<div align="center"> <font color="red">Rockets (6-3)</font> vs <font color=""blue"">Pistons (4-5)</font> Wednesday, November 18, 2006 6:30 Central; Ch. 51, SportsRadio 610 AM </div> [div=50%] <div align="center"><font color="red"> <font size="1">(R. Alston, T. McGrady, S. Battier, J.Howard, M. Yao)</font></font> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Yao Ming - 25.7 PPG Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming - 9.8 RPG Assist Leader: Tracy McGrady - 6.4 APG Steals Leader: Rafer Alston - 1.7 SPG</font></div> [/div] <div align="center"><font color=""blue""> <font size="1">(C. Billups, R. Hamilton, T. Prince, R. Wallace, N. Mohammed)</font></font> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Richard Hamilton - 22.9 PPG Leading Rebounder: Rasheed Wallace - 9.6 RPG Assist Leader: Chauncey Billups - 7.6 APG Steals Leader: Richard Hamilton - 1.0 SPG</font> </div> [div=50%] <div align="center"> <font size=""1""><font color="red">Luther Head (6th Man)</font></font></div> <font size=""2""><div align="center">22.1 MPG, 8.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.7 APG</div></font> [/div] <div align="center"> <font size=""1""><font color=""blue"">Flip Murray (6th Man)</font></font> <font size=""2"">22.2 MPG, 7.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.6 APG</font> </div> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul> [*]<font color="red">Close out the game</font> - The Rockets have had problems retaining leads late in games on more than a few occassions early in the season. And Detroit is the kind of team that's capable of mounting a comeback late in games. The difference is Detroit's defense isn't at the same level as San Antonio or Chicago this season, so it's hard to imagine the Rockets having the same sort of collapse as in the previous two games. But Detroit remains a potent offensive team, and while Billups has struggled from 3-point land early on (only 29.3%), he can still single handedly bring a team back. [*]<font color="red">Help Defense</font> - The Rockets have had some crucial defensive breakdowns the last couple games related to poor rotations on defense. The Pistons are a team that strive on motion off the ball, and a heavy dose of pick and roll with their premier ball hanlder Chauncey Billups running the show. Expect Battier to chase Rip Hamilton around, and McGrady to be tested throughout the game with ISOs for Tayshaun Prince. [*]<font color=""blue"">Protect Against the Three</font> - The Rockets have become one of the premier three point shooting teams in the league. The Pistons will rely heavily on their zone defense to protect against a three point barrage. The Rockets are undefeated this season when besting the opposing team in shooting% from the field (eFG%). The Pistons need to figure out a way to prevent high percentage shots from Yao in the paint, while also protecting against the three. [*]<font color=""blue"">Defensive Rebounding</font> - Defensive rebounding continues to be a problem for the Pistons this season, as it was last year. Conversely, the Rockets are one of the better offensive rebounding teams in the league early in the season. It's important for the Pistons to prevent second chance points, particularly easy garbage buckets in the paint. Fortunately, they won't have to deal with the offensive rebounding of Chuck Hayes in this game.[/list] <div align="center"></div> Pistons played (and defeated) the Wizards in Detroit yesterday evening, while the Rockets had the day off. The Rockets have won their last 3 road games (Memphis, Milwauke, Miami), but this one figures to be a stiffer challenge. I think the Pistons are better than their early record, and Billups isn't going to be shooting sub-30% from beyond the arc all season. Still, I like the Rockets in this one. Prediction: Rockets over Pistons, 94-90.
<div class="quote_poster">squall15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Great preview. That's a nice graph even though I don't understand.. lol But good job man...</div> I'll explain the graph. There are "four factors" for winning in a basketball game: shooting from the field (expressed by eFG%), offensive rebounding, limiting turnovers, and getting/making free throws (FT/FGA). The teams that can do those four things on the offensive end, while at the same time prevent the opponent from doing those things on the other end, will win. The graphs is showing how the Rockets and Pistons fair, relative to the league (its based on standard deviations from the mean, but never mind that), in these categories. Additionally, I compare their pace so far this season (both play at a very slow pace), and their offensive and defensive ratings (points scored per possession and points allowed per possessions, respectively). The "poor ... strong" label I put in the graph pertains to all the categories except pace. There's nothing inherently wrong with playing at a slow (or fast) pace. Sorry for the confusion there. Overall, the graph conveys the general strengths and weaknesses of both teams. Pistons, for instance, are not a good defensive team early in the season -- they don't force turnovers, and they are not a good defensive rebounding team. They have been a good offensive team however. Neither team has done much damage from the free throw line, but both have done a good job in limiting the opposing team from getting to the line (relative to their shot attempts) -- particularly the Pistons.
<div class="quote_poster">ownage Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">lol nice graph. why are the Pistons Def. rating so low?</div> I would think because they don't have the Ben Wallace's presence in the paint. But who knows....
<div class="quote_poster">ownage Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">lol nice graph. why are the Pistons Def. rating so low?</div> The rest of their defensive categories in the four factors graph basically explain it. They don't defensive rebound very well (so, they allow the opposing team to extend their possession and allow second chance scores), and they don't force turnovers. Here's a comparison of their rankings, this year and last year: <div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/>06/07 05/06<br/>Def. Rating 21st5th<br/>Def EFG%15th10th<br/>Def Reb 19th25th<br/>Forcing Turnovers 29th10th<br/>Def FT/FGA3rd 1st<br/></div> They weren't a good defensive rebounding team last year either (defensive rebounding% is about the same as last year, actually). The biggest drop is in forcing turnovers. And yes, Ben Wallace's absence has a lot to do with that. He was excellent at forcing turnovers on the perimeter and also in the paint -- he led the team in steals by a wide margin, in fact.
