Peja ( B- ) -- first half was shaping up to be a good bounce back game for Peja. Came out and was drawing a lot of attention again, but handled it well early (was a bit of touch and go as he looked passive to start), passing the ball off to teammates open on the doubles and switches, and then came on with his scoring as the pressure relaxed. Really was the only player keeping us close before the break. Looked like he had control of McGrady in the first quarter, but TMac broke loose in the second. Then Houston came out in the third recommitted to stopping Peja, and that was kind of that -- he got very quiet very quick. Scored a couple of late hoops just to let you know he was still breathing, but in general disappeared in the second half. Rebounding...tallest man on the court for us in several of our alignments today and TWO in 41 minutes?
Songaila ( B ) -- gave us some good hustle minutes, particularly in the third, hitting the offensive glass and scoring garbage hoops. Was nowhere to be found on the defensive glass though, and was uncharacteristically slow on his rotations. I would call the PF competition a draw this time out. Both guys did fairly well, neither great.
Skinner ( B ) -- really wasn't a fair matchup for Brian -- 6'9" PF asked to guard a 7'5" center in the post -- but that was the matchup, and in the first half for the first time since taking over for Brad, Skinner just looked far too small. Unable to alter Yao's shot at all, and Yao went right over him for rebounds as well. Didn't have much better luck with Mutumbo. Finally got on track with back to back hoops late in the third. Down the stretch was fighting hard on the glass, but just overmatched sizewise -- could not alter his opponent's shots, could not shoot over them. Not really fair to grade him down for being undersized, but nonetheless he was, and because of it he was overall considerably less effective than he has been thus far for us. Gets a small bump for maybe being our best player down the stretch tonight (wasn't great, but was really trying).
Mobley ( C ) -- had a tough first half, missing missing and missing, but perhaps more critically forcing forcing and forcing. We seem to really like to post him up for some reason, but the hit percentage in there is not great. Scary first half stat though -- Cat was our leading rebounder.
Came out in the third quarter firing, and briefly his hot shooting streak brought us as close as we ever got in the second half, cutting the Houston lead down to five at one point. If he could have kept it up into the 4th, maybe we have a shot. But he went cold again, and nobody else stepped up. Another "C" type grade for Cat, but this one is really for the poor shooting. On the roadtrip I kept on feeling like his numbers were empty and did not matter. Not the case here -- he mattered this time. Just unfortunately a give and take effort.
Bibby ( C- ) -- came out aggressive, but maybe forcing the passes a bit against the active Rocket defense -- had as many turnovers as assists when he left the game for the first time in the second quarter. And offensively never could get into rhythm -- lot of open looks you expected him to make, especially from three, and just did not have it. Eventually settled into a nice passing rhythm in the second half, but the shooting remained erratic and Mike seemed to get a little passive himself after a while. Did get his hands in there for a few stelas, but in general he and Mobley left a lot of Houston perimeter shooters open today -- back to his old tricks defensively. Late in the game kept on waiting for Super-Bibby to come swooping in to bail us out again, but just never much spark this time out.
Ostertag ( INC ) -- no idea what its going to take for Tag. A 7'5" center with a 7'2" backup, pounding us on the glass, we're getting lit up...and all Tag gets is one brief first half stint. Didn't do much good or bad. Four minutes and off to small ball.
Thomas ( B- ) -- active but scrappy effort tonight. Did not back down against the bigger Houston frontline, and found ways to score. Again had problems contesting shots up high, but continued to show quick hands down low for steals. Did not get the job done on the glass this time out -- tipped some balls, but the Houston big men were too tall, and the Hosuton guards were quicker to the ball. Missed a number of free throws -- kept on hitting one of two, one of two.
Evans ( C+ ) -- only got a first half stint, and only contribution of note was a breakaway dunk. Fell victim to Cat's hot third -- with Mobley carrying us Rick did not want to take him out, even running him at SF sometimes, and by the time that it was obvious Cat had cooled off, it was crunchtime and too late for Mo. May have been leaving his men too open on the perimeter, although I am just guessing because I did not notice it being his fault in particular -- just noticed the shots going up relatively uncontested.
