I bring this up because of an incomplete picture Kenny Smith tried to paint one time in regards to possesions per game and shots per game. Here I am reviewing our statistics to uncover the reason for our demise in this game against Phoenix and I noticed the following interesting statistical anomaly; We took more shots than they did (+12); out rebounded them (+2), out assisted them (+2) and even on steals, turnovers and blocks. Conventional wisdom would point to at least a close game or at worst a victory for us. But these stats actually in reality betray the actual game I saw and the final outcome. It is safe to say we basically tried to play their game and we lost at it. We also did not do a good enough job defending the perimeter players evident in the 3-point assault. I am confused.
i dont think we played their game that much except maybe for a few stretches in the 4th quarter...we played with a lot of effort tonite and im not upset with the loss
you take those +12 shots and say those extra 12 were the 3s we hoisted. if we were to take those 12 shots and instead of shooting 3s but rather shoot a HIGHER % shot (not necessarily a surefire thing), the final score could have been different. i.e. instead of shooting 8-28 from 3s, we shoot 8-16 and then the other 12 shots we go 50%. that's 12 points right there. of course, this is all in theory and theories are meant to be wrong.
Stats could be very confusing atimes and often times they paint incomplete pictures. The Spurs in the same breath out shot them by about +12 and blew them out of the SBC center. The only difference was the Q was 0-7 field and Marion was like 2-11. For a fast pace team like the Suns, I thought they beat teams because they put up more shots than their opponents. Interesting stuff.
Look no further than our two stars. Everyone else played great, got up for the big game. Tmac chose the wrong night to have a bad shooting night. I was ready to sign the papers to release Yao after that dropped pass from Barry Just got home from the game and still
Fegwu - The Spurs didn't "out shoot them by +12"...the Spurs took 12 more shots. There's a big difference. If you want to focus on "out shoot them", then you need to focus upon the fact that the Spurs made 16 more shots than PHX. The Rockets made one fewer shot than PHX. Volume counts, but the goal is not to shoot more shots, it's to put the ball in the basket. What I might find interesting is if the 78 shots at PHX was substantially lower than PHX's average. You might be able to draw a parallel between them getting shots and getting into a rhythm.
McGrady kept on missing trying to force the shot...that's why we lost. They just shot better than us, namely da tree-bawl (as van would say). It would be nice if Wesley could start hitting some shots too. Barry's already helping us by hitting the 3. If Wesley can do the same I think we'll be pretty tough.
There is no doubt, IMO, that D'Antoni gives every player on that court the green light to shoot, no matter where the shot is and where the shot clock is. I think that makes a huge difference on their team. They aren't scared to miss and I would think that helps them hit shots a) That the rest of the NBA wouldn't even thinking about taking and b) Makes shots when a defender is right up on them. Its amazing to me that when we got within 9 late in the 4th, that the Suns just continued to come down and take quick shots and 3s. They didn't give a 2nd thought to running down the shot clock to kill time.
Yao didn't get enough shots. T-Mac tried to get going but hoisted up too many long ranch shots, he needs to drive to the hole and get some free throws. I doubt T-Mac will shoot that bad again. Also, Bob Sura was non-existent.
For a team like the Suns, our only hope was to force them into a half-court game. They're still good enough shooters to possibly pull out a win, but playing the blistering pace that they did ran our guys into the ground. There's a reason our shooting went south in the final quarter -- the Rockets were exhausted. Also, Amare has no game whatsoever more than 10 feet from the basket. It was comical watching Mr. Stud Scorer toss up those hopeless 12-foot jumpers. That's why he doesn't score as much against teams with a true center, like the Rox and the Cavs. When they play Miami, I'll bet he doesn't score 15 points, because Shaq is both BIG and MEAN. Keys to winning the next time we face these fools: * Get back on defense quickly to force a slower tempo. * Keep Amare out from under the basket on offense. Easier said than done, but I bet the Rox are the team Phoenix hopes they don't have to face in the first round of the playoffs.
I really want to see Amare try to guard shaq but common sense says they will probably try to utilize their center that's been rusting away on the bench. They'd be crazy to try and let amare guard shaq.
They outshot us, plain and simple. You don't win shooting 39% against a team like the Suns. T-Mac in particular shot 8 for 25, like 1 of 8 from long distance. If he shoots an average 12 for 25, 3 of 8 treys, we've got a tie game. In the second half particularly, the Rockets couldn't buy a bucket. You'd think it was Houston, not Phoenix, with tired legs.
The Suns had all the luck last night. The Rockets had a lot of shots go in and out while the Suns 3's keep going in. They live and die by the 3 and not every night are they going to hit like they did last night. I believe the Rockets will be ready next time they meet them.
By all accounts it was a decent game for the Rockets... They got outshot - Phoenix has better perimeter shooting - but they still could have won if they defended better. Phoenix didn't just make 3 pointers, they made OPEN three pointers. I don't blame JVG entirely, but given that interior defense, even one on one, wasn't the problem, I wish they would not have focused on doubling so much. A majority of posters in that thread about how to beat the Suns agreed that it was actually okay for Amare to have a decent game. The key is shutting down Nash's drive and dish and limiting the other players open looks, which the Rockets clearly don't do. All that said, playing like with a few MINOR improvements will beat 90% of the teams in the league. There is no reason they can't go 3-0 if they play with that energy.
You must have a crappy memory. I remember thinking that could go down as Tmac's worst shooting night of the year. But did I want him to stop shooting? No. I knew once he got going, it was gonna be the Spurs game all over again. Unfortunately, he never got going. But I came away from that game mad, yet proud. I know we can beat those guys -- If only Tmac could've shot the ball like he normally does, and if Yao could've converted more of those easy baskets he got. All of our other players played their butts off -- but in the end you lay your head on your two stars. Last night they didn't get it done -- but I'm sure as hell not worried about their future.l
Suns are a good preimter defense team. Most of our three pointers are not actually open and many are well contested. My guess is since they shoots lots of three pointers in practice, they must practice a lot to defend three pointer also. (they closed down our shooters quickly in lots of occasions). On the contrary, since Rockets are so concerned about shutting down the lane, they left their preimeter players wide open on numerous times, combine the fact they are alredy good three point shooters and good at finding open man, no wonder they made much more three pointers. I believed JVG's game plan last night was to shut down the lane and have them to hit jump shots to beat us, unforenutely, the whole suns teams are so hot and we lost the game.
Ok, how much was due to the pace of the game. The missed free throws, Mac takeing J's instead of driving, Sura's missing. The pace was 1.5X at least than the normal way we play and we look tired out there. Everytime the lead was cut to 3 or 4, Suns got on top by 10 in the next minute. We couldnt keep up with them. They wanted run. We should run when situation presents, but not run away from our strengths, which is in the paint. We didnt look look for bigs as the 1st option all the time. Yao and Deke had a lot of put backs and fouls on the offensive boards. We were not going to win it. Mac is certainly talented, but you'have seen it, his gun it out running game has not been consistent, and nobody is not Kobe either. On the other hand, Amare was shooting badly, couldnt get it going at all, but Suns kept feeding rock to him, and the result of that was he went to foul line a lot. I wonder Yao and his teammates work on when to feed the ball to him. It's part of Yao's fault too. I remember Shaq was very specific regarding how to get the ball to his teammates and very vocal about it.
Missed shots vs. a team on the run really hurts. They'll just push it up for a fast break every chance they can get. Horrible FG% killed us that game.
