From agony to ecstasy to agony again, that wraps up last night for me. At least the last 1.9 seconds. Oddly enough, the foul call lost the Rockets the game. Brandon Roy was a hero for his team for making the foul even though he thought he was the goat. Without it, the game would have gone to a second OT as time would have expired as the ball went through the basket. Instead, the clock stopped on the whistle. I do contend that there is no way that there were .8 seconds on the clock there. I also contend, as does any sane person, that you can’t catch, turn around, set and shoot in .8 seconds. You can catch and release, but not turn around set and shoot. I’m not a sore loser though (okay I am, but that’s not the point), that was a hell of a shot from Brandon Roy to end the game.
First off, let me preface this rant with something: I like Chuck Hayes, a lot actually. He has been outstanding on the defensive side of the ball for a good while. I also like him as a person as he seems like a good one. I hope he is not hurt, as we need him to back up Yao in quarters 2, 3 and the beginning of 4. Now that those kind words are out of the way… Coach Adelman, please get your head out of you ass. You have two borderline All Star material PFs on this team, there is no excuse at all for you to have Chuck Hayes on the court as our PF at any point in the game. Luis Scola was 7/10 on the night with 4 rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes. Why only 4 rebounds? Because Aldridge was playing away from the basket and his defense took him out of rebounding range. It’s not like he was playing poor defense either, Aldridge was simply on fire. His coach didn’t take him out of the game because he couldn’t stop Scola, and Adelman should not have taken out Luis either. Coach, Luis Scola is a beast, he is a true starter in this league and should be playing 30-34 minutes every single night. In an OT game he should be getting 34-38 minutes, not 23. That’s pathetic coaching, and I know you are better than that. Why on earth would a guy that starts for you and is on fire not finish for you? No one will ever be able to explain that to me. That’s twice this year when we needed him that he was on the bench. In the first game we ended up closing Memphis out, in this game we didn’t have enough to beat Portland. The announcers were all over the poor decision, and if Reggie Miller is telling you that you are going wrong, you are going really wrong. At one point in time Marv Albert said “Carl Landry has a little better skill around the basket and a little better shot” than Hayes. Seriously, as I said in the game post, that’s like saying I’m a little whiter than DMX.
I would also like to take a minute to say that I do greatly appreciate that Rafer Alston did not play much in the 4th quarter. Aaron Brooks was wrecking the Blazers D, and while Rafer had a solid game, playing the hot hand is the proper way to go. So I still don’t get why we play Brooks there but not Scola, or even Landry (though he did end the game with 5 fouls).
Tracy McGrady had a very strong game. I hate picking on him, but that jumper towards the end of the game was atrocious and he tried more than once to pass to Chuck Hayes down low. Other than that, all around good game. His defense was borderline very good. His offense was great, finding ways to take it to the hole without sacrificing his body more than a few times. I don’t even remember seeing him wince at all during the game, and I believe that is a good sign for his health overall. Or maybe Crazy Pills took him aside Plus, I love bearded Tracy McGrady, I think it brings out the best in him.
Yao, thank you for hitting what should have been the game winner. I hope that you take that and build your confidence back on it. Yao’s hustle last night was outstanding; unfortunately his shots just aren’t falling. He’s getting great position, isn’t getting pushed around at all, but they just aren’t going down. I think his lack of lift off the floor hurt him again last night. Once he adjusts to that lift his shots will start falling. He’s not even missing badly, with shots looking like they’ll fall and then bouncing off the rim. It’s close, and I expect it to remedy itself very soon. I think with all the Andrew Bynum talk out there, even though he hasn’t proven anything yet, Yao will show up on Sunday and take it to him.
This game is over, time to prepare for the defending Western Conference champs.
