford to stand and watch our stars, particularly tmac. when he returns, don't revert back to your old ways (scola, KEEP SHOOTING; head, keep attacking; rafer, keep finishing...). this 4th quarter collapse is not a one year thing either. i remember EVERYONE chanting for JVG's head after we blew that 20 pt lead to the bulls last yr at the TC. that was just downright scary. so we need some changes. role players have to man up. our stars have to shine. and we just have to put the metal to the pedal.
He was interviewed after a recent practice cause he was in his practice gear and was still sweating; he talked about his opinion on Toyota Center in relation to the recent 76er lost and talked about not playing in awhile and not being in shape...same old same old.
It is very odd that our home record is so much worse than our road record. I think thats been the case for a few years now also.
If ya got the lead, take care of the ball. You are gonna get fouled. Then you gotta make your free throws.
Personally I would like to see a little less talk and a lot more action... Fourth quarters a recurring nightmare for Rockets Jan. 16, 2008, 10:47PM Fourth quarters a recurring nightmare for Rockets By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle With the words dripping painfully from him, Yao Ming had become 7 1/2 feet of anger and disappointment. The Rockets, despite playing at Toyota Center, had blown fourth-quarter leads to lose to the Hornets and 76ers, the latter a team that had not won this month. They had fallen to 20-19, 10th in the Western Conference, and deeper into a pattern of blowing late leads. More than another frustrating loss, Yao saw an entire season taking on water. "It's like a big ship is sinking and sinking," Yao said. "There is a big hole below, and it needs fixing immediately." With that, Yao not only pointed to dire circumstances after the Rockets' latest titanic collapses. He also channeled the iconic Micheal Ray Richardson line, now a part of sports lexicon, to describe a team spiraling downward: "The ship be sinking." When asked how far his Knicks could fall, Richardson said: "The sky's the limit." Yao, however, saw light coming through the darkness. "I feel bad," he said. "I feel bad. It was like a dark time in my life. "We will get it changed. We will turn this up." The Rockets' despair was not, however, simply about two tough defeats. From the home losses to the Mavericks in Games 3 and 4 in the 2005 playoffs to the Game 7 loss to the Jazz last spring, the Rockets have had crushing defeats at Toyota Center despite holding fourth-quarter leads. When they collapsed in Dallas in the fourth game of this season, Yao said: "I think we're just not tough enough to win this game in the fourth quarter. I think that's how we lose in Game 7." A month later, when they collapsed in Philadelphia, he said the Rockets were too "soft" to withstand an opponent's run. When they lost again to the 76ers on Tuesday, Yao could not speak at all, uncharacteristically bolting from the locker room before it was opened to the media, frustrated not just by the loss but by the lack of progress in the Rockets' greatest shortcoming. Last season, in the last six minutes of games with teams leading by eight or fewer points, the Rockets were last in the NBA in point differential per possession. Tuesday's collapse was presumed to be enough to drop them back to last this season. "That's just how we are," guard Rafer Alston said after the loss to the Hornets, like Yao needing a day before he could speak at all. "Down the stretch, our mental toughness is not up there with Dallas and San Antonio. "That's been typical of my three years here. That's why I was so disappointed and didn't stay around to talk. Because it's sickening to keep losing games the same way for the last three years." Alston was specifically citing the Hornets' unfailing ability to pick-and-roll the Rockets to death in the crucial final minutes. But by Wednesday, there was an increasing sense that time was already running short in a season not quite to the midpoint. "We haven't played well," forward Shane Battier said. "Everyone talks about potential. Well, the season is halfway over. Potential is over. We need to play basketball. We need to play well. If we don't, it's going to be a long second half to the season." A day at the movies With that in mind, the Rockets met rather than practiced Wednesday, mostly in a video session with coaches. When they left Toyota Center, with two practice days remaining before facing the Spurs on Saturday, they returned to the now familiar hope that a shocking loss could inspire a turnaround. "I think it was a dark time for everybody, for us as a team," forward Luis Scola said. "It was a game we expected to win. We were 16 up in the third quarter. We're trying to be a championship contender. We cannot let this happen. "It's a tough loss. But it's not over. On the other hand, we cannot keep saying that the season is long, we're going to get by, we're going to catch up. If we keep saying that and we never do it, we'll get to the point there's not going to be time. It's going to be over. And it will be too late. We have to realize we have to do it now. "Sometimes, you need to see the danger. You need to feel the dangerous position to react. We need the reaction. It's going wrong. We need to see that and get a little scare and try to bring it back." Running out of time When the Rockets were humiliated in Philadelphia last month, trailing by as much as 31 before the reserves made the 100-88 final score look much better than the game, they returned to Toyota Center to beat the Pistons. They lost their next three games but believed they were playing better, leading to a five-game winning streak and eight wins in 11 games. The sense now, however, is they can't keep falling back to get a running start. "Obviously, we lost a game we should win, the last two," Yao said. "It was very frustrating. We need to find a way. The season is halfway. Those games will never come back. There's not much time left. "I remember the last time we lost in Philadelphia — after that it was like, 'OK, it's hurting us.' And we had pretty good times after that game. I'm not saying this is a good loss. A loss is a loss. A loss is bad. I think we will do the same thing as last time, and hopefully we will do it for longer." jonathan.feigen@chron.com
yall fools remember when Bonzi wells was on the trailblazers during the 99/2000 season and they played against the lakers in the western finals.... They were up by double digits heading into the 4th until the meltdown happen... I think he passed that cursed onto the rockets organization....
