I am ecstatic that we won. I did scratch my head when i saw a 59% free throw shooter was in the lineup when we know we are about to get fouled. The saving grace for McHale's call here is that the intention was that we get it to one of the other 4 players with a high FT%; unfortunately, none of them were open so we had to get it to the last option who nailed both of them. The biggest coaching faux pas last night that had me confused was why Terrence Jones was pulled out of the lineup. He seemed like he was tearing it up and really hustling and making all the scrappy plays we needed last night to stay competitive. Instead, D-Mo was in for him for almost the entire second half. In the end, we pulled it out and have won 9 of the last 10 games. I am ready to look at the next game and hope that these decisions don't cost us down the line... esp the playoffs.
D-Mo's defense in the 4th quarter was the difference in the game. Jones was consistently out of position on his rotations, and they were destroying us in the pick-and-roll. D-Mo was moving around on defense like a banshee, and it bothered the Suns immensely.
Bobrek is in the big blind with 5-7 off suit and calls an all in from a tight player for Bobrek's entire stack of 30 big blinds. He hits a straight vs. other player's pocket aces. Bobrek tells his friends that he's good at poker.
I still do not get why we did not foul when the game clock was under 6s and they were inside the paint. We were 3 up and at that stage I think you play the foul game rather than risk giving up a 3 (thankfully Dragic missed an open one). At worst it is 2 free throws made by the Suns and you still have possession. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the Suns had a timeout left at that point so they will have very little time to bring the ball up front to get a good look.
I'm not about to read this entire thread but let's take a look at the situation: 1) We had no timeouts left 2) Phoenix denied our guards the ball 3) It was close to a 5 second violation 4) DMo was the ONLY player who could receive the ball. 5) He made the FT's! How can this possibly be on McHale?
Coach McHale said at the end of the game on the ESPN broadcast, and I paraphrase: I didn't want the suns to be able to switch everything. I guess He wanted DMo in their so the suns would have to have one of their bigs in there as well.
I'm almost always in favor of fouling when we have a three point lead. However, I do concede that that strategy can backfire. The opposing team is aware the we may use that strategy, so they are looking to get a shot attempt up as we try to foul them. Also, it is rather dangerous for a team like the Rockets to purposely get involved in a free throw shooting contest at the end of a game. A lot of free throws can be shot in the last 10 seconds of a game.
It doesn't matter because we won the game and everything but it is a little upsetting because not too long ago in a recent game (i forget which, bad memory) we were inbounding the ball on a key play and we couldn't do it, and ended up turning it over because of a bad pass leading to a steal. So this was the second last second big time mistake that could of cost us games, this cant happen in the play offs they need to fix this problems and draw up some more inbounding playz plz. That being said, as much **** i talked/talk/will talk about the coaching staff, we are 20 games above 500 so i do respect the job they have done this season so far, bravo coaches.
We've got burned too many times by the 3 ball to risk not playing the foul game. I mean Dragic had an open game tying 3 last night. I think you play your odds when you're up 3 IMO. You don't foul with about 20 seconds left but you foul with less than about 6-8s especially when the other team has no timeouts left. Of course, it has to be inside the paint and a hard foul such that there is no chance of and 1. Like last night, the guy was dribbling out of the paint while trying to feed Dragic. I think that would have been a good time to foul. Just my opinion though.
-With the intentional fouling stuff, one risk is that you foul a guy and he throw up a BS shot and makes it for an a And 1. - I thought it was a bit curious that Dwight wasn't in to defend the final PHX possession. I know you want perimeter guys to chase 3 point shooters but Dwight moves his feet pretty well for a big guy and he is the best rebounder on the team and we've seen enough situations where teams get 2 or 3 shots at the basket in similar situations. Perhaps the issue is that if PHX got a quick 2, Dwight would be in the lineup when PHX intentionally fouls since HOU had no timeouts left. - We can talk about these "one possession" tactics all day but they are just for one single possession out of roughly 90-100 that each team gets in a game. Bigger picture stuff: 1. The team made some pretty good tactical adjustments during the game. For example, HOU stuck with Harden at the SG when PHX downsized to the Ish Smith-Dragic backcourt in the 4th. This ended up a Houston advantage as Harden took advantage of Dragic more than the other way around. Hornacek had to call a timeout to get Tucker and Green back in. Also, after Dragic's hot start, the team sent extra attention his way, which worked out well, particularly as he seems to tire in the 4th qtr. The Rockets defended decently: PHX scored almost 30 points out of bad HOU turnovers and a red hot Dragic made some off the dribble pull-up Js. Take away the bad TOs and having Dragic cool down (which he and fellow hot shooter Gerald Green did in the 4th) and the team did a pretty good job containing the Suns. 2. The team has done pretty well in close games this season overall. A part of it is luck, but at least the team's play calling and execution in these late game situations cannot be that bad (compare this to the Wolves, who constantly blow close games).
but still shoots 58 percent from the line this year so you would take a chance that he all of a sudden breaks out of his slump just during this game?? And like others said, who didn't even play a minute. BRILLIANT!
Putting DMo in there was not necessarily a mistake. It's a matter of whether you want a career 80% guy who had not played in the game (Garcia) or a career 60% guy who had been playing in the 4th quarter (DMo). It's debatable and neither decision could be classified as "dumb." My problem with that play was that it's the second time a crucial play like that ended up with the worse FT shooter on the floor being sent to the line. (The other time was Howard.) I don't know if it's poor execution or poor design, or both. DMo should have been setting some kind of screen out there for the guards. The three guards were simply fending for themselves to get open. That's pretty pathetic imo.
One word. Defense. Jones is a lost puppy out there. Hope the light bulb goes on for him like it seems to have had for D-Mo.
garcia also has yet to attempt a freethrow in 2014. but people here who knows your posts don't necessarily expect them to be completely forthright, so that's ok. nevertheless, shooting freethrows is like riding a bike for a pure shooter like him, and 29 other head coaches would undoubtedly choose garcia at the line with the game on the line versus dmo.
