Great observations as usual. I disagree about Hill. He was OK but clearly overmatched at the 5 spot. Plus, he disappeared too much when he was in the game. Totally agree about Scola - he gave it his all until he was gassed. Martin looks absolutely lost and out of place in Mchale's offense. Bud was Bud which means that if he isn't scoring, he's somewhat useless as he's a liability on defense. Dalembert looks promising but I want to see how he plays once he's in game shape and teams start focusing their defenses on him. TWilliams is still playing to his own tune so nothing much has changed with him. All in all, it was about what I expected.
I didn't get to watch the game, but in looking at the stats it seems like we had everything going for us except for the shooting percentages. We had the advantage in all of the categories that will usually help you win games. Rebounds: Houston: 11-41 Orlando: 6-35 Assists Houston:26 Orlando:19 Turnovers Houston:9 Orlando: 11 Steals Houston: 4 Orlando:1 Blocks Houston: 5 Orlando: 4 Fast Break Pts Houston: 11 Orlando: 8 Obviously I am being too optimistic given that they probably played worse than their stats showed, but it seems to me that a team can't count on shooting 40% from 3 every night, which is how Orlando beat us, but they can count on all the little things to help them win some games. Or maybe we will just suck this year...
I think if Kevin Martin had played well and Hedo hadnt lost his mind shooting on us? We would have won that game. So it doesnt look so bad. Some things worry me. Like how long this sudden Kevin slump after his almost trade lasts? How long before we get to replace Hill as the starting center with Dalembert? What if any contributions we get from our young guys Morris and Twill? Many questions. Too many to start the season off with.
Good analysis. Twill played selfishly.....We needed offense though.... Waving off the Dragon is a bad idea..... Bud was ok for a couple of minutes then disappeared ......We need a more potent player at that position Hill, Sam Dalembert played pretty well, not able to contain Dhoward but I guess that was too much to ask for Lee was ok Luis was solid, did not defend....though Lowry was the difference maker.......all star worthy but could not pull out the win No grade for McHale for now.
Look who Hill was playing against! He's a four, he was out-matched by the best (and not really arguable) center in the game, yet he had a couple of good defensive moments against Howard. Hill was 3-3, grabbed 6 boards, had an assist and a block, and only turned the ball over once in just under 20 minutes. Not too shabby! Considering how some of the rest of the guys played, yeah, I was impressed. -
Ratings. 0-10 scale. Lowry - 9 Martin - 2 Hill - 6 Sammy D. - 7 Budinger - 4 Williams - 6 Dragic - 5 Lee- 7 Didn't see enough of Adrien or Morris.
I agree about Hill. I was still disappointed in Scola's defensive effort. Yes our perimeter defense was porous (thanks Martin and Budinger), but why is Scola even in the paint on defense? If we're going to have only one guy down there to contest shots of penetrating guards let's at least have someone who can jump. I'm not even kidding when I'm saying that Scola has 3-6inch ups. If Hill can step up this year, we need to see a heavy dose of him, Patterson, and Dalembert in the middle this year. Scola might as well just be a high post guy in a zone or something; I didn't even see him try this game and that was frustrating. I did enjoy Adelman's style of play more than JVG's, but this is worse than either of those. We simply have no identity now. In my opinion given where we are as a team, it's probably worth it to bench poor defensive players to make some sort of effort to regain our old defensive mentality. Whatever that calls for I don't care, just make it happen.
gotta feel bad for dragic. he should play the point instead of williams. williams should be given the ball at the sides instead of the center and play pick and roll with the bigs
Why couldn't we made cap space for Chuck? Instead we have a bunch unworthy players that sum up to his value.
