ClutchFans Game Thread: Grizzlies @ Rockets 10/29/2008

How many in a row??

 

Head did throw up some bad shots, but geez T-Mac on the gimpy knee was jacking up bad shot after bad shot. A ton of low % shots. And I love T-Mac.

 

I was at the game as well with a pretty good isometric view of the court from the lower level. Good insights, emjohn, so I'll just add a few quick snippets of my own.

-Luther Head is atrocious at ball handling. If he's bringing the ball up court w/ his left hand, he'll just drift to the left side at the top of the key. He doesn't switch to his right hand at all and vice versa. A better team than the Grizz will trap and pressure him into giving up the rock or turning it over. Get well soon, Aaron Brooks!

-Marc Gasol 1. Chuck Hayes 0. I'm not sure why Scola didn't play the 4th(was he hurt?), but Chuck shouldn't be initiating the offense out of the post much less posting up on offense against a guy bigger than him(Gasol). Especially since Landry couldn't score buckets last night and only got his points at the charity stripe. There were times when Artest would drive inside and get double-teamed, and the only open man he could pass to was Hayes in the high post. This will definitely not do against the better teams.

-I hope that Artest + subs doesn't become a regular 2nd unit. Landry was the only other one who did something with this group by getting to the line. Play Scola and Landry at the same time, Rick!

-The piano juggler halftime show deserves a 4.5. Why no halftime tribute to Gene and Jim? A highlight video package with their best broadcast moments would've pumped up the fans. They were introduced to the crowd in the second half and barely got a reaction. Shame on the Rockets organization. I live in Les's neighborhood, so I'll definitely leave a note in his mailbox about this one.

All in all, a win is a win. I hope it doesn't take as long as last year to start playing well. Lightning in a bottle with a 22 game winning streak won't strike twice.

 

Look everyone, it was the first game of the season. And the Grizzlies are not as bad as before - a team that has Marc Gasol, O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay and Darrell Arthur is NOT going to be a terrible team. They may be young and inexperienced, but "terrible" is not the correct word to describe them.

 

Hey guys,

Did you realize that 11 players got into the game for the Rockets? That's not counting Battier and Brooks. Is this a deep team or not. Now Head played alot and I would think Brooks would take some if not all his minutes. Man, is the Wafer going to get on the court before he gets cut? For his sake, let's hope he gets in on a back-to-back game like tonight.

A win is a win and it's ugly but still a win.

As for the D Arthur love fest. Get over it. I would trade him or any other 1st rounder the Rockets got for Artest. Agreed? Case closed.

Now will Francis EVER get into a game? With this current roster. I just don't see it - and I am a big Francis fan.

 

The Grizzlies are a terrible team, despite the fact that they have a good collection of youth with talent. How many wins do you think they're getting this year? I consider 60-wins "great"; 47+ wins "good"; 41+ "okay"; 35+ "bad"; and 34 or less "terrible". I don't see the Grizzlies winning 35 games. Especially not if OJ Mayo is going to be a low percentage volume shooter.

Huh? What 11 players got into the game? We played 9 guys. We didn't look like a deep team last night, given that we got a fairly poor contribution from the bench. That said, I do believe that part of that stemmed from Adelman not putting them in a position to succeed. Let any one of those guys play with at least 3 starters and they'd probably do a lot better.

Battier's return will help our depth tremendously.

I believe I said as much when I brought him up. Still - I'd definitely rather have him than Hayes, probably rather than Landry, and possibly rather him than both Landry and Hayes.

I think Francis' career is done. Probably wasn't a good sign that he didn't sit on the bench during the game like Battier did.

Evan

 

we didnt run the offense well. and the piano juggler for a season opener halftime show. wow lame. do you guys think everyone will be sorta equal on touches kind of like yesterday i mean the scoring of our big 3 wuz pretty close.

 

Yeah, that's it. I saw that and I thought "Way to get excited about a mediocre effort."

 

Whatever. I was kind of torn about whether or not to post anything, but the more I thought about it the more it bugged me. Less talk, more walk.

 

Rebound stats when Yao was not in the game:

Code:

9:58(2nd) Yao Substitution replaced by Hayes 

Lowry    Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)   |   Hayes  Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
Arthur   Rebound (Off:1 Def:2)       Artest Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
Buckner  Rebound (Off:1 Def:0)
Warrick  Rebound (Off:1 Def:0)
Conley   Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)

Hafetime

9:56(4th) Yao Substitution replaced by Hayes 
Gay   Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)    |     Hayes Rebound(Off:0 Def:1)
                                     Landry Rebound (Off:1 Def:0)

5:29 (4th)Hayes Substitution replaced by Yao

 

I don't think it was about Yao specifically.

I saw it more as pairing two 6-6 players as our PF and C. Also, Scola was the rebounding machine last night, and he apparently wasn't allowed to play without Yao in the game.

Evan

 

Edit.

 

Yeah,I noticed that too.I thought early on Scola was our prime back-up at C last year,but this year is Hayes.What gives?

 

Actually I would like to see more games like last night than blow outs. In my mind, the Rockets will learn more from winning ugly than blowing teams out. These tough games will hardened them for the playoffs.

It's very encouraging to see the Rox win by DOUBLE-DIGITS even though they sucked assed on offense. I don't think the Rox of the past would've passed last night's test.

 

I hate to defend Luther Head but he was the only one that shot 50% or better from the field last night. On the other hand, he got the ball poked away from him and threw a couple of lousy passes.

The problem with Luther is not his shooting. It's just about everything else.

He can't play point and is too small for a SG. He can't beat his man off the dribble. His passing skills are poor other than the occasional post entry pass. He can't finish a fast break if there is any kind of defensive presence around the basket. The list goes on...

It's cliche but Head is, and always will be, undersized and one-dimensional. If the Rockets don't trade him this season, I highly doubt they will try to resign him.

 

Let's go Rox!

 

that was a scary game for us.