That's not the point. The point is that we played with ZERO intensity and ZERO heart. If we played with all our effort and still lost, I doubt we would see these many rants.
DB - So true. Here's a stat worth noting. In the 7 Rocket victories, the Rockets had one more field goal attempt than their opponents (that's TOTAL FGA's). In the 9 losses, the opponents have taken 74 more shots than the Rockets! That's better than eight more shots per game. I wish I could find a stat source for fastbreak points. We have to be near the bottom of the NBA. And here's something else. Next time you watch the Rockets, observe this. After the ball crosses mid-court, count the number of times a different player touches the ball. Then note the result. Do the same thing when the opponent has the ball. During the Kings debacle, the Rockets passed once and occassionally twice. It was very infrequently that all 5 Rockets touched the ball in a half court set. In the Kings half court set, 4, 5, and even 6 passes were made. During the first half against Memphis, 3 or 4 passes were made. In the second half we rarely got above 2.
I don't care if they lose, but can they at least put up a fight? They look so disorganized out there.
Gater makes a very good point. My issue with the Rockets this season has been their complete stagnation and lack of ball movement on offense. When players stand around on offense, they tend to do the same on the other end of the floor. Back in the Barkley back it in days, people used to continuously point out that the offense averaged a good pct but the defense was the problem. The issue that stats cannot measure is that when you stand around and watch on offense, you tend to do the same on the defensive end. This is likely a big part of the reason why the Rockets are horrid at forcing turnovers this season and thus create very little in the transition game. I feel strongly that Glen Rice would not be stinking this bad if the Rockets had better ball movement and motion in the offense. Its difficult when you just stand and watch for a long stretch of time then all of a sudden receive the ball and are expected to shoot consistently. Its difficult to be in the flow of the game when you are frozen out of it. Its been almost 2 yrs now since Barkley went down and Rudy has been unable to install more motion in the offense in that much time. I was under the impression that the stagnation would be much less this season as Rudy needed 2 yrs to implement a proper motion scheme. It doesnt appear that anything has changed. Rudy can sit and quote the 50% success rates with Mobley isos all he wants just as he did with Barkley back it ins, but if he ignores the entire picture, the results will continue to be much the same. I have been a big Rudy backer in the past, but I am not so sure anymore.
and, that, my friends is what bad motion looks like with a 24 second clock. That is why motion is not the de facto answer from the gods. We all want it, but it really can look disorganized when it is bad--disorganized with the ball out of your lead scorers hands. (That is why championship teams often go iso to the big man in the last 2 minutes of playoff games.) That's how you beat "hopeful motion" for motion's sake; you force it to pass to where you want it to. It takes repetition and team timing and coordination to develop "confident motion," the kind that will do what you want it to rather than what the defense wants it to do...imo, we have to stick to it, win or lose. Keep the passing and cutting coming. I don't care. MManal...that team last night and against the Kings is showing a commitment to picks, cutting and passing. I trust your objectivity. Help me here. Give it a renewed look. Let's watch the weakside. That 1st and 2nd quarter was new for us. We tried. <font size="1">Now watch, Rudy will probably say screw this and go to Mobley repeatedly tonight just to make me look like a blind fool.</font>
Give it to him. I just want to win. Cuttino can have a field day with Smith guarding him. Are the Rockets gonna be tired?
Crispee along time ago when you posted about the rockets plays, it got me excited on the different plays this team can run and they can go so many different positions to match. BUT we all know its not true and rudy doesnt have a playbook. Im not saying we suck really bad, Im saying the offensive sets are pathetic. This team has to depend on the outside shot to win the game, if it doesnt go down then they wont win. Its a flip of a coin every night they go into a game, no matter what team it is. For those of you who never attended a rockets game, on the timeouts Rudy T drinks his beer and talks **** to the refs and the players joke around.
I just don't agree. Rudy has plays. I'll tell you what. You name me a Utah play, and I will call out a Rudy play at 2-1 for every Utah play you can name. Sounds like you are watching the ball too much. The thing is, coaches simply do not call plays that much. They call sets and entries more. What I can't draw is Motion and Knight's Passing Game to show you what that looks like, and why there are no plays in the fundamentals of that. How can I explain it? How can I explain that basketball has nothing to do with calling a play on every possession...nothing? No body does that on anywhere even approaching 50% of their plays. When the PG sticks up fingers, he is calling an entry. The offense is still reacting off of the defense. Motion is reaction. It really has nothing to do with playbooks...those are for timeouts....for pulling a team out of a funk...for crucial possessions...for inbounds plays...for quick strike secondary transition plays.
Crispee, you don't agree that halfcourt offense, which is what Rudy has decided on using, does not fit the team well? That there are other styles of offense that may be better for us? I'd also like to point out that the Lakers without Shaq and Kobe would NOT lose to the Memphis, in Memphis, with a full arena, and Phil Jackson ejected. They just wouldn't. Just like Sacramento are still top-notch contenders without Webber. You're saying this team wouldn't beat the Grizzlies: Jelani Mccoy Robert Horry Rick Fox Mitch Richmond Derek Fisher Off the bench: Lindsey Hunter, Stanislav Medvedenko (just coz u haven't heard of him doesn't mean he's no good), Brian Shaw, and Mark Madsen. I'm not saying that ANY team without its 2 star players would beat the Grizz, I'm just saying te Lakers are a bad example of that. Maybe the Spurs, or the Mavs. Ever wondered who would be the WORST team in the league if you removed their top 2 players? Our good friends the Jazz wouldn't fare too well. But then, I just thought of the Sixers, lol. Sure sure, the Bulls would become worst all-time, but I'm talking about average and above average teams.
So you're saying he got lucky on all thirty-eight freakin' points? Beating Houston must mean something. Memphis also beat a Sacramento team that Houston failed to beat twice: once with Francis AND Mobley. Apparently, Jason Williams was also "lucky" in the Memphis win over Sacramento, too. University ("Penny for Your Luck?") Blue
