Where to lay the blame?

by grungedave on Apr 27, 2008 9:59 AM CDT

Yes, the referees were awful (to both teams, but they killed the Rockets at the end)

Nevertheless, THIS is why the Rockets lost:

Take a close look at that. 36.7% FG shooting. 31% from deep. Another sub-70% night from the free throw line. (Thanks for that 4-8 effort at the line Tracy. Thanks a lot.)

McGrady misses 16 shots.

Bobby Jackson misses 90% of his shots. Including a layup the Jazz were conceding at the end. Nice touch.

Luther Head fired off two shots as fast as he could. And missed.

Why the hell is Rafer Alston shooting 18 times?

Luis Landry had a combined ten shot attempts. Most of those were on putbacks from McGrady and Bobby Jackson bricks.

For a team that plays such great team defense... the team offense was like a street ball game. First player to touch the ball shoots. That made it really easy for Utah to defend us. Look closer. The Rockets somehow converted 29 shot attempts successfully. Less than 50% of those were assisted by a teammate. How do you go through an entire game with only 14 assists?

Of course, what you can't see in this boxscore is McGrady attempting all of one shot in the 4th Q, and mostly standing around the three point line the whole time. Rafer was doing his best Steve Francis interpretation by dribbling out the shot clock. Bobby Jackson was doing his best John Starks impression. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

So, in conclusion, yes, I still think the refs hosed us on the Okur rebound at the end. But the reason the Rockets lost (since McGrady seems to savor the available excuses) is because the Rockets could not run, shoot or pass. Not necessarily in that order. Oh, and it would have been nice to give Mike Harris a chance. I still maintain that is a lost opportunity to match-up better against Utah.

That said - the Rockets are going to win Game 5. That means Game 6 will be the key to everything, because the Rockets will win Game 7 if they can force it.

Tweet Comment 9 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Thanks for your thoughts on last night's game. I would argue that there were bad calls at both ends, but that is the nature of the game. Breaking down statistics is key because it shows you can't pin excuses on one single play.

On another note, why did Adelman keep running the offense through McGrady when he went cold in the 3rd quarter? His needs to use his bench more, and mix things up. That gets Battier open for his flawless shooting.

A great defensive effort from sides though.

by Brady on Apr 27, 2008 1:51 PM CDT reply actions

Just read your last two posts and I think it's bizarre that you point to the Okur rebound at the time when the refs hosed you.

Okur knocked the ball out bounds on his own on the final rebound? Are you serious? Battier hit him in the head pretty hard and someone else was hitting his arms.

As for an over-the-back call, even T Mac the perrenial whiner didn't mention that it was a foul. He said he tried to pin it on the glass for Landry to get, but Landry couldn't hang onto it.

There are plenty of questionable calls you could point to but that's not one.

by Anonymous on Apr 27, 2008 1:58 PM CDT reply actions

My take (Celtics fan).

Agree with the last comment. Okur rebounds standing still and crumbles to the floor because of contact.

However, Korver situation was jump ball. Battier only touched the ball, Korver was off balance and stepped out of bounds.

Landry clearly dunked the ball above the rim.

Two dupious calls that hurt both teams.

by Anonymous on Apr 27, 2008 2:07 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, I agree with the last comment. Okur was fouled, Korver-Battier should have been a jump ball, and Landry's putback was offensive interference. The refs blew 2 calls which cancelled out.

by Anonymous on Apr 27, 2008 2:26 PM CDT reply actions

The refs were horrible. They didn't call any of the obvious calls, and the ones they did call were suspect. It's like they were daydreaming and every once in a while they snapped back into reality and realized they were supposing to be calling a playoff game. But a non-factor IMO, because it really went both ways.

The Rockets played great defense, except toward the end when they became Deron Williams bitch. Really he made us look that bad. We had way too many chances to take this game and the Rockets blew it plain and simple.

Bobby Jackson should have been taken out of the game a long time ago. He looked terrible. He was playing like he was on a playground. Dribbling so much trying to crossover his own shadow and wasting the shot clock until he had to jack up a brick. Rafer was a factor in game 3 and a non-factor in game 4.

by Eric on Apr 27, 2008 2:29 PM CDT reply actions

bobby jackson is the franchise with a better shot

@brady: Tmac is still our best option on offense. Who else would you rather have Adelman run the offense through? The only reason Carl Landry is productive in some games and not in others is based on how well TMAC can sell his jumper so as to open up shots for people under the rim.

by andre on Apr 27, 2008 3:52 PM CDT reply actions

"That said - the Rockets are going to win Game 5. That means Game 6 will be the key to everything, because the Rockets will win Game 7 if they can force it."

Why so confident about games 5 and 7? The Jazz are 3-0 at the Toyota Center this year.

by Anonymous on Apr 27, 2008 7:30 PM CDT reply actions

grungedave, you're gonna hate me for this, but i actually think rafer would have made a difference in one of the first two games. in which case, the series would be tied right now. anyhow, random thought.

by Presley on Apr 28, 2008 5:18 PM CDT reply actions