13 replies to this topic

[Rahat Huq]

• Kyle Lowry was the biggest bright spot with some gaudy assist/turnover numbers. He seemed to have really also improved his ball-handling which is odd for a 25-year-old point guard. Maybe I'm imagining it, but he didn't have some of the change-of-direction moves in the past that he was using tonight. Some really quick crossovers in transition. The offense looked much better with him in there than it did with Lowry.
• Some really baffling lineup decisions by McHale tonight which may have cost the team the game. Not surprising, with a new team and such. But he had Scola at center at one point for Christ's sake.
• Other than Lowry, Samuel Dalembert was the "man of the match." Just a huge, huge performance for the newest Rocket. He contested shots, clogged the middle and even provided some offense. If the goal is to be competitive this year, which it seems to be, then it looks like Dalembert will be a huge acquisition. It's a shame he's already 30. Dalembert gave the Rockets everything they lacked last season with his length inside.
• Terrence Williams was another guy who really impressed. He even showed a nice Euro-step in transition late in the first half. It was a huge relief to see Williams play big minutes. After last season, I think all of us had been holding our breath, wondering if he would finally get a chance. I think it's safe to say the team has him in their plans for the future. Now it's up to him to produce. If he keeps it up, he'll crack the starting lineup, in my opinion.
• Marcus Morris also got minutes early on which was a pleasant surprise. He got abused by Big Baby as was expected, but it was just nice to see him out there. I had assumed he'd be brought along slowly and spend time in the D-League. Hopefully the Rockets plan to throw him right into the fire.
• Kevin Martin was absolutely awful tonight. If he's not scoring, he's not really giving you anything, and, well, he wasn't scoring....
• The biggest disappointment for me tonight was that Hasheem Thabeet was inactive. Jeff Adrien got those minutes instead. I guess this really lets you know how little he's shown so far in practice if they don't think he can even give them 5 minutes. Huge disappointment overall.

[majik19]

I would also like to add that Chase Budinger was a non-factor, and our defense looked pretty weak when Dalembert wasn't out there. And I'm not just talking about in the paint, but they had a TON of open looks from 3 - Hedo and Reddick especially carved us up from that distance.
We never really doubled Howard, which is the Atlanta Hawks way of defending him, but they also limited the three point shooting. I felt like there was a poor effort rotating and closing out on shooters by most everyone.

[FelixPR]

Hopefully we get the the normal Kevin Martin back and not this bizarro version of him. All in all, while I am disappointed that we lost, I am glad that the season and the team is back.

[Rahat Huq]

Hopefully we get the the normal Kevin Martin back and not this bizarro version of him. All in all, while I am disappointed that we lost, I am glad that the season and the team is back.

I wonder how much of it is mental with Martin. I think it's obvious he's not happy here anymore after what happened.

[Lyfestyle]

At least Martin didn't let his poor shooting keep him from contributing elsewhere. That 1 assist and 0 rebounds in his 33 minutes were huge.

[FelixPR]

I wonder how much of it is mental with Martin. I think it's obvious he's not happy here anymore after what happened.

Maybe a combination of mental unhappiness and new rules. Could also be rust from long off-season. I hope it is a short funk.

[Rahat Huq]

Maybe a combination of mental unhappiness and new rules. Could also be rust from long off-season. I hope it is a short funk.

I'm wondering what Kevin Martin's trade value is at this point. You're talking about a very good scoring shooting guard nearing 30 with horrendous defense. Only contenders would have interest.

People talk about Minnesota as a potential spot, but what would they offer? Williams, Love, and Rubio are obviously all off-limits. Beasley or Milicic? Remember that they don't have their draft pick.

I think a good spot for Martin would be Chicago with their need for a scoring shooting guard. In fact, putting Martin next to Rose would really let that team light up a stagnant offense. They are also one of the few teams that can hide him defensively. But what could they offer?

I think a Martin deal ultimately would have to be a 3-way with us sending him to some contender and receiving a pick from some other team.

[majik19]

I'm wondering what Kevin Martin's trade value is at this point. You're talking about a very good scoring shooting guard nearing 30 with horrendous defense. Only contenders would have interest.

People talk about Minnesota as a potential spot, but what would they offer? Williams, Love, and Rubio are obviously all off-limits. Beasley or Milicic? Remember that they don't have their draft pick.

I think a good spot for Martin would be Chicago with their need for a scoring shooting guard. In fact, putting Martin next to Rose would really let that team light up a stagnant offense. They are also one of the few teams that can hide him defensively. But what could they offer?

I think a Martin deal ultimately would have to be a 3-way with us sending him to some contender and receiving a pick from some other team.

Other teams that Martin could help would be the Clippers (much better fit than Billups), the Spurs (allowing Ginolbi to come off the bench), the Nuggets (sure could use some more players)...

[Dan G]

Hey don't forget about Jordan Hill. He had some good minutes too with a tough match up. But yeah K-Mart was a no show tonight and all I can say is WTF was that all about with going small for the final 5 minutes of the game? That was the worst time to do it as it just allowed Howard to kick out to open shooters and Turkoglu to go off on us. Other than that, I agree with everything. Lowry, Dalembert, Lee, Hill and T-Will really impressed me tonight while Bud and K-Mart made me cringe when they had the ball in their hands. Overall, even though we lost I think it was a good game to build on and we will get even better when 2Pat gets back.

[Stephen]

Re Minn trade "pieces".
They have Lottery protected Utah 2012 First.
Big man in Pekovic(who was drafted by McHale) and either Anthony Randolph(who is on a very short leash w/Adelman) or Wes Johnson for Martin and Adrien for roster purposes.

The Clips gave NO the better of their own 2012 or Minn's 2012 First. The Rockets could trade Martin for Foye(exp contract,and I think that will be very important for Morey if he can't get a prospect) and the other 2012 First.

[Rahat Huq]

Re Minn trade "pieces".
They have Lottery protected Utah 2012 First.
Big man in Pekovic(who was drafted by McHale) and either Anthony Randolph(who is on a very short leash w/Adelman) or Wes Johnson for Martin and Adrien for roster purposes.

The Clips gave NO the better of their own 2012 or Minn's 2012 First. The Rockets could trade Martin for Foye(exp contract,and I think that will be very important for Morey if he can't get a prospect) and the other 2012 First.

Completely forgot about Wes Johnson and Randolph. Would love to have either of those two guys.

[majik19]

Completely forgot about Wes Johnson and Randolph. Would love to have either of those two guys.

Randolph should be available for little... not long before he's on the end of Adelman's bench.
Wes Johnson doesn't really have star potential in my opinion... He would just take minutes from Williams.

[Rahat Huq]

Randolph should be available for little... not long before he's on the end of Adelman's bench.
Wes Johnson doesn't really have star potential in my opinion... He would just take minutes from Williams.

Would you do Martin for some combination of Johnson, Pekovic, and Randolph?