Williamson ( C+ ) -- caught playing out of positions and totally overmatched sizewise for most of the night. Peja played 41 minutes, and even Cat got a few as our SF. Corliss logged most of his time as a mini mini PF/C in amongst the Houston trees. Made a few passes in there, but really very quiet -- none of the aggression we saw from him last time out. About the best that can be said is did not get killed despite the size disadvantage.
House ( B ) -- gave us a nice first half stint running the offense and hitting a couple of shots to keep us within shouting distance. Second half did not go as smoothly until he hit a big three to pull us back from the brink in the mid-4th. Was actually playing alongside Mike at one point, and gave us a little help on the boards. Got hurt by Mike James on defense.
Adelman ( C+ ) -- Houston was just too big for us inside, and every time their perimeter guys saw even a crack, the ball was in the hoop. Getting very tired of all this small ball crap. Not bad enough we have to endure our magnificent midget frontline of Peja/Thomas/Corliss, but in this one Rick also broke out a wonderful 3 guard alignment with 6'1" Bibby, 6'1" House, and 6'4" Cat Mobley at SF, and briefly even teamed that trio with a Corliss/Thomas frontline. I mean come on -- let's leave the small ball to Don Nelson, you know, he of the 1000 butter-soft teams and the sub .500 playoff record. And tonight we ran our three very cold horsemen right into the ground again with 41, 41, and 43 minutes. Thought it was an interesting move to try House and Bibby together just because House was shooting well and helping keep us in it. But then moving Cat to SF on top of that was just taking it too far. And while Corliss and Kenny compete in there, they are just far too small to be checking 7-footers. Have a real problem with games against a huge frontline when we are getting squished inside and Tag still rides pine. I mean, duh. Mo also never had a chance to try to energize us in the second half. Did not play a great first half, but was not awful either, and I would have thought off of those two excellent starts last week that he would have at least earned enough trust to get rotation minutes. Also getting a little tired of seeing Cat continually try to post people up -- that is not high percentage for him with a big frontline to help. Not sure if Rick is calling that, or Cat is. But see no reason to stop the offense to work our undersized OG in the post. Anyway, here we are again -- undersized, crunched on the glass, opposing team shoots +.500 against us. Not sure what the answers were if you're not going to try Tag, but whatever they may have been, Rick could not find them.
Songaila ( B ) -- gave us some good hustle minutes, particularly in the third, hitting the offensive glass and scoring garbage hoops. Was nowhere to be found on the defensive glass though, and was uncharacteristically slow on his rotations. I would call the PF competition a draw this time out. Both guys did fairly well, neither great.
Skinner ( B ) -- really wasn't a fair matchup for Brian -- 6'9" PF asked to guard a 7'5" center in the post -- but that was the matchup, and in the first half for the first time since taking over for Brad, Skinner just looked far too small. Unable to alter Yao's shot at all, and Yao went right over him for rebounds as well. Didn't have much better luck with Mutumbo. Finally got on track with back to back hoops late in the third. Down the stretch was fighting hard on the glass, but just overmatched sizewise -- could not alter his opponent's shots, could not shoot over them. Not really fair to grade him down for being undersized, but nonetheless he was, and because of it he was overall considerably less effective than he has been thus far for us. Gets a small bump for maybe being our best player down the stretch tonight (wasn't great, but was really trying).
Mobley ( C ) -- had a tough first half, missing missing and missing, but perhaps more critically forcing forcing and forcing. We seem to really like to post him up for some reason, but the hit percentage in there is not great. Scary first half stat though -- Cat was our leading rebounder.
