This one's on Roy

[mikeg]

i would simply say that i love roy's effort but he can't let his desire to be a leader kill our ball movement. every single time we got a bit up-tempo tonight, every time we got some flow going, we just killed them. got good looks at 3s, dunks on player movement. every time we did iso for roy, or a slow developing pick and roll for roy, it just caused issues and turnovers (or a forced long jumper). and he overdribbled to the point of absurdity tonight. so regardless of the praise for roy's effort, the ball movement aspect needs to change.

i also questioned the rudy minutes and the lack of sergio. i mean blake's best stretch was when he was probing the D with the dribble and finding cutters off semi-broken plays. that's sergio's entire game. i have not idea why he wasn't worth trying when we were stuck on 37 points for an eternity.

and perhaps we don't run out of timeouts this game if "tight reigns nate" isn't calling timeouts 1:30 into the third quarter.

 

[Tince]

i would simply say that i love roy's effort but he can't let his desire to be a leader kill our ball movement. every single time we got a bit up-tempo tonight, every time we got some flow going, we just killed them. got good looks at 3s, dunks on player movement. every time we did iso for roy, or a slow developing pick and roll for roy, it just caused issues and turnovers (or a forced long jumper). and he overdribbled to the point of absurdity tonight. so regardless of the praise for roy's effort, the ball movement aspect needs to change.

i also questioned the rudy minutes and the lack of sergio. i mean blake's best stretch was when he was probing the D with the dribble and finding cutters off semi-broken plays. that's sergio's entire game. i have not idea why he wasn't worth trying when we were stuck on 37 points for an eternity.

and perhaps we don't run out of timeouts this game if "tight reigns nate" isn't calling timeouts 1:30 into the third quarter.

So the Rockets made halftime adjustments on offense, and our players were unable to read them on their own. Would you rather Nate let them play through it and give up layup after layup, or call an early timeout and attempt to right the ship?

 

[alex42083]

Well, I think we're really seeing who stays and who goes. I think Travis is gone after this season (I'm hoping).

Travis is killing me in this series. 4 points, 2-11 from the field in 30 minutes? He's settling way too much for jumpers, and he's not even crashing the boards despite having the ability to outjump anyone on the court.

Ugh... and then he gets beat several times defensively on backdoor cuts. He just looks clueless out there sometimes.

 

[bigbailes]

I think Nate can't find 5 guys who are ready to handle playoff pressure basketball, but I don't see how that is Nate's fault.

so the one guy whos been through this sort of pressure plays 22 minutes while blake gets 40 and outlaw gets 30?

 

[blue32]

LMA blew it tonight, Travis, well he shouldnt have even played....he doesnt have that fire...

Shit Frye was hitting more than Travis.

Batum would have been nice, but we really needed more Rudy and dare say , Sergio....b/c Blake was tired

 

[LittleAlex]

Outside of Oden and Rudy, the entire team sucked balls in this game. Roy was triple teamed every time he tried to drive inside. Too bad his outlets were LA and Outlaw.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Team Loss.

 

[Sug]

It's a team thing baby, so you cannot put it on one guy. Notice that Houston has played like more of a team the whole series.

 

[bintim]

There was enough blame to spread around. Roy to me seemed slow to see things. The last few minutes he was like in slow motion, wasting time dribbling the basketball. Travis needs to sit if he can't rebound and shoot. Give Rudy more minutes if he stays this consistent. Our defense stunk. Too many uncontested shots.

 

[MARIS61]

You're joking, right? Excuse me, because sometimes I can't tell.

Not at all, I was agreeing with you, BTW.

Brandon was out of his element and clearly confused at being out there with 4 guys who don't just stand still and watch him go one on one.

They move incredibly well without the ball and they're used to someone getting them the ball at precise times and placed exactly where they can catch and shoot in a fluid movement.

Not exactly Brandon's strong point.

 

[talman]

I guess I'm not too upset because you've got to take the occasional bad with the very frequent good.

I just keep repeating to myself that "this is a learning experience, this is a learning experience, this is a learning experience ..." It's hard to watch, but I can't think of a better baptism by fire with regards to their opponent. Is there another team that would present so many challenges and matchup problems for their offense? If they can somehow figure this out and solve this puzzle (or at least stay competitive throughout the rest of their games) it's going to pay some serious dividends either in the next round(s) or next year when (if?) they make it back to the playoffs.

Best post ever!! Mad props, rep and everything else to you Nik!