McGrady again only got 8 minutes yesterday. Jermaine Taylor got minutes in the 2nd and 4th quarters, and he played well. He many continue to fill in even after Christmas. McGrady had his more assertive offensive game so far. 10 points, 3 assists, in only 8 minutes of action. He still isn't finishing strong at the basket, but he looked comfortable on his drives and shooting the pull-up jumper.
I watched the Clipper game and TMac doesn't have any lift when he jumps. He had no problem getting around his defender into the paint, but doesn't have the explosive movement to finish strong. He also looked reluctant to shoot the ball from behind the arc. He had a sweet layup reversing the ball from his right hand to left hand to avoid Camby blocking the shot. He's not in NBA shape yet, but he's only going to get in shape by spending more time on the court. Catch-22 scenario for Adelman. At least he's giving Houston productive minutes. Something Houston does extremely well on offense is ball reversal and spacing. I like the offensive set when Ariza pushes the ball up the court until the defense comes over to him and then swings the ball around the perimeter until it finds the open shooter (usually Battier for the short corner 3.) The commentators made an interesting remark last night regarding the Rockets offense. Adelman doesn't call any plays, Battier actually calls all the plays during the game and all the coaching staff does is make suggestions at practice. The theory behind it is to allow the players to play within the flow of the game to make their offense unpredictable and harder to defend.
Yeah, that's what it is looking like. Hopefully the Rockets can get something worthwhile from his expiring contract, but I doubt it.
