Atlanta Hawks 83, Houston Rockets 80: A Wasted Night

  Eric Nielsen | January 10, 2014 at 9:43 pm

I hope you didn’t spend your Friday night watching the Rockets lose to the Hawks.  This loss lays heavy on all participants.  The Rockets are third in the league in scoring at almost 106 a game, but tonight they could only muster 80.  With Parsons on the bench and Ronnie Brewer starting and getting 0 points in his 25 minutes, the Rockets could not score.  Please McHale play anyone but Brewer.  You’d think he was in for his defense, but the Hawks got 20 points off the fast break, beating Houston at it’s own game.  Houston only got eight fast points.

After starting with an 11 to 0 run, the Rockets were outscored the rest of the way 83 to 69.  Howard looked ok (7 for 11 from the field and 11 boards) but the wings could not consistently get him the ball on the box.  The last three and a half quarters were really terrible.  The worst part of the game was the end, and it was really bad. With 1:32 to go and down by one, the negativity crystallized. Unbelievably, the Rockets still had a chance to win the game.  Harden went into iso mode and missed a three pointer.  Then Jeremy Lin turned the ball over with a 3 second call trapped in the paint.  The next time down the court Harden takes it to the hole and is blocked by Millsap.  And then, after a time-out, Brooks throws a horrible pass and turns it over.

Howard has to get the ball in these situations.  At least once in those four possessions you’ve got to go to your big man.  We need a passer into the post.  That art seems to be lost on the Rockets.  Howard is fifth in the league in field goal percentage.  I want to see him demand the ball…stand up and instill some leadership on this listing ship.  Harden looked ok for most of the game with 25 points, seven boards and seven assists, but who on this team can will a victory?  Harden is on his own, just like last year, and the defense just collapses on him.

McHale went with a lineup of Harden, Lin, Brooks, Garcia and Howard at the end of the game, and still no one could score.  Garcia was 1 for 7, Casspi 0 for 2, Brewer 0 for 2, and Jones 3 for 10.  McHale threw the kitchen sink on the floor tonight, why not Canaan?  Casspi got only six minutes.  The Rockets held the Hawks to 37% from the field and still could not win.  Like I said, I hope you missed this brick fest.

This was one game where McHale has to take some responsibility.  How is it that the team is so unprepared to give an effort?  The body language is all apathy.  The play after time-outs in crunch time is weak.  McHale tried D Mo for more minutes than Casspi tonight and everytime D Mo made a mistake, the camera would cut to McHale throwing his hands up.  Is McHale grooming D Mo or is he too impatient?  He got five boards in seven minutes tonight.  I agree with Rahat that I would like to see D Mo get more minutes.

Right now the Rockets are going nowhere.  Will Asik help?  I don’t think so.  It’s going to take some serious revisions or upgrades to make this season count.  There is no way this team right now wins a playoff series.  Rockets fans are looking to that February trade deadline and hoping Morey can pull another miracle to save the season.  We’re not looking for draft picks for the future, we’re looking for a player that can help us change our attitude and can lead by example.  A veteran who will get in people’s faces and hold them accountable.  The Rockets have exactly zero mental toughness at this point.  It was hard to watch the product that the management put on the floor tonight. Can we see some grit and heart please?  Can we play some old school Eastern Conference physical ball for once?  Morey, can we look for someone with these qualities in our next acquisitions?

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• thenit says 2 days ago I am surprised by some of the numbers, they're very similar stats with slight edge to Bev. The biggest thing that showed in those numbers goes against my perception was that Bev was the better ISO defender and poorer at running throwing screens in pnr. It's actually the opposite if I'm reading it correctly. Lin is the better ISO defender but worse on pnr.
  
  I just think there shouldn't really be a debate. bev is just so a better fit for than Lin next to harden, and Lin skillset offensively is better utilized when he can be the captain of the 2nd unit. Once bev gets back I think everything on the team will solve itself and we will get back to our winning ways.
• thejohnnygold says 2 days ago

  i dont really buy the argument that bev is there as a defensive stopper. i always thought he was starting because he is more consistent. he has less highs, but he also has less lows.

  That's a good perspective. He's also the kind of player that just finds ways to contribute within the flow of the game and doesn't need any sets or plays run for him in order to be effective. I'm not saying Lin can't do that, but his strengths are different and are best utilized leading the second unit. Bev fits perfectly next to Harden, Howard, and Parsons who are the main initiators on offense.

  Out of curiosity, I just went to mysynergysports.com and looked up Lin and Bev.

  These are their defensive stats....eerily similar across the board. There are some things worth noting. One, the highlighted %TO up there. For those who think Bev's tenacious style is all show and no substance this says otherwise. that is nearly 1 out of every 7 possessions he helps force a turnover. Nice. Lin is around 1 every 11.

  I will also note the total minutes played. Bev has 788 and Lin has 747. Again, nearly identical with a slight edge to Bev.

  When applying those minutes to their corresponding number of field goal attempts you get .26 field goal attempts/min for Beverley. Jeremy nets .31 fga/min. This corresponds to basically one extra shot every 12 minutes for Lin's man. Stretch that to his game average of 30mpg and it is 2.5 extra shots taken/game. Assuming no 3 pointers that is an expected 5 point value which, when multiplied by his 40% fg, nets the opponent 2 extra points per game on average. (now I know this is a crude and elementary extrapolation, but it works well enough in my opinion).

  I'm splitting hairs here, but I do think it is relevant that Beverley yields fewer shot attempts both in volume and percentage despite slightly more playing time.

  On offense They are also relatively similar with Bev averaging .96 ppp and Lin coming in right behind him at .95 ppp. Lin's shooting %'s are actually better than Bev's (including 48% on all spot-up shots and 48% on spot-up 3's!), but Lin turns the ball over twice as much which hurts his overall effectiveness.

  So, there are some numbers to play with. Enjoy!

• miketheodio says 2 days ago

  Agreed JohnnyGold. Neither of these players are stars but they are both good and valuable to our team in different roles with P-Bev as the secret weapon to shut down star western conference PGs and Lin as one of the best 6th man in the NBA. Be happy we have both of them.

  i dont really buy the argument that bev is there as a defensive stopper. i always thought he was starting because he is more consistent. he has less highs, but he also has less lows.

• Buckko says 2 days ago

  Agreed JohnnyGold. Neither of these players are stars but they are both good and valuable to our team in different roles with P-Bev as the secret weapon to shut down star western conference PGs and Lin as one of the best 6th man in the NBA. Be happy we have both of them.

• Richards says 2 days ago

  I think they both are above average defenders and they have their flaws as well. Lin sometimes over helps or ball watch. I disagree with people who says that he can't hang with quick guards in the nba. I think most Pgs are so quick in the nba that there aren't many lock down defenders that can hang with today's psg including bev. Bev is a better man on man defender than Lin but has hard time navigating through screens. So they are both pretty good just different skillset.

  Very true.

• thejohnnygold says 2 days ago

  I think they both are above average defenders and they have their flaws as well. Lin sometimes over helps or ball watch. I disagree with people who says that he can't hang with quick guards in the nba. I think most Pgs are so quick in the nba that there aren't many lock down defenders that can hang with today's psg including bev. Bev is a better man on man defender than Lin but has hard time navigating through screens. So they are both pretty good just different skillset.

  That's pretty fair. I agree about a lot of the PG's these days....sitting here watching John Wall play us and he is just ridiculous.

• thenit says 3 days ago I think they both are above average defenders and they have their flaws as well. Lin sometimes over helps or ball watch. I disagree with people who says that he can't hang with quick guards in the nba. I think most Pgs are so quick in the nba that there aren't many lock down defenders that can hang with today's psg including bev. Bev is a better man on man defender than Lin but has hard time navigating through screens. So they are both pretty good just different skillset.
• thejohnnygold says 3 days ago

  JG, we all are our own victim of bias. Did you remember how much Parker dropped on Bev and Lin?

  How is it still unclear that I like both of our PG's? I simply tire of the one-sidedness certain people display and remind them--especially in a post such as the one above I originally responded to. I do have a bias--towards the Houston Rockets. A difficult concept for some to grasp it seems.

  Here is the shot chart for Tony Parker for that game.

  Now, I may be wrong about this, but aside from 2 of those shots it looks more like Dwight Howard shut down Tony Parker since Parker was clearly getting by Lin and into the lane. Does it have to matter? We got the job done. Heck, maybe we just got lucky and Parker had an off night. Who cares? We won.

  Mike Conley? What if I told you that Beverley held him to 2-14 in his game versus Lin's 4-14? Tis true. Why can't we be happy for both our guys? I think we all know the answer to that.

  Getting back to this game--good observation, Sir Thursday, thanks for pointing that out. You are probably right that it will be forgotten.

• Sir Thursday says 3 days ago

  One thing that got lost amongst all the turnovers was that the Rockets actually ran a pretty neat play at one point that should have got Howard an open dunk at the rim. You know the one where Brooks threw a pass to nobody in particular?

  If you play it back, you'll see that McHale had drawn something up where Harden was supposed to be a decoy. Brooks ran a high pick and roll with Harden and it worked perfectly - the Hawks were so worried about leaving Harden that Brooks was able to get some penetration. Elton Brand (who was guarding Howard) had sunk into the paint and was rotating over to help on Brooks, leaving Howard with an open path to the rim. If Howard had cut down the right side of the lane directly towards the hoop, Brooks' pass would have found him in acres of space and with a clear path to the basket.

  Instead, when Howard cuts he doesn't roll directly towards the hoop, but rather towards Brooks as if he's going to set a second screen for him. Brooks then throws the pass where he thinks Howard should be rather than where he actually is and a turnover ensues. It's a shame, because I suspect if they'd been able to pull this play off it would have looked amazing and would likely have given the Rockets the impetus they needed to close out the game. Plus, it would have reflected quite well on McHale's play drawing abilities and shown that there is a plan besides constant Harden hero-balling. Unfortunately because of the failures in execution it's likely to be forgotten.

  ST

• feelingsupersonic says 3 days ago Here is Lin's quote:
  
  “I didn’t know I was on the line,” Lin said. “When (Harden) drove, I thought he was going to shoot it. I was going to try to get anywhere near for an offensive rebound.”
  
  
  Just in case anyone was interested.
• thenit says 3 days ago Didn't watch the game but harden does ISO ball a lot at end of quarters especially the forth. I don't mind it except for the habit of dribbling outside the arc until it's less than 5 sec left on the shot clock to just pas it off to a wing who is forced to shot a bad shot. He does this 2-3 times a game which I can't figure out why he does it.
  
  In terms of coaching I'm in the camp who has given up on mchale in game decisions. He either can't enforce what he wants the team to do or he doesn't have a plan. Just based on watching our games, every time we have a timeout, we have terrible offence. However our opponents seems to get better play calling by their coaches even teams with less talent. His rotation is also terrible and left to a lot to be desired
• Richards says 3 days ago

  I'm starting to blame the erratic play of the backcourt on the whole "no set plays" thing. I understand that by basing our offense on "concepts" instead of set plays that it makes it harder for opposing teams to prepare and gives our players more freedom. But that cuts both ways. It gives our guards nothing to fall back on when their shots aren't falling, and it gives them too much freedom to make bad decisions.

  100 % agreed.

  Some blamed on Lin for toe on the line. I haven't seen Lin's interview, but what I read an excerpt from Chron site was when Harden had the ball and try to shoot, Lin was suppose to move to the post for rebound. With two seconds left Harden passed the ball, and Lin had to shoot from the spot.

  Not blaming Harden or defending Lin, but that is what our play for crunch time. Bad play calling from coaches.

  Brook turned over was another example. Again, no blame on AB, I love the guy. We had two better handler on court, Beard and Lin but AB was used to setup a play. Misunderstanding between him and Dwight created awful turnover. Players like AB, D-Mo, Brewer always had tough time to play with starters during crunch time, they didn't have enough rep..

• timetodienow1234567 says 3 days ago We can still create a system based off of our concepts but allow for our playmakers to deviate if they believe they can exploit a matchup. The fact that we haven't created such a system is an indictment on Mchale.
• SDrake says 3 days ago

  Serioiusly, people... All you want to do is talk about Jeremy Lin. It doesn't matter what happens on the court, win or lose, every discussion on this forum always becomes about Jeremy Lin.

• RudyT1995 says 3 days ago

  I'm starting to blame the erratic play of the backcourt on the whole "no set plays" thing. I understand that by basing our offense on "concepts" instead of set plays that it makes it harder for opposing teams to prepare and gives our players more freedom. But that cuts both ways. It gives our guards nothing to fall back on when their shots aren't falling, and it gives them too much freedom to make bad decisions.

  Harden and Lin could both use some more structure to work with.

• txtdo1411 says 3 days ago

  Lin... Gotta love his ability to bring out such emotion in people. Like JG said this loss was on the whole team, and most importantly McHale. This was such an ugly game, which seems to be the norm now with a few exceptions here and there. I've been a McHale supporter since he has been here, but he has to make some changes. The team just looks out of it right now. I don't know what is going on, but we are certainly regressing as the season goes on. Hopefully we can right the ship.

