Basically, basketball is a simpler game than most of us try to make it out to be. Basically, you can break each game down to a few keys. 1. Who shoots better from the floor? 2. Who shoots better from the line? 3. Who commits the most turnovers? 4. Which team wins the rebounding battle? Coaches will talk about intangibles a lot, and I can't necessarily refute their statements, but I dare anyone to come up with a team that consistently wins even just three out of four of the top battles without winning on a consistent basis. Admittingly, the Rockets are going to be at a disadvantage on the rebounding end. Losing two future Hall of Famers in the post doesn't help. The Rockets, aren't getting blown out here, but they aren't winning this battle either. Being a young team, they are also prone to struggling at the line. However, they have been improving since the beginning of the year, so I am prone to forgive this portion for the time being. The main problem the Rockets have been having has been their turnovers and low shooting percentage. Here is a look at the top three players on the team in shots taken Shots PCT A TO Francis 417 44.1 6.5 3.8 Mobley 398 38.4 3.0 2.3 Anderson 263 47.1 2.8 2.1 Francis play has been remarkable considering that he is a rookie. His turnovers are extremely high, but his shooting percentage and assist totals are acceptable. However, this team won't be as good as it can be unless he can shave a few shots off the total and increase his assists. He'll get there, and as the point guard, the ball should be in his hands. Mobley is the one I'm worried about. His shooting percentage is absolutely dreadful, but he has taken almost as many shots as Francis. When yor primary scorer has the worst percentage on the team you will lose a lot of basketball games. His assists also are low considering he handles the ball almost as much as Francis. His assists are lower which means his mistakes result in more bad shots than turnovers. Anderson is a distant third, yet he has the best percentage among the three. 47% is good for a perimeter player, but it isn't what you want in a primary scorer. The thing that bothers me most is that there isn't a post in this list. Basically, you can fix this two ways. 1. Get a dominant post and make sure he gets the most touches (hmmmmm, I think we've seen this before) 2. Get a guard who can break down the defense and get his teammates easy shots. Francis can do it, but Mobley hasn't done it yet. Gee, I wonder why we are losing? ------------------ Rockets When? Rockets When?
I don't think we are losing the rebounding battle, especially since Barkley went down. I put up a post about it last week. And it seems to me the Rockets' problem isn't so much the percentage their shooting but the number of FGs attempted that's killing them. It is a special day for me when I look at the box score and see that the Rockets attempted more than the opponent. Of course, this problem stems from the things you've listed: rebounding, TOs, foul-shooting percentage.
