Rockets GDT - 4-27-21

[DNatagal]

Ahem....MAKE YOUR FUCKING FREE THROWS. If they would have done this, the game wouldn't have been close.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Ahem....MAKE YOUR FUCKING FREE THROWS. If they would have done this, the game wouldn't have been close.

They only missed 8 in the 4th quarter.

The bad
8 - 16 ft
0 - 5 3fg

The good
14 - 16 everywhere else in the 4th quarter. :o

[FNG]

Well, that was...interesting. I praised Dlo to the skies and gave him the game ball for the Utah game, but he was a different player last night. We all give hot players a pass on "heat check" shots, but that doesn't carry over to the next night! When Dlo came into the game and immediately put up a 3-pointer from Sugar Land, I knew it wasn't going to be his night. And Cool nailed it...the old matador Dlo was back on defense. I'll grant that Dlo continues to impress me with his distributing skills...another 7 assists last night...but we need him engaged defensively and taking smarter shots if we're going to pay him his $30 mill. Very disappointing performance. I'm going to the Warriors game tomorrow...we had better see a different Dlo then.

Many of us are concerned about the Wolves oddly thinking they are good enough just to show up to get a win after they play an impressive game. We'd all be saying "Well, at least we're going to retain our pick" this morning if it weren't for KAT's scoring and our bench. J-Mac was our best PG last night (Finch hasn't given him many minutes recently), Juancho was terrific from beyond the arc, around the basket and on the boards (but that defense though :? ), and Vando earned his 22 minutes by showing his teammates we were not going to lose to Houston.

I'm on a mission. I'm not giving up until I get Lip to concede that giving 5% of our cap money to a certain Spanish guy who consistently puts up 16/9 per 36 was a smart move by Rosas. I'm seeing a little thawing coming from Lip, but no concession yet. Come on Lip, there's still plenty of room on the Juancho entranar (if my high school Spanish is correct)! In two years you're going to be saying "Wow, Rosas was a genius keeping that third year option on Juancho at only $7 million per year...he's a bargain!"

I guess the most we can say about this game is that we won a game against a very bad team. We need to be much better to extend the unlikely winning streak to 4 games against the Warriors.

Why are you ripping Dlo. He was a positive contributor he was a +1. Kat was a -3 and was the big issue last night. Where is the paragraph ripping Kat for his -3 performance!!!!!!!

Ha, we should celebrate that +1 for Dlo...positive nights for him are about as frequent as nights Miguel Sano plays and doesn't strike out!

In all seriousness, I got a little spoiled after two very nice games for Dlo where many of us noticed his improved defense and he put up big positive numbers. Dlo went back to being "Bad Dlo" last night though, and I was actually surprised he didn't end up with a big negative number. But I think that most would agree that the real heroes last night were Juancho, Vando, Naz and J-Mac (with his 5 assists and no turnovers in only 19 minutes), and they all had double digit positive numbers reflecting their contribution. Nice night from the bench! We lose to hapless Houston without them tonight.

[Wolvesfan21]

How about Ant. This was his third game in a row with 9 rebounds. He also had 3 steals and 2 blocks. Last night he had 4 assists and 1 steal to go with his 9 boards. The night before, he had 5 steals and 4 assists along with his 9 rebounds. Obviously, Ant needs to improve his three-point shooting and overall shooting efficiency. He really needs to take fewer threes off the bounce, so shot selection remains an issue for him and perhaps the biggest reason for his less than optimal scoring efficