33 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets on 3/17/2013

[Sir Thursday]

Well that was depressing. It looked like it was going to be brilliant second half after the Rockets got within 7 - been a while since I've heard the Toyota Centre that loud! Warriors did a good job of snuffing out the comeback though.

 

ST

[Red94]

New post: Golden State Warriors 108, Houston Rockets 78: Ten Points Aren't Enough

[2016Champions]

Yeah, definately brought me down to earth. Lets face it, we're young and likely to see a 1st round exit. But as long as we keep playing hard and improving we have nothing to be depressed about. The shots weren't falling but our guys fought hard tonight in spurts, and with experience will come consistency.

[JSosa13]

As much as I hate to say this, We really dont stand a chance against any of the top 5 teams in the West. I heard Bull saying that Denver would be a good match up for Houston in the playoffs but I dont get it, they basically play the same style as the Rockets do except 2 or 3x better, plus their squad is alot more consistent. I would prefer if we could just hold on to that 7th spot and face OKC in the first round, the Rockets have beaten them before so I believe theu can pull out at least 2 wins in that series, I'd take that over a potential sweep against S.A or Denver anyday.

[Sir Thursday]

Now I've had some time to reflect, I feel like Harden has to take some blame for this one. The whole team was poor to start off, but once we got close we needed intensity on the defensive end to stop the lead from ballooning again. Instead, we got Klay Thompson wide open over-and-over, and he made us pay. That's Harden's man, and his defensive effort was unforgivably lax in that situation. Especially in a game where the Warriors worked hard to get the ball out of his hands when the Rockets had possession, you'd think he'd have something left in the tank to contribute at the other end of the court.

 

I'm usually a McHale supporter, but I was disappointed in some of his lineup choices tonight. Golden State were playing their two PG lineup a lot with Jack, Curry, Thompson + 2 bigs. McHale was countering with his standard small-ball, ie. Delfino at the 4. The problem was that it meant there were two matchups GS could exploit on the offense - we had one of Parsons or Delfino on Jack and the other on Landry or Ezeli. Putting a bigger defender on the Jack wasn't ideal because he is nimble enough to take advantage, and there were several times where Delfino got overpowered defensively by the bigger GS players, particularly on the boards. On the other end though, Delfino was not able to provide much of anything until it was too late (eg. his outburst mid-4th quarter), and Parsons was unable to exploit his size advantage at that end. I would have prefered to have seen McHale try to match the two-PG setup and perhaps play Lin and Beverley together (he did experiment with AB in the second quarter, but that group went -10 in 5 minutes).

 

ST

[Alituro]

I agree with you there ST, when is McHale going to step up and play some big-boy ball for any reasonable stretches? I mean having 2 post players on the floor at all times. With Jones, D-mo, Asik, Robinson, Smith and even Albrecht, we have the bodies youth and athleticism to keep a large presence down there at all times. They may not be stellar defensively, but couldn't be worse than Delfino.  Parsons nor Delfino has any business playing the 4, ever. It would have helped Harden's defensive leaks by having some size down there too. I'm usually a McHale supporter, too, but here lately, with the last couple losses I'm beginning to rethink that assessment. He seems to react to the opposing coaches' moves rather than cause the reaction himself with his own. We are making, rather than forcing adjustments constantly.

[Rahat Huq]

There were three consecutive plays where Delfino was on Bogut and we had to double/triple team.  All of the possessions resulted in a wide open made basket.  

[Sir Thursday]

To play a little devil's advocate, if I may - you do have to be a little careful in how you evaluate the success of the small ball lineup, because a lot of its potency is dependent on Delfino's ability to make shots. As we've seen through the year, he has hot and cold stretches. If he's sinking the three ball often and at a high percentage, then the lineup looks excellent and you can live with what is given up defensively. Tonight though, with absolutely nobody making shots in the first half, there was no chance it would look anything other than horrible.

 

I also got the impression that McHale was putting Delfino at the 4 because he did not trust Robinson for the evening. And given the mental lapses Robinson had been making (that blown dunk was comical), I can kind of see why. Motiejunas still struggles from fatigue if he plays long minutes, and you could see him gasping in this game. When you have to take him out, there's really no other choice than to put Delfino in if you don't trust Robinson to play.

