Of our 5 losses 4 have come on the Road. Of the 4 on the road we were clearly out played by both Indiana and Dallas. Against Phoenix and L.A.C. however we were in the lead with an oppertunity to all but put the game away at the free throw line. In Phoenix, Cat bricked 2 free throws and in LAC Moochie bricked 2 free throws. Four free throws are the difference between a 9 and 3 record and a 7 and 5 record. Four free throws are the difference between 2 and 4 record on the road and a 4 and 2 record on the road. Yes I know that there were other factors that contributed to the losses in those two games but 4 simple free throws in the closing moments of 2 road games could have errased all of those mistakes. At home those free throws seem to drop. The closing moments of the Portland game went perfect. And outside of one loss to a hot shooting Seattle team the Rockets have done a convincing job of taking care of home court. I am eager to see the team return home to play the Spurs. That should be a great measuring stick to guage how far we have come so far. So what is the problem on the road? Bad caoching? I say no. Although there are decissions that I don't agree with that Rudy has made I don't think you can fault the coach when all his team needs to do is sink a couple of free throws to get a road win. Nothing more than bad luck with two of our veterans missing clutch free throws? Maybe but there were certainly other factors involved in the losses. It is a proven fact that winning on the road in the NBA is much tougher than winning at home. We are seeing that right now. As a result of a few mental mistakes and four missed free throws we are on course to win 48 games this year instead of 60. But the fact is that missed free throws and mental mistakes are the difference between 48 win and 60 win teams. When a team truely becomes great and moves into the elite class is when they learn to be consistant and not make those types of mistakes, especially during crunch time. With so many different faces on the team trying to learn to play together we could see the inconsistant play for quite a while. Certainly Rudy T has to learn what group plays well together and what group does not. Has Rudy even had a chance to solidify a starting rotation yet? Of course not. MoT, Glen Rice, Juaquin Hawkins and Yao Ming are all in the rotation this year and only Rice managed to get in a few games with the team last year. On top of that we have Kenny Thomas trying to learn his new role on the team and Eddie Griffin who is still only 20 years old and trying to learn how to be a starter. The good news is that with all of the changes and lack of stability (once again) in the rotation caused by injuries, we are still in the 5th spot in the west. We are one of the youngest teams in the league with basically 5 new players (including Rice and MoT) and a new offense. We will continue to improve. Did anyone really think that we would go from a 28 win team last year to a 60 win team this year? Thats not very realistic.
I think the disparity between the quality of teams we played on the road vs. the ones we played at home also plays a big role. It's probably too early to judge this yet. We should wait a bit.
True, Crash explains this, when you read his post. There are so many new players in the current rotation, Yao, Rice, Hawk, MoT etc. Inconsistancy has to be expected. It is a bit to early to judge or even predict when team chemistry will solidify, when it does, our road record will improve. Good post, Crash.......
We absolutely need to wait a bit. However I would put Washington, Toronto and Portland up against Phoenix and LAC anytime. Those are the two games we should have clarely won. IMO we will be winning more and more or those games and making fewer mistakes as the teams rotation solidifies.
Clearly we need to learn to close out games on the road. However, I've noticed that we have frittered away leads even even in games we have won. Witness the Wizard game where we were up by 15-16 and then let it get to 5 or 6 points. And in the LA game, we really cut it close, again losing a solid lead in the last few minutes. It almost looks like a football team going into a "prevent defense" wherein they get away from what got them the lead in the first place. You give up huge chunks of yardage and sometimes teh ball game!! We dribble away the time clock and then end up with a heave or an ill advised shot. Yeah, we gotta hit our free throws down the stretch. And if Moochie can't do that and take care of the ball he shouldn't be out there Guess what I'm saying is that I've noticed a pattern in the closing minutes, whether on the road or at home, where we allow teams to close the gap or steal games . And that comes down to coaching and basketball IQ. The good teams know how to win the 1-4 point games, and there are lots of them. Dallas Rocket
Kind of like Houston vs. N.C. State in '83. Coach Lewis should be in the Hall of Fame, but he lost a championship by getting away from the style of play that took the Coogs to the cusp of victory. He got conservative and tried to play it safe. I'm not saying Rudy get's conservative at the end of games (there are times when I just scratch my head and am not sure WHAT the strategy is), and he may be experimenting with end-of-game lineups... but it seems like we sometimes tend to get away from what brought us success DURING the game at the END of the game. And we have finishes like yesterday.
