Game 15 Recap: The Sleeper Must Awaken; Rockets Win in Overtime 90-88
by Only_A_Lad on Jan 19, 2012 11:22 PM CST
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Individual games in basketball are sort of like individual shots: you can confidently predict the outcome based on circumstances, but that doesn't mean you'll always be right. The Rockets came into this game the obvious favorites. On a four-game winning streak largely claimed against teams like the Hornets (bad ones), the Rockets were probably going to win.
And, after the first two quarters, I don't think anyone would begrudge the prediction that the Rockets would win handily: Kevin Martin was playing a phenomenal game, Kyle Lowry was distributing the ball well enough, and while the Hornets were still very much in the game, they seemed to score mostly midrange shots (something largely unsustainable). Oh, sure, the seeds were there for an eventual collapse (the Rockets weren't going to shoot 50% from behind the three point line forever, the defense wasn't really there, and the bench still sucked), but whatever. And, after the third quarter, after Kevin Martin cooled off and nothing was falling for anyone, the outlook didn't seem much different.
Fate, of course, is a bitch goddess, so the Rockets naturally put together a horrific 7-point fourth quarter in which seemingly no one went inside either frequently or with great success. The Hornets stormed back (as much as a 19-point quarter constitutes "storming") and tied the game, Lowry missed on a final shot to win the game, and the entire crowd and home audiences were "treated" to another "exciting" period of "basketball."
Okay, that's harsh. But it was ugly.
The overtime period didn't start out well -- the Hornets hit a few shots while the Rockets only got a Courtney Lee free throw in there to get themselves going. But, down the stretch, it was Samuel Dalembert who won them the game, dunking home a running miss from Kevin Martin and getting the and-1, and then doing the same (minus the foul) with only eleven seconds in the game to go. A long-two Belinelli jump-shot rattled in and out, the game was over, and Dalembert fell to the floor like Mutombo after the Nuggets upset the Sonics, though this time more out of relief and need for immediate medical attention than abject joy, I'm sure.
Quality games from both Kevin Martin (shot extraordinarily well in the first half, not so much in the second, still ended up with 32 points and 8 rebounds, though as Kevin McHale pointed out, there were many rebounds to be had) and Dalembert (arguably shot too much, but whatever -- 15 points and 17 rebounds), who played the last quarter and overtime after he turned his ankle, which was good because Jeff Adrien was the backup after Patterson/Scola tonight. Also a good game for Courtney Lee, who still looks a little bad on that ankle but still contributed 17 points and 3 important steals.
So-so game for Lowry, who turned the ball over way too much (7 times!) and didn't shoot well, but still managed eight assists and nine boards. Glad he didn't get a triple-double that way, since his overall play wasn't so great. They should come in great games, not bad ones.
Scola got a lot of heat in the game's thread, and while this wasn't his best effort and he was destroyed on defense as the game went on, he shot better than most of the team. Maybe you think that's because he refused to shoot it. Well, he did. But if your shot isn't going then you probably shouldn't force it Jamal Crawford-style. Still, very poor on the boards (4 rebounds in such an inaccurate game...) and he turned it over five times. Not good.
The bench otherwise really stunk. Patterson is clearly still hurting. Dragic couldn't get anything going. Budinger at least managed to grab five rebounds, which was five more than Patterson.
A win is a win is a win who cares?
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any news on how bad the ankle is?
by HTown80 on Jan 19, 2012 11:30 PM CST via Android app reply actions
nothing I see on any of the media/official twitter accounts
And he played the last ten minutes of the game or whatever on it, so I imagine it isn’t hurt too badly. We’ll see tomorrow, I guess.
I don't think Patterson's still hurting.
He played great defense throughout the game.
As for Bud outrebounding him, Patterson was too busy boxing out Kaman and the other Hornets bigs. Sure, he went 0-4 from the field tonight, but he made a great move in the post (needs to get the ball there more) that should have fallen but didn’t, and his mid-range shots were relatively open.
