Don't know what you are trying to say. Defense can be designed, but offense has a counter. Tonight, with the way Miami was defending, they don't have enough manpower to block out all those Rockets players for those offensive rebounds, and Lowry/Miller/AB consistently found the open man right under the basket. That's the main reason for 40FTs. And because Hayes isn't considered a scoring threat like Scola, he was open quite often to get the calls. Your entire philosophy was base on offense and offense only. That's why you are so wrong about teams and about players. In Rockets case, it's backwards. They have enough offense against good or poor defensive teams. But they can only make stops against bad offensive teams when it matters.
Actually I think Martin makes Lowry even better. Lowry needs shooters and ability to finish around rim to make him really that much effective. Martin is the better one for that.AB isn't bad though, he's a very good shooter too.
I don't think anyone says that Brooks has "zero court vision." It's not all or nothing. It's better or worse. It is actually not hard to see whether a player's court vision is good. Brooks looked like he was consciously trying to set up teammates tonight. There are times when he could have taken the shot but he chose to pass. It's just doesn't look as natural as Lowry. But I agree that Brooks is an adequate passer in a half court offense. What separates Lowry from him is transition. Lowry is just so much better at pushing the ball up, making the right play before the defense is set.
Two commments: 1. Lowry played efficiently, but he should have taken the ball into the paint even more, seeing as how the defense was crowding Martin and Battier on the perimeter. If Lowry had gone to the rim earlier and more often, we would have had a better chance. 2. Brooks, while still dribble happy, did move the basketball tonight. He played an efficient game as well. No complaints there. Yes, he was -12 or whatever. But I don't pin that on him tonight. As others have stated we have no paint defense. Although Hill is improving, he does not understand space and Wade tore down everything defensively that we had.
all i know is that when AB is on the court, miller should be there too and Clee for D. Miller to AB worked like magic under the rim a few times. When Lowry is on the court Martin should be too. Lowry likes to push and Martin likes to trail which allows for his transition 3's. also. Chuck hayes should always be on the court. lol!
Update: Kyle Lowry from November 19th-January 3rd 24 gms 46% 3pt 37-80 3pt I can't believe it. Lowry was only a 27% 3pt shooter, last year. He is still shooting 46% after 24 games. Even if he drops down to 33%, that's still an amazing improvement from 27%. Kudos to Lowry!
It is bizzare, as his normal shooting has dropped his 3pt percentage has remained consistent. He is shooting only 35% overall for the last 5, but over 40% from 3pt range during that same period. SHOOT THE THREE BALL Kyle !!! DD
I actually hate this. Because he has become a very decent three-point shooter, he's not getting to the FT line nearly as much as last season. I will say it again. Kyle is MOST effective when he is driving to the rim, forcing the defense to collapse, picking up a ton of foul calls (yeah, and a few turnovers to boot), and either getting layups or getting his teammates layups. Granted, they're playing off him some and he's having to take wide open three-point looks. However, I can see little nuances to his game that disturb me as he matures into a "game manager" on the court. He's taking way too many possessions and instead of going all the way up the court to the rim, he's stopping at half-court and setting up. I hate hate hate that. He can always go back and set up after he trips through the lane. I want Kyle beating and bending the game to his will. I want him forcing the opponent to have to fly down the court and defend on the move. I want him wearing their collective a..es out because he is jamming the ball down their throat. I want that Kyle back, not this half-court three point shooting short dude that sets up everything and dribbles at the top holding his fingers up calling plays and waiting for a pick. I want Kyle breaking down defenses and forcing the action first. And then if he can't get the layup/foul/assist, rotate back outside and set up again............quickly.................like he used to do last year.
Dang it, Kyle. Where are you!?!?!?! We've lost you. The ghost of Aaron Brooks has invaded your mind and persona. WHERE IS MY KYLE LOWRY!?!?!? I WANT HIM BACK! <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kxUNkcG91ro?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kxUNkcG91ro?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kwQ0uLIEJp4?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kwQ0uLIEJp4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
jop, Larvs and I tried to tell you that is the role of the starting PG in a Rick Adelman offense. Lowry is doing exactly as he is told, same as AB. DD
He is doing exactly what he is told, but he is conserving energy, he isn't forcing the action defensively, and he isn't forcing the ball to the rim. He has slowed the pace as a starter. I don't think that is by Adelman's design. I think it is because he is playing 40 mpg and he doesn't want to go all out because of the energy required. I'd rather have him play 30 and give us all the scrambling defense and end to end offense than play 40 and become a set up point guard. I wished he would go all out, go end to end, and then put his hand up when he needs a blow and put it back on Adelman to bring in Ish and keep the tempo going.
He can't ...he is not superhuman......no one can go all out for that amount of time. The only main criticism I have of his play is that I am really dissappointed in his man to man defense, it is just as bad as AB's is....which is pretty danged bad. Other than that, Lowry has been great. DD
To be fair 3 of his last 5 games have been under average .. His desicion making in the 4th quarter has been bad I kind of blame him for kevin martin not getting many touches in the 4th but its just an outsider looking and I havent watched all of those games ..
Don't give me that. He's 24 years old. Can he go all out for 8 minutes before he needs a blow?????? 8 x 4 = 32 That leaves 16 minutes for a blow. He starts, plays all out for 8-9 minutes, gets a blow for 7-8 minutes at the end of the first quarter and on into the 2nd quarter and then back on the court for another 7-8 minutes to finish out the half, then to the locker room for 15 minutes of blow, then play another 8-9 minutes to start the 2nd half, then another blow for 7-8 minutes at the end of the third/beginning of the fourth, then back on to finish out the game for the last 7-8 minutes. He can go all out for 32 minutes. Shoot! We did that in high school!
Even thought his stats are great we must also make a note that in his hast few games have been falling away!!Y
To be honest, 3 of his last 5 games have been above his 46% average during the hot streak. 01/05 1-3 33% 01/03 4-7 57% 01/02 1-2 50% 12/31 0-3 0% 12/29 3-4 75% Last 5 games: 9-19 47.4%
His hero is chauncey billups, so he is emulating his hero. Also he is playing with Martin and Scola and he feels the need to differ to them, he ALWAYS looks for Martin on any break rather than attack the rim.
I'm not sure if you watch Kyle as much as I do but he is my favorite player / reason i'm a rockets fan. I watch him on every possession both offensively and defensively and his man to man d is nowhere as bad as you say it is. He constantly shuts down bigger players in the post (batum, matthews, and miller all unsuccessfully tried to post him on Wed). In addition he is above average at denying the ball and gets more deflections and poke aways then anyone i've ever seen. Probably at least once a game he will knock the ball away from his defender which disrupts the flow of the offense, runs the shot clock, or becomes a turnover... The only problems i see with his man to man defense is that alot of times he shades the guy he is guarding to go one way or the other. This usually happens when he catches up to his guy on a PnR. When the opposition goes the way Kyle is shading him, the D is always slow to rotate over and an easy bucket ensues. The only other criticism I have is every once and a while he will leave his man and dig down into the post looking for a steal. When he does that to a capable passing big, they find Kyle's open guy and its a layup or open jumper. Overall though, out of all our players in the rotation, if we were up one point, 5 seconds left, and the opposing team iso'd one of our guys, besides hayes, i think kyle would be our best bet to force a tough shot (or battier depending on who the opposing player is...) -James