 

ST

[Rahat Huq]

You have to kind of feel for McHale.  I think the Patterson trade was absolutely the right move, just from a long term perspective.  But it really sucks losing your only veteran at a position down the stretch drive.  

[rockets best fan]

Sir Thursday:

I too needed time to reflect. I was so upset by that lost you could have fryed an egg on my forehead.  this game looked like one of the games involved in the meltdown from last year. the team is beginning to slide into collaspe. if mchale is unable to stop the slide he should be fired. the continued slow starts are digging holes that we simply can not get out of. I have been bashing mchale for quite some time now because I see things in him that are not healthy for this team. I have been hoping he would overcome some of his shortcomings, but it appears he has fallen down and can't get up. I could point to failure to make adjustments defensively, inability to adjust the offense to what GS was doing defensively. ineffective player matchups, players focus and determination, but all of that stuff has one thing in common............THE COACH

[rockets best fan]

You have to kind of feel for McHale.  I think the Patterson trade was absolutely the right move, just from a long term perspective.  But it really sucks losing your only veteran at a position down the stretch drive.  

the rockets have had plenty of time to adjust to the lost of ppat and mm. they weren't the stars on this team. if the defense is unable to adjust he should have tried a zone for small spuirts. anything except continue to watch the team stumble.

[thenit]

I'm one of those Mchale haters, but I just don't think it was so much coaching tonight. It was Harden not closing out on thompsons for a few 3s when the lead was cut to 3 and a lot of the players having a big fat goose egg on the score sheet. Parsons had 1fg, delfino shot poorly until the mid4th quarter. The only offensive threat was Lin and Harden, but they doubled Harden. Lin also seems to run out of gas in the 4th quarter, because he missed 3 straight FTs. The team just shoot poorly, the shots they took in the 1st and 2nd quarter wasn't really that bad. D-mo missed like 5 open 3s, parsons missed a couple, delfino a few. If 4-5 of those open looks hit, we were looking at single digit game starting the 2nd half.

It was just one of those nights.

[Ostrow]

the rockets have had plenty of time to adjust to the lost of ppat and mm. they weren't the stars on this team. if the defense is unable to adjust he should have tried a zone for small spuirts. anything except continue to watch the team stumble.

You can't go zone against a team that has Curry and Thompson.  PPatt wasn't a star, but he was a good positional defensive player, and you always knew what you were going to get from him.  D-Mo and T-Rob both have higher ceilings, but right now McHale doesn't know what he is going to get from them on any given day.

[2016Champions]

Curry and Thompson are far too dangerous from outside

 

To play a little devil's advocate, if I may - you do have to be a little careful in how you evaluate the success of the small ball lineup, because a lot of its potency is dependent on Delfino's ability to make shots. As we've seen through the year, he has hot and cold stretches. If he's sinking the three ball often and at a high percentage, then the lineup looks excellent and you can live with what is given up defensively. Tonight though, with absolutely nobody making shots in the first half, there was no chance it would look anything other than horrible.

 

I also got the impression that McHale was putting Delfino at the 4 because he did not trust Robinson for the evening. And given the mental lapses Robinson had been making (that blown dunk was comical), I can kind of see why. Motiejunas still struggles from fatigue if he plays long minutes, and you could see him gasping in this game. When you have to take him out, there's really no other choice than to put Delfino in if you don't trust Robinson to play.

 

ST

 

I agree with this. 

[Alituro]

You guys are right, but I still think it's a case of McHale being reactive instead of pro-active with the rotations he chooses and when he chooses them. The small ball lineup can be effective for stretches as far as swinging momentum and lighting up a scoreboard, but lets face it, a squad that features Beverley, Lin, Harden, Delfino, Smith as it's killer punch, is a team that is in trouble and we suck a lot more than what our record indicates. I used to think it was LIn-only fans whining about him being benched when in a funk, but now I see it is roster-wide. You can't overcome your funk if you are riding the pine, especially with young players. This is McHale's last chance, if he bombs us out of the postseason once again after having it all but sealed up (once again), then he needs to be driven far out of town. every team in the league has elevated their games at this point in the season and we're stuck in the mud (again).