We should be able to take care of detroit, no one's stopping Yao tonight....the rockets need to try to keep this at a slow motion half court type of game.
Great preview and I liked how you used the graph. The Pistons will look to the backcourt early to give them an advantage like they did against the Wizards and have the team ride on Billups and Rip the rest of the game. Yao should recieve the ball often and produce efficiently on offense throughout the entire course of the game.
Nice preview durvasa. 7-3 sounds a lot better than 6-4, but it's just one game. When was the last time we beat the Pistons? The past 2 seasons, we are 0-4 against them. Hopefully we can kick their asses tonight. Oh yea, that Head 3 on Ben Wallace when he got fouled is top 10 Rockets plays for last season. EDIT: WOOOOOOWEEEE~ T-Mac with 13 points and a free throw coming up soon. 5/5 FG WOW! Damn Ch. 2 (51) has the crappiest reception I have ever seen.
Man Tmac is hot. He got his shot back, he is hitting his jumpers, and also the most important thing, he is driving in. Tmac just got an and one. Yao got an and one but missed the freethrow. Pistons are shooting lights out, but Rockets are keeping up with Tmac's nice plays and Yao's post up. Others like Rafer, Battier, and Howard need to step it up a bit. EDIT: They took our 13 point lead all the way down to 2 points. Rockets are still up 52-50. We cant keep a good lead. Lets hope Rockets come out firing like they did in the first quarter. Hopefully, Rockets stay with Pistons and use a nice run at the end to finish the game.
Juwan Howard ... ugh. 0 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal, and a lot of crappy defense in 10 1/2 minutes. First 9 1/12 minutes of the game with him in the game, Rockets outscored 23-18 (Yao and McGrady only two players who score for the Rockets). Over next 13 1/12 minutes with Juwan thankfully on the bench, Rockets outscore the Pistons 32-17. Then Juwan enters the game with one minute left in the half (why?), and the Rockets are outscored 10-2 to close out the half. In 6 out of the 8 games Juwan has played in before today, the Rockets have been outscored with him on the court. In 7 games for Chuck Hayes, the Rockets have yet to be outscored with him on the court. God, I miss Chuck.
Detroit wins... -Yao with a solid game, but another 8TOs... -Tmac doing a nice job. -Alston cant guard Billups. Billups killed us. -Too many TOs (compared to DET) -another 4th quater collapse...
Juwan Howard should not be playing for the Rockets, he can't do anything well. Not to blame this on him, but when T-Mac drew his fourth foul, it was because Juwan didn't switch and it caused an open man. He can't rebound, the Pistons got so many off him, and on top of all that he went 0-4. The Rockets failed to get Yao the ball when it mattered. The Refs were SO INCONSISTENT during this game, Yao would get a good call, but then they absolutely trash him in the post and there's a no call. I don't care how many free throws he was getting, he was still getting hammered consistently and there were no calls. Poor game by the Rockets, inconsistent game by the Refs.
We need to do something different on offense in the fourth quarter. It's so damn predictable. All the opposing team does is overplay our superstars, and we never get a decent shot or we turn the ball over. The announcers constantly praise Yao Ming about his "vision" and passing, but it's BS. He's not a good passer, he isn't a particularly good decision maker with the ball, and he doesn't handle double teams well. Yeah, he got 4 assists tonight. Big deal ... he also had 8 turnovers. On the season, he has over twice as many turnovers as assists. The Rockets are playing a losing game in the fourth quarter by trying desperately to get Yao the ball when the opposing team knows exactly where they're trying to get the ball. It's time for JVG to step up and make a coaching adjustment on the offensive end, because that's where our primary problem lies.
<div class="quote_poster">dexxa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">effing disappointing. it's official, rockets cant finish games</div> Rockets can't finish games because Yao is actually the only good player we have. Alston is and always will be a mediocre palyer. T-Mac sleeps for half of the game every single night. Shane "acquired to win" Battier is not a factor at all (surprise surprise). Howard is old and not anymore the player he was. Yao is dominant but alone. Form the bench, Snyder and Head are good but not that good. What else we have? Nothing. Oh yes, Bonzi "Who" Wells.
The Rockets really need a third scorer at this point. It looks like T-Mac is still struggling with his shot. He shot 9-16, but most of those were on drives to the basket. He still is not making the majority of his jumpers. Although, he did make the 75 ft heave at the end of the first half. Yao was way too tired by the fourth quarter to be very effective. He played all but a few minutes of the second half because Tracy was in foul trouble. He is also still turning the ball over at an alarmingly high rate. I really thought the third quarter was a good example of how to play with Yao. Yao got three assists in that quarter by passing to cutters to the basket. I have been saying this since last year, but I think Yao and the Rockets can have more success by cutting to the basket rather than have everyone standing around at the 3 pt line. Also, Yao must be one of the most blocked players. He even got what is supposed to be an unblockable hook shot blocked by Wallace. I think Yao only took one jumpshot the whole game. The majority of his attempts were hookshots. The good news is that the next game is against New York. Hopefully, Yao and the Rockets will have the same kind of success as their last game.
I'd like to rewatch that fourth quarter to see exactly where we went wrong on offense, but at the same time it's just too painful.
