Well said. Adelman and Morey know more about the players and the game than this entire board combined times 100 so I'm not concerned about that. I do have a feeling that the reason for leaving Brooks in alone the last two games combined with Adelman's comments the other day about Brooks needing to be more of a playmaker may have to do with a potential trade in the works. Perhaps another team wanted to see how Brooks could close games on his own, without the aid of Lowry, and maybe that team was concerned about his playmaking so they are trying to get Brooks to take another step in that direction. I'm just speculating but with the McGrady situation and Lowry inexplicably tied to the bench late in the last two games, it may have some merit. If Brooks is a Rocket beyond this season, he needs to go to the Bobby Jackson/Jason Terry role short of some miracle progression in the next few months.
It's games like this that demonstrate that this team needs a player like Camby or even Dalembert in a backup role at the very least to help defend against length and help control the boards.
Although Kobe had a crappy shooting game, it looked as though he was just blowing by Shane whenever he wanted. Just saying.....
Good thing Odom and Bynum didnt torch us then....oh wait. Seriously dude, I know you are in the Kwame/Sacamono camp on this, but you gotta try harder man.
That's true. I guess, Battier did a good job on Kobe, Adelman wouldn't take him out. This was on lakers homecourt. Adelman wouldn't take out of Ariza (a former laker) either. Or, the rockets might want to trade Lowry?
this I literally thought of how sweet it would of been to have Dalembert in there after the 7th or 8th two foot tip in for the Lakers.
I give more credit to Kobe having a broken finger on his shooting hand and the Rockets' help defense than Battier. In the second, I hardly ever saw Kobe shooting solely with Battier as the defender. Battier's defense is not anywhere near lockdown if that's what you were thinking. It's good when others back him up but embarrassing when he's on an island and that is not just against Kobe either.
Im getting the same treatment as when I said rafer sucks. "he knows how to run a team", "he has less turnovers than ....", blah, blah.
Again, didn't watch the game, but I can just envision the above happening. We must get some length or we will not go far. Waiting for Yao is an iffy option for me, as we won't know his playing status for some time to come.
In my opinion, Kobe killed Battier. It would've been ugly if Kobe's finger wasn't all wrapped up. I think Kobe hit 5 or 6 left-handed shots. Bill said it was 2 or 3 but I think it was more if you count the shots off the glass. Bynum destroyed Andersen and whoever stood in his way. Odom killed everybody. Odom may not be consistent but when he puts it together, he's an incredibly unique talent. He has the length of a guy over 7 feet but some of the skills of a small guard. On a championship-caliber team that can absorb his off games, he puts them over the top.
It wasn't just Ariza. The entire team couldn't buy a jump shot for much of the game. I don't know if it was the Lakers' defense but the entire team played off. The only time we looked in rhythm as a team was in the first half when Lowry was playing PG and setting up his teammates.
The other possibility is that Brooks has been playing well recently and Adelman wanted to see where he was at, how he could handle closing without Lowry aiding him. If Lowry is back in there alongside Brooks down the stretch in the next few games, my assumptions in the earlier post may have been far-fetched.
Actually, we were outplayed by the lakers. They are a better team. Simple and plain. The rockets are a marginal playoff team. May or may not make the playoffs.
Brooksball, for some reason, people question your moniker and you crawfish a bit. I don't view you as a brooks only fan, but for some reason you go out the way to prove you're not. The reason lowry had to sit is because brooks was playing well and i don't think you want either of those guys guarding kobe. The small ball lineup works when teams decide to go small also, but when teams have a big guard like kobe, it wont work. I've said this a million times, when odom wants to play, no team in the league can match the lakers. In fact, the lakers never lose when he has a good game. When he has a great game, the lakers normally blow the opposition out. He's a unique guy because he was a small pg in high school then hit a 7-8" growth sprt and maintained his skills. he entered the league as a 3, but when you realize the guy is 6'10 240 but handles like a pg,runs like a sf, and can rebound like a center, he's a problem. The rockets don't have anyone on their roster that can match up with him. Bottomline, the lakers are the better team, with the better coach, with the better talent playing at home with ot without yao.
A couple of side notes: The Grizzlies seem like they're starting to turn the corner. Along with the Thunder's resurgence, there are no longer any softies in our division. There isn't a team below .500 in our division. Dalembert put up a 20/20 tonight.
