An easy adjustment I would like to see in game two (modest, but helpful) is bringing in Aaron Holiday who has shot 49% on his last 75 3pt attempts. Looking back over the footage of game one, the spacing was truly disastrous at times and someone who can handle the rock and shoot with a quick trigger was badly needed. Got a new blog post looking at some of the actions he was involved in from the win at the end of the regular season. Sounds like Ime is considering playing him in game two which I saw after I had written this, so hopefully worth a read! https://www.teaandrockets.com/post/notes-from-game-one-houston-s-offense-needs-a-holiday
I agree. Holiday will help big time with the spacing and his defense is good. It would also help to ensure that Amen and Fred aren't overworked
I think is defense is really underrated. I remember when Grimes was lighting us up in that late season game against the Sixers. He was scoring on Tari, Dillon, Tate, Fred. Aaron came in late in the game and I posted on Bluesky 'oh I like Aaron in Grimes actually' and he got a stop his very first possession and proved me right. He's pesky. Uses his small size to chase guards with his speed and he stays connected and doesn't foul
Play a little more of the triple bigs. Yes, play AH. And maybe make some FTs and corner 3s for goodness's sake.
This team is too deep to insist on playing someone having an off night. Holiday, Unc, Whitmore, Tate, and Shepperd should all be on the table depending on who is being productive and who isn't. Screw short playoff rotations.
I contemplated Jeff but he's not much of a shooter, might have given a bit more presence as an above the rim roller and might have helped in the open floor in transition but not sure the game was crying out for him too much
It's ironic to me that the Rockets, who virtually created the 3pt revolution in the NBA, used a Thompson/Eason/Smith/Sengun/Adams lineup in a PLAYOFF game which, BTW, was the first time they ever used that lineup.
I feel like I am going crazy cause I am sure I have seen that lineup before and yet there is no data for it on NBA lineups. Hmmm....
If youre screaming for Aaron Holiday, something has gone horribly wrong. The difference in the Rockets winning or losing this series is not and should not be Aaron Holiday. I don't want to see him in Game 2. I want to see Jalen Green turn it around or not so we know what we have.
What's crazy is that not playing Aaron Holiday could of costs us game 1. We were so close to taking control of the game, but FVV kept bricking three after three killing our momentum. I'm not saying that Aaron is the savior, but we really really needed the shooting, so definitely agree with you OP.
Nobody is screaming, but when you shoot 20.6% from 3 and it's still a 3 point game with 4 minutes left, a role player who has shot 49% from deep can help you win just by making a couple of shots. When you are holding a team consistently to under 100 points the margins are incredibly tight, it was kinda the entire point of my piece. Case in point, Houston gets it to 4 again with 2:50 left and Moses Moody, a role player who has been really poor in recent outings against Houston and was quiet all night, goes down the other end with the dagger corner 3 which ends the game. Every single player and every single minute counts in a tight playoff game. Houston could have won even with Fred and Jalen playing so awful. I truly believe that.
Yeah...I'm not against him playing...especially if it looks like Fred's shot is still off. Give him a quick 5 and see what it does. The inability to make 3's in game 1 allowed GS to just crowd the paint. Those shots weren't open accidentially as the game went on. With no one hiting them with any consistency, there was no reason to defend that far out.
