Just two points to quote. Very nice observation on Brooks being gassed. This was actually towards the end of the third quarter where his defense was completely relaxed. It was also a main reason to their comeback. The last shot was actually not a bad play. AB chose the wrong side to come up. It was a good initial cut and the pass was leading him. If he positioned his body well, he probably could've laid that ball in through the near rim. Personally, I would've rather seen a 3-pointer based on how well the balls were going in. Nonetheless, it's a great test for a team that will open some eyes. They need to learn to win games that they lead. They seem to play not to lose with a big lead. And when they realized it, they pushed the ball and went away from team basketball. There were a few plays where Budinger/Martin/Yao tried to prove a little too much. You stop momentum by playing fundamental basketball. You could sense the panic.
A loss is a loss is a loss. With that said this team has a ton of good points to take away: 1) 2 pt loss against the lakers, aka best team in the league. 2) Scola, Battier and Miller all had a horrible offensive game. How many times will this happen? 3) No lowry, he could have been the difference maker in this game 4) We're definitely far from mid-season form. I saw a lot miscommunication and hesitancy on the players' part. Chemistry will definitely improve over time Now for the downsides: 1) Horrible coaching -yeah, yeah RA is one of the top coaches in the league. It still doesn't take away the fact that he's a horrible playmaker on the court. Why is Brooks inbounding the ball instead of Brad Miller? WTF. Also PP and Jordan HIll both got 0 PT. I know we want to win, however one of these guys might have been on fire this game, and because RA didn't even insert them we will never know. 2) Battier -Battier continues his regression. His d is still solid but with every year he seems to become more and more Hayes like on O. 3) Bynum -Bynum's not playing this game. Sure we didn't play Lowry, but I would expect Bynum>Lowry when it comes to impact between the two teams.
Don't forget we had over 20 turnovers which gave the Lakers the opportunity to always get back in the game
You really think his 24 minutes today hurt our chances on winning.......sure he missed some shots at the rim and had silly TO (like traveling, offensive foul) but you really think his 24 minutes is hurting the Rockets?
I guess Rick felt he wasn't ready for that role yet, idk...but we had our chances, I mean we were up by 15 and even 7 in the fourth. We just failed to close out defenders and turned the ball over...
I can't believe someone can manage to complain about Aaron Brooks tonight. He had to shoulder all of the point duties with Lowry out, and he did a TERRIFIC job. Haters should just shut up, watch the game, and appreciate the amazing effort that our players put into the match itself. I mean, it's the first game of the season, we're up against the defending champs at their home court, lead for 80% of the game, demonstrate the most beautiful offense this Rockets team has seen in the past 10 years, and lose a heartbreaker having held the lead with less than 20 seconds to go - what's there to hate? Plus Yao shows tremendous progress and I think every Rockets fan can go home a little bit more confident and optimistic about this team's future. Learn to appreciate the game man. All I gotta say.
I seriously don't get the hate for the play-call at the end of it. AB is ridiculously quicker than Steve Blake, and he had 2 screeners for him anyways. If the Rockets execute that play a little better, it's an easy 2 and we're going to overtime. They didn't, Brooks hesitated, and boom, we lose. And I understand the idea that we probably should have gone for three there, but hindsight is always 20/20.
6 fouls against Yao? You ever noticethey call more screen or illegal screens on the Rockets than any other team you watch in the NBA? Always at unusual moments? You ever noticethey call calls that most team they never call like illegal picks offensive fouls? Thats rediculous **** there.
Then don't watch! You really should cut your posts to one sentence. "trade battier for melo"...that's all you really want to say.
Martin looked good tonight overall, but Martin, Brooks and Lee all tried to go one-on-one, and took bad shots in the second half. It was almost as if they tried to do it on their own when things started to go badly. Of course, since Yao, Scola and Battier kept missing open shots and layups, it is understandable why they did it... The end result was still bad, though. Adelman's system requires players to trust the offensive scheme and each other.
Dude, we get it. You don't like Chuck. No need to annoy the heck out of everyone about it. Don't mean to be rude, but the blood's running kind of hot right now.
This team needs more size and a enforcer in the middle and a closer and that's about it from what i see. I really think Smith should have played more i think he can be our Rondo.
Rockets got Jobbed! Slapped hands. no calls. By the way. . . at around the 3 minute mark the lakers were going down the court. Battier and Gasol got tangled. Then it was rocket ball. what happened there? [the tv at the place I was was turned down] Cause at that point Gasol had 5 fouls .. . so i knew it could not be a foul on him. Rocket River
Patterson isn't going to see any playing time any time soon. Hill might have deserved some PT this game in hindsight. Miller wasn't inbounding because it helps to have good screeners on the the floor in an out-of-bounds play. Miller can set a screen and then pop out for a jumper.
Dont tell me what to do. I am going to watch i am saying make a change. It doesnt have to be Carmelo, Battiers girlfriend but it can be something better.
Odom's length was really the only problem. Jeffries is a really long player as well, he may not be as quick but he's going to make Odom work for his rebounds and put backs. I love Hayes, but he's a situational player along with Hill and Jeffries. RA has to get creative with his rotations, not just the same guys every night. For example if we had Lowry 2morrow night it might be a good idea to play him and Lee more than Martin because of the Warriors backcourt.
I agree in the past, the Lakers' talent usually wore us down at the end, but tonight we didn't lose because of talent. It was execution. Too many turnovers and missed layups. These are correctable. Just having Yao's presence down there did a ton for the defense that we couldn't do last year. We outrebounded them, intimidated down low, and forced them into a low overall FG%. The Lakers got lucky with Shannon Brown's little run--he's not going to get that hot on a regular basis. The chemistry between Kmart and Miller was awesome...reminded me of the Kings' offense. By the end of the season Lee will be making the same cuts that Kmart was making tonight. Yao will get better. He still has butter fingers, but he was missing shots that he'll make on the regular. Naysayers need to relax.
I know your response was to somebody else, but this early in the season, I think Hill should have been used instead of Hayes. I think Hill would have helped a lot just because of the Laker's length. Hayes is a terrrific situational player, but I am just not sure how much he can help playing 15 minutes against the Lakers. Then again, Hayes is just coming back from injury. He just didn't look good out there.
