Los Angeles Lakers @ Houston Rockets on 11/7/13

  Eric Nielsen | November 6, 2013 at 9:21 pm

Lakers Past
The Lakers drama always dominates the basketball landscape, led by Kobe Bryant and the Buss family, the team fills the airwaves with intrigue.  Last year they dominated the league in headlines: traded for Howard, picked by many to win it all, fired Mike Brown five games into the season, Jerry Buss died, barely made the playoffs, and Kobe blew out his achilles.

But the Lakers biggest story of the year, relative to the Rockets, was Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak choosing Mike D’Antoni to coach the team instead of Phil Jackson. Anyone who knows anything about hoops knows this was the wrong decision (Phil has won too many rings to refute this).  Lakers fans are still seething at the carnage and at the disrespect shown to Jackson.

The awkward start to the Lakers last season led to the pressure and unhappiness Dwight felt all year long.  The Rockets have Buss and Kupchak to thank for creating the environment that led to the Rockets getting Howard. That decision led to the fracturing of the team, and their future.  If Jerry Buss had been well, this never would have happened.  He recognized that talent is what elevates teams to elite levels.

Lakers Present
The Lakers aren’t sure what they have: they amnestied World Peace, Kobe (35) is out at least a couple more weeks and is willing to take a pay cut next year from his current salary of 30M, Gasol (33) is in the last year of his contract, and Nash (39) is signed for 9M for 2014.

The Lakers won’t make any moves before seeing what their aging three can do, but come the trading deadline, Gasol will go. They’ve been trying to trade him for years and in the final year of his contract, it will finally happen.  Nash and his huge contract should go as well.  Kobe seems untouchable, but if he returns at a high level after his injury, his hand will still be weak. It’ll be fun to watch Kobe try to put this team on his back for a run at the 8th seed.

The Lakers will play the D’Antoni version of hoops: lot’s of running, playing 11 in the rotation and no defense.  They are giving up 109 points a game and currently rank 29th in the league.  Ex-Rocket Jordan Hill is hustling in D’Antoni’s game and leading the league in FG% at 73.3%, and Xavier Henry looks promising, but where do they go from here?

Lakers Future
Only four players are signed beyond this season.  The plan seems to be, clear cap space and retool.  Are they hoping Lebron or Carmello opt out early?  Are they possibly tanking for the rich draft of 2014?  Do they have anyone to trade besides Pau and Nash?  The current team isn’t more than a low playoff seed and an out in the first round, at best.

Howard vs. The Lakers
The big story for this game is obviously Howard going against his former team. He had a monster game against the Blazers and is coming on.  He’s rebounding, getting opponents into foul trouble, scoring and his pick and roll with Harden is formidable.  I have a feeling he’s looking forward to this one. I’m hoping for a statement game, good energy, some smiles and a level of comfort that he didn’t exhibit last year.

The Rockets quick start, compared to the start the Lakers had last year, is a good omen.  Chances are good the Rockets could be heading to Staples at the end of this year for some playoff games, so clear the decks and kick out the cobwebs of last year’s memories.

Rockets Present
After the Clippers game this week, The Rockets moved from 6th in the league in points given up to 24th.  The defense really looked bad as well in the first half of the game in Salt Lake. Utah’s big men hustled for numerous offensive boards and second chance points.  Against the Clippers, the Rocket’s guards got beat up. The defense has to fight over the top of pick and rolls and contest threes. Thank heavens Beverley is back.

Marc Stein calls the defense impressive this year and is one of the reasons the Rockets moved to number 2 in this week’s power rankings (when is the last time you remember the Rockets being ranked that high?).  But, we hadn’t seen the Rockets against anybody good yet, and after the Clipper game, that ranking was obviously too high.

The Rockets have to begin games stronger.  The slow starts against the Clippers and the Blazers really upset McHale.  Turnovers remain a constant battle.  But it was good to see Harden making big shots against the Blazers, and the twin towers looked dominant in the 3rd quarter when the Rockets blew it open.  Still a work in progress, the Rockets upside remains very promising.

