IMO, this last game against the Sonics was a very important step to the Rockets turning around this season. Not a great all-around game from tip-off to the end by any means. I know the Sonics are the worst team in the league and it shouldn't have been close to begin with. BUT...it is hard to win on the road and these "home and home" games (where you play at one team's home one game and the very next one is at the other team's home) motivate the loser of the first game unlike any other scenario in the regular season. Plenty of people will rant about some of the decisions by Adelman, T-Mac's inability to sink FT's, Yao's lack of speed in switching off pick-and-rolls, etc. So I will point out the positives. 1. Carl Landry: WOW! What a game. His stat line is nothing to gawk at, but if you watched the game, you really can appreciate his play, heart and hustle. Seriously, I am very satisfied with drafting him and hope he will stay with us for at least the next 5 years as he develops even more. All the stuff I heard about him being a Chuck Hayes with actual basketball skills is true. His offensive skills are much better, but his rebounding is amazing too. I mean...the dude is 6-7 and he finds a way to bring that ball down. His rebounding (not his whole game) reminds me of a slimmer version of Barkley. OK, a poor man's Barkley, but still...what a rookie! 2. T-Mac Come-Bac: This was clearly his comeback game and even if it was against the lowly Sonics, he showed people (ESPECIALLY HOUSTON FANS) why we NEED him. Leading a 25-10 run at the end of the game was crucial. But it was not only late in the game...there were many moments where he drove hard in the middle of the lane and got some nice, easy buckets. It still astounds me that out of the 385 CF members that voted in the poll I made at the beginning of this month, over 57% expressed a desire to trade him! It wasn't conducted with the precision as the Gallup Polls or anything like that, but geez...it's fair to say that a large number of Rockets fans wanted T-Mac out of here. This game proved the haters wrong and no, he's not 100% healthy, but he's still very valuable to this team. He did what we needed him to do, which was make midrange shots, take over at the end and create easy shots for teammates (that last 3 by Rafer, which was the dagger). Is he perfect? No. But many people undervalue this guy and he's become the poster boy of all that is disappointing in our Rockets this season (and for the past 4 years)...but still, WE NEED HIM. Is it safe to say that yet? 3. Momentum: This does seem a bit ridiculous, considering that this 3 game winning streak has 2 games against a team that has yet to win 10 games this season, but I could really see this team trying to turn the corner. A comeback win like this is important to create any kind of steam, and I am really hoping that this is the beginning of that. I love our bench, not only for their play but also how they are behind whoever is on the court. They cheer as loudly as any Red Rowdy and the enthusiasm is contagious. Especially toward the end of the game when our players were getting on the court, I loved how they huddled together and it didn't matter who they were playing...they wanted this game and were going to find a way to win. 4. Adelman playing rookies: Of course there are some things I wish he would do differently during the game and in regards to the rotation (*AHEM* don't start Chuck Hayes *cough*), but he is very willing to throw rookies in for a healthy number of minutes. And it's not just b/c we're short-handed anymore. I mean, he really trusts these guys and I know that they exude more confidence b/c of that. Not all coaches would do that. I am not a JVG hater, but there are many coaches like him that just would not trust rookies to mess with their games. 5. Rafer's continued solid play: Speaking of Houston fans hating on one of our players, Alston was another player hated by most. He's had slumps and boneheaded mistakes along the way, but he has been very consistent and the PG we need for a good month now. We needed every one of his 5 threes in this game and it's good to see him knocking them down and doing well when he couldn't seem to throw a ball in the ocean earlier in the season. *I am not against hating on our own players. Hopefully, it doesn't sound like I blindly support all of our players just b/c they're Rockets, b/c they do deserve to be criticized at times and sometimes run out of town. I've hated on players like Stromile Swift and even former fan favorites that started to hurt us more than help us towards the end like JL3, Moochie, Ryan Bowen, and even the Franchise before we traded him (and lately, I've been getting weary of Chuck Hayes and Mike James)...BUT sometimes I think we jump the gun too quickly on players that will be of help to us. Rafer and T-Mac are perfect examples of this, IMO. So in conclusion, here's to being optimistic for the second half of the season. This was Game 1 of the latter half (game 42 overall), and I am quite pleased. Of course it would've been nice (especially on my heart) if we just blew them out and didn't have to win in this fashion, but I honestly see more positives than negatives. ____ Edit: If I were to add one more, it would be: 6. Yao = Mr. Consistent: He's a double/double machine and has been on an absolute tear! But it's not only recently...he's really been a workhorse with his increased his minutes this season. People often forget that before he broke his leg last season, he was one of the top candidates for MVP at that point of the season. I really thought Rileydog hit on some very good points in his post. He may not get respect from everyone else, but we as Rockets fans can't dog on him just to balance out the YOF's unconditional love for him. Good centers are still very hard to come by in this league, and we're very lucky to have a great one. As a fan and his owner in my fantasy basketball league, I thank him and would like to give him all the credit in the world for what he's meant to our team.
the season seems to have hope again... hopefully the offense can be more consistent...and the defense...well...be more consistent too.
