Previewing Game 3 and some other notes

  • It should be noted that, prior to Wednesday night, the last time the Houston Rockets made a sudden shift to a small lineup in the middle of the playoffs was 1995.  That year, Mario Elie pushed Chucky Brown to the bench with Robert Horry sliding up to the ’4′.
  • Serge Ibaka had 6 blocked shots the other night, not only rerouting those field goal attempts, but also deterring anyone giving consideration to entering the paint.  The deterrence is the bigger factor.  At a psychological standpoint, if you’re met in the paint by a swift-rotating Omer Asik, I don’t think it stops you from trying the next time.  But if your shot is sent into the stands by Ibaka, you think twice the rest of the night.  That’s why I think there’s a lot of value to having Terrence Jones–whose rookie per minute blocked shot numbers rival some of the league leaders–molded as the starter at power forward next season.  He has that same sort of intimidating “out of the gym” athleticism that Ibaka boasts.
  • How are the Rockets’ spirits?  You could say Wednesday’s game was encouraging in that, while the team hit below it’s average from deep, they still were in position to win.  I, on the other hand, feel deflated.  The Rockets, after going on a miraculous 20-2 (or whatever it was) run, still were unable to pull it out.  But at the same time, you could also just as easily say the team shot well below its average and still was in position to win.  Let’s look at the probability of recurrence for each of the critical factors: 1) Harden poor shooting – unfortunately, I think this is the norm.  His legs are completely gone and thus, he’s been missing his shots short for some time now.  (I also think that ankle might still be bothering him.)  His problems finishing at the rim are also likely to continue considering that Serge Ibaka is still alive.  (Again, the ankle isn’t helping matters.)  Harden will get 30 and go to the line, but a good shooting night in this series would be a deviance from the norm.  2) Omer Asik’s production will remain steady.  3) Lin, too, I think, will also continue struggling as he just doesn’t have the tools or confidence right now.  Let’s just hope he’s healthy because, despite his flaws, his ability to push the tempo is a weapon.  And any weapon when this undermanned is critical.  4) Beverley – that scoring might go down as the Thunder will have had an opportunity to scout his tendencies.  But the rebounding and defense is all heart and isn’t going anywhere.  5) Russell being Russell – that’ll keep happening and is Houston’s only chance to win.  6) The Thunder completely falling apart when pitted against a 2-3 zone – this will never happen again.  The Thunder will have had ample time to analyze what took place in that breakdown.  7) Delfino – I thought to myself, after the game, “just one more Delfino ’3′ and this is a different game.”  And you typically do expect him to go nuts from downtown on nights he plays big minutes.  So you felt it was an off-night.  But is 3-10 really that great a deviance from the norm when he’s like a, what, 35% career shooter?  I think Delfino is the greatest indicator of a victory.  If he gets hot, the team wins, primarily because his percentages are indicative of more significant variables i.e. ball movement, poor rotations from the other team.
  • The big positive is that this team has ‘fight.’  When they went down by 15, I thought it was over.  Most people did.  They somehow came back.  Is it that great a surprise, though?  Harden and Asik are both playoff-tested veterans.  Parsons has certain qualities.  And we know Beverley will go down throwing punches.  They didn’t exactly have Matt Maloney out there soiling himself against a John Stockton 4th quarter comeback.  Like I said, it’s incredible how much you learn about your team in the playoffs.
  • I feel the Rockets are at their best when Harden is moving off the catch, rather than initiating the play.  The Rockets started the game off like this and then went away from it later.  Ideally, you want to bring him curling off of screens with the ball handler hitting him after he crosses the screen, allowing him to make decisions in the middle of the floor.  I’d like to see more of that tomorrow night.

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Total comments: 1
  • Freebird says 1 week ago

    Agree with the tired legs statements. It's fairly obvious - perhaps McHale should pull a Pop next year and strategically shut down guys a couple games a couple times a year to recharge. For the immediate, perhaps playing some of the deeper bench guys some minutes?


    Also agree with the final statement on Harden. I know there are stats showing his ISOs are pretty decent, but they just fail the eye test. He's less of a creator than a determined driver. More movement on his drives and stop-n-pop 3s will help. It's like a running start in Nascar - you get to your top speed faster. I see more of this in their future.

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More thoughts on Game 2
Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Houston Rockets 102 – Upgrade to Heartbreak
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