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• thejohnnygold says 3 months ago

  Having Parsons on my fantasy team, I have been watching him very closely. For the most part he is fine and I think is just in a bit of a slump trying to apply everything he worked on over the Summer. Integrating new things into established routines often causes problems at first, but the idea is to ultimately net greater results.

  His 3 pt. shooting has been bad. I believe it is because he is thinking too much. That goofy pump fake is something I think they worked on over the Summer to help him get to the rim more and draw more fouls (a very Rocket-thing to do). Last year, he got the pass and let it fly without conscience from outside--which was good. This year, he is working out the kinks of adding a new dimension to his game. Hopefully he gets it going sooner than later.

  Regarding his pump fake, he doesn't use enough body language--it's all ball. This results in the slow transition from fake to drive because he has to sell the fake with the ball up over his head (7' in the air!)--coaches should be working this out soon. A spin move would help if he insists on bringing the ball up that high.

• BrentYen says 3 months ago

  I have been noticing the pump fake a bit to much also, but my line of thinking is because of our lack of spacing he is finding that defenders are closer to him closing out. he's not getting the necessary room to feel comfortable taking the shot leading him to try and get the defender off balance to draw the foul

  IMO, that pump fake was useful last year, but as more and more players knows how he does it. They tend to wait because Parson's release and the fake are relatively slow, so the defenders can afford to wait a bit more to decide jumping or not. Lin and Harden got very fast release, so they do not need a big movement for defenders to buy it.
  
  Also his transition from fake to a drive is slow (due to the big movement), hence can not take the advantage even if his defenders jumped.

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  I don't see any ball-handling improvement either. The only difference I see is the pump fake which he uses far too much. The shot is flat but has always been flat. Last year it would seem at times almost as if it was coming off the side of his hand, elbow completely out...just horrible form. Ironically, Lin's form has been extremely pure this year.

  I have been noticing the pump fake a bit to much also, but my line of thinking is because of our lack of spacing he is finding that defenders are closer to him closing out. he's not getting the necessary room to feel comfortable taking the shot leading him to try and get the defender off balance to draw the foul

• Rahat Huq says 3 months ago

  I don't see any ball-handling improvement either. The only difference I see is the pump fake which he uses far too much. The shot is flat but has always been flat. Last year it would seem at times almost as if it was coming off the side of his hand, elbow completely out...just horrible form. Ironically, Lin's form has been extremely pure this year.

• BrentYen says 3 months ago

  I see no improvement about ball handling from him. All parts he have done great this yr, he could do those last yr as well. A lot of good shooters do the leg body sway. I never saw him shoot b4, so I can not comment on that.

• MrLobble says 3 months ago

  Do people really think Parsons is struggling? I am confused by this.. Guy is a consistent, do it all player?

  In my opinion, Parsons looks to be much improved since last year. His ball handling has improved a lot, he's also showing great slashing potential, and he's finishing strong around the rim. Yes, his shot looks awkwardly flat, but hopefully that will straighten out.

  Ironically, I guarded a him a few times during high school & aau; back then, he was simply considered Florida's purest shooter. He used to have a beautiful form with a high arching shot that resulted in a deadly percentage from 3, but it hasn't been the same since he went to UF. I wonder if the elevation of competition forced him to practice jumping higher on his shots... If you notice, he now gets a weird leg kick/long jump forward that results in a very flat shot.

• RocketMansinceStevieFrance says 3 months ago

  Do people really think Parsons is struggling? I am confused by this.. Guy is a consistent, do it all player?

• feelingsupersonic says 3 months ago

  I'd be curious to see how this tandem worked if they weren't also trying so hard to feed Howard in the post at the beginning of the possession. Work a pick and roll on the ball every time, and another delayed pick off the ball on the weak side and send multiple slashers to the rim. Starting in the post is an inside-out game strategy, and we haven't established that that's our best idea. Go to the post if the PnR breaks down.

