Agreed. That game scares the daylights out of me. We are facing Chicago tonight and it looks like Boozer is playing. You can't expect to shoot like that again. We're gonna have to defend better.
Whenever the 3's are going in, of course it helps our chances, but i dont think that's where it should start... We need more focus on DEFENSE and REBOUNDING rather than the 3-ball. We cannot have the mentality of "live and die by the 3". Cuz the shots we made against Memphis were pretty much the same as we were getting at the beginning of the year, but weren't dropping, and yet, we were still in the game because of our offensive system - which is ball movement, body movement, and cuts to the basket. We lost those games because of lack of defense. We all know we're not a 60% 3pt shooting team. Kyle Lowry will probably never make 4 3's in ONE game again this year... Offense will always come and go - but if your foundation is based on Defense and Rebounding, you have a better chance at winning the close games. Defense and Rebounding also opens up open 3's in transition that AB and Martin are great at knocking down. Side note...i changed my mind...Lowry should start over AB :grin:
It has alot more to do with the Grizzlies stinking at perimeter defense and play too much zone. The Grizzlies allow their opponents to score on 40.3% from the 3pt line. They are 29th in opponent's 3pt%. Those 3pt opportunities won't be available playing against a team that keeps opponent in the mid to low 30 percentages.
I actually get your point DD, when you CAN'T play defense, let's just try to outscore opponent. At least it may give you more people at games and maybe more wins. But I am pretty sure Daryl will dissagree. So will Alexander. Their identity for the past few years has always been defense. I think even Rick would agree although he is not a defensive coach. I just don't see them changing their mind in few weeks...
They're hitting shots because they actually move the ball well with Lowry in at PG and get better looks.
I don't remember the last time a team won without a big man who the offence goes through. That is unless someone wants to suggest any of our players are like Michael Jordan.
Inside-out offense FTW. Seriously, I think this is the very definition of IOO. It relies on good-passing bigs, who we will have for a good while (Yao, Scola, Miller). Hey, it lead us past the 1st round of the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, I ain't complaining!
Penetration, good post play, and crisp ball movement result in open shots. We know our guys can shoot, it's a matter of getting them the ball at the right time and place.
LOL, When Brooks comes back there is going to be a lot of broken hearts. I do not look forward to all the daily threads.
This is all true, thank you. We have been pretty good on offense most of the season. But we have been horrible on defense the entire year. It was fun watching all those three pointers falling in last night. But, how often is Kyle Lowry going to shoot 80% from three point land? The rockets have always been a team that likes to shoot the three ball, and that's not going to change. But, we have got to figure out how to play defense at some point.
Then, we need to make trades, because outside in does not work. We know for a fact that Brooks and Martin will never work.
I completely disagree. A typical offense plays inside-out because inside shots have a greater chance of going down at a more efficient pace relative to outside shots. Fortunately for us, we have an efficient low-post scorer in Scola (and that's not even mentioning Yao Ming). When we play well inside-out, that's when our perimeter players do the best. If we played outside-in, as you suggest is our identity, we would be relying on their lower-percentage shots to win games. Strictly offensively speaking, that isn't how a team wins games. Maybe you could argue that our perimeter game is our identity, but part of that argument would have to be that our perimeter game is best when those guys are playing inside-out on offense.
DaDakota, how can you say that? Last year, an Aaron Brooks centered offense resulted in a 42 win season, and no playoffs. Two years ago, a Yao Ming centered offense went to the second round of the playoffs. Yao Ming, if healthy, is the #1 scoring weapon on this team. Does Aaron Brooks command double teams? No, but Yao does. Do opponents fear Aaron Brooks? No, but they fear Yao because he's unstoppable.
c.lee and k.mart (sg/sf) should eventually start together and we should bring shane off the bench.....
Bill Liambeer and Dennis Rodman don't ring any bells? The offence didn't necessarily run through Rodman, but his defensive and rebounding presence more than make up for his lack of offence Same for the 2004 Pistons. Wallace x2 is one heck of a front court combo that any team would love to have, and Rasheed Wallace is one hell of a player, if you're implying he isn't a dominant big man.
I expect the coach to play the group of guys that were assembled to play together. Its blatantly obvious the starting group was designed around a half court and high post initiated read & react offense, while the bench is a running group. There have been numerous quotes supporting this, but people want to pretend that there is some sort of competition for starting vs bench roles. ZOMG Budinger has to start, ZOMG Lowry must start, ZOMG they traded away Ariza, why why why. What do these three people have in common? They are all more exciting than thier counterparts, but not better fits or players. Fans are thinking, like fans, and not like coaches. Fans see Lowry run a fast break and dump it off for a dunk and get excited. They use that excitement to justify making personel decisions. Thats just not how things work. This is why people don't understand why the organization is so desperate to get Bosh, when Scola is an exciting player. Newsflash: The Rockets coach and management team knows what they are doing. They know who and what they want to build. They arent just throwing together a random set of players and seeing who is the best. The Rockets are assembling players with specific skillsets to perform specific roles on the team. They didn't acquire Lowry to challenge Brooks for the starter position, they acquired him to push the tempo off the bench and gave him a bunch of finishers. They got him to wrack up team fouls while Yao is on the bench so we have a significant advantage when Yao has the ball and the Rockets are in the penalty. If Brooks isn't going to be the starter on this team, its because they found a better version of skillset to bring in, not because Lowry is a better floor general or whatever. This is why Adelman laughs when people ask if Brooks is not going to start, because its an ignorant question, to anyone who understands the teams vision. Whats trully sad, because people dont see it, is the emergence of Ish makes Lowry more expendable than Brooks, because their play is so similar.
I think people are missing the main benefit of our new found perimeter play. It makes it so much harder to guard Yao. They will have to pick their poison and I think in time they will pick to even leave Martin and others even more wide open. But at times they will try to cover Yao one on one. Yao will love that. he has already said as much. The floor will open even more for him. If you watched the end of last season, Martin and Brooks were deadly on the floor together. I thought back then that Yao would benefit from them on the floor together. The main benefactor of better perimeter play will be Yao. The biggest reason for our poor start is not running Adelman's offense and not breaking down offense's enough by driving to the middle and dishing out to open perimeter shooters. When Brooks comes back he even adds to excellent perimeter shooters. Inside out is still our best option and When Yao comes back he will slide right in.