[thejohnnygold]

There isn't much to say here....So I will look for a sliver lining as I am prone to do....

 

The past two games have afforded the Rockets two quarters worth of game film to see just how good they can play at both ends.  (also 5 quarters worth of film to see how bad they can play).  Maybe, just maybe, they can study those two quarters and figure a way to make that a more consistent effort....

 

I also enjoyed Kelvin Sampson's little interview at halftime...He didn't seem to be fazed by what was happening and recognized that this was just "one of those nights"....regarding the first half, I loved the pithiness of him saying that ultimately, "you gotta put the brown thing in the round thing".

[rocketrick]

There isn't much to say here....So I will look for a sliver lining as I am prone to do....

 

The past two games have afforded the Rockets two quarters worth of game film to see just how good they can play at both ends.  (also 5 quarters worth of film to see how bad they can play).  Maybe, just maybe, they can study those two quarters and figure a way to make that a more consistent effort....

 

I also enjoyed Kelvin Sampson's little interview at halftime...He didn't seem to be fazed by what was happening and recognized that this was just "one of those nights"....regarding the first half, I loved the pithiness of him saying that ultimately, "you gotta put the brown thing in the round thing".

I don't think anyone on the Rockets coaching staff, players, etc. needs to study the film of the last 2 games to see what they did right and where they went wrong.

 

In my opinion, it's very simple. Intensity and Effort!!!!!!!!

 

It looks quite clear to me the Rockets are suffering the same disease all young teams suffer from, the jitters caused by their average age, overall NBA experience and first time together as a unit.

 

They just have to play through it and learn from their experience. Which means Rockets fans are likely to experience the highest highs and lowest lows the remainder of the season incluidng any playoff action coming our way. 

[thejohnnygold]

I don't think anyone on the Rockets coaching staff, players, etc. needs to study the film of the last 2 games to see what they did right and where they went wrong.

 

In my opinion, it's very simple. Intensity and Effort!!!!!!!!

 

It looks quite clear to me the Rockets are suffering the same disease all young teams suffer from, the jitters caused by their average age, overall NBA experience and first time together as a unit.

 

They just have to play through it and learn from their experience. Which means Rockets fans are likely to experience the highest highs and lowest lows the remainder of the season incluidng any playoff action coming our way. 

 

As a history major I strongly disagree with the idea of not learning from the past.

 

Further, the notion that defense is just effort is silly.  Against sophisticated offenses, smart coaches, and clever point guards effort only takes you so far.  Sound principles, fundamentals, and understanding spacing come first...then the effort to do them follows.  The Rockets are getting beat by being out of position and allowing opponents to get easy, open looks underneath.  With youth all you have is effort--the understanding will come.

[rockets best fan]

As a history major I strongly disagree with the idea of not learning from the past.

 

Further, the notion that defense is just effort is silly.  Against sophisticated offenses, smart coaches, and clever point guards effort only takes you so far.  Sound principles, fundamentals, and understanding spacing come first...then the effort to do them follows.  The Rockets are getting beat by being out of position and allowing opponents to get easy, open looks underneath.  With youth all you have is effort--the understanding will come.

JG i'm a bit of a history buff myself (even tho I never could capture that elusive spelling bee championship)  and I totally agree with everything, but that last statement (with youth all you have is effort- the understanding will come) the rockets have played 67 games this year. plenty of time to understand defensive and offensive rotations. at what point are we suppose to at least see progress in this area? seems like after doing something for 67 times we would start to get it right at least some of the time. however even when we win our defensive rotations still stink.the rockets shouldn't just watch tapes of lost games, but wins too. however tape watching can only take you so far. i'm sure it's no secert what assignments are being missed on defense......so why aren't we getting it corrected.........if I was the owner right now that's what I would be asking my coach right now. we can talk about all the great offensive scheme's we want to, but FACT is defense wins championships. until we learn how to get quality stops we must relie on outscoring the opposing team. that's a recipe for failure. live by the 3 die by the 3, but you die even faster when you play no defense. I hope we can get it corrected asap.....i've got my fingers crossed, toes crossed, all the labels on the bud lite cans lined up