  That is a very good point and furthermore the players just don't look comfortable with each other oftentimes when they are running pick and rolls.

  Welcome to Red94, I hope you enjoy the discussion here lawprofsr.

• tombrokeoff says 3 months ago

  There seems to be a knee jerk reaction to just blame McHale when in reality there is a big picture many of you seem to be forgetting. Also, there are still 76 games left this season, the Rockets have played 7 per cent of their games so far. The front office is still maneuvering and the players still look to be getting in game shape and trying to get settled in their roles. To blame McHale at this point shows a possible lack of understanding of the situation since his hands are probably tied. Morey has to keep Asik's value as high as possible till the right trade comes along and so the starting tandem of big men has strong support or may have even been mandated from above McHale's pay grade. Taking into account the constraints on the organization from the front office on down to the players there is a frame work in place and it's on the players to step up and I don't know if it's too early for them to exert maximum effort or perhaps it was the Lakers shooting but the first half and the second half looked like two different Rocket teams, especially defensively.

  i personally am mainly blaming mchale for certain plays - as i mentioned before almost every TO that LA came out of, they scored. and usually a 3. so to me those are on (mostly) mchale - ot maybe a praising of MDA. and also 2 plays on the offensive end. wait 3 plays. end of the 3Q - (if i remember correctly) harden goes hero ball yet again and we dont get a great shot. we dont run any kind of set play. nobody else touches the ball (not saying they have to or a set play needs to be ran, but it seems like what we are doing is too easy to defend). then our second to last play to end the game. very similar to the last play to end the 3Q EXCEPT Harden didnt even get a shot up. he eventually drove the lane and turned it over. If i mixed up those two plays, then my bad, but pretty sure thats how they went down. then finally - the last play of the game. we could BARELY even get the ball in. Im still not sure if it was an errant pass that the defender hit or if PBev intentionally passed it off of the defender to himself. at any rate, that play looked about as busted as it comes. so to me, those are 3 HUGE possessions and they all 3 failed and a ton of that is on mchale. IMHO. also - what about the play that blake hit the game winner on. it seemed like anyone with half a clue knew they were gonna go for a 3. not that it was a given, but they had been draining 3s all night. theyre on the road. they wanna get the win and get out of town. i personally am not sure why howard was even in the game on that play. and it played out masterfully for the lakers. get blake essentially open - a racing howard struggling to get over in time to defend the shot.

  all in all, the game sucked, but as many of yall have mentioned, it is early. ill get over it. i just hate losses - esp at home, to teams we should beat and especially when its a team i really hate.

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  I agreed this too. :)

  To me it is either Asik/Howard/Harden/Lin or True-PF-with-Offense/Howard/Harden/Bev. Either is fine.

  I believe Beverly is the best choice for starter next to Harden, but the Asik/Howard combo is killing us no matter who the PG is.

• lawprofsr says 3 months ago

  I'd be curious to see how this tandem worked if they weren't also trying so hard to feed Howard in the post at the beginning of the possession. Work a pick and roll on the ball every time, and another delayed pick off the ball on the weak side and send multiple slashers to the rim. Starting in the post is an inside-out game strategy, and we haven't established that that's our best idea. Go to the post if the PnR breaks down.

• Richards says 3 months ago

  I disagree.............the problem isn't Beverly. the problem is 2 centers in the game and no PF

  I agreed this too. :)

  To me it is either Asik/Howard/Harden/Lin or True-PF-with-Offense/Howard/Harden/Bev. Either is fine.

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  I disagree.............the problem isn't Beverly. the problem is 2 centers in the game and no PF

• Richards says 3 months ago

  I think from game to game you need both players, but not with Beverly on the floor. That gives you three players that are limited on one side of the floor. That's on McHale to see, not us.

  Agreed.

• RocketMansinceStevieFrance says 3 months ago

  I think for Beverly and Lin passing first has got to become the main thing for them. When they have the ball they should automatically call a pick and roll for howard or drive and dish to harden or parsons. It makes everything a whole lot easier and gets the offense going and the defense moving. I hate when harden and lin get the ball and just dribble and dribble and throw something up. I understand Harden is good at it but Lin as the pg needs to be getting some type of offensive moment going

• datruth says 3 months ago

  I think from game to game you need both players, but not with Beverly on the floor. That gives you three players that are limited on one side of the floor. That's on McHale to see, not us.

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  I did support Asik/Howard pairing before season start. Now, I don't like it.

  Even if they didn't clicked, we should be seeing some promise signs. I didn't see any.

  Team looks good while either one is on the floor, not both. They both are good players but doesn't fit well.

  To me, Harden/Lin fit better than Asik/Howard. Not arguing Lin to start. Just a comparison.

  this is the biggest point I think the supporters of the Asik/Howard combo are missing. even if the combo isn't fluid yet we should be seeing signs of potential and have seen NONE. whenever the lineup is played there is a trend, but in the wrong direction. the lineup is clearly holding us back. how many more games must we lose to prove the point? even in our wins we had to overcome the damage done by this lineup

• rocketrick says 3 months ago D12 is capable of hitting his free throws as evidenced in his 9/12 at Portland the other night.
  
  The loss last night at the very least should offer D12 even more resolve going forward be it either hitting more free throws or being especially disruptive on the defensive end in those minutes when he is being challenged by the opposing coach.
• Cooper says 3 months ago

  One play in late game last night, Howard run away from being fouled (I think finally Meeks got him). He is doubting himself and need to work on FT and mental game.

  He was sort of doubting himself and I do think a lot of his FT issues are mental it's not like he has a biendrins stroke from the line but it was smart of him to try and use more time if they wanted to foul him.
• Opasido says 3 months ago
  
  

  "If you lose in a blowout, it's the players fault. If you lose a close game, it's the coaches fault" - Jeff van Gundy

  
  

  Howard needs to step it up with those post moves. He's sloppier with those post moves than I am with my chipotle burrito. Twin tower ain't gonna work unless Asik spontaneously starts making jump shots. Far too many bad possessions, too many turnovers. Right now the rockets are worse than when they ended the season last year. Roll out Greg Smith for a change, he's shown time and time again that he's a great finisher and has amazing hand eye coordination.

  
  

  Geez right now there are far too many problems to even list. Lets hope last night was lesson for everybody. Like Rahat said, not mad because they didn't deserve to win.

• Richards says 3 months ago

  One play in late game last night, Howard run away from being fouled (I think finally Meeks got him). He is doubting himself and need to work on FT and mental game.

• feelingsupersonic says 3 months ago

  You truly believe Morey dictated that Mchale start Asik? I don't think so. If anything, Asiks trade value has fallen a little bit.

  
  That's not exactly what wrote.
• Richards says 3 months ago

  I did support Asik/Howard pairing before season start. Now, I don't like it.

  Even if they didn't clicked, we should be seeing some promise signs. I didn't see any.

  Team looks good while either one is on the floor, not both. They both are good players but doesn't fit well.

  To me, Harden/Lin fit better than Asik/Howard. Not arguing Lin to start. Just a comparison.

