Everyone please consider that Thomas, Rice and Taylor were a huge gap last night! Yes, Ming looked out of place and did not prove himself, but 11 minutes is not much to prove. Consider that If Thomas, Taylor and Rice would have played, the would have added 35-40 points total and probably 10 rebounds. Now, consider that Steve would have gotten his average last night. That gives use the win by the numbers...pretty simple thing. one player down is not going to hurt this team, 2 players will make it interesting, three players will definitely hurt us, 4 players will not be a good sight. We had 4 players who were had been a big part of our plans down last night.... Yes, they looked bad, but let's take a chill pill and consider the case, when they are at full strength or near it.
LA is 0 and 2 and the Spurs have a loss just like us so the world has not ended. However, to those who like to think KT is expendable, try again. I hope Wink knows that 39 points or not he is not half as focused on setting up his teammates as he should be, whether or not they are rookies. Rudy went overboard. He should have started Boki. The starting lineup was a joke. Rudy either called an insufficient number of pick and rolls or Wink and Moochie did a lousy job all night. Boki is a shooter and looked fine to me, so why was there not more plays run for him? As for EG! I do not care what anybody says, his only game is shooting and even that is far from complete. He cannot handle the ball and cannot get his own shot. He must have been sick last night. Stupid shot selection. Timid post game. He was lost.
Montgo, you make good points, but remember that the Pacers were missing key personnel as well. In the long run the Rockets will win far more games that we lose. However, I hope the team noticed that we did not play team basketball, and we did not pass the ball. The Pacers provided a nice clinic in how the ball can and should be moved around to get better shots. I, for one, am not discouraged or disheartened by this loss. SF would have had more assists if his teammates had shot the ball better. True, they would have shot the ball better had they been in better position. And they would have been in better position if they had executed their plays and moved just a little. But, fear not, even a rocket doesn't move very fast at liftoff. Within a short time it gains speed and momentum ... and heads for the stars.
The bad news was our big guys shooting 3-for-22. The good news is that KT and MoT will get most of those minutes in the future. Why be surprised 2 of our guys getting their first NBA playing time, EddieG is still a kid and Kelvin cant shoot. This is a very young team ,, when you play too many young guys in the NBA **** happens.
We were missing alot of players last night, yes. And it was just the first game of the season. But regardless of those injuries, the number that jumped out at me the most was, the rest of the team (besides Francis, Norris and Mobley) only had 25 shot attempts. Regardless of injuries, you have to get whatever teamates are available, involved, and let them prove that they can or can not help the team win. Injuries are not an excuse not to pass the ball to an open man. Out of everyone, Mobley is going to have the biggest problem accepting this whether we are healthy or not. Thats not to say that Francis and Moochie arent going to struggle, but last night, there were several times that Mobley brought the ball up the court, never passed it once, and ended up taking a bad shot (though he did make some of those). To me, it seems like once we get into our half court set, and Mobley gets the ball in his hands, its like he puts his mind to it that no matter what, hes taking the shot. Thats not right. Mobley scored 22 and had a good shooting percentage, but look at the rest of his line....it was terrible.
Those of us who watched on league pass had to listen to the Pacer announcers...They were saying the Pacers have been adding motion plays this preseason. Their starters have been working together.. the guys we started really have not played togather. ==But something I saw was us playing a very soft zone that allowed them to move the ball easily...On the other end Artest and Oneil were contesting everything.........
How come the math doesn't include Reggie Miller's 17 ppg and Jamaal Tinsley's 9? Or that Tinsley averages twice as many assists per game as Erick Strickland had? The only math that interests me is the paltry 9 assists on the 30 Rocket made field goals.
Steve and Cat panicked and started heaving ill-advised shots. They still do not trust their teammates. Of course, the way their teammates were shooting last night, perhaps they had cause. However, had the Rockets been in a MOTION offense like they were supposed to be, the shots made percentage would have been higher and the assists more plentiful.
I don't like your logic at all. Ok I'll use your logic with the Pacers....add Reggie and Tinsley, who were STARTERS AND VITAL parts of their team last year, they would have 30 + more points and 10 + assists. Now subtract 15 points and 5 assists from role players from Indiana who stepped up. Since they are missing 10+ assist from their starters, that will lead to 10+ more points along with that 20 points per game lost. Its not that easy! I'm tired of hearing excuses about injuries. We still had our star players and leaders playing. They were missing one of their star players and leaders(high assist man). So what? No excuses, we need results, not excuses.
