Rockets 90, Hornets 88: "If turnovers were worth points, we’d win every game"

I almost made the headline. Which one of my posts almost made it?
I’ll try harder next time! lol

From the game and it makes the loss all the more frustrating. I can’t get into it too much right now because the loss still stings (so kudos to you, Rohan), but I felt like the team was REALLY going to win when it took that lead in the overtime. I’m not understanding the Marco late game lineups but I assume Monty likes his veterans and he likes his players that have been there (it must be the Pop in him). Those habits are frustrating but the team was still there and still had an opportunity to win. I was hoping Belinelli would draw the foul there at the end and I wish Jack would have closed out the big comeback but it wasn’t meant to be.

Tough loss to take tonight. Out of all the defeats this season, this one hurts the most (at least in the moment).

I thought he had one of his best games as a Hornet.

would love to see the Mavs go down, especially Lamar.

The Hornets somehow become even more of a mid-range team, and I am surprised that is even possible. Every set becomes a pick and roll designed to either get a player a dribble drive (and if you’ve been watching Hornet games enough this season you know we do not have an individual capable of this) or an 18 foot jump shot. An 18 foot jump shot contested late is a net win for the defense regardless of result, it’s the least efficient play on the court. The offense the Hornets run is DESIGNED to settle for inefficient shots. This is mostly due to personnel as the roster is full of people who earn a living being slightly above average mid range players, having tons of potential or being known for playing defense. Who not named Eric Gordon does not fall into one of those three categories?

Slow clap

I really think Kamen has worse hands the Emeka. Also every defense know the minute Kamen puts it on the floor heading towards the center of the court to reach in and snatch the ball. Guess what it always works. Yet Kamen still gets time and Ayon sits on the Bench,.

I missed the 4th and the OT, but it looked like we played a very good game, but just fell short.

During the parts I watched, I have to say Kaman looked awful. On the other hand, the guys we have behind him are kind of unproven so I can understand Monty’s dilemma, especially since Kaman won’t have much trade value sitting on the bench. I think Ayon has earned at least a quarter of play so it was too bad not to see more of him. Hard to say what the issue is, but it could be all sorts of things. I understand that Ayon doesn’t yet speak English very well so could it be possible he’s having trouble following the game plan during timeouts? I’m just speculating. Anyway, hope to see more of him going forward.

Smith has his issues, but I have a feleing he will be one of the positive development stories this season. I’m becoming increasingly comfortable with the contract that we signed him to ($2.5 mill per year for 3 years). He’s got his jumper (whcih kind of comes and goes, admittedly), but I’ve noticed he’s been trying a little more to put the ball on the floor sometimes. That’s a a good sign because 7 footers who can put the ball on the floor aren’t that common. I have a good feeling about Smith this year, though admittedly he can be frustrating at times.

I understand that Jack might have had some lapses late, but considering his previous game, I’ll give him a bye this game.

Very poor job on Martin in the first half. I was worried he’d get 40+ against us. We definitely shut hium down in the second half though—only 5 points. Who was guarding him? Ariza? I was too distracted to notice.

Belinelli has been playing better as of late… not great, but better.

Aminu… lol. Well good effort at least!

Ariza… not going to get my hopes high, but it’s good while it lasts.

Overall, rockets have been playing well recently (I think this was their 5th straight win?) after a slow start, and we were playing a backto back on the road, so pretty solid effort all things considered.

But alas… same old same old… we fell short.

The draft positioning it’s mad disappointing to see Ayon getting limited minutes and Kaman and Smith getting lots of playing time.

I know a lot of people who watch the games like what they see from Smith but getting my info from recaps and numbers leads me to believe that this losses can probably be largely attributed to Kaman and Smith.

If we go by WP48, a starting line up of the teams best available players would look like

C – Okafor
PF – Ayon
SF – Ariza
SG – Trey Johnson
PG – Jack

Granted the sample size on Johnson and Ayon is tiny but the larger sample size on Kaman and Smith says they are giving negative wins. At least try to see what they can do given minutes, right?

Our Iowa Energy beat Houston’s NBADL affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in 2011-2012 for the D-League champion’s crown, and is currently sitting at the top of the NBADL’s East Conference! A-ha! Redemption!

"The way I see it with Carl, a lot of times guys have droughts in the league; the one thing that can’t be affected when you’re playing is your passion and effort," Williams said. "He’s a skilled guy, but he’s best when he’s just out there running around and starting stuff. That’s what we’re trying to get him to be more like that consistently.

"Guys go through stretches where they miss shots, and they’re not playing that well on offense, but we’ve always demanded that our guys defend and play hard. If Carl does those things consistently, he’s going to play, regardless of his offense."

Monty said much less in regards to Thornton last year and always got criticized. Just as I sided with him then, I’m siding with him here. You can’t coddle the best players on the team just because they have the most talent. You have to reward those who play hardest. Sometimes winning is important but the best way to win long term is to develop a system and an expectation of how things are supposed to go organization. I’m with Monty if he’s doing that.