• Linsane47 says 3 months ago
  
  

  Rockets are not moving the ball on offense. Lakers had 26 assists, Rockets 17 assists. Has McHale green lighted Harden and Lin to just hold onto the ball and make their own plays?--- both of their assists seem way down. Poor defense and Rockets got out-rebounded 47Lakers 44Rockets. McHale does have to take some responsibility for poor over team defense, for not getting of the primary ball handlers to move the ball when it gets sticky, for poor coaching/drawing up plays/ stops coming back from time outs. Oh well, we knew it would take some time for the team to gel. I am not sold of twin towers, but I think we should keep Asik for 48 min of paint protection. Also, we should more often put in Asik late when opponents try for hack-a-Howard: this gives us a nominally better FT shooter (Asik did reasonably well last year when they tried hacking him) as well as getting Asik more minutes. All said, the Rockets has had some horrid shorting percentages in our two loses (except for Lin, whose had pretty consistently efficient shooting nights so far actually, although he his assists are down). I think the poor shooting percentage is a by-product of us not moving the ball on offense to find the open man.

• timetodienow1234567 says 3 months ago You truly believe Morey dictated that Mchale start Asik? I don't think so. If anything, Asiks trade value has fallen a little bit.
• feelingsupersonic says 3 months ago There seems to be a knee jerk reaction to just blame McHale when in reality there is a big picture many of you seem to be forgetting. Also, there are still 76 games left this season, the Rockets have played 7 per cent of their games so far. The front office is still maneuvering and the players still look to be getting in game shape and trying to get settled in their roles. To blame McHale at this point shows a possible lack of understanding of the situation since his hands are probably tied. Morey has to keep Asik's value as high as possible till the right trade comes along and so the starting tandem of big men has strong support or may have even been mandated from above McHale's pay grade. Taking into account the constraints on the organization from the front office on down to the players there is a frame work in place and it's on the players to step up and I don't know if it's too early for them to exert maximum effort or perhaps it was the Lakers shooting but the first half and the second half looked like two different Rocket teams, especially defensively.
• Red94 says 3 months ago New post: Los Angeles Lakers 99, Houston Rockets 98: 'Blake Mamba' with the dagger
  By: rahat huq
  
  
  • I learned afterward that 'Blake Mamba' is actually a thing.  
  • I didn't feel too bad about the way it went down because the Rockets deserved to lose this game anyway.  A win wouldn't have done anything to hide the clear problems that plague this Rockets team.
  • We've all probably seen enough to conclude that this 'Twin Towers' thing just isn't going to work.  Not much more that needs to be said there.  But just when you felt safe in concluding that an Asik trade needed to be made, you saw Dwight Howard go to the bench with four fouls with Omer coming in, late in the game, and the team losing close to nothing defensively.  That's replacement productivity would be a really tough luxury to lose especially when, as we saw last year with Asik off the floor, the alternatives can have disastrous consequences.  At the same time, if you're not having to fight back from a double digit deficit (inherited due to the offensive ineptitude of the Twin Towers lineup) every night in the second half, you can afford to give up something for those minutes without Dwight as you're not fighting for your life on every possession.  It remains to be the case that this Omer Asik decision will shape the Dwight Howard-James Harden era.
  • Why is Chandler Parsons pump faking on seemingly every possession?  This almost has the feel of the eagerness a young child exhibits upon learning something new.  Please shoot the ball.  And fix that arc.  To his credit--and to my surprise--Chandler had a nice night going 6-11 overall including some highlight reel slams.
  • To noone's surprise, the TNT halftime show provided little in the way of insight with Shaq and Barkley curiously honing in on Dwight's offensive inabilities in a segment typically reserved for keying in on a team's biggest weakness during a half.  Shaq choosing to use his allotted forty-five seconds to take jabs at Howard: color me surprised.  Howard finished that first half with ten boards (finishing the night with 14) and shut down both the paint and Pau Gasol.  His free throw woes were also a large contributing factor to the loss.  But look.  Dwight Howard is what he is.  Yes, we all wish he could hit free throws and destroy smaller guys in the post.  But that's not the expectation.  All we ask is that he play 'D', control the boards, and stay committed as the roll man in pick&roll situations and so far, he's done those things.  Belaboring the point as to why he can't do more is trite and unoriginal.  We all wish we looked like Brad Pitt too but you are what you are and providing within your capabilities is the bar for expectations.

