GT: Bobcats vs Rockets Mon Mar 24th 7PM EST

[jakenc]

Man, I wish we tried to trade for Jordan Hamilton. He'd fit in beautifully on the Bobcats.

[HornetJail]

Man, I wish we tried to trade for Jordan Hamilton. He'd fit in beautifully on the Bobcats.

All we needed was a third string point guard capable of playing backup PG. That's all the Rockets gave up for him- Aaron Brooks. Nothing else. No picks, no young talent. I swear we could've gotten him AND a little something extra for Ramon Sessions.

[LamarMatic7]

Man, I wish we tried to trade for Jordan Hamilton. He'd fit in beautifully on the Bobcats.

All we needed was a third string point guard capable of playing backup PG. That's all the Rockets gave up for him- Aaron Brooks. Nothing else. No picks, no young talent. I swear we could've gotten him AND a little something extra for Ramon Sessions.

that's exactly how I feel about it. I was constructing that trade on here way back in December.

[Radu_Hornets]

If Biz was trying to defend Jones, he would have got 3 fouls in 3 min.

He's not the solution against that type of PF.

[ball teacher]

We're at our best when Al has big nights. He needs the bulk of the shots. Our whole offense is predicated off of him being dominant so that we can have the shooters get open shots.

Zeller, has been balling. I think we should consider starting Zeller in place of Mcbob, but I don't think that'll happen cause coach wants a finesse big who can dribble, shoot from 3pt range, and make playmaker type passes.

I think Hendo got punked by Harden. I've never seen Harden so scared and uncomfortable with the ball as he looked vs Harden in the 4th quarter. Houston locked us down defensively like Fats pointed out. Beverly put pressure on Kemba, and Kemba played 100 miles per hour and showed inexperience as a true point. The more experienced pg's like a Andre Miller for example could advance the ball with pressure on them and even though they're slower, they understand the benefits of change of speed so thay they can blow by faster more athletic players. Kemba has to learn to use this so that he can really use his speed as a weapon.

Even still, we have a good team, maybe another really good player can make us a elite team in the league, but I'm starting to feel we got a little bit worse with the trade we made at the break. Sessions had tunnel vision but he got buckets that we really needed with that 2nd unit.

[mrknowitall215]

My take on last night's loss: The ball got stuck in Josh McRoberts' & Gerald Henderson's hands too much. The end

[BobsBuddy]

I agree that ball must come through Al then out to 3 point line. Also agree about Harden gave Hendo a lesson what it's like to be "an elite two guard". Coach said it all in post game comments...We cannot match jump shots with them. We now are 2.5 games behind Washington for 6th spot in East. We must play inside- out game to catch them and play Chicago...Otherwise it's going to be Miami.

[LamarMatic7]

My take on last night's loss: The ball got stuck in Josh McRoberts' & Gerald Henderson's hands too much. The end

I think it's unfair to pin the fault on them. They had decent games. In my opinion, the bench screwed a pooch at the end of the third quarter. It was a close game until the sequence of:
CDR fouls Harden on three - Neal goes up in the air without a possible pass destination, the play ending in a Harden breakaway dunk - Ridnour back-pedals too far (with 5 seconds left, mind you) and gives up a Harden three. Add the unnecessary help D by Ridnour on Omer freaking Asik outside of the paint to give up an open Lin three to start the fourth, and the Rockets had a double digit lead. That cost as much as anything else.

Concerning that Ridnour double, I understood the point - we hedged the PnR and Asik was in a 4vs3 situation where he could beat us with a pass (or a soft scoop shot, but of course he can't make that) so Ridnour felt like he should help out. However, from what I've seen Clifford has his guys faking the help D yet staying home on three point shooters (and rightfully so. especially in a situation where the dilemma is Asik or Lin) so I guess you could write it off on Ridnour not being accustomed to our defense.

Either way, these defensive screw-ups left us in a position where the fourth quarter was an up-hill battle.

[LamarMatic7]

is there something wrong with Tolly that I'm missing? Hasn't even been in and barely played the last few games.

ironically enough, his personality hurts him in this instance.

if a veteran struggles with his shooting, an NBA coach is only likely to run some extra plays at the start of the game to get said veteran "in a groove". if Tolly struggles a few games, then F him - he's the ultimate team-mate and won't complain about losing minutes.

[a very late reply to your question]

[Snidely FC]

Poor Tolly is a great example of how psychological shooting is. We needed the guy to take and make 3s and he got into a groove doing it. "They need me!" Guy is shooting 45%+, playing unbelievably well. Then they trade for Gary Neal. Why? Because they need a 3 pt shooter. Damn. "Okay, only way to keep my spot: better make these threes. Uh oh, missed that one. Missed another. Here comes Neal in the game. Damn. Bench city. Ohhhhhhhhhh."

#freetolly

[mrknowitall215]

My take on last night's loss: The ball got stuck in Josh McRoberts' & Gerald Henderson's hands too much. The end

I think it's unfair to pin the fault on them. They had decent games. In my opinion, the bench screwed a pooch at the end of the third quarter. It was a close game until the sequence of:
CDR fouls Harden on three - Neal goes up in the air without a possible pass destination, the play ending in a Harden breakaway dunk - Ridnour back-pedals too far (with 5 seconds left, mind you) and gives up a Harden three. Add the unnecessary help D by Ridnour on Omer freaking Asik outside of the paint to give up an open Lin three to start the fourth, and the Rockets had a double digit lead. That cost as much as anything else.

Concerning that Ridnour double, I understood the point - we hedged the PnR and Asik was in a 4vs3 situation where he could beat us with a pass (or a soft scoop shot, but of course he can't make that) so Ridnour felt like he should help out. However, from what I've seen Clifford has his guys faking the help D yet staying home on three point shooters (and rightfully so. especially in a situation where the dilemma is Asik or Lin) so I guess you could write it off on Ridnour not being accustomed to our defense.

Either way, these defensive screw-ups left us in a position where the fourth quarter was an up-hill battle.

I'm not solely pinning the loss on Henderson or McRoberts. There's a share of blame to go around for each player on the team in this loss. However, I wouldn't say that either of Henderson or McRoberts had a decent game, not when the players that they were defending, James Harden & Terrence Jones respectively, were scorching Charlotte at every chance. Henderson started trying to exchange shots with Harden, which was bound not to end well. I don't know if it was Houston's defensive scheme or not, but it appeared that they found comfort defensively in allowing McRoberts & Henderson orchestrate the offense over half of the 24-second shot clock

As far as the bench, they almost always 'screw the pooch', specifically Ridnour. Ridnour still hasn't found comfort or any consistency in the Bobcats lineup since being acquired. It would be wise for Clifford to start slowly integrating Pargo with the 2nd unit again before the playoffs start