I, for one, would have liked to have seen Patterson get more playing time, especially since Scola is clearly declining, and isn’t nearly as good as he was last year.
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
I'd like to see Patterson get more time, as well
Would be open to him starting, but he’s not the same player he was offensively last year. A lot of that is just that his shot is off, but he also isn’t getting to the rim nearly as much and is settling for long-twos. You can see the changes here — they’re small but significant for a player getting bench minutes.
So as long as he can’t get much going on offense, I’d be very hesitant to see him starting. Luis’s offense this year is really bad, but it’s better than Patterson’s by a lot, and overall that probably outweighs Patterson’s better defense.
Patterson's not getting to the rim as much because he's getting no touches on the block.
He’s got good footwork in the post, and his jumphook looks decent. A shot that I’d love to see him go to a lot is a fade-away over his right shoulder while in the post. He has a good shot, and I think he can really do wonders with his post game if he can get that shot down, especially since he’s really good using his pivot foot to find an open angle from which to attempt a shot.
Hill got a decent amount of touches while he was playing significant minutes, and the fact that Patterson, who has much, much better footwork than Hill, isn’t getting more than 1 touch per game down there is ridiculous.
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
by bone31crusher on Jan 20, 2012 12:13 AM CST up reply actions
I also wouldn't mind if Patterson started over Scola.
Mainly for two reasons:
1. Scola’s defense is nearly as bad as KMart’s is, which is frightening.
2. Scola’s APER is below the league average for PFs. Patterson’s is just below Scola’s, but he played little to no basketball in the off-season (includes training camp) due to his injury, so he’s still a bit rusty.
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
by bone31crusher on Jan 20, 2012 12:16 AM CST up reply actions
Good points all around,
agree on is footwork and skills. I’m sure as the season goes on he’ll pick up on offense.
In many respects I think Luis might be worse than Martin on defense. Martin has two critical weaknesses: fighting through screens and being posted up. As long as he can stay with his man he does fine, and he gets steals and stuff. Luis just seems to get backed down and scored on more, is a total liability when playing the 5, and isn’t rebounding like he used to.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a Rafer Alston situation in February/March — Luis gets traded to a contender, Patterson takes his job. I doubt Patterson takes over for Luis both because Luis’s value needs to be preserved for such a trade and because Luis is just firmly entrenched there and barring total collapse will likely stay in the lineup.
The fact that Scola's APER is below the league's average for 4s is astounding, especially when you consider how many minutes he's playing per game.
"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.
by bone31crusher on Jan 20, 2012 12:31 AM CST up reply actions
not really when you consider how poorly he's been shooting and rebounding.
Efficiency way down, per-minute (and per-possession, but APER looks at per-minute stuff, right?) rebounding down even worse, turnovers up, blocks down…
Oliver’s Win Shares over at B-Ref has him pegged as basically replacement-level right now. It’s an ugly decline. A lot might be just recovering from that surgery back in April, but it might also be that he’s almost 32.
This Scola as the whipping boy act has gotten kinda old.
Patterson can’t make shots 9 ft in. His numbers weren’t pretty from there last season too.
Scola played a big part in helping to stop Jack’s dribble penetration. He was active on defense all game.
I think it’s his role as the help defender on the perimeter that’s taken away his rebound opportunities. Funnily enough his teammates, mostly the wings have been snatching 1-3 rbs out of his hands each game as well. It could be the wing glut is making players stat pad for playing time :)
Patterson can’t make shots 9 ft in
Shot 50% between 3 and 9 feet last year, and 68% at the rim. Those are good numbers. Not otherworldly, but good numbers. Compare that to Scola’s 43% in from 9, 63% at the rim. Yes, Scola was taking a lot more shots, but your statement on face appears to be incorrect.
I don’t think anyone is treating Scola as a whipping boy. He has been an integral player to this team, and even in his decline he’s getting lots of shots because he can still get open and/or get to the rim. He just isn’t finishing as well this year, and it’s a massive and worrying decline.