• Richards says 3 months ago

  This loss was on coaching but I don't fault McHale as it was to be expected. He has no choice thus far but to roll with the Asik-Howard combo so he gets a free pass on that and as far as the defensive miscommunications, those are also to be expected thus far given it was foreseeable they'd have growing pains. I just hope he's capable of shoring this up because they can't expect to contend with their perimeter defense as porous as it has been.

  Rahat, can you write up a new post on pros and cons of Howard/Asik combo so far. Neither is natural PF and even if it work, it will take long time to get it work.

• Richards says 3 months ago

  I didn't watch the game, but looking at the play by play, the game was 71-57 when Casspi came in for Asik in the third quarter, so the run came after the Twin Towers ended.

  Yep. Not only this game. A pattern we see for last a few games. Offense flow very well with either Howard or Asik on the floor. Not both.

• Richards says 3 months ago

  its on everybody

  its on everybody IMO. how many TOs did LA come out of a nail a 3? how does McHale not have them ready for that?

  Very true. DA drew very good plays. Took TO, they came out and score big. Last game winning plan was masterful. Like what you said, everybody need to get better including coaches.

• Rahat Huq says 3 months ago

  This loss was on coaching but I don't fault McHale as it was to be expected. He has no choice thus far but to roll with the Asik-Howard combo so he gets a free pass on that and as far as the defensive miscommunications, those are also to be expected thus far given it was foreseeable they'd have growing pains. I just hope he's capable of shoring this up because they can't expect to contend with their perimeter defense as porous as it has been.

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  True...but I will not blame McHale now. It was Harden hugging the ball too much and Howard hacking causing this loss. McHale will learn from it. You can blame him if he makes same mistake, losing the same way in the future.

  HI.......Welcome to the forum :).............sorry I'm not one for on the job training for NBA coaches. if McHale doesn't know what he has then what was preseason for? I not saying it's time to get rid of him, but the loss of this game falls on his shoulders.

• PKM says 3 months ago

  If the Twin tower don't work, it doesn't really explain why we tend to do our best in the 3rd quarter (When they also play together a significant stretch.) We need to avoid looking for the easy answer here. Those starts are clearly more than just that,

  I didn't watch the game, but looking at the play by play, the game was 71-57 when Casspi came in for Asik in the third quarter, so the run came after the Twin Towers ended.

• RollingWave says 3 months ago

  If the Twin tower don't work, it doesn't really explain why we tend to do our best in the 3rd quarter (When they also play together a significant stretch.) We need to avoid looking for the easy answer here. Those starts are clearly more than just that,

  I would have suggest subbing more guys in, but that doesn't really solve the fact that we're at our worse before the first subs.

  We also need to step back and remember this is the 5th game on 7 night here. and that the Lakers were shooting an absurd % even on closed out shots. Gasol and Kaman scored almost nothing, which seems to contradict with the concept that it's the twin Towers getting beat. we lost the rebound battle, but a large part of that was the Lakers having a lot more opportunities (since all of their shots were going in, we had a lot fewer defensive reb chances.)

• NickyK says 3 months ago

  NO......... I'm not blaming Parsons. I blame McHale for that. he should have used Howard to set a pick to free someone else. true I want D-12 to hit his free throws, but inreality it's McHale's job to know how to best use his players strengths

  True...but I will not blame McHale now. It was Harden hugging the ball too much and Howard hacking causing this loss. McHale will learn from it. You can blame him if he makes same mistake, losing the same way in the future.

• BrentYen says 3 months ago

  I don think it matters, hugs or not. Been screened is been screened.

• FiiO says 3 months ago

  Anyone else notice Nash hugging Lin to get Blake open on their final possession?

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  and I hate how people are blaming Parsons for throwing the ball to a wide-open player out of a time-out. I'm sorry, but if you're going to make in excess of 80 million dollars over 4 years, you should be able to hit more than 5 free throws out of 17 attempts.