• Richards says 3 days ago

  JG, we all are our own victim of bias. Did you remember how much Parker dropped on Bev and Lin?

• Richards says 3 days ago
  
  

  LOH are as guilty as LOF

• timetodienow1234567 says 3 days ago Lol. Hicks. LOFs are funny but they might be the reason some fans dislike Lin.
• thejohnnygold says 3 days ago

  Interesting that local media never mentions how Lin has now SHUT DOWN Tony Parker (6pts), Holiday (11pts), Conley (3pts), Teague (7pts 2 for 12 shooting), which are things Beverly never did all season on any PG. Beverly's defensive rating this season is a terrible 108 plus Lin's worst offensive night is Beverly's best. The Rockets lost not due to Lin but when Brooks missed 2 crucial late free throws and had 2 straight bad turnovers, Harden had a turnover and a shot blocked, and McHale ran horrible plays the last 4 minutes. The Lin-haters are idiots blaming him for MAKING the shot but had his toe on the line after another funny Harden dump-pass with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. I can't wait until Lin gets out out of this TOXIC situation, bad coach, flawed selfish stars, hick and prejudiced fans and local media. Jeremy - get out of the red states and end up back on one of the coasts !!

  Wow. There is just so much here. I don't think anyone blames Lin for the loss. I do find it amusing that you glossed over his turnover late in the game...and the line thing...and the terrible last-shot-try-to-pass-but-it's-too-late thing. Anyone who watched this game saw a team playing terribly. All of them.

  Lin was 1-2 in the fourth Q for 4 points, no assists, no rebounds, and 1 (official) turnover. He played a game high 39 minutes and crunch time. It's everything the Lin fans have been pining for. This game will be forgotten by all of them (as it does not support their imaginary notion of who he is), but the fact remains that Lin had an awful game (he's not the only one) and was a combined 2-7 from the field (before hitting that last shot) for nine points and a 1/4 assist to turnover ratio. Yeah, Teague had a terrible shooting night, but he did muster the inverse of Jeremy with a 4/1 assist to turnover ratio plus a couple of steals.

  As for Beverley, nice try. None of what you said holds water. What's this? Beverley held Teague to 6 points earlier in the season--which is 1 less than Jeremy--and his assist to turnover ratio was a much lower 2/1. Dang, was that Beverley that held Steph Curry to 5/14 shooting with 8 turnovers? Yup. Damian Lillard shot 1-10 for 8 points here. Yes, his Drtg is 108...you know who else sports a 108 Drtg? Jeremy Lin. Also, his offense is not as bad as you portray, but I am not going to take the time for that--here is the link for those who wish to see.

  We are 5-4 since Beverley has been out. Prior to that 18-10. It's not the only factor, but let's give some credit here. Blowing out Bev's candle to make Lin's shine brighter just won't work with hicks like us. ;)

• rm90025 says 3 days ago

  Interesting that local media never mentions how Lin has now SHUT DOWN Tony Parker (6pts), Holiday (11pts), Conley (3pts), Teague (7pts 2 for 12 shooting), which are things Beverly never did all season on any PG. Beverly's defensive rating this season is a terrible 108 plus Lin's worst offensive night is Beverly's best. The Rockets lost not due to Lin but when Brooks missed 2 crucial late free throws and had 2 straight bad turnovers, Harden had a turnover and a shot blocked, and McHale ran horrible plays the last 4 minutes. The Lin-haters are idiots blaming him for MAKING the shot but had his toe on the line after another funny Harden dump-pass with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. I can't wait until Lin gets out out of this TOXIC situation, bad coach, flawed selfish stars, hick and prejudiced fans and local media. Jeremy - get out of the red states and end up back on one of the coasts !!

  Lin has been stellar defensively. Offensively, his shooting percentage has been a littleoff by 1 or 2 shots per game over the last 3 or 4 games or so. A lot of that has to do with not being able to get into a rhythm because of the lack of ball movement. Harden turns the game into 1 on 5 basketball.Lin is getting very few easy basket opportunities because Houston doesn't pass on fast breaks. Harden goes coast to coast on most occasions. Additionally, Lin's assist/TO ratio has suffered from having to play too many roles (PG, SG, standstill 3 pt shooter, playmaker late in the shot clock....often in the same possession). McHale needs to step up and start demanding a stronger commitment to ball movement and getting open shots for everyone on the floor. Riding Harden will only get you so far, as Atlanta demonstrated.

