Food poisoning. Thabeet didn't even play, so why would we expect DeMarre Carroll to play? The only chance we have to see any of those guys play is injury/blowout games. Pugs
Lowry and Hayes just willed our team to victory. This team is taking on their character. The Rockets are finding that grit and toughness that made us fall in love with them last year. And I think KMart, CLee and the young guys are discovering that they also have it within themselves, learning to play the "Rockets" way.
He tweaked his knee during the game. They said he could have returned but I think they just kept him out for Hayes in the 4th. Yeah, other than Martin being able to get to the line, we didn't really have an inside game going. And we weren't really hitting shots in general (41% for the game, got better in the 2nd half obviously). Dragic had food poisoning.
Hornets are a much better defensive team than the Nets are. So, not suprising that they defended better. Okafor is good at clogging up the paint (even Martin himself said he attacked the basket when Okafor was sitting on the bench), and Paul and Ariza are solid on the perimeter. Nevertheless, the Rockets had a pretty good offensive game, 91 points in 83 possessions. The efficiency turns out to be about 109.6 per 100 possessions, only slightly below their season average. Their offensive rebounding rate helped elevate that number, as did their hot 3 pt shooting and ability to get to the line (and making a good number of those once they get to the line).
Watching Hayes and Miller play together last night was fun. You may notice that whichever power forward gets to play with Miller tends to do well. Patterson, Hill, and Chuck all seem to play their best when paired with Miller. When Patterson had his big game against Detroit he was paired with Miller. When Hill was playing well early in the season he was playing alongside Miller. Last night Hayes and Miller worked great together in the 4th quarter. Running the offense through Miller from the top of the key creates opportunities for our power forwards. I wouldn't mind seeing Hayes and Miller paired up some more this season.
God I miss landry..hopefully we can pick him up in the off season..watching him play against and goto another locker room is just depressing..get rid of Jordan hill and carol..we dont need any dread heads...
--------- The team flows much better without AB. Being a MAWF (middled-aged white female) I will admit to sobbing throughout the first game without Shane. Salt in the wound was also losing Ish and JJ. Had grown so fond of them. Brooks - not so much. I can readily accept Dragic in place of Brooks. There are 14 players on our roster now? I would be happy if the 15th was Battier.