  Only way to end that non-sense is for Dwight to make a conscientious effort to work on his game and his mechanics; ideally, the hard work would transition into the games. In result, teams wouldn't be able to utilize that garbage anymore.

  NO......... I'm not blaming Parsons. I blame McHale for that. he should have used Howard to set a pick to free someone else. true I want D-12 to hit his free throws, but inreality it's McHale's job to know how to best use his players strengths

• NickyK says 3 months ago

  I am not upset about this game. I think it is better for the long run for Rockets....learn from it and play better with better game plan in the future, believe me more similar games will come....so, losing this game is way better than winning it ugly...deal with it!

• datruth says 3 months ago

  No need to start Beverly tonight. That was a bad move. Beverly 1-10 and out of control in 34 minutes. That's on Mchale

• MrLobble says 3 months ago

  and I hate how people are blaming Parsons for throwing the ball to a wide-open player out of a time-out. I'm sorry, but if you're going to make in excess of 80 million dollars over 4 years, you should be able to hit more than 5 free throws out of 17 attempts.

  Only way to end that non-sense is for Dwight to make a conscientious effort to work on his game and his mechanics; ideally, the hard work would transition into the games. In result, teams wouldn't be able to utilize that garbage anymore.

• CC. says 3 months ago

  I think this is on the players, missed open shots, miscommunication, poor defensive effort in the first half, not sharing the ball and the list goes on.

  But it was McHale who continued the twin tower line-up which I highly believe is the source of our sluggish starts. And with the Asik and Howard pairing, defense wasn't even improved today. I agree there were many threes missed, bad outlet passes, and lack of defense notably on the first half but still.. And then there's that slow offense James starts with his Iso's, and Dwight kept quiethalfof his entire game, not calling for the ball... And he missed those clutch free throws, which could have been saved on the last Rocket possession play but Harden decided to burn time, keep it, and miss a long 2 pointer... Horrible night

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  its on everybody

  its on everybody IMO. how many TOs did LA come out of a nail a 3? how does McHale not have them ready for that?

  I agree this is on everybody............plenty of blame to go around. McHale didn't have the team ready to play. the players sleep walked through the first half spotting the Lakers a 19 point lead at one point before deciding to fight back. so many breakdowns.......like I said plenty of blame to go around. the Asik/Howard experiment has failed

• tombrokeoff says 3 months ago

  its on everybody

  I think this is on the players, missed open shots, miscommunication, poor defensive effort in the first half, not sharing the ball and the list goes on.

  its on everybody IMO. how many TOs did LA come out of a nail a 3? how does McHale not have them ready for that?

• feelingsupersonic says 3 months ago I think this is on the players, missed open shots, miscommunication, poor defensive effort in the first half, not sharing the ball and the list goes on.
• CC. says 3 months ago

  This better be the LAST time McHale uses the Asik-Howard line-up.

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  I'm pissed............the Rockets did NOT come to play. this loss falls on McHale. the team was not ready to compete. we can not spot every team 20 point leads before we decide we will attend the game. team defense stunk especially Harden. I don't give a dam if you score 100 if you give up 102. pitiful...........just pitiful :angry:

• tombrokeoff says 3 months ago

  overall though, im disgusted by this game

• tombrokeoff says 3 months ago

  hard to complain about harden cause his line was great, but the ball in his hands to end a 1/4 rarely works well.

  hate to complain about mchale, but he seemed to get out coached tonight. of course hes not the one missing all of the free throws.

  im ready to try a new starting lineup. no more slow starts please.

• Eric Nielsen says 3 months ago

  I see Lakers hacking Howard. In a way to disrupt rhythm instead of all possession.

  You were right. This felt like the longest game ever. McHale will have to figure out how to protect Howard at the end of games like these. He'll have to come out sometimes, and as hard as that is for Howard, it's just the truth.