I recall a lot of garbage/clean up points.
I think someone here wrote that Patterson was only 35% when posting up.
He's also not utilized that way
the set plays ran for him are mostly pick and pop, majority of his attempts came from are 16ft out, out side of that he gets his own at rim attempts in transition and offensive rebound.
Because of the limited usage, he only runs plays where he’s been most consistently open and successful, which is his jumper. To keep things in perspective, Luis Scola’s usage% this year is a mind boggling 27%, higher than anyone on the team, it comes as somewhat of surprise, since much higher profiled post players like Amare and Kevin Love are only hovering around 28%
agreed
If scola wasnt goin to shoot wht is he in the game? hes a bad defender and he was playing bad, not to take away from his free throws at the end but pat would have bin better defensivly and would have shot the ball. plus we need to get to the lane
by IrishThrasher on Jan 20, 2012 7:36 AM CST up reply actions
The sleeper must awaken
Hey man, props for the Dune reference. Rockets + Dune are two of my favorite things.
by Strubs on Jan 19, 2012 11:57 PM CST via Android app reply actions
lol I'm glad someone got it
Personally, I think Lowry’s nickname should be Muad’Dib. Him or Sergio Llull. Llull reminds me of Kyle MacLachlan (the guy who played Paul in the Lynch movie), so maybe we should save it for him.
As an aside, Donatas Motiejunas sort of looks like a young Russell Crowe to me. Does anyone else see it? This photo, especially.
ugly, ugly second half
way too many TOs and long shots. would have been super pissed if we lost that.
In some aspects
The difficulty is in our play sets. An aggressive defense can disrupt these sets especially if we don’t get the ball inside. There have been a few games where the guard or forward missed the opportunity to get the ball inside to one of the bigs and instead went for a 20+ foot shot. Live by the 3 and die by the 3.
On the other hand the play sets can pose a challenge for defenses especially if Scola and Patterson can hit those mid range shots because it pulls the other guys PF out to the perimeter.
The other bit of news and you guys with the great stats can confirm or deny this, that the team rebounding seems to be up and the distribution of the rebounds seems to be spread out. Am I wrong on this?
So far love Dalembert and Parsons play this year.
"Do not panic, all is well" Kevin Bacon in the parade scene in the movie Animal House
The Rockets are lucky that…
… the Hornets suck as badly as they do.
By all rights, Houston should have lost this game due to their play in the second half & OT.
They had 32 points in the first quarter but had only 32 points in the whole second half and OT. Unacceptable.
This team needs to find a way to move a few pieces & shake the club up a bit. Sadly, I think Scola needs to be moved. (IMO) I believe the failed trade has caused problems with his head & it’s affecting his game. I think he can still be a very good player but he needs a change of scenery. Won’t be shocked if he is dealt at the deadline…
.
I had to stop arguing with drunks, Steeler fans, and all other fools.
It was making my brick wall jealous...
.
Dedicated to the "Pride of the Steelers"
.
in-team changes could be made to improve the weaknesses of the team.
Starting Patterson in place of Scola – It would improve the defense quite a bit and with Lowry getting him the ball Patterson’s offense should improve at the same time so I wouldn’t predict a major drop in scoring from the 4 with the change while with Scola coming off the bench the 2nd unit gets a leader and a legitimate post scorer meaning that Jordan Hill should then get no shots on offense and can then rebound occasionally. In saying this splitting the minutes at the 4 24/24 would be the ideal way. Reducing Scola’s minutes will only help his fatigue over the course of the schedule.
Playing T-Will. Just do it. Bud occasionally scores and is usually good for 5 rebounds per 15 minutes but with Dragic struggling to do anything of value, T-Will could help move the ball around and also get some slashing scoring and the 2nd uni sucking for a while now I don’t see the problem with running a lineup of Dragic Lee Williams (Scola) Hill as back-ups.
That was more than I wanted to write.
just a moment...
