some aftermaths of game 2... yes, we lost the game. but we got the hca back. we did what we're supposed to do. compared to a 2-0 ideal scenario, this is the second best. many, myself and some portland fans included, feel portland played their best last night. aldridge hit some tough (and therefore fluke) jumpers, roy is not gonna score 40+ each night (almost 10 of those come from bogus calls). otoh, we didn't involve yao a lot in game 2 and still had a chance to pull it off. i like how ab scared them to death with his mad 3's in the waning seconds. as a rockets fan, i feel optimistic. all ccfans should feel the same. the only unrecoverable loss was the loss of deke. that does 2 things for us. #1, yao has to raise his level of play even more for he doesn't have a legit backup now and will have to play more minutes; #2, it will probably take this series a game longer (i'm changing my prediction from houston in 5 to 6) and makes our match up with the lakers a lot tougher. but we can't worry about it now. moving forward, like i've said in other threads, now the ball is on adelman's court. he needs to come up something more than merely "bypass yao and go to other options and yao will eventually get the ball back" to counter the fronting; because guess what, the ball didn't "eventually go back to yao" last night. we're probably the only playoff team in the west that only has one main reliable offensive option, so simply "go to the next thing" when yao is fronted isn't enough.
Agreed. That was my immediate thought when i looked at the score this morning. Okay so Rockets worst game vs Blazers BEST game and Deke injured Yao only 6 shots and we STILL almost pulled it off. Rox in 5
i think they need to come out with the same overall intensity and energy of game 1, take them out of the game early, that'll allow yao to rest, save fouls, and they wont have to worry about him being tired or in foul trouble. Obviously Yao will be doubled, but brooks has to come out and destroy the D EARLY. He actually gives houston a lot of open looks because he gets the defense scramlbing after him. Barry should get a few mins with brooks, if his shot is on, that's easy points for the team. Yao Scola Landry barry brooks i'd like to see that lineup if we get a good lead going, brooks will disrupt the defense, and let him score, kick back out or dish inside. that's a good mix of guys with midrange jumpers and ability to finish inside (except for barry , but he's the 3 pt option.
that's true. ab needs some experience to use those situations to the max advantage of our team. (i have some doubt if he will learn, though.)
Game 2 was one of the games Portland wins in a 5 or 6 game series. Houston still wins this unless they choke beyond all measure in multiple games.
-and the team doesn't normally miss 10 free throws i just hope artest can control himself for the rest of the playoffs
Losing Deke really hurts.... I think his impact when he's on the floor is equal if not greater than Yao's, especially since Yao is utterly neutralized when fronted. It would've been perfect when, anytime the offense is having difficulty getting Yao the ball, Deke comes in and just owns on the defensive end. In fact, that's what happened in Game 1. Unless the team or Yao himself comes up with a way to counter fronting, our centre position is basically as weak as Portland's, especially now that we don't have Deke.. Hopefully Scola and Landry steps up their game and fills the void left by Deke.
I highly suggest that Rockets fans submit their issues with officiating by submitting complaints to the NBA league office. The link to the form can be found here: http://www.nba.com/email_us/contact_us.html Again, not whining about the loss, but I’m upset that a playoff intensity game was wasted because of the whistles. Very boring to watch that type of b-ball!
Hopefully the refs won't keep falling for the flops on Yao, b/c if he gets into foul trouble early, expect a bunch of layups and dunks in the lane since Deke is gone. Also, it would be nice if Landry decides to show up and play. He looks intimidated out there and is folding under the pressure. Hopefully the home crowd can give him some confidence. The Rockets need to do a better job at recognizing when Yao has reposted. If he is fronted, they (specifically Brooks and Artest) just go away from him and never look back. There were several times that Yao got in front of his man in the middle of the lane and they didn't look for him and decided to chuck up the basket instead. The one good thing I can say about Tmac is that he usually looked for the repost by Yao. Brooks and Artest are too impatient and are not looking for Yao. Adelman needs to get that through to the Rockets b/c the Blazers will do what they did to Yao in Game 2 knowing that it worked so well.
Part of winning a series in 5 or 6 games means you have to lose at least a game or two... Did this really deserve a thread?
great post. I think it deserves mention that even the Blazers themselves were amazed at how hard it is to win in the Playoffs.
Sure, the Rockets need to get Yao Ming the ball more no matter what defense the Trail Blazers play. Six shots are not enough. That, however, is only a sliver of the story. First, understand that he was sandwiched between the two biggest guys the Trail Blazers had on the court at any one time - Joel Przybilla and LaMarcus Aldridge or Aldridge and Greg Oden. They fronted him relentlessly, and if he somehow held off a defender on his back, the other came over on the touch to double team. They committed a lot of fouls, 16 between them, but they did keep Yao from tearing them apart as he did when they tried to defend them alone. This is completely understandable. Yao is a big guy, but he is not 14-feet tall, and that's how much defense the Trail Blazers devoted to stopping him. The Rockets would still like to find ways to keep those defenders behind him and get him more touches. But this game, and maybe the series, could have been won had the Rockets exploited all that the Blazers did give them. The Rockets did get some scoring off all that. Von Wafer could move to open areas without a big man moving out to help. Luis Scola was left wide open. The Rockets lived at the line. The Rockets, however, did not take advantage of those chances nearly enough to overcome the 42-point barrage of Brandon Roy, and the 27-point comeback of Aldridge. They missed free throws. The fifth-best team from the line this season, the Rockets hit 22 of 32. They missed open shots. Though Luis Scola was a solid 5 of 10, he missed shots he nailed in Game 1 and Carl Landry is still trying to figure out how to be a factor. Kyle Lowry drew a ton of foul and had 10 points, but has opportunities to do more. Most of all, with the game on the line with four minutes left and Portland clinging to a shaky one-point lead, the Rockets panicked through five straight possessions when they could have executed on the half of the court not filled with Yao and his Portland escorts. The Rockets scored 103 points and hit half their shots. They will likely have to improve defensively more than offensively to win the series. But Yao is too important to have excluded from their offense and not do something about it. For now, the best thing they can do about it - or at least the thing they can do most often - appears to be scoring so much around him that the Trail Blazers back off the fronting double-teams. Then Yao can go to work again and the Rockets can figure out what to do about Brandon Roy. just read feigen's blog. sums it up nicely. http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/04/blazers_feast_on_yao_sandwich.html
