Wow. People, we are not going to have problems scoring enough points to win games on a regular basis. That's a hell of a machine we had on that court tonight -- best I've seen in Houston since the championship years -- and it's just getting started. The ball movement was impeccable. When Yao is more comfortable and Mobley learns to keep his schwing in his pants, we're going to be getting open shots and buckets routinely. Now -- ahem -- let's see what we can do about keeping the opponent in double digits. The stand-out problem tonight, IMHO, was giving up layins and open jumpers 5 seconds after each of our scores. No team with Yao Ming, Eddie Griffin, and Juaquin Hawkins should be doing that. Let's give our guys another 10 games or so to get comfortable in the offense and then spend the rest of the season working on D. I think we've got enough time to whip it into shape before the playoffs.
Yes, our defense was terrible. How come we did so much switching? Having Francis, Mobley, or Norris covering Nowitski isn't going to work! Our team seems to have no idea how to defend a pick and roll. If we want to be a playoff team, we need to defend better. To credit the Rockets though, Dallas is the #1 offense in the NBA.
'DEFENCE'No names no pack drill but they know who they are. Several players looked like they were either well past their prime or in need of defensive coaching and experience!. Even with all the mistakes etc. I see many areas that the Rox can improve prior to the playoffs. Where as the Mavs look like they are at the top of their Game right now.
I don't know what that was out there, some 'El Matador' defense, but it was ugly. Breaking this team up or moving Francis to 2-guard isn't the answer, because as Will said this team will score the points. Defense is another matter. Bringing in defensive stoppers isn't the answer, it's only going to improve one spot on defense, this team is going to have to get it ingrained in their minds that they will play defense. They CAN play defense. Mobley, Francis, whoever is playing SF, they can defend. We know that Griffin and I think even Ming can defend. But this team needs to play TEAM defense if they're going anywhere. I guarantee that if this team plays the defense we know they're capable of playing not only will they be a lock to make the playoffs, they can do some damage in the first round.
looks like we play harder and hustle more than normal on Defense today....we played not bad D, but Dallas is just so potent offensively they just overwhelmed us for all 4 periods, we just couldn't keep up...this team has the makeup to be a pretty good defensive team...if we work more on defense, this team will be unbelievable...They are probably worried about O more the D since they are trying to implement the motion offense...maybe next year...
I see glimpses... It appears at times that Steve and Cuttino are trying a little harder... but only on some possessions. I'm with you all the way. Gimme defense. Although tonight was the best loss I've seen in a long time, Portland was the game that I enjoyed the most this season because we played better defense in that game than any I can remember.
The Rockets must have no respect for Michael Finleys jumper. How many times did they leave him alone at the 3 point line? How many time did Finley make them pay? Did he ever use the rim to drain those 3's? ONE MAJOR thing the Rockets are missing is a 3 point threat. If you look at the Mavericks, Sonics, etc... they are killing the league from 3 point land. We have NOBODY like Barry, Lewis, Finley, Nash, etc..... that always seem to hit those threes when they count. DAMN I miss Matt Bullard!!! So if Boki, was displaying his 3 point accuracy in training camp, why cant we get him involved in the rotation (give him Moochies minutes). He was suppose to be the top European Player last year. He was billed as the most ready to contribute, and somebody that loves to take it to the rim.
99, Defense is 100% effort! The And 1 All-Stars (SF, CM&MN) refuse to play D. Rudy should tell them to pick up for 94ft. Ming had to help because they run along side the offensive player. This won't get any better since the coach won't sit them. Defense has to be stressed by Rudy. Avery, 10pts!, he's 37 yrs. old!
I'm posting this in many threads to calm some of you guys down. Thought of the day, does Phoenix feel foolish for giving up on Nash and Finley early? It's about time somebody said it, how come we can never lose a game because the other team was just better? Maybe it's just me, but the fact that they were 11-0 before we played them makes them the best team in league IMHO. I mean come on, Finley was hitting 3's like crazy, Dirk was dropping turnaround J's like he was Jordan, and Najera took Ming to school in the 4th quarter. You guys can keep b****ing all you want, but I think the fact that the Mavs have improved over the last 4 years, making the Playoffs in the last 2 and being unbeaten now makes them the better team and better teams usually win. If you guys want to listen to some reason, check this out. The Mavs started to get better as Dirk began to take his game to another level. That happened during his 2nd and 3rd seasons. At the same time a guy who had been a very good player, Finley, and a guy who steadily improved, Nash, were on the same team with him. You put those 3 together and you have the great team that they are now. So my question is, who else sees the similarities? Hmmm, tall and talented young player, could that be Ming? Hmmm, guard who is already a star, hmmm, could that be Steve? Hmmm, a player who continues to improve every year that he's been in the league, could that be Mobley? Show some patience, this team will make the playoffs this year and next year, they will have a shot at making the finals, truuuust me
I think that part of the problem is that when we had the very mobile defensive center Hakeem, we played funnel defenses. Yao is not the type of center that can surprise you. Yao is the type of center that will get you if you don't know he's there. I don't think we can let this team play volleyball. I think we will be best on defense if we defend the three point line well and let Eddie and our centers recover if necessary.
