Game 63 Recap: Rockets defeat Wizards 96-88, return to the land of the winning
by Only_A_Lad on Mar 9, 2010 9:24 PM CST
in Game Recaps
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On the whole, this wasn't the most interesting game. Scola dominated, Hill continued to show off what made him a lottery pick, and Lowry and Ariza made their returns. Instead of focusing on the "whats" of the game, I'd like to look at some of the implications (or, at least, what I was thinking).
Earlier today I posted a link to the Crawfish Boxes' story on the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, hosted by Daryl Morey, Mark Cuban, and MIT. Contained within that article and the comments section is a short debate between the TCB faithful (including yours truly) about the existence of "clutch-ness." In case you haven't figured this out by now, I come down fairly firmly on the "nerd" side of the statistics debate in sports, and so my position shouldn't really surprise you.
But that's not really the point right now. Here's what is important: clutch-ness is overrated. Good teams blow out teams like the Wizards. If you want to win lots of games, you can't rely on any magical ability to come through in the clutch. And after seeing the NBA's "WHERE CLUTCH HAPPENS" eight or nine times during the broadcast, I began to think about this in relation to the game (btw: why was Clutch the Bear not in that commercial???)
Anyways, the Rockets built an 18-point lead in the third quarter, and they rode that to victory. If you rearrange some of the scoring events, the Rockets would have the same outcome, but we'd be talking all about how the Rockets "came back" because of their "clutch play" or "iron will" or some shit. In reality, the Rockets are simply a better team than the Wizards, and they were able to overcome some late difficulties by playing really well earlier.
I guess that's not particularly insightful or anything (gee, the Rockets won because they scored more points than their opponents), but I suppose it's de-mystifying.
The other not-so-revelatory info you might take from the game is this: size ain't shit. As we were all reminded by ak2themax, xiane, and a few commenters in the preview section, Blatche and McGee are big guys. Since this is basically what was said at the beginning of the season (the Rockets are smaller than their opponents), I was a little surprised, particularly because I thought we had dispelled these notions around the time Carl Landry was kicking the league's ass up and down the court.
Going by the numbers, Scola is one of the best defensive rebounders in the game. He's 6ft 9in and has no lift whatsoever. He does that by (ugh) out-hustling and generally being more skilled than his opponents. Kyle Lowry rebounds like a spry Jason Kidd - that's mostly strength and tenaciousness.
The fact is that size helps, yeah, but it's not the end of the discussion. The Rockets aren't rebounding particularly well as of late, but tonight was an exception. And they did it against two big guys (who aren't that great of rebounders, anyways, I might add). So take that, comparatively-short-people-haters.
Three Up:
Luis Scola: Freed of competition from Carl and the Kraken (I guess; I doubt Joey ever really scared Scola when it came to minutes), Scola continues to prove that he's one of the more underrated contributors in the league. 23 points on 16 shots, 10 rebounds. Not the best night for him, and he gave up the ball seven (!!!) times, but, hey, they won, and so I won't complain.
Jordan Hill: So, it turns out he can play. I doubt Walsh is losing any sleep over this, since he got what he wanted, but as Xiane is so quick to point out, it's a real wonder why the dude didn't get any PT while in New York.
The Undead: So, it turns out that Ariza and Lowry are kinda critical to the Rockets' gameplan. Neither had a great game, boxscore-wise, but after their absence I'm starting to notice the little things they do more and more. A lot of things swung the Rockets' way tonight, and much of that was Lowry and Ariza's doing. None of that will show up on the official stats sheet, but the Rockets know whom to love.
Three Down:
Speed and Trixie: Neither had a bad game, but Brooks and Martin didn't quite live up to expectations tonight. Threes weren't falling, and the shots they took weren't really the best. Martin had a good run in the third though, possibly carrying the team for a while.
Hilton Armstrong: You suck, I always knew you sucked, and frankly I'm a little glad you're not playing anymore. At the same time, I wish you were any good. There, now I feel better.
Al Thornton: Thornton's relatively good play (relative to his first two seasons) as of late has been quite worrysome to me. It called into question everything I thought I knew about him. So it was refreshing to see him throw bad passes out of bounds and generally suck up until he started hitting some lucky jumpers. Hooray for me.
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I think Brooks and Martin should be
Speed and Racer X.
Significant gravitas shortfall expected in 2010.
naw
Racer X was always better than Speed, but he didn’t show it because Speed needed to win the race. I don’t think Brooks is better than Martin, so the analogy doesn’t hold.
Maybe Brooks can be Spritle, and Lowry can be Chim-Chim.
But Sprittle and Chim-Chim make Brooks and Lowry sidekicks, and I think they're a lot better than that.
Plus Sprittle and Chim Chim are really annoying.
