Best thing about the blowout win over Suns: No small ball.

I would have to agree. We will just have to wait and see if McHale stays with it though.

 

Hint: he won't.

 

Blowout win, extended garbage time.

Also, isn't Brook+Bev backcourt small enough for you?

 

It helped that they were playing a team with so little in the frontcourt. Scola's defense looked even worse than I remembered it, and the Morris twins just lack size. And Beasley, well, enough said about him.

D-mo did great but looked even better because he was going up against some pretty shoddy defense.

 

I wouldnt mind seeing the Brooks and Beverley backcourt more. I think Beverley's defense is good enough to guard some backup SGs in the NBA

 

I don't care whether we play small ball or not.
I hope we can maintain the Defense we played from the second quarter on.

 

Hamed Haddadi looked pretty good out there for the Suns last night. My question is, Thabeet or Haddadi? I would go with Haddadi myself since he is from Iran (closer to the middle east)

 

Except Beverley ISOed Brooks the whole time he was out there.

 

Now that the coach is not staggering the min of jlin and harden our bench has not been able to score. I think AB should come in and be a scoring option spark if the bench isn't cutting it. Spacing is going to be an issue for the rest of the year with the 2nd unit with smith and trob playing together. need some one who can create their own shot and I think AB could do that in spots.

 

A blowout win over a crappy team with a crappy frontcourt won't change the fact that the small ball unit is the Rockets most reliable lineup. You just can't expect D-Mo to be consistent from game to game and neither Robinson nor Smith is going to cut it, so the Rockets will have no choice but to rely on their small ball unit a great deal, which though obviously not ideal, is simply the hand that this coaching staff has been dealt.

Small ball can and has be of great use for this team against certain match-ups and it could be key if the Rockets were to face the stubborn "All hail the Perkins" Thunder in the playoffs.
Obviously against bigger, more skilled teams like the Grizzlies, going small just might kill you, but again there really isn't an alternative.
None of the Rockets PFs are going to stop Z-Bo or keep him off the boards, so if those guys struggle scoring, you might as well might try to outscore the the Grizzlies by going small.

 

agreed. not to take anything away from our bigs' performance, but when your opponent's 4&5 positions consist of Old Man O'Neil, No Defense Scola, and the Morris twins, your bigs ought to come away looking like studs.

 

I think if D Mo and TRob start showing some consistency they will get playing time and we wont have to go to small ball. They are still new to the rotation (and team) so it will take a little time, but hopefully this stretch of home games and practice time will help them.

We have a couple of games vs sub .500 teams coming up and hopefully we cna pile up wins and build that confidence up.

 

People act as though we have had 2 power forwards stacked up on our bench all season long and we go to small ball as a first option instead of a last resort. We've had injury problems at the 4 all year, and now we have 2 rookies in that role - not exactly a reliable set of rookies on a game-by-game basis either.

I expect fully that coach will stick with a Dmo/Trob rotation as long as they prove they can handle it. I also fully expect that when Trob hands the ball to the other team, and Dmo gets 3 fouls in 4 minutes, for McHale to go to his small ball line-up. Anyone who says they would stick with the rookies every game, despite their inconsistency, as a way to prove you "trust" them, just really doesn't give a **** about winning on a nightly basis.

 

It helps that we have 3 young power forwards that are both mobile and not-undersized. DMo, TRob, and Smith all have different strengths and weaknesses, but at least they can run the floor and matchup defensively (even if they aren't very good defenders themselves). I can't wait to see what they can do after a full offseason.

I think in the long term Smith will be a solid player, but not a full time starter. Something in-between, like 2Pat.

DMo is Pau Gasol with less post skill and more range. All he needs to do is slowly bulk up and gain consistency. Its very possible that he's in the all-star conversation sometime late next season or early 2014-2015.

TRob is a totally different animal from DMo. Its not often you see a 6'9" PF with great handles and elite athleticism. No one on this team comes close to his potential in certain parts of the game. If he can develop a mid-range jumper and a couple of reliable post moves, the sky is the limit. I think when Morey looked at this trade, he saw that TRob has higher potential in almost every facet of the game over 2Pat. Better defender, rebounder, and post player. What he lacks in shooting can be taught and developed.

 

Ahhh.. I mean did you see the line up they HAD to play with? Scola was center. Not by choice, but by default. Obviously we are going to play bigger vs a team like that. I mean Haddadi was their second option at center.

 

The best thing about the win was me being there. Not to tout my own horn too much, but eventually people should start subsidizing my tickets because I'm really good luck for the Rockets. We are 4-0 in games I've attended this season, including wins over LA, Dallas, OKC, and Phoenix. All but the OKC game were blowouts, and all except the Dallas game were noted afterward for the surprisingly good crowds. Actually, no need to subsidize. It's worth it.

 

Yeah, that combo deserves more consideration.