Too early to judge K-mart and Bud ... but i will definitely be looking with a more critical eye now. Williams was inconsistent. When he was playing under control he looked good , real good .. when he wasn't he looked pretty bad. Hopefully he gets alot of minutes and can become more consistent and controlled because he has all-star potential. Waving off dragic was a bad idea ... but he really does need to have the ball in his hands more as does dragon. Big ups to Hill and Dally ... i think we will be ok at the 5 ... if they can remain consistent ( which is yet to be seen ) but at least we have seen that the potential is there. Only real complaint was with having adrien in there over thabeet and Smith .... i mean the main reason why he was chosen was because he was supposedly more ready ... he looked terrible and i would rather see a player with potential like Smith or Thabeet in the game. Lee and Lowry also played well as did Goran when he had the ball. Morris looked scared but it was his 1st game so no big deal. Lee and Lowry are gonna be huge this year . And lee was really on too ... even when he missed the ball went in and out. To those who complained about t-will 's D ... i blame bud. He let Hedo get hot and with a shooter like hedo ... once he gets on, with his size , there is really no way to stop him .. I would've liked to se Morris on him though .. could have been interesting if the 5 at the end went like Lowry Lee Williams Morris HIll/Dally i think we couldve made a run. Oh well just one game
I disagree. While I was pissed when he waved Goran off, that was the only thing he did poorly offensively, imo. On the offensive side, I actually liked his aggressiveness to take it to the hole. Our offense badly needed his slashing because we have no other source for points in the second unit. His slashing opened the floor up for Lee, imo. As for his defense, you can't blame him if our bigs can't play pick-and-roll defense and by the fourth quarter, Hedo just turned it on like it was 2009. Terrence only played bad D on Hedo in 1 play (one where it ended up with a Hedo layup) and the rest was solid. Hedo was just being clutch Hedo.
so much for the rise of thabeet. Lol at the uncomfortable silence between Bill and bull when discussing the whereabouts of mr. thabeet. I'm Impressed with hill's improvement in demanding his space and holding it. Delighted to see Dalembert. Great signing! Twill, well, he would be awesome in the None tourny. Me basketball doesn't translate to wins. I wonder if maury's IBM had a glitch when it came to his evaluation of t-will.
Yes it did happen a couple of times, with Dragic and then with Lowry in the court. Has anybody else thought that T-Will handling the ball was part of the game-plan and not him being selfish? Two times in the 4th I saw the very same Kyle Lowry pass the ball to Terrence for him to set things up, this told me that maybe Williams is being encouraged to do it, and if so, I'd like to see more. On another note, I don't understand how can Hill be taking heat after tonight. He played an B+ game considering the cards he was dealt. I thought he should have gotten more touches on the offensive side but I figure that he'll gradually earn them if he keeps playing like this.
I missed Patterson instead of Adrien tonight, as well as the obvious that Martin needs to let things go and be the player he is, a top 10 scorer who prepares competes, believes he'll win every game. Bert was nice, Hill played solid minutes too. Twill wasn't perfect, but he produced off the bench for us. The team leaders and McHale should lead a focused film study, and highly motivated practice sessions these next two days. Both as a team and as individual players. They need to let all the distractions (lockout, trade veto, first game with new team etc.) go and focus on preparing and believing they'll win against the spurs. The long term goal should remain the same.
You're free to disagree, that being what I'm doing right now, and what we all do at one time or another, but how can you say that was the only thing he did wrong offensively? When we were still within reach, Williams created a turnover, very unfairly laid at the feet of Kyle Lowry, by lackadaisically trotting down the court, when he should have been using all that athleticism he obviously has to get across the center court line. Lowry passed him the ball and the chump was still on the wrong side of the line. It was NOT Lowry's fault. Williams just made a mental mistake. That wouldn't have bothered me so much, if it wasn't for the fact that he makes mental mistakes all the time. And that wasn't the only offensive mistake he made in the game, but it's the only one I'm going to point out in response, because I only need one. (and I don't feel like watching the game over again and taking notes of every time he screwed up on offense, although I could. I have the game on two DVRs) Honestly, I would be thrilled if Williams would finally "get it." It would mean more wins for the Rockets. It would mean a more pleasurable Rockets game to watch. And if/when he reads my posts, he could feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
BTW leaving Thabeet off the active list when playing Dwight Howard was downright STUPID by McHale.....absolutly idiotic. DD
