Wow... good game despite the lackluster start. I still think it's amazing that despite the fact that the small forwards on this team are playing like complete trash, the Rockets still find a way to keep in games. Rice and Williams have looked absolutely horrible through 3 games. I hope they start connecting on their shots soon, because we'll blow out teams when they do. Kenny failed miserably guarding Garnett. I really like Kenny's game, and I realize that Garnett torches almost any player in the league, but Thomas and Garnett are in 2 different worlds physically. Allowing him 15 points in the first quarter was a killer. Griffin should start soon! Wow..... what a damn impressive performance by the rook. There's this concealed arrogance about the kid that excites the hell out of me. He just comes in, unphased by going up against Garnett, and nails two 3's in a row. All we've heard from pundits is that Griffin will likely not make an impact this year; To that, I say bull****. There's not a rookie out there who can have the impact Griffin can. More impressive than his 3's was the fact that he was giving Garnett fits! Garnett's a player who has historically torched the likes of Duncan and Webber, but a rookie comes in and is giving him all he can handle! I love Kenny to death, but imo, we'd be better off throwing Griffin out there and letting the chips fall as they may. In turn, Kenny could benefit by using his strengths against the 2nd tier big men off the bench. Cuttino was clutch tonight. He must have hit 4 or 5 big shots down the stretch. No blame to be put on his shoulders. Steve played a great 2nd half, but he failed to keep the team out of an offensive funk in the 1st half, and you never want to have to come back from a 12 point 1st quarter defecit. Brandon just owns him when coming off the pick. He finally figured out the best way to defend that play is to chase him over the top, but 8 points in the 1st quarter is too much from Terell Brandon. Moochie should NOT be in at crunch time . If this team is to take the next step, they can't do it with Moochie Norris at the helm. I love what he brings to the team, but he's a liability defensively on switches, and his playmaking in the clutch isn't good enough to warrant playing him in crucial situations. Francis and Mobley should control the ball the last 2 minutes. It makes no sense to relegate Cuttino to being a spot up shooter. The Rockets just didn't execute in the clutch. Francis had 3 or 4 bad mistakes in the fourth (BAH! Those missed, point blank layups just killed me!). It also didn't help that Norris, Francis, and Mobley all got their pockets picked during one key stretch in the fourth. There's no point in belaboring our weaknesses though. Learn and move on. The Rockets have a very winnable game against Phoenix, then back home to face Denver: Two games, 2 wins, 4-1 start. Believe.
Yes good points, I agree completely. Griffin gave Garnett some trouble out there today - his defensive skills are amazing for someone his age... hell they're amazing for anyone. I got a feeling that Oeilpere was right on in his prediction - soon Griffin will take over for Thomas. I suppose that only good thing about Taylor's injury is it now gives Griffin a chance at major minutes behind/in front of Kenny. I'm curious to see how everything comes along when Mo comes back... by then Griffin will have probably taken Kenny's spot, and then with Mo back, what will happen to Kenny? Moochie: Remember that he was very clutch all of last season in the final minutes... that being said, I believe that the ball should still be in Steve or Cuttino's hands at the end.
good objective read TPL. As for Moochie....I thought Rudy had some goof in the 4th on his resting of Steve and Cuttino. I don't know if it was because of the back to back OTs for 45+ minutes in the first 2 games or what...but sitting Cat for 2 at 9-7 minutes and SF at 7-5 minutes in the 4th was odd....never seen that before. Moochie did make some nice drives...but I'm not going to argue, Rudy kept SF out 1 minute too long. What I really want to talk about is that match-up zone by Minn...wow! And we still got looks. btw: I saw our first zone! We are not very good at it, I might add. To me, this whole season is still on the SF spot. Steve and Cat have shown that they will score...Cato has shown us that wins are not based on him. It really is up to Rice and Walt...outside of Griffin rising out of his 210lb stature to rock!!! like an obsessed Robert Horry. We need to nail our open shots at the SF spot....In defense of Rice, he is being guarded closely....and I have seen the effects of that on how open Cuttino is. Cuttino and Steve are benefitting so far even though Rice isn't hitting!
