It started when we lost Deke. We either had deke in the game , who is feared by 90% of NBa players, and when Yao was in there he played like he had to live up to the guy feared by 90% of NBA players. Now, Yao doesnt have that pressure and hasnt been 100%, so few players fear going at him or just driving on this team. Hopefully Dampier changes some of that.
You know the old say "Defense wins championships".... It really comes down to Defense wins 4th quarters. Offense can only get you three quarters before the better team locks down. The three games the Rockets have lost so far, the other team is better because they shut the Rockets down when it mattered and the Rockets did nothing to shut down LA, GS, and Denver. The JVG defense lingered on for a year or two with the players after Van Gundy was let go, but now is an after-thought. This team isn't going anywhere without a major change in the defensive planning from the coaching first, then the players.
There's one guy that knows what to do late in games. Scola. Why? He's been there, done that, and in all kind of situations. Yao hasnt. Battier hasnt. Brooks hasnt. Martin hasnt. Battier has played enough to have the most experience regular season-wise, but playoff wise we have very little experience that can't be overcome unless you got 11, 12, 13 yr vets on the team like Deke. Miller certainly helps. Dampier should as well. There was a time we had the barrys, ward, deke, even Howard. now we've gone too far with the youth movement and we lack enough veteran leadership. We finally have the talent in the starting lineup so the older vets dont have to play 40 mins, but that doesnt mean we dont need them. i think we're ok in the frontcourt, but we really lack a veteran point to help out the backcourt, even if its from the bench.
I'm sure everyone will be paying close attention to everything tonight. Look for the usual to happen around mid 3rd quarter.
Simple: put the ball in Scola's hands and watch him score, score, score. He's the best excuse for a closer we've got.
In the NO game - some scrub named Smith got a career high because Scola played 10 feet off him, CP3 toyed with AB.
I think Lowry should have come in much earlier once it was apparent that Brooks could not stop Paul from scoring.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...0-rockets-drop-to-0-4-after-second-half-blues Like a broken record!
This is 100% wrong. This was a scheme issue not a player issue, they were pressing CP3 on the high side of the PnR with a big, and CP3 was simply passing it to the picker for a wide open look before the big recovers. This is a half assed defense.....you have a few options here.... 1. You TRAP CP3 with both players. or 2. You switch defensive assignments or 3. You stay home on your man the best you can. The Rockets did NONE of those, they did a sort of quasi number 1....and 3....and got caught in the middle. I personally would have done number 3 and made CP3 have no one to pass too.... DD
