Celtics turn Rockets green With T-Mac out sick, worst team in NBA rallies for win By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle More than the scoring, more than the passing, beyond the decision-making that has guided the Rockets through more than two months without Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady looked more irreplaceable the night the Rockets had to replace him. The Rockets never shot worse this season, never scored less, never took a more disheartening loss than Monday's 77-72 defeat at Toyota Center with McGrady out with flu-like symptoms. But all that the Rockets were missing only began with Yao and McGrady. For the second time in four days, they lost to one of the teams scraping the bottom of the Eastern Conference, bookending Friday's loss in Atlanta with a home loss to the Celtics, the team with the worst record in the NBA and losers of 12 consecutive road games and 22 of their previous 23. "If you lose to Boston, lose to Atlanta, you'll end up eventually paying the price down the road for that," Rafer Alston said. "They are professional ballplayers, and they are going to win some games. You just don't want it to be against your team. "I think what hurts the most is the effort. It's not hard to believe that we lost, but if you give a little bit more effort and dig a little deeper, you win those two games." But this was not a loss built on the lethargy of the loss in Atlanta. Most of the night, the Rockets did defend with the energy and tenacity they lacked against the Hawks. Bonzi Wells started with McGrady out and had 27 points, with nine rebounds. The Rockets led by as much as 14, and by 13 with 8:58 left. But down the stretch, they fell apart offensively and let the offensive struggles spread to everything else. "It was disappointing the way we played," Shane Battier said. "We played poorly. We still had a shot to win, but we didn't show enough heart and determination when the game really mattered to pull it out. All things considered, as poorly as we played, we still had a shot to win. We didn't fight hard enough." Abysmal shooting The Rockets made just 25 of 78 shots (32.1 percent). Battier was 1-of-12, Alston 1-of-11, Luther Head 3-of-11. They were 1-of-22 on 3-pointers. There were struggles that could be traced to McGrady's absence, especially down the stretch when even in close and ugly games he reliably makes sure the Rockets get good shots. But Monday everything fell apart in the final nine minutes. The Rockets led by 13 with 8:58 left when Jake Tsakalidis finished a three-point play. But the Rockets missed their next four shots, with turnovers by Head and Alston mixed in. The Rockets went 3 1/2 minutes without scoring in an 8-0 Boston run. But that was not the run that did the most damage. They had not done much, but with a Tsakalidis tip and a Wells jumper, the Rockets led 68-60 with 4:21 left. With that, they did little else right. Wells was hit with an offensive foul. Alston and Battier missed 3s. Head missed a jumper, and Alston turned it over. With 1:24 left, Boston's Sebastian Telfair came over defensively to help on a Juwan Howard drive, stuffed Howard and then beat the Rockets on the other end, finishing a break to give the Celtics their first lead of the game, 70-68. After Alston's turnover, Al Jefferson missed inside, but Delonte West and Wells each came away with the ball, with West winning the jump ball. Paul Pierce (28 points) then hit a turnaround jumper for a 3-pointer, just ahead of the shot-clock buzzer, to give Boston a 73-68 lead, completing a 13-0 Boston run with 25.9 seconds remaining. "The first three quarters, we didn't play particularly well, but we competed hard," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I thought they got stronger in the fourth quarter, we got weaker both mentally and physically. Got beat in transition. Got beat on the boards. "This isn't a one-shot deal here. We got beat up in the fourth quarter last night (in Orlando), too in transition and on the boards. We've been getting beat up on the boards. We've been getting beat back. It's been a source of concern." Head scored with 20.4 seconds left, but he sent West to the line, and West clinched it with 17.4 seconds left. A 'nasty game' "It was a nasty game all the way around," Battier said. "Games like this, it comes down to who wants it more and who is willing to get on the floor for loose balls and who is willing to make the physical play. "And that's the game. We didn't make those plays." Worse, they knew those were the plays they have to make no matter who plays — or doesn't. jonathan.feigen@chron.com http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4584522.html
These last few games especially this one without T-mac and Yao should give the Rockets management a clear picture of what they need to do in the off season to improve the team. I think it should also show managment (JVG) they need to play the bit players more so they realy know what to do when they are playing in more critical games!