• Cooper says 3 months ago Who needs Kobe
• 2016Champions says 3 months ago

  Howard is shooting 55.6% from the free throw line so far this season, which isn't far off his career average of 57.7%. Here's a snippet from Seerat Sohi which many of you may have already read if you've wisely been checking out John Eby's daily's:

  It’s not a defensive strategy— it’s a defeatist strategy. In one way, fouling says “we think you’re a bad free throw shooter.” In another, it’s saying “I can’t defend you.” And when Russell Westbrook is hammered for driving the lane with reckless abandonment, it’s a reasonable admission. Even the NBA’s staunchest competitors won’t think twice sending explosive slashers to the line— they are, indeed, impossible to guard. But to foul Dwight Howard as he runs across the half court line is a crippling declaration. It takes guts for a group of NBA players to say, “we don’t even know what you or your team are about to do, but we sure as hell don’t want to find out.”

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  I see Lakers hacking Howard. In a way to disrupt rhythm instead of all possession.

  I agree, but it should make no difference

  RESISTANCE IS FUTILE........PREPARED TO BE ASSIMILATED :lol:

• Richards says 3 months ago

  I see Lakers hacking Howard. In a way to disrupt rhythm instead of all possession.

• thejohnnygold says 3 months ago

  This paragraph spoiled the column. Gross. I understand why the mainstream media jumps on every opportunity to hate on our team now, but why the hell is my Rockets homer columnist taking a 1 game sample size seriously? The Rockets are tied for the best record in the West; of the two teams we're tied with, one also lost to LAC and the other lost to the Blazers (who we beat). At least wait until the Clippers beat us at home before buying into the narrative that we can't compete with top tier teams yet. I bet you if we win that game, we still have a good chance of being the top of the West in Stein's power rankings next Monday.

  I have to agree with Mr. Nielsen. Suffering a loss like that in a microcosmic ranking system should drop one below #2. Besides, do we really think we are the #2 team in the league RIGHT NOW? I don't. I will re-evaluate in April.

  This is not, nor should it ever be a "homer" site. I would be disappointed if the writing staff stooped to that level. It's nothing but self-affirmation and I think we can all remember what that looks like...

  

• Cooper says 3 months ago Well steins rankings are made for small sample sizes as they change from week to week.
• hubeijames says 3 months ago

  Marc Stein calls the defense impressive this year and is one of the reasons the Rockets moved to number 2 in this week’s power rankings (when is the last time you remember the Rockets being ranked that high?). But, we hadn’t seen the Rockets against anybody good yet, and after the Clipper game, that ranking was obviously too high.

  This paragraph spoiled the column. Gross. I understand why the mainstream media jumps on every opportunity to hate on our team now, but why the hell is my Rockets homer columnist taking a 1 game sample size seriously? The Rockets are tied for the best record in the West; of the two teams we're tied with, one also lost to LAC and the other lost to the Blazers (who we beat). At least wait until the Clippers beat us at home before buying into the narrative that we can't compete with top tier teams yet. I bet you if we win that game, we still have a good chance of being the top of the West in Stein's power rankings next Monday.

• rockets best fan says 3 months ago

  if we beat the Lakers by 100........ I would not have been satisfied. I would be pulling for 101. they can never be beaten bad enough for me. I hate the Lakers so much that on a scale of 1-10 it's a 100 :lol:

• 2016Champions says 3 months ago

  I predict sweet domination.

• rocketrick says 3 months ago

  I expect the Lakers will try to go small but good luck with that!

  I also expect D12 will probably shoot 20 or 30 free throws tomorrow night.

  Probably an ugly game as that is the best chance our opponents have of slowing us down to try and steal a win.

• RollingWave says 3 months ago

  Here's hoping Dwight just rub it into them by scoring 30+ or something :P

• Rahat Huq says 3 months ago
  
  

  howard: 20 points, 18 rebounds
  harden: 29 pts, 7 assists

  rockets 110, lakers 93