I truly believe that the only reason the game was as close as it was was because the Lakers pretty much refuse to play defense on most possessions. Had they been motivated, it would have been a blood bath.
why was k-mart defending kobe one-on-one all game? i was at the game, and he didnt have a chance on kobe without some help.
My mind has been made up for quite a while but I'll give management until Saturday night vs Memphis before having a clear idea of what they expect to do. We lose to Utah and Memphis and we can forget about the playoffs even with an easier schedule.
Wow, I missed the first half so just found out Hill got injured. I guess tonight wasn't a total loss. I smell a win streak.
After 50 games, the Rockets are 6 games below .500, 5 games out of the 8th seed with 2 other teams in front of them for that spot. We're closer to getting behind the Clippers than we are leapfrogging to the 8th seed. I know the trade deadline is still about 3 weeks away but I really hope the front office has chosen a direction because this team is an absolute mess.
I don't understand how Adelman waits to bring in Battier until the last minute of the 4th quarter and all Battier does is deny the possibility of the Lakers getting the ball to Kobe for the winning shot at the end of the quarter. Then Adelman benches Battier for the entire OT. WTF? I understand that the Rockets have to play at Utah tomorrow night and you need to manage the minutes of the veteran players and that's ok. However, with 1:30 left in OT we were tied with the Lakers and everybody knows Kobe is going to try to close out the game every trip down the court. Especially with Kevin Martin guarding him. Why not bring Battier back into the game at that time? AB played alright tonight but his shot was still somewhat out of sync. The only thing I can think is that Adelman is trying to get AB out of his shooting slump by playing him major minutes regardless of the situation. If so, that means he is throwing in the towel or Morey is trying to showcase AB between now and the deadline.
I don't care how many points/rebounds he gets, Scola's complete lack of defense, especially down the stretch, has caused us to lose SO many games... Other than tonight I can remember Milsap and Anderson/David West torching Scola late in the fourth as well. And I know there have been more. On a side note, Pao needs to shut the **** up, no one wants to hear him scream into the mic in the rim every time he touches the ball. He just passed Bieber on my most hated list.
This right here is the sticking point with Martin on offense. He has mentioned before about watching video of Reggie Miller and a younger Ray Allen to emulate them, but he doesn't do what made them great offense scorers. What made them All-Stars and clutch players is that they could create a shot for themselves WITHOUT the ball. On offense they ran around all the time, using anyone they see for a pick and moving to open spaces, giving their teammates the opportunity to pass them the ball. No, it is not an easy skill to learn. That is why only a few players have truly excelled at it, but this is what Martin needs to do instead of camping in the corner or at the angle. It's as if he is too scared to run around and confuse/tire out his defender because it will mess up the ball handler. When in fact, him running around is exactly in the spirit of a Princeton offense -- constant movement to open spaces when you do not have the ball to get a good shot.
Do you realize that teams know we have players that are one dimensional, so in the final minutes they tend to double team or deny the ball to our scoters! We need to have more balance in offense!
Tank for a better draft pick. It won't do this team any good to somehow get the 8th seed and be out in the first round in 4 or 5 games.
The problem of this team not being able to get the ball in the hands of thier key scorer has been a problem even with Yao. Now we are seeing it in Martin and even Scola at times. Our two best scorers. It's unfortunate that Martin doesnt set himself up for a shot but it doesnt help that you have Brooks, a score first point and Lowry, a pass first want to score at the end of games point gaurd. Is it because of Martin's fault for not curling around screens, or setting himself up? Probably. But those two point gaurds of ours playing that same ole high screen pick and roll and take the last shot stuff doesnt help prove it's case. If, we're banking on Brooks or Lowry taking those key shots becuase the opponents deferred to them, we're in big trouble. Even the brooks of last year didn't cut it.
Ball game, right there. If we had Yao or Deke as their length would have protected the basket much better and we win this game. Last 5 minutes of regulation and OT consisted mostly of short jumpers and layups by the Lakers. This Rockets team is not bad at all, but everyone knows what we need: rebounding/shot blockers. Make it two, please.
I was pissed about that timeout as Martin was about to hit a fastbreak. Adelman has impeccable timing for f'in up.
