It's blatantly obvious, but I see threads about Lin and his minutes and all that stuff. The problem is defense. It stinks. Prior to this game, we are 29th in the league (next to last) in points given up at 103.2 per game, 25th in the league in opponent's fg% at 46.1%, and 26th in opponent's 3pt% at 38.1%. Overall, we are #21 in defensive efficiency. Looking at tonight's game and you will see that. That horrendous defensive start, and numerous defensive breakdowns late in the game. Poor defense is due to a variety of factors (poor coaching, effort by the players, bad defensive players?...). We haven't had a defensive culture for a long time now and I think it's time the organization gets back to that. Scoring points is fun for the fans, but defense is what wins. And fans will appreciate good defense just as much as good offense.
They play at a higher pace though, so they will allow more points naturally. It is pretty bad, it's a team thing though. The rotations are not there and it's just a team thing.
if the team has 1-2 night of bad defense... then its the the players... if the team has bad defense the whole season then it is most definitely the coach...
Asik, Morris and Greg Smith all played well under Sampson but all of a sudden they hardly see the floor tonight against Dallas when we lacked defense. SMH...
Or it's also the players. It's a combination of both. Ultimately, it's about having a defensive culture in that locker room and I don't think we have that. Maybe we have an experienced coach an a young team. But if we are going to build for the future, defense has to be a priority from here on out.
Meh, this is an incomplete team. In two to three years when Moreys team is closer to complete we can start poking holes and analyzing.
On that last drive by Mayo...Harden wanted to trap him and he waved Parsons to come over and front Mayo. Parsons never did and OJ took the open lane to the rim. Couldn't tell if Chandler just ignored him or didn't see it, but it sure looked like CP was looking.
The Rockets in general are a young, inexperienced team that doesn't have much talent. I don't think the players fit well together either especially Harden and Lin. A perfect PG to pair up Harden with is a shooter type like Mario Chalmers, George Hill, etc. Harden is a ball-dominant player and doesn't pair well with other PGs that need the ball such as Westbrook and now Lin. I really doubt any Rockets fan is willing to take Lin over Harden and I'm pretty sure nobody in the Houston organization would hesitate to make that decision either.
I wonder why the coaches don't hold Patterson up to the rebounding standards they do our other young bigs? You see it with D-Mo, Royce, Morris...they say the coaches just tell them to focus on rebounding. Patterson gets a pass on this I guess.
The Rockets always lose to the Mavs. I don't know what our all time head to head record is against the Mavs, but I do know that ever since Cuban and Dirk showed up they have been bending us over pretty much every time we play them. Its one of the more comical and lopsided matchups in the NBA. I don't know what the spread was on this game tonight, but im gonna start paying more attention to it when we play the Mavs in the future, its free money and Im not even a gambler.
