haha my take on this is totally different. Did anyone else see Artest pointing toward the basket at TMac? Without Yao there was a concern that the ball could be lobbed towards the basket for Outlaw to break away and dunk. So TMac stayed back because he expected Artest to go for Roy when Outlaw didn't screen him. The screen on TMac never came so instinctively you know someone is open and he probably expected Roy to be a decoy for a lob pass to Outlaw who would break from Artest when Artest goes for Roy. But he never broke and Artest continued to stay on his man. Even though if you watch the tape, Outlaw completely let Artest go. Why would TMac defend Roy when Artest is our best defender who was doing it all night? You cant have three defenders (including Yao) all outside the three point line defending basically one guy. You would rather give up a really hard shot than an easy dunk which TMac chose to do. Thats my two cents
There were two Rocket defenders on the baseline to guard the basket and a lob pass takes a long time in the air and gives players time to react...evidence the Rafer to Tmac play in regulation that was broken up by Przbilla. DD
No I wasn't or at least I wasn't trying to. When the play first happened I was furious at T mac because he lost his man and was expecting Artest to pick him up. But after the shock wore off I realised it was just a great shot and sometimes you just have to give it up to the opponent. Although, I would admit after watching a few replays it wasn't as lucky as I thought and a little pressure on the ball wouldn't have hurt. It's just I find on this board to often people blame the defense when an opponent does well and sometimes you just have to give them props. For example, against the Celtics with Perkins some were blaming Yao for poor defense. When I believe sometimes players just have one of those nights when everything goes in and there's little the defense can do about it. Good defense is forcing players into difficult shots or shots that they don't want to take. And if you accomplish that but the opponent still burns you, you give him his due and you don't blame the defense.
That's dead wrong. Why would T-Mac switch off of his defensive assignment and let Artest take Roy? Unless Artest switches that means Roy is wide open, which is exactly what happened. No screen, no switch. You've got it exactly backwards: Artest switches after the screen.
Roy makes the shot, the defense still broke down. Roy misses the shot, the defense still broke down. What bothers us is that the defense broke down at a critical point in the game, regardless of whether or not the shot goes down.
Yep yep, and then when you analyze why it broke down the fickle finger of death goes right at the main man...Tmac.... He is the one that made the decision to release Roy.....no one else.... So while technically the team defense broke down...the truth is that 4 other players did their jobs....Tmac...did not. DD
Either way, Destiny had it to let the Blazers win 1. Without Tmac and Brooks on offense and Artest and Hayes on defense we were goners. The Blazers opened up the lead to 10 during the start of the 4th when Adelman brought Yao and Mcgrady back. 2. Rebounding- The Blazers got offensive rebounds after offensive rebounds. They had so many second shots that it made my eyes bleed. We were outrebounded 48-36 3. Fernandez off the bench- This was key because he made some tough three pointers and picked up fouls to get the rockets in the penalty with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter. 4. After Yao made that shot, I noticed the .8 doesn't if feel kind of odd the clock should have ran out. Nevertheless, I had a gut feeling they were going to hit the last shot. Then, what do you know Brandon Roy. I couldn't sleep the whole night, we had this game won, just rebounding mistakes and miscommunications. It was painful after the game.
The Rockets always have this problem with overconfidence. "0.8 seconds left? We have this one won. Time to stop playing." And they get burned, over and over and over. That's what drove JvG crazy. Shouldn't Artest be putting his foot up somebody's ass right about now?
The Rockets were not on the same page defensively and they got burned by a Hail Mary. A Hail Mary. Sure it's tougher with someone in your face, but it's still an incredibly difficult shot. It was exactly the shot the Rockets would've wanted them to take, Roy made it. Rockets D sucked ALL NIGHT long. The Blazers are not anywhere near our class, and should never have even been in the game. It has nothing to do with laziness. DD, you're acting like, Tmac thought, "screw it, i don't feel like guarding him." C'mon, really? They are still feeling each other out as a team. These guys have played all of 5 games together. It's very clear they will need time to come together and play as a cohesive defensive unit. We're only 5 games in. Give it some time. We all knew this first stretch of games was gonna be rough. It's a long season. Now if only Yao would....well, nevermind.
How much do you want to bet they were walking back to the locker room shaking their heads saying, "damn, I can't believe he made it." I bet no one was pissed off at anyone.
Then they are not a winning team.....a winning team keeps it in house, but identifies the problem....and fixes it.....makes sure it doesn't happen again. Agree about them feeling each other out, but you err on the side of caution....Tmac should have stuck with Roy until picked....but he got lazy and didn't do it and it cost the team a win. DD
i'm sure having a guy shooting a 30ft shot is going to kill adelman in his sleep tonight. , trust me, adelman won't even mention this. it was a tough LUCKY shot. it's like no one put a hand up on rasheed wallace last yr when he made that miracle shot v. the nuggets. but besides that play, tmac's defense has been horrendous. i think he's the major reason why our defense sucks so much right now. people underestimate his worth defensively in the past b/c when needed, he can guard people. right now, he can't keep anybody in front of him and that causes commotion when guys get past him and into the paint. adelman has to find away to hide him until his knee gets better. mix up some zone.
How does this equate to not being a winning team. They will fix the problem, I have not doubt. Tmac made a mistake, but I take issue with the whole laziness thing. Bad decision? Yes. Lazy implies he just didn't feel like it, which I don't feel is the case at all. McGrady thought too much and should've played more on instinct. I'm not sure what lazy has to do with it.
I could see that...maybe he gambled thinking they would lob it in.....I could certainly see that......sometimes thinking too much is a bad thing. For example: See Yao Ming. DD
This clearly shows the rockets are not a mature team yet! It's better for it to happen now than in playoffs. btw, same reason, why the celtics had to play game 7 in first two rounds. I think they were really lucky in the EC conference. If they were in the WC, they would be out in the first two rounds. No time to getting mature in the WC. All I expect for this season is to pass the 1st round.
Simple mix up between Tmac and Ron Ron. They were supposed to switch when Roy came up top. Artest stayed with Outlaw instead of switching. Yao could have help by stepping over to Roy. Yao acted as if the ref told him he couldn't move.
