Sorry to create a new thread guys but i felt this needed to be seen separately from the game thread. This was a match against a DIVISION RIVAL and one which the tried to let us win on numerous occasions. Now what, we are slumped down in third position again in our division? If the playoffs began today that would mean we'd at best be a 5th seed again no? I just cannot understand how someone can not exert everything they have to win this one game which could have ridiculously large ramifications come playoff time. EVERY SINGLE REGULAR SEASON GAME IS IMPORTANT. I'm not sure if someone is going to chime in and say - " well we'll turn it on after the All Star break." But if you are - what good is turning it on after the all star break when you've already fallen behind the pace by a sizable margin? This really irritates me. We had the Hornets in the penalty around the 6 minute mark of the 4th quarter with only a 2 point difference i think? Yet T-Mac continued to do the PnR with the pull up a step inside the 3 line. Ming RARELY touched the ball. I couldn't believe this. Chandler and Eli in foul trouble - yet Ming didn't get the ball dumped down to him enough. As much as a hate Luther for his idiocy at times - i saw him drive to the basket more in 60 seconds than i saw T-Mac do the entire second half. Too many missed open 3s from a few players. THE COACHING My line up for the remaining few minutes would have been Ming, Landry, Battier, Barry, Brooks. Those bench guys hustle like crazy and i'm sure if they were in those rebounds towards the end of the game would have been in our possession. T-Mac is my favourite player he has been since Toronto and i've always ridden his jock strap. I've defended him at every turn. I would have benched him for the last few minutes. His effort - from what is seemed watching the game on tv... Simply wasn't good enough from a person earning $20 million a season. I am so angry with a lot of the things about tonights game but nothing more than the fact we lost to a division rival when the game was ours for the taking on more than one occasion. Yao gets us back in the game after we dump the ball down to him on consecutive occasions - we tie the game and never go to him again.
Gee, has anyone here ever watched a season of NBA basketball before? Yeah, it was a disappointing loss. To a division rival. On the road. Big freaking deal. It happens EVERY YEAR. Calm down. The Rockets still have a lot better record than they did last year at this time.
Yeah, not the first time this happened. I got a feeling Rick isn't exactly the type of coach who like to yell at his player for wrong plays.
I dont blame the players. They are doing their best even when their bodies dont allow I only blame the coach aka Mr."Don't know" who does not adjust and pick up the right palyers onto the court With this no-heart "don't konw" coach, rox is going nowhere
We have so many opporuninties to take the lead, but we blow it ourselves. Every single players all made some mistakes. It's loss on the whole team. What else can we say. This surely makes me feel sorry for the players.
Every loss we take to a good team is it going to be classed as 'disappointing' ? All these disappointing losses will add up. It's just one game? So with all our disappointing losses - the Spurs continue to roll - and i'd put more money on Paul and West getting a roll on over McGrady and Ming towards the end of the season. So all these disappointing losses lead us to another 5th seed and another tough playoff opponent instead of a 6 or 7th seed in which we would have a greater chance of dispatching. Thankfully this loss, according to you - was just disappointing.
I didn't watch the whole game; only the closing minutes of the game. But from what I saw, execution was the problem for the Rockets. The Rockets DID have make the right decisions at the end, and had the right mindset and strategy to come up with the win (i.e. they were able to get great open looks at threes, they forced Chris Paul to be a jumpshooter rather than a playmaker, they gave the ball to Yao in the post at critical points of the game). The problem is the Rockets could not EXECUTE. They got great open looks, but couldn't hit the shot. They guarded the Hornets well, but then couldn't get a defensive rebound at the end. Yao couldn't hit shots that he normally makes 90% of the time. The Rockets just couldn't get results down the stretch. It's great that the Rockets had the right mindset and strategy. But it's for nothing if the Rockets can't EXECUTE.
I know where you're coming from - but i'm concerned about the complacency that this team might have. To get a good seed in the West we all know it takes a hell of a lot of wins. (also the fact why this loss is so frustrating - is because NO tried their hardest to lose - yet they still won)
I wouldn't call giving the ball to Ming for a turnaround jumper at the top of the key down by 6 or 7 with less than 30 seconds to go good strategy. And the Rockets didn't get the ball to Ming at critical points of the game - if you can somehow watch the second half. You'll see Ming get fed on numerous occasions to bring us back - than the ball will not touch his hands in the post for a long time. Force Chris Paul to being a jump shooter had zero effect as he continued to knock them down at the end of the game. I agree we did get countless open 3s... Unfortunately Battier doesn't have the legs to hit them. And if he can't hit his shots than why is he in the game over Barry? It's not like we were relying on his D guarding Paul. Just a horrible game for numerous reasons.
You say the same thing in every topic. The coach can't make the players pass the ball the Yao. For whatever reason, the guards thought they could chuck their way back into the game rather than giving it to Yao who brought them back.
to be honest,this team broke my heart,i can't see the way it will be maybe i'm wrong ,it is just a game
The Rockets made a few mistakes. But nothing so drastic like turning the ball or taking ill-advised shots that would've given the Hornets the chance to just run away with the game. At probably the most critical part of the game (i think about 30-40 seconds to go), Chris Paul was forced into a jumpshot and he missed. It was the most effective strategy because he's a much better playmaker than scorer. The thing is, the Rockets couldn't get the rebound afterward and from my perspective that was the ballgame. That's the problem: they couldn't FINISH the play on offense or defense (finish is probably a better word than execute from my last post). Same for the open shots the Rockets got. I believe Battier, Tmac, Alston, Brooks, and Barry all at one point in the 4th had an open look at a three. But they all could not hit the shot. They're doing something right to get those shots. But they just need to get something in their head to finish the play.
I'm clueless as to why Adelman continues to go with Alston towards the end of the game when he is clearly struggling while in 16 minutes, Aaron Brooks was 4-6 from the field and playing well. If Alston is on like in the Cavs game then I;m all for it, but if he's off and Brooks is playing well, he should get the nod in crunch time.
Based on what? Brooks only starts when Alston or McGrady isn't playing the game. There hasn't been once where Brooks started and Alston came off the bench.