Dalembert won us the game on a tip dunk, and my prediction about the game said “Rockets win on a tip dunk”. Do I get extra points for this?
by galicae on Jan 20, 2012 4:52 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I went back and looked at the threads after the game
and saw your prediciton on that. I smiled – good call bud
by AhForJustOneTime on Jan 20, 2012 5:28 AM CST up reply actions
I think you do
"I’m not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information." Bill Watterson~Calvin and Hobbes
by The Chuckwagon has rolled on on Jan 20, 2012 6:36 AM CST up reply actions
Team seems to be getting a bit of an identity
We’re almost a lock to out-rebound the other team every night, and barring strange periods where the other team either is hitting crazy good shots or we are just having a horrible time offensively (as was the case tonight), they are playing pretty well.
The defense is vastly improved compared to last year, our rotations look solid and The Landlord guarding the rim helps wipe away a couple mistakes a game (usually by Scola). I like teams that win the close ones, terrible games or not. I believe it says something about the team to be able to rally back from that 4th quarter and beginning of OT. Something positive at least.
by AhForJustOneTime on Jan 20, 2012 5:25 AM CST reply actions
Rockets just plain sucked in 2nd half. But they got the win.
It happens to every team at some point. Lucky for us it happened against a poor team and we still got a win. The starters look like they have played 7 games in 10 days. Our REAL problem is the bench. Dragic is just not getting it done. He will look good on 2 playes and then sucks on 3 more. Not sure what is going on with Patterson but he is not the player he was last year. This talk of him starting is crazy based on his play this year. We have seen only very short flashes of last season Patterson. I really think he is going to get it back but we are not seeing it yet. I like what Bud is giving us off the bench. Even as bad as he shot last night he still gave you energy and rebounds. Lee looked good though not 100%. I have not been on the Free T-Will bandwagon and think moving him out of the rotation was the right move because I felt those playing ahead of him were playing better than him. But those ahead are not getting it done now so I do not understand why we are not seeing him. When the bench is looking as bad as they have lately why not AT LEAST give him a few minutes to see what he does. The same goes (in a lesser degree) for Thabeet with Hill being sick.
Great first half, Fugly second half + OT
Credit Monty for half time adjustments by putting Ariza on Martin. K Mart was obviously bothered by his defense after half time. Jason Smith also shut down Scola. Smith and Ariza were the difference in the Hornets comeback.
The bench is kiling us…..I can’t figure out why. There is talent there. I think they just need more time playing together and they need to work on team defense.
I do not think it was Ariza
as much as it was that Martin got cold coming back from the halftime break. He was still getting pretty good looks.Lowry is starting to turn it over alittle too much, but is still playing at a high level.Patterson must get his shot back, and confidence back, before even thinking about starting him. To me he is settling for the jumper too much instead of getting physical and banging down low. For our coach to continue to play Scola at the five or Adrien there, it clearly shows Thabeet still is not getting it and probaly never will here. If the shots are not dropping then you have to drive it in, and Twill is good at this, he should get some minutes. Our defense has really improved, and when the offense gets cold and slows down, defense keeps you in games.
by since86rocketsfan on Jan 20, 2012 9:33 AM CST up reply actions
Fix the bench?
Play T-will and it will. Scratch Bud and a little Dragic off and there will be a big difference.
I hate david stern!
Courtney Lee for 6th man of the year!
Overreacting as if I post on CF
Sonicsgate: A movie about how the Sonics were stolen from Seattle.
by .Bonzo on Jan 20, 2012 8:14 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
I love Scola but yesterday was terrible. He was killing offensive flow, turning the ball over, not hedging well on pick and rolls, getting destroyed by every Jason (Justin, I can’t remember his name) Smith play. He fell for every pump fake.
He clearly wasn’t on so I am so confused why we went to him seemingly every single play in the second half.
The team is rotating a lot more this year but on the third rotation usually they fall apart. Kevin Martin is the biggest culprit but most of the Rockets guards, don’t fully trust the rotations and are looking to get back to their man way too quickly. But at least it is improving.