Came out in the third quarter firing, and briefly his hot shooting streak brought us as close as we ever got in the second half, cutting the Houston lead down to five at one point. If he could have kept it up into the 4th, maybe we have a shot. But he went cold again, and nobody else stepped up. Another "C" type grade for Cat, but this one is really for the poor shooting. On the roadtrip I kept on feeling like his numbers were empty and did not matter. Not the case here -- he mattered this time. Just unfortunately a give and take effort.Bibby ( C- ) -- came out aggressive, but maybe forcing the passes a bit against the active Rocket defense -- had as many turnovers as assists when he left the game for the first time in the second quarter. And offensively never could get into rhythm -- lot of open looks you expected him to make, especially from three, and just did not have it. Eventually settled into a nice passing rhythm in the second half, but the shooting remained erratic and Mike seemed to get a little passive himself after a while. Did get his hands in there for a few stelas, but in general he and Mobley left a lot of Houston perimeter shooters open today -- back to his old tricks defensively. Late in the game kept on waiting for Super-Bibby to come swooping in to bail us out again, but just never much spark this time out.
Ostertag ( INC ) -- no idea what its going to take for Tag. A 7'5" center with a 7'2" backup, pounding us on the glass, we're getting lit up...and all Tag gets is one brief first half stint. Didn't do much good or bad. Four minutes and off to small ball.
Thomas ( B- ) -- active but scrappy effort tonight. Did not back down against the bigger Houston frontline, and found ways to score. Again had problems contesting shots up high, but continued to show quick hands down low for steals. Did not get the job done on the glass this time out -- tipped some balls, but the Houston big men were too tall, and the Hosuton guards were quicker to the ball. Missed a number of free throws -- kept on hitting one of two, one of two.
Evans ( C+ ) -- only got a first half stint, and only contribution of note was a breakaway dunk. Fell victim to Cat's hot third -- with Mobley carrying us Rick did not want to take him out, even running him at SF sometimes, and by the time that it was obvious Cat had cooled off, it was crunchtime and too late for Mo. May have been leaving his men too open on the perimeter, although I am just guessing because I did not notice it being his fault in particular -- just noticed the shots going up relatively uncontested.
Williamson ( C+ ) -- caught playing out of positions and totally overmatched sizewise for most of the night. Peja played 41 minutes, and even Cat got a few as our SF. Corliss logged most of his time as a mini mini PF/C in amongst the Houston trees. Made a few passes in there, but really very quiet -- none of the aggression we saw from him last time out. About the best that can be said is did not get killed despite the size disadvantage.
House ( B ) -- gave us a nice first half stint running the offense and hitting a couple of shots to keep us within shouting distance. Second half did not go as smoothly until he hit a big three to pull us back from the brink in the mid-4th. Was actually playing alongside Mike at one point, and gave us a little help on the boards. Got hurt by Mike James on defense.
Adelman ( C+ ) -- Houston was just too big for us inside, and every time their perimeter guys saw even a crack, the ball was in the hoop. Getting very tired of all this small ball crap. Not bad enough we have to endure our magnificent midget frontline of Peja/Thomas/Corliss, but in this one Rick also broke out a wonderful 3 guard alignment with 6'1" Bibby, 6'1" House, and 6'4" Cat Mobley at SF, and briefly even teamed that trio with a Corliss/Thomas frontline. I mean come on -- let's leave the small ball to Don Nelson, you know, he of the 1000 butter-soft teams and the sub .500 playoff record. And tonight we ran our three very cold horsemen right into the ground again with 41, 41, and 43 minutes. Thought it was an interesting move to try House and Bibby together just because House was shooting well and helping keep us in it. But then moving Cat to SF on top of that was just taking it too far. And while Corliss and Kenny compete in there, they are just far too small to be checking 7-footers. Have a real problem with games against a huge frontline when we are getting squished inside and Tag still rides pine. I mean, duh. Mo also never had a chance to try to energize us in the second half. Did not play a great first half, but was not awful either, and I would have thought off of those two excellent starts last week that he would have at least earned enough trust to get rotation minutes. Also getting a little tired of seeing Cat continually try to post people up -- that is not high percentage for him with a big frontline to help. Not sure if Rick is calling that, or Cat is. But see no reason to stop the offense to work our undersized OG in the post. Anyway, here we are again -- undersized, crunched on the glass, opposing team shoots +.500 against us. Not sure what the answers were if you're not going to try Tag, but whatever they may have been, Rick could not find them.
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