What I liked and didn't like last night

Scola?

DD

 

I liked everything about last night game except for Yaos lack of confidence and Tracy's LOCKDOWN D on Allen. Everything else was just great. We have some dog in us and I like that. I cant wait until they get battier back and a legit backup PF/C. Do it Morey!

 

DD, I understand you're disgruntlement with Rafer, but some of your solutions are downright wacky. Luther Head and a hobbled T-Mac at the point? Starbury? You can't be serious.

 

Moved to the appropriate thread.

DD

 

Yeah, Yao didn't have a good night but this was the game changer for me. If Adleman had kept Hayes and Brooks in, and put Ron on Ray early we would have had a different outcome.

I don't think anyone noticed this but Pierce isn't very fast, most of his damage is done with strength. Tracy's long arms can bother him more than they can Allen.

 

He'd also be undersized for C, though.

 

Williams is a good idea, but I'm not sure the Nets would give up a 2007 17th pick for Luther. Boone is starting, but they might be willing to give him up to get Lopez on the floor more.

 

I liked the intensity last night, it had that rival atmosphere that was very enjoyable to watch. I like that the Rox have finally grown a pair and stand up for themselves, however, there is a difference in standing up for yourself and just being r****ded. Example: Rafer wouldn't shut his mouth and got the Tech. It might have been a tempered moment, but we cannot afford mistakes like that. It's reasonable too get physical like BB, but not sit there and continue to run your mouth, just shut up and play, take it out by playing.

On another note, did anyone else notice the Boston bigs just pushing around our guys? I mean...they were always pushing us in the back, jumping over our backs, and nothing was called all night long. It was a great game to watch, would love to see this match up in the finals. Kendrick played a killer game last night infront of his friends and family, I was unaware he could hit that midrange jumper, but any other given night I don't believe he would have. And Rondo murdered Rafer...we were just getting abused on the PnR and his quickness.

 

Anyone see when Pierce was getting in Ron's face and Ron just patted him on the head?

 

don't get me wrong alston was doing his job with either 6 or 7 assists, however his lack of offense is where it's hurting us. The celtics didn't even bother to cover him the whole time and let him shoot. The rest of our guys were doubled because of his lack of offense.

 

I don't think it matters who was guarding Allen at the end. You can't guard someone around that many picks individually. It was a failure of team defense at the end...which I am kind of blaming on coaching. They clearly were not switching...they clearly should have been. They got burned a few times when switching, but there were times when Tracy and Ron or whomever also came back into the play to get a steal or disrupt a shot.

The other thing is the obvious directive to Yao to not guard Perkins. I understand Perkins isn't Mehmet Okur out there, but this is the NBA.

And finally, the coaching staff did a horrible job off recognizing (before the game started and during) that the Celtics aren't a good 3 point shooting team this year. The loss of James Posey may really hurt them come playoff time. The Celtics were 3-12 last night...25%, which is actually better then their season average (now 12-54). They don't shoot it well, and they don't like to shoot a lot of them. Yet, somehow, the Rockets continued to get burned on players driving.

Yao played horribly offensively for sure. But it's hard to blame him completely for the crappy rebounding or defense. 75% of the defensive possessions he was helping out on a drive to the basket. I love Ron's attitude and in your face defense, but sometimes there's no need for it when the opponent can't shoot from the outside. Eddie House is 1-14 from 3 on the season. Rajon Rondo hasn't even attempted a three. The Rockets didn't encourage the Celtics to shoot enough threes.

All in all, a 4 point loss in a game where so many things went wrong, to the defending champion, missing a guy who's given you 35+ mpg the last two years...and it's not bad. Things to improve, for sure, but an okay sign.

 

The Rockets have a long way to go and fortunately it's very early in the season. The first unit completely ignores Adelman's offense, especially Tracy. He doesn't even pretend to want to run it. He needs to get with the program. On defense, Ray Allen wore him out and toasted him. I suppose you can blame this on his knee.

Rafer has been discussed enough. He must play fewer minutes until his act improves. As the season continues on, AB may prove himself to be starter material. Let's hope so but I have doubts.

The fact Yao played poorly, the shooting % was so bad, we played against a well-oiled machine and barely lost is a good sign going forward. But I'm thinking Tracy needs to miss a few games and watch the offense jell while he's gone, like last season.

 

the sad thing is, he is.

 

Two very insightful back-to-back posts from JayZ750 and A_3PO.

One thing I would like to add, we all know the fronting and force feeding of Yao has been a team problem. Last year they found a solution by either having the guard attack the seam fronting creates for a floater, lay-up, or assisting Yao a dunk (He’s got to make them ). And by having ball movement which resulted in the ball moving to the weak-side for a jumper or dunk from our power-forward, or catching Yao on the move for an easier shot. All these options had Yao already in position for the rebound if they were to miss. What happened to our players recognizing what to do?

 

I like Tmac was sweating.

I didn't like losing.

 

I didn't like how we went away from Tmac posting with R. Allen in foul trouble. I question RA sometimes... either that or his stupid hybrid offense nonsense...

 

He's 6'10 with long arms - he'd be fine size wise.

I don't know if his head is screwed on the right way though...