No T-Mac, even with Yao Rox is a bottom line lottery team. No T-Mac no Yao, this team belongs to NBDL. Les shouldn't be worried about signing JVG at all. He is going nowhere if Rox offer him an extension. There won't be another T-mac on the other teams which are interested in signing him. He knows that.
I'm with DD on this.. we hear the same thing over and over again.. its time for something to get done.. if they same thing happens every few weeks then shouldnt the problem be corrected? whether thats coaching or not i dunno. i love JVG but cmon now. something has to be done to change the trend. its getting a bit rediculous
Lol. We have the 5th best record in the West depite missing one of our two Allstars for almost the entire season. We have not been blown out and have been in every single game for ages. Take away 50 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assits and constant double teams, and your team might struggle offensivley...
With no TMAC this is the worst team in the NBA. Damn it's still embarrassing to lose to the Sucktics though.
Im sorry but, the absence of one man should not have your team struggling mightily against the CELTICS. They just dropped 18 straight games and they have a coach who is much more of a motivator than the one we have. He can make them hustle. On the other hand, you have the Rockets. This coach seems to not know how to motivate or design a backup gameplan when Mcgrady is not in. Its been years now as DD said, when is he going to fix the thing?
What do you expect when our offense is give the ball to Tracy and let him decide? When it was only Yao we'd just pound the ball into him every possession even when he was getting doubled an denied the ball. Spend the whole shot clock trying to force it in and turning it over in the 4th. The system makes everyone else so flat and stationary on offense. Thus our glaring need for penetration and slashing. When both Tracy and Yao are out it gets ugly. I hope JVG irons this out soon or we'll be back to choking in the 1st round with the T-Mac save us offense. T- Mac can't be clutch every single game running the same pick play at the 3-pt line.
I expect a team to not be so reliant on one person, but that's the coach's fault. It's his system and he just doesn't make adjustments. We need slashers (Kirk Snyder for instance) and guys who can penetrate and create for themselves. I'm a big believer that Lindsey was lying on air saying they feel they have enough to win it all. Either he's a liar or he's blind, and Im betting on the former. The problem with your last paragraph is that, the coach seems to not realize that, and so its the staple of his offense.
The huge talent deficit exposed. Without TMac and Yao, just like last year, this team is lottery bound. But the excuses ring hollow, just do something to fix the problems, upgrade the talent. Since TMac and Yao have been together this organization surrounds them with subpar talent, at least offensively. When is this going to change? Chemistry is great, but talent wins titles. There can't be an All Star at every position, but, come on, Alston is a third tier NBA PG at best, Hayes may be the shortest PF/Center in the league, Mutombo is the oldest center maybe player in the NBA, and Shane is a great guy and wonderful all purpose player, but he is no offensive threat.
Of course you mean *two* people, but no need to let facts get in the way. They really should have put some thought into how this team could win without Yao and TMac when they built the team around Yao and TMac. Stupid Van Gundy. Stupid CD.
Actually you're right, the GM has part in this as well, but ultimately the coach's system matters just as much. We should have more than 2 players that can do more than chuck up stand still 3's all game.
even if we're not a good team without t-mac and yao why does that mean we need a complete overhaul? if you took shaq and kobe off the lakers a few years back, that squad would most definitely not make the playoffs. but so what? our record and play with yao and t-mac is good our record and play with just t-mac is good why on earth then would i want to put more than a very minimal stock into what our team looks like without them. we're not going anywhere without them regardless of ANY realistic roster move you make outside of them. period. it sucks losing a terrible game, and i was/am as frustrated about it as anyone, but i find it hard to make any broad evaluation off it.
This team has started to look sluggish and worn out from about three or four games before the All-Star Break. I don't know whether it's due to our veterans tiring or the team wearing down after playing beyond their capabilities for too long. Or perhaps they just peaked too early. On the other hand, I still think we have enough pieces to compete for the championship; it's just that everything must fit perfectly for this to happen. Unlike the top teams, we have little or no leeway. We all know now that our role players are limited in what they can do, but within our system and when both stars are healthy, we also know that they can perform beyond their limits and play inspired basketball. This is when Van Gundy will prove to me whether he's worthy of Coach of the Year. If he can figure out how to keep the team afloat until Yao returns, and then get everything to gel when the big fella returns, then he gets my vote.