Racer X has skills, and dignity, and he’s mysterious as well. Maybe Brooks needs a nickname that relates to his awesome bowling ability?
Significant gravitas shortfall expected in 2010.
Good game for Ariza and Lowry to come back
I think part of our struggles tonight was the return of Ariza and Lowry. With Hill playing now, this rotation of players had never played together and I think Rick was trying to figure out the best groups for most of the game.
I guess going 6-28 from 3 point land could be another reason for us struggling tonight.
To all Houston sports fans, Houston is the 4th biggest city in America, there will be traffic on the way to your respective sports game. Come Early, Be Loud, Stay Late.
Actually
Just by looking at the box score, without Tweek and Lowry’s contributions from the bench we’d lost the game. I don’t see Conroy dishing out 4 Asts or Andersen hitting three 3ptrs
by Carlos_HoustonSportsFanatic on Mar 9, 2010 11:58 PM CST up reply actions
"WHERE CLUTCH HAPPENS" eight or nine times during the broadcast, .......
It HAPPENED and STARTED here in Houston, we came up with it I believe when Rockets won the second championship in 95, CLUTCH CITY< I still have a paper sign that says it, and I have all my newspapers from both championships, that show the signs!!! He he….The Summit baby, we will ROCK you!!
clutch the mascot was not in the commercial because he is associated with the the houston rockets who are the most ignored team in the NBA.
Rockets>>>>>>Jazz
Texans>>>>>>>Titans
Super Mario>>>>>>>Vince Young
Exactly!
"I may be mistaken, but I'm never wrong." - Sir Charles
by ressaliance_00 on Mar 9, 2010 10:58 PM CST up reply actions
and does anyone in here think jordan hill will eventually take chuck's place as the starting center?
chuck only starts for his defense obviously and defended tremendously against one of the hottest guys in the nba in blatche. but, when hill was in the game defending blatche, he played well. he had quick feet like chuck, contested the shot, and boxed out to perfection. of course coach sleepy is going to be loyal to chuck most likely, but hopefully by now hill has impressed adelman enough to take DA’s spot in the rotation. as for me, i would like to start him against a shitty team like new jersey. let him own their big men, and grow some confidence(even if it is the nets). if he plays good D on lopez saturday then adelman has to look into starting him. we need that big body in the paint more often, plus he gives away few offensive boards.
Rockets>>>>>>Jazz
Texans>>>>>>>Titans
Super Mario>>>>>>>Vince Young
No, I think Yao is going to be the starter.
Just kidding.
Maybe. I think we’ll see something like the Scola/Landy lineups.
Hill looked pretty darn nice. The “baby Bosh” stuff might be real.
Significant gravitas shortfall expected in 2010.
if hes going to be bosh-like
his mid range jumper has to be solid. from what i have seen, it looks smooth and is 2/3 from mid range i think (with the miss being an in and out). but we will see in maybe a year or two what he can really do.
Rockets>>>>>>Jazz
Texans>>>>>>>Titans
Super Mario>>>>>>>Vince Young
by Rockets 4 Life on Mar 10, 2010 11:03 PM CST up reply actions
I loved the pass Lowry threw in the first half
I can’t remember who was under the basket, maybe Scola and he might have missed, but I think Lowry is really important to this team. I think you could see the second unit working really well out there tonight because of him and Ariza. The way they moved the ball and got others the ball where they like it really was obvious last night. One more tune up against the Nets before we head down the stretch!!
I thought Lowry was phenomenal this game.
Not in the box score, but in running the offense. The more I watch him and Brooks play, the more I think that while Brooks is a much better ballplayer, Lowry is the style of pg that can run a championship team. I wouldn’t mind seeing their roles reversed next year: Lowry setting up Speed and Yao and Brooks as instant offense off the bench.
As long as AB is on this team, its not going to happen
I think the Rockets have invested too much in Brooks to have him coming off the bench.
But man, Kyle Lowry is one of the top 5 “second PGs” in the NBA though, and its a luxury to have a guy like him coming in for a talented guy like Brooks. Man, its been awhile since we’ve had 2 legit NBA PGs on our roster (gotta go back to 94-95 with Kenny the Jet and Sam Cassell, I’m not counting the Francis/Norris combo as one).
I missed yesterday’s game against the Wiz, but I’ll be watching the Rockets in their potential dismantling of New Jersey come Saturday.
B^2
In Daryl Morey, Rick Smith and Ed Wade we (usually) trust.
I disagree. As usual, most of his good passes were in fast break situations. I don’t know that this really falls under the category of “running the offense”, and it’s certainly more difficult in the playoffs where halfcourt play becomes crucial. I’d say Lowry has about the same level of skill at “running the offense” as Brooks in the half court.
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