So what do you make of the Rockets round one victory? Before that series started, I made a list of the things that I was going to be watching for in the playoffs. A low turnover offense -- ✓+ (we were historically good in that closeout game) Tight defensive rotations -- ✓ (plenty of positives here, including Harden's personal effort) Rebounding -- ✓+ (the Wolves were a fine test here) Shots for Clint -- ✓ (going up against KAT and having success should bode well for the next round) Eric Gordon's shot and health -- ✓ (very up and down, but trending up in the last 2 games) Our counters when teams fight over the screen at the top of the key. -- INC. (the Wolves didn't really test us as others will) Teamwide deflections, steals, and loose ball recovery -- INC. (the Rockets struggled to maintain full defensive intensity here) My one sentence pre-playoff summary: "If we're sloppy with the ball, rebound with little intensity, and get away from our team oriented approach on D, we will make it hard on ourselves in the playoffs." So overall, I give the Rockets a B+ for that Minnesota series. When things were tight, the Rockets flipped "the switch." Though I'd like to see a little more creativity on offense (things like ball and player movement, etc.), overall we did more than enough to distance ourselves from the inexperienced Wolves. Facing either OKC or the Jazz though, we will need to step up our overall defensive intensity, especially in contesting passing lanes. (We did only had nine deflections in that close out game.)
B- I'd say, I've been impressed with a few quarters of offense and defense for some halves though some individuals including Harden have given their all for most of the series. I'm not going into the next series too confident, since we still haven't shown our true capabilities and we struggle with both the Jazz (length and defense) and the Thunder. It is a good sign though we've won 4-1 given how we've played and we're getting Mbah back, but MDA needs to show some balls and bench guys who are not performing and give others a shot. Black instead of Nene and Joe instead of Ryno or Green would've not been a crazy decision given their play in this series. Since he hasn't even tried this aside from a few minutes for Joe, I think his stubborn self will stick to 8-9 guys and Green / Ryno might be more limited with Mbah back.
I liked their ability to adjust to the Wolves ICE-ing the pick n roll. I also liked the defensive rotations, especially in the second half of the last two games. I liked that they were able to stay close with the Wolves in the first half last night despite them shooting 70% (7/10) from three and Harden+Paul struggling from the field.
Rockets had a great series defensively besides that 2nd half in game 3 where they hit everything and attacked the paint. We didn’t shoot well in the series but that’s how it goes sometimes. We had wide open 3s and just missed them. Our defense didn’t allow the Wolves to get too ahead before our shots finally hit and obviously 4-1 is a great series win. 3 our of our 4 wins were also blowouts so in conclusion I give us an A-
Capela - A- Harden - B- CP3 - B- Ariza - B Tucker - B- Gordon - B- Green - B Ryno - B+ Nene - C+ Joe Johnson - F Mike Dan Tony - B Jeff Biglydick - B+ Greasy Keith Jones - F Bill Worell / Clyde Drexler/ Matt bullard - D Reggie Miller - F Dorisk Burke - F Max Kellerman - A- Colin Coward - F I'm a harsh grader but whatevs
Solid B. If we want to compare this team to a Championship squad we can't ignore the 6 garbage quarters of basketball. The team loses focus, starts games slow and don't start playing till the second half.
ill give them a B. they have room for improvement but still played well enough to win. Defensively, they're on point at the start of the playoffs and thats a huge welcome sign for things to come as hou gets deeper
I'm not being negative, but I'm honestly not impressed, so I guess I'm trapped in the C zone. Plenty of individual positives, but as a whole functioning unit working together cohesively, on both ends, for a full 48 minutes - didn't seem up to par with a typical 65 win team against a 1st round opponent.
It's hard to complain about a 4-1 series win. Even though they were an 8-seed, Minnesota has some good and talented players. But here I am, complaining that the Rockets overall didn't look their best in this series. I guess that shows how spoiled I have become from watching how great the Rockets have been this regular season
Minny is only 8 seed due to Butler getting hurt (against us ironically). People have forgotten how deadly their offense is when Butler is actually healthy. With gimpy Butler, they are around 5-6 seed.
that game 3 50 point out burst by itself propels us to a B grade.. that was historic.. three blow outs.. what keeps them away from an A- is the loss and a blow out loss at that..
They definitely did not play nearly as well as their best stretch of the season. Some flashes for sure, but didn't have a game where everything clicked. Guess game 5 was close to that. Mostly concerned with the defensive slacking through significant portions of the game.