• timetodienow1234567 says 3 days ago Once Lin finds his footing he will be fine. This site does tend to over praise Bev and over criticize Lin. But it's fine. All this talk about trying to dump Lin does make me laugh.
• Richards says 3 days ago

  Interesting that local media never mentions how Lin has now SHUT DOWN Tony Parker (6pts), Holiday (11pts), Conley (3pts), Teague (7pts 2 for 12 shooting), which are things Beverly never did all season on any PG. Beverly's defensive rating this season is a terrible 108 plus Lin's worst offensive night is Beverly's best. The Rockets lost not due to Lin but when Brooks missed 2 crucial late free throws and had 2 straight bad turnovers, Harden had a turnover and a shot blocked, and McHale ran horrible plays the last 4 minutes. The Lin-haters are idiots blaming him for MAKING the shot but had his toe on the line after another funny Harden dump-pass with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. I can't wait until Lin gets out out of this TOXIC situation, bad coach, flawed selfish stars, hick and prejudiced fans and local media. Jeremy - get out of the red states and end up back on one of the coasts !!

  Didn't agree with all you said but it was true that Lin kept all those PG to low points lately. Stats show Lin's defensive rating is better than Bev. Lin improved a lot on defense but regress on offense after came back from injury.

• Cooper says 3 days ago Maybe take a look in the mirror when talking about prejudiced fans there observer157.
• Observer157 says 3 days ago
  
  

  Interesting that local media never mentions how Lin has now SHUT DOWN Tony Parker (6pts), Holiday (11pts), Conley (3pts), Teague (7pts 2 for 12 shooting), which are things Beverly never did all season on any PG. Beverly's defensive rating this season is a terrible 108 plus Lin's worst offensive night is Beverly's best. The Rockets lost not due to Lin but when Brooks missed 2 crucial late free throws and had 2 straight bad turnovers, Harden had a turnover and a shot blocked, and McHale ran horrible plays the last 4 minutes. The Lin-haters are idiots blaming him for MAKING the shot but had his toe on the line after another funny Harden dump-pass with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. I can't wait until Lin gets out out of this TOXIC situation, bad coach, flawed selfish stars, hick and prejudiced fans and local media. Jeremy - get out of the red states and end up back on one of the coasts !!

• SDrake says 3 days ago

  Sure there is. Lots of teams could use him and there are a number of teams with big contracts to unload and Lin's would be a very favorable one to take back by comparison.I believe his contractonly counts $8 million or so against the cap next year (despite the overall $15 million price tag).

  Plus, whoever has Lin's contract will get a significant boost in souvenir sales and marketing to Asia. It's been my understanding that the only issue with Lin's contract is the amount that goes against the cap as other revenue is generated to pay for his actual cost.

• SDrake says 3 days ago

  This team is inconsistent and at best a team that will lose in the 1st round of the playoffs. They seem unable to string a bunch of Ws together or dominate a lesser team. Last year's successes were based mainly on (1) quick ball movement around the perimeter that set up open shooters and (2) a fastbreak oriented team. This season everyone is holding the ball and the fastbreak is an endangered species. The Hawks outscored the Rockets 20-8 in fastbreak points. Ridiculous. The inconsistencies and lack of a clear strategy I lay totally on McHale. Something needs to shake up things.
  
  With 4:18 to go in the game, Garcia missed a 3-pointer. The next time anyone other than Harden shot a field goal was Lin making a 2-pointer with 0:06 remaining. In a close game, the Rockets have the most predictable offensive strategy with Harden.

  Harden is not an elite player. To get to that next level and become an elite player, Harden needs to stop being a ball-hog and become a team player. It's not a sound strategy for the outcomes of games to be dependent upon whether Harden is making his shots. He's not an elite shooter.

• Cooper says 3 days ago Atl should have been a team Dwight, Jones and Harden kill in the paint with horford out. Wing depth Is beginning to look like a serious issue as well.
• rm90025 says 3 days ago

  Is there a market for Lin?

  Sure there is. Lots of teams could use him and there are a number of teams with big contracts to unload and Lin's would be a very favorable one to take back by comparison.I believe his contractonly counts $8 million or so against the cap next year (despite the overall $15 million price tag).

