The LAC game tonight is a huge one for HOU. Not just because LAC has had the Rockets bnumber the last few years (and they are 0-2 versus the Clips this season). Not just because the team has struggled against teams they should beat this past season. While the Rockets have an amazingly good record in the second game of two consecutive games (something like 12-4 I believe so far), the Rockets have a horrible record when they have had three or more games rest. Coming into tonight's game against the Clippers, they are 1-5 in games with three or more games of rest, winning only once against GSW but losing against IND (the opener), the Knicks, the Warriors, Utah, and the Lakers. They have shot poorly in these games (around 38%), they have distributed the ball poorly (only 15 assists per game) and they have turned the ball over a lot (14 TOs a game). The shooting is way below their overall season (44%), assists are down (18apg for the season), and TOs are only slightly higher than their overall number (15 TOs/game). We have noted that the Rockets, being a young team, tend to play well when on the second game of two games since they can rely more on instincts and less on preparation. Is th converse true on games with more time available to prepare?
3 days rest is too much for certain individuals on the team. All the instruction that is beat into their heads has time to ooze out. Then the instincts come to play the game, and we lose. I hope to hell we win tonight, however.
Hopefully Rudy has worked the players extra hard during practice this time to make sure they remained focused during the break and don't come out rusty and lackadaisical.
This may be another sign of being a young team. Rest is good for older players. Young players don't need a lot of rest. They need rhythm and mental readiness. Long layoffs either dull the young player's mental preparation or make him overanxious to the point that mess up his rhythm.