A couple of caveats: T-Mac was the difference in this game. But the Rockets have moved away from Adelman's offense since he came back. The Rockets can probably win against crappy teams like Seattle with only T-Mac and Yao scoring, but to beat the better teams they're going to need balanced scoring. Five guys should be reaching double figures every night. If that doesn't happen the Rockets are going to have a short post-season, assuming they get there. That means getting the other guys their touches. That means passing the ball. Both Yao and T-Mac have to recommit to moving the ball around. In particular I want to see Scola getting 9 or 10 shots a night. Alston plays better when he's pushed from behind. I think it's pretty clear now that he kicks it up a notch when he thinks there's competition for the starting position. The worst thing to do right now would be to play him for 40 minutes. Let him get his 20 to 30 a night and keep playing Brooks, who's just going to get better with more experience. Yeah, Adelman does kick ass for playing the rookies as much as he does.
Carl was great tonight and looked impressive. Officially he is listed as 6' 9". So he is taller than Chuck but I think Chuck is stronger.
Another good positive they did in this game and need to do more consistently is at end of games substitute hayes for yao. Yao gets killed in pick and rolls (not that its his fault he does the best he can) and considering thats the play every scout will say to run when you need a basket against houston, taking that option away with hayes was/is a brilliant move. On the negative, I still say if you had a guy like Redd instead of McGrady, he is going to do a lot of things McGrady does (not as well but decently) and if that trade Mil was offering with a first round draft pick was true you'd be building this team for the future as well. With that said McGrady wont be traded till this off season.
Alston did NOT play well. Shooting 6-18 as a PG when your center takes 13 shots is NOT "solid play". Granted, his threes were good and came timely, but Rafer did not play well, neither on offense nor on defense. We will still need an upgrade to Rafer if we want to go anywhere.
in the last final mins of the game, where Tmac called a timeout. this is exactly why tmac shouldn't be handling the offense. everyone just started to stand around and playing iso. they are watching what tmac is going to do, because no one know except tmac himself what he is going to do. however, what alston or someone else run the offense, u see the tmac who pass out to alston on a 3. it was an ugly win, it looks like we were playing the big3 in the west.
28 assists on 41 baskets. Thats pretty solid, a season high I think. The Rockets are running Adelman's offense pretty well. Only problem right now is shots not going down. Scola has been pretty open but has missed far more than he has made. Reason you have so much ISO in the last few minutes of the game is because thats when the defense really clamps down. Also in order to beat a zone you pretty much have to penetrate and dish for the open shot or shoot over it. Rockets did far more penetrating and dishing than just shooting over it.
Are you kidding me? 6 of 18 is not terrible for a guard (PG, no less) in one game, especially when you go 5-9 for threes! How many starting PG's are there in the league that shoot over 50% FG for the season? THREE. And that includes Jose Calderon, who just took over for Ford. It's important, but far from the most important stat for PG's. You also failed to mention his 8 assists. In my post, I wrote "Rafer's CONTINUED solid play." It's a body of work and this game did nothing to hurt that. I'll take 18 pts on 5 threes and 8 assists from our starting PG ANYDAY. Plus, the 13 shots that Yao took are skewed. He took 15 FT's (which is a good statistic and something we need more of from the refs), and anyone that knows anything about basketball knows that when you're fouled making a shot attempt that does not go in, it's not recorded as a FG attempt. So the discrepancy between the 2 are not nearly as great as you imagine. Not only that, but do you really think Rafer wants to take more shots than Yao? As a true PG, he would much rather have 10 assists than 20 points, I'm sure. But you take what the offense gives you and when Yao had trouble doing his work in the paint at times, guards like Rafer put up shots from outside the paint. So please...Don't just cite a single statistic (FG%) and think you've actually analyzed how a player has performed.
Rafer is what he is. First off, he shouldn't be playing 40 minutes a game. For whatever reason mentally he kicks it up a notch when he's pushed from behind. Letting Brooks get minutes not only puts pressure on Rafer but it gets Brooks playing time. Secondly, Rafer can't create. Yes he knocked down a bunch of three's, but those came off of open looks after the defense collapsed on either T-Mac or Yao. He's perfectly fine if that's what you relegate his offense to: open looks after the double team and drives to the basket when the defense is keyed on Yao. Where it starts to fall apart is shot selection and the ability to create for his teammates. Way too often on a fast break he'll try and take it in by himself instead of dishing, or dribbling up and making a quick shot off a screen.
Yeah, I failed to single him out when I was referring to the bench's enthusiasm in my post. He is a great player on the court, but I don't think a team could ask for a better teammate. His cheers on the bench are unparalleled and he actually fires me up when I see him encouraging his teammates. It certainly doesn't hurt that his basketball IQ is rivaled only by some of the smartest players in the NBA. I absolutely love how he anticipates where the player he's guarding will be to take the charge. I admit, sometimes it's a flop, but most of the time, it actually is great awareness of the situation. Our rookie class this season is so refreshing to watch.
You're right...being #16 among all PG's in the NBA in total assists this season shows how he can't create . I hope you didn't mean that he's not able to create his own shot, b/c that's NOT what he's supposed to do! "He's perfectly fine if that's what you relegate his offense to: open looks after the double team and drives to the basket when the defense is keyed on Yao." .............. uh, what else do you want him to do?? You want him to grow a couple inches and post up like Chauncey Billups? You want him to go crazy and single-handedly win a playoff game like Baron Davis? We have other players to do those things! What the hell are your expectations of this guy? He is what he is. A solid PG that can facilitate and one who's even better now that he's learned to finish at a high percentage around the basket.
im happy for the win, but its hard for me to get too excited about squeeking out a win against seattle.
