They assumed that they would beat this team. That's cutting your own throat in this league, when the worst teams can beat the best if one plays at the top of their game and the other puts it on cruise control. Everyone who made it on to the court for the Rocks last night should be ashamed. Just a horrible effort, and look at who we play next. :-(-
I can't remember the last time the Rockets won a game in which Lowry played less than 30 minutes. 8 assists and 1 turnover in limited minutes last night.
I posted on the game thread in the 3rd qtr that they needed to be careful. That they were acting like they could win this one by simply outscoring their opponent. Perhaps their are nights they can. But at the very least, they need to turn on the defense when its desperately needed. Seemingly once the Rockets get into the habit of launching jumpers and playing soft "D", and wining early with it, they have a hard time changing gears into making stops defensively later. They get lured into trading baskets with a 7 or 8pt lead and act as though they have put their opponent away. Last night, the vast majority of the games were decided before the 4th qtr began. The Rockets also need to learn to put away opponents early. Not get into these slugfests with 2 or 3 minutes remaining in the game.
Guys, look at the game last night. In the first half neither team played any defense and the Rockets scored 67 points and the Grizz scored 58. In the 2nd half the Rox scored 43 points and the Grizz scored 57...... So, one team started playing defense....and it wasn't the Rockets..... Exactly, and all these people trying to pin the loss on this player or that...clueless...absolutly mind numbingly clueless.... The entire team stunk on D last night, no effort at all, they played like it was a pickup game.... Take your heads out of individual numbers and start studying the team people.... That is where the issues lie.... DD
No, indeed. Did you see Chuck's face as they walked off to the locker room at the end? Normally, the guys are a bit more poker-faced, but deep disappointment was written all over his. I don't blame him; he played with great skill and heart, and they still lost. I'm sure he felt frustration for every mistake he made (real or perceived) as well as frustration for team mates who just couldn't hit the shots or made dumb decisions. As for those who are hating Aaron Brooks; he's gone from being the golden boy, nearly All-Star material starter, very quick footed and a fairly sure shot. Now he's got two left feet, is quite inconsistent and is a bench guy. I'm sure he's not in a very good place right now, mentally. Personally, I don't think he's going to be playing up to par at all this year; can only hope that next year we'll see the "Little Black Bean" we all remember.
Brooks isn't going to get better until he gets to play real games, and gets a feel for his game. He has to have minutes to do that, consistent minutes; I expect Coach is looking to the future now and let Aaron get his game back. That's Adelman's strength and weakness simultaneously; he'll play a player giving them far more chances than other coaches would, letting them play themselves out of a slump or bad spot. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. Didn't work last night, unfortunately.
This is the unfortunate role of scorers/closers. Sometimes you are hot and sometimes you are not. The main fault lies with Idleman (yet again) in not taking out AB when he was obviously not getting it done and waiting too long to put in Hayes, Lowry, and Martin. RA needs to wake up and smell the coffee, because his skill with timeouts and timely subs or rather lack of has been killing the Rockets.
I agree, Jopat - Chuck has stepped up and done the best job that he could, playing out of his usual position. You really think P Patterson will be better than him eventually? I adore Chuck, it pains me to think it! : ) And...if P Pat is really going to be that good - why isn't he getting more minutes to develop him?
Question: When Martin was fouled away from the ball late in the 4th, why did he shoot two free throws and the ball was given back to Memphis? I thought that if you fouled someone with less than 2 minutes away from the ball, the person who got fouled would have to shoot one free throw and get the ball back. This rule was to prevent the Hack-a-Shaq tactic. Could we protest this?
This. The team will never be much of anything until they have the personal to play true team defense. Right now they do not.
I find it funny that people are defending certain players on this team like they're up and coming superstars yet the current record indicates that pretty much everybody on this team is expendable. The sooner the front office realizes that the current players on this team are not going to be anything more than role players the better. I wish people had higher expectations of talent. I mean for god's sakes many fans here thought Ariza was going to be Houston's star last year. You really think Martin, Brooks, Lowry, etc. are going to be anything more that what they already are? It's no wonder people are starting threads like "this season is dull," we're committed to mediocrity.
This team with $40 million in payroll on the sidelines last year managed to have the same record as a fully healthy Lakers team did a few years ago. Lakers 2006-07 42 - 40 .512 I guess they should have traded away their team as well, you're right. ...Oh wait, that's not what happened? All they did was acquire a big man? Interesting...
Are you serious with this? Take a look at that Lakers roster at the time, Kwame Brown, Smush Parker, Luke Walton, Aaron Mckie, Brian Cook. I'm a Kobe hater myself but that team wouldn't have won 10 games if he wasn't playing that year. Kobe was winning games almost by himself that nba year. The Lakers had their superstar already, they just needed the right pieces around him. Do you really see someone on the Rockets that has Kobe level talent? This team will continue to lose as constructed even with an effective big man.
No, nobody has his talent but this team is strong is all areas except interior defense. There's a reason that Scola is called out by everyone around the league as being horrible defensively, because he's being exposed right now due to a lack of defensive big man. Not to mention everyone that DOES play center for this team is playing out of position. There's a reason that the only thing every NBA champion has ever had in common is an elite defensive big man.
Is RA doing this for a better pick? OR we just have a moron coach? AB and Lowery has played 4+ years in the league. We have seen their limit, they can't go any better. But Ish got so much potential... Does not RA understand a basketball team actually need a good PG to WIN the game???