If Kt is going to foul, he better darn well FOUL and not allow the bucket. Like he really thinks the refs won't call anything on him.
I agree. While I certainly think the Rockets played some stretches of lax defense at times, there were also times I thought they played perfect defense. What happened? Finley/Nowitski/whoever nailed their shots anyway. Even with their shooting woes the Rockets probably played well enough to beat most teams last night but Dallas is just on another level than anyone else right now.
Alot of our problem on D is that we chose to rotate and double way too much. Teams are passing it around the horn and finding the open man. Which is why we always see the opposition with Wide Open looks and a Rox defender running out at the last second and getting no where near him. It was absolutely inexcusable to rotate off of Finley when he hit his ummmmmmm 4th straight 3 (or something like that) but we continued to do it. Better teams are watching us rotate like this and are slaying us with crisp passing which is leading to severe mismatch problems. Anyone want to count the number of Times Mobley ended up guarding Dirk? Its like the Mavs were toying with us. Almost anytime they wanted, it ended up being Mobes on Nowitki, or Francis on Finley. They ran their offense to damn near perfection last night. If anyone taped it, watch it again it was a perfect example of a great offensive team taking advantage of a weak Defensive game plan.
ChenZhen:- Nop excuses please the DEFENCE needs a lot of work. Too many open shots with NO coverage. Avery Johnson needs to be smothered anytime he goes near the basket. He has been killing the Rox for so many years! Its about time that we stopped him( For example).
I begged Rudy to have those guys not leave Finley, Nash and Dirk. They failed. It is defense. Having said that if last night's game was game 1 of a seven game playoff series, I would like my chances. Today being a rest day and we get to go again tomorrow, I really like our chances.
Let me tell you a little something about Avery Johnson..he may be getting old..but the man knows how to drive and shoot.he has been a certifiable Rocket killer for years...I would kill to have AJ for a backup point..he would be a VAST improvement over Moochie.. On to the point of the thread... Defense...no need to trade for defense, this team can oplay D..they just dont seem to be committed to team D yet..Look at the MAvs, they are basically the same team from last year, but they have committed to team D..and its working for them..Jeff said it best in the gaem thread last night.. the Rox did try to defend..they just werent up to the challenge of the best offense in the league..I hope they study the game tape on this game to show them not only what good team D looks like,,,but what a well run offense looks like..If the Mavs keep up this level of play, I see them as being a huge test for the Lakers this year..Even if Shaq kills em down low...the Lakers D can not keep up with the Mavs offense..
This last is a myth. Najera didn't affect Ming's rebounding at all, he didn't block a single shot of Mings. He did put a body on him but when Ming would get the ball, either Najera would mug him or foul him outright. Ming was also pretty much in a constant double team from the 3rd quarter on. So maybe it was Nowitski and Najera and/or Bradley who schooled Ming? I might believe so, if they didn't grab him every time he had the ball. This wasn't a schooling, it was a desperation defense against someone they really couldn't defend. The LA Lakers used to do the same *erm* stuff, yea stuff... to Moses Malone. If anything stopped Ming in the 4th quarter, it was exhaustion.
Dallas is a better team, I agree. But, man we played terrible defense last night. Dirk was left wide open too many times. The pick and roll defense was not good either. I am proud of the Rockets, they hung with a Championship contender for 3 quarters. But it showed how much more we have to go last night. Yao is the real deal, and the rest of our front court was shut down last night. The Backcourt was hurting too. I am was even thinking that going to the "Dump it down to Yao" offense might have been best last night. But back to the topic, our defense was terrible at times last night, hopefully it will get better.
One of my definitions of bad D is that the opponent keeps nailing the same wide-open shot -- in this case, the 3 from the corner after swinging the ball around -- and you nevertheless keep giving it to him. Maybe Rudy decided he had to give the Mavericks something, and that was the shot to give them. But at a certain point, if you're still giving them the same shot, it's no longer a game. It's shooting practice.