Rockets did a really good job in closing out on 3s.
The one thing I love about the Heat is the smoothness of their defensive rotations.
Most of us already can see this, but Scola needs more rest and needs more stamina.
Dallas and Houston fan making it work. Gig 'em!
^^^^^^Exactly^^^^^^^^
I am too lazy to look it up but this schedule to play 66 games in something like 125 days is crazy! We just played 7 games in 10 days (which included three back to backs).
I am not sure how many of you guys play ball but if you do then try to go out there and play 4 pickup games in a row (over about an hour and a half) and play all out and then do it 7 days in 10. Let me know how those last few days go.
With zero or one days rest Scola only scores a max of 15.5 points. With two days rest his numbers are about the same but he shoots a way better percentage. With three days rest he scores 19.0 a game, plus he averages more minutes, rebounds and assists with less turnovers (however this year he has only played in one game with three days rest so take that what it´s worth). But I am sure that it would be the same with more days off.
I mean really, one of Scola´s biggest assests is his hustle so with more games this hustle takes its toll. Give the guy a little bit of a rest and see what happens.
by 4theluvofthegame on Jan 20, 2012 2:26 PM CST up reply actions
Dalembertis sure proving me wrong
I feel like need to send him a formal apology for not wanting him as our starting center originally.
I wanted him if the price was right from the beginning.
When it looked like we had Gasol, I wanted to get Dalembert instead of Nene because he was a true center and not as expensive as Nene would be. Still so far he has been better than I expected.
This guy almost nailed it. Gotta give him props.
i predict the Rockets
to win this one, although it will be surprisingly close: 97 – 94, with a tip-in dunk to ice it.
by galicae on Jan 19, 2012 11:08 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
by SpaceCityFan on Jan 20, 2012 11:17 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Hell yea, he's gettin bonus points
"I’m not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information." Bill Watterson~Calvin and Hobbes
by The Chuckwagon has rolled on on Jan 20, 2012 4:25 PM CST up reply actions
All the shots were short in Second Half
They were on-line,just almost every one hit front of rim. That’s tired legs.
Pat’s injury has put him waaaay back. He hasn’t stepped up his game like I expected,he’s actually regressed.
The Rockets haven’t had very many practices and the few they’ve had have been all about the defense. If they can squeeze in a session where they work on the offense,they will be a lot better.
And as bad as the team has looked recently-they are still winning games. How many times in the past did Rocket teams blow games against bad teams-esp young,athletic teams like the Wizards? Over past few seasons the Rockets would go into an offensive funk and just lose the game.
The Rockets are playing fairly bad,but they are still eking out wins. They’re not playing bad because of talent,so the reasonable expectation is that they will start playing better. And meanwhile,if they can rack up the wins while in the doldrums,I fail to see a huge problem.
Yep that was the problem for starters.
Still does not explain the bench since one of the reason the starters are playing so many minutes is because of the poor bench play. I think that is the main reason for Kyle’s increase in Turn Overs too. I can not believe that McHale did not even call a time out after Sam hurt his anke. He could not even jump, but you have to give him credit he just kept doing his best while limping around.
Rockets finally got a significant roster update on 2k this morning
Lowry’s up to 83 (though his rebounding is still ridiculously low, only one point higher than Martin). Parsons pops up as a three-point specialist, which I guess is only because he’s a white lanky forward and certainly not because he’s shooting .258 from three point range.
Everyone on 2k12 is 3pt specialist to be fair
Anyone play team up here? That’s mine of choice. I’m gonna make a FP about this later. Been meaning to since 2k9.
by RedRowdy420 on Jan 20, 2012 2:11 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
I play Teamup whenever I Get on, if you wanna hit up a 3 on 3, 4 on 4, or 5 on 5 on Xbox my GT is TheFakeMexican
Dallas and Houston fan making it work. Gig 'em!
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