• rm90025 says 3 days ago

  The Rockets don't move the ball as well as they did last year. Even though they have more talent this year, they utilized last year's roster better.It all starts with James Harden. The offense has become all about pure isolation, one on one basketball. Even when theyget a fast break, there is rarely any passing.The ideal model for this team is the SA game or the 3rd quarter of the Knicks game....Harden playing as a true SG coming off screens and curls, with a lot of pick and roll/pick and pop options and pushing the pace, with Lin at the point.Today, Harden was so hot to start the game but once ATL's defense clamped down on his shot attempts, the Rockets had no answer and that'sinexcusable for a team with this much talent.In the half court, Howard seems out of sync with all of the guards.McHale is not preaching ball movement, spacing, open shots. He also isn't trying hard enough to establish his big man or to get quality shots from players other than James Harden.

  Of the top 8 teams in the west, Houston seems to be the one that lack a true identity that all the players can buy into. They probably have too much talent to miss the playoffs, but something does need to change in orderfor this team to get out of the first round. Maybe Morey is thinking of a long game and isn't wedded to getting results in year 1. But with Golden St. finding its rhythm and the Clippers proving that they will be more than able to hold their own for several weeks without Chris Paul, Houston could likely be looking at 6-8 playoff seed. They would need a big trade or significant coaching shake-up (head coach and/or assistants) to shake things up in order to changetheir currenttrajectory.

• HazeWinkle says 3 days ago

  Is there a market for Lin?

• Jatman20 says 3 days ago I saw the Thunder lose to the Jazz the other night....nothing but the Thunder ball handler up high with Durant rolling off a curl (screen) practically every play down the stretch. I wish we would have Lin as the ball handler and just bring Harden off a curl.....so that people would quit complaining of isos at the end. It didn't bring a win for Durant. 48 points on 34 shots.
• Jatman20 says 3 days ago Looking at the box score Casspi only played 6 minutes ?? (Did he gt hurt?). Garcia only 2 points in 23 minutes (now that is unacceptable). Probably why the Rockets are considering Dunleavy (81% FT% currently) or Gary Neal. Tough to go to D12 in crunch time because of his FT's....but we should go heavy to him in quarters 1-3. I only had a radio broadcast so I know D12 had 2 quick fouls....then i had to leave. Unfortunately the Rockets are not the Raptors who have a better 3P% and Ranks 6th in FT's (Houston only better than Detriot). Toronto can almost go to anyone in crunch time. Garcia is at Hack-A-Shaq level. Harden with that group would be unbeatable. Wish we had Lowry back!!
  
  And the Rockets can't waste too much time holding DMo's hand!! Coach McHale: DMo can you learn or study the offensive plays please.....can you please learn your defensive assignments,,,,,,please spend extra-time learning
  rotation responsibilities.....please, please, please. It's tough enough with Terrence; but two projects at the same time.....DMo learn while playing....
  That's what our D-league is for. You blink in the West and you are on the outside looking in (Playoffs)!!
• feelingsupersonic says 3 days ago I think he will definitely be here next year. The one exception is if they miss the playoffs, if that somehow happens he is gone.
• Richards says 3 days ago

  We had so many bad losses this season already.

  You can blame it on Dwight free throw but he won't improve overnight.

  You can blame it on Beard's ISO but we have no better option.

  You can blame it on Lin but you couldn't unload his contract.

  ......

  ......

  I bet McHale won't be around next year.

• senkay says 3 days ago
  
  

  I agree it's partially up to Howard to seal and that the ball has to go in quicker. There were so many inside passes for turnovers tonight.

• shirtless says 3 days ago

  I was actually really looking forward to this game. According to their selfishness and crunch time data, the Hawks play a rare brand of team ball, probably even more so now that Horford is out. Their coach also spent almost two decades as an assistant with the Spurs. I've caught them on League Pass a few times because I was intrigued, and there are definitely worse ways to spend two hours. The Hawks are often outtalented, but they're rarely outplayed. Tonight was a pretty good example of that.

• feelingsupersonic says 3 days ago The perimeter players look to score first when they get the ball which is usually when Dwight has his guy pinned. In this system when Harden or Lin get the ball they first check off whether they need to shoot or penetrate and in those 3 seconds they have ruined Dwight's chances of getting the ball in an advantageous position. Brooks is the one who sometimes gets it on the wing and immediately throws it into Dwight. Harden is getting better. The challenge is Howard will have to figure how to find his spots so I am not surprised they don't have their rythym down yet just half the season in.
  
  This aspect of the Rockets game between Harden, Parsons and Lin and how they feed Howard will be better next year.
• BrentYen says 3 days ago

  So many possessions that D12 can not even seal for some weird reason. I would not blame the feeding issue I guess.

• Richards says 3 days ago

  Brewer played total of 48 minutes last two games and score 0 points. He is filling in for a guy with 17 PPG.

  We had mis-match at Center and couldn't believe we didn't feed Dwight.

  Blame what you want on Lin, AB, and Beard. This is on Coaches. What a poor game plan.

• Red94 says 3 days ago New post: Atlanta Hawks 83, Houston Rockets 80: A Wasted Night
  By: Eric Nielsen
  
  

  I hope you didn’t spend your Friday night watching the Rockets lose to the Hawks.  This loss lays heavy on all participants.  The Rockets are third in the league in scoring at almost 106 a game, but tonight they could only muster 80.  With Parsons on the bench and Ronnie Brewer starting and getting 0 points in his 25 minutes, the Rockets could not score.  Please McHale play anyone but Brewer.  You’d think he was in for his defense, but the Hawks got 20 points off the fast break, beating Houston at it’s own game.  Houston only got eight fast points.

  After starting with an 11 to 0 run, the Rockets were outscored the rest of the way 83 to 69.  Howard looked ok (7 for 11 from the field and 11 boards) but the wings could not consistently get him the ball on the box.   The last three and a half quarters were really terrible.  The worst part of the game was the end, and it was really bad. With 1:32 to go and down by one, the negativity crystallized. Unbelievably, the Rockets still had a chance to win the game.  Harden went into iso mode and missed a three pointer.  Then Jeremy Lin turned the ball over with a 3 second call trapped in the paint.  The next time down the court Harden takes it to the hole and is blocked by Millsap.  And then, after a time-out, Brooks throws a horrible pass and turns it over.

  Howard has to get the ball in these situations.  At least once in those four possessions you’ve got to go to your big man.  We need a passer into the post.  That art seems to be lost on the Rockets.  Howard is fifth in the league in field goal percentage.  I want to see him demand the ball...stand up and instill some leadership on this listing ship.  Harden looked ok for most of the game with 25 points, seven boards and seven assists, but who on this team can will a victory?  Harden is on his own, just like last year, and the defense just collapses on him.

  McHale went with a lineup of Harden, Lin, Brooks, Garcia and Howard at the end of the game, and still no one could score.  Garcia was 1 for 7, Casspi 0 for 2, Brewer 0 for 2, and Jones 3 for 10.  McHale threw the kitchen sink on the floor tonight, why not Canaan?  Casspi got only six minutes.  The Rockets held the Hawks to 37% from the field and still could not win.  Like I said, I hope you missed this brick fest.

  This was one game where McHale has to take some responsibility.  How is it that the team is so unprepared to give an effort?  The body language is all apathy.  The play after time-outs in crunch time is weak.  McHale tried D Mo for more minutes than Casspi tonight and everytime D Mo made a mistake, the camera would cut to McHale throwing his hands up.  Is McHale grooming D Mo or is he too impatient?  He got five boards in seven minutes tonight.  I agree with Rahat that I would like to see D Mo get more minutes.

  Right now the Rockets are going nowhere.  Will Asik help?  I don’t think so.  It’s going to take some serious revisions or upgrades to make this season count.  There is no way this team right now wins a playoff series.  Rockets fans are looking to that February trade deadline and hoping Morey can pull another miracle to save the season.  We’re not looking for draft picks for the future, we’re looking for a player that can help us change our attitude and can lead by example.  A veteran who will get in people's faces and hold them accountable.  The Rockets have exactly zero mental toughness at this point.  It was hard to watch the product that the management put on the floor tonight. Can we see some grit and heart please?  Can we play some old school Eastern Conference physical ball for once?  Morey, can we look for someone with these qualities in our next acquisitions?

• MrLobble says 3 days ago

  guard play was atrocious tonight... terrible shot selection (again), turnovers, and why did they not look to feed the big guy?!!! you expect him to keep crashing the boards and keep playing physical without giving him touches?!

  Also, I don't mean feed him as in throw an awful pass after you're way off-balance and can't make a play

• shuga says 4 days ago

  If we lose this game, I'm blaming McHale for 25 minutes of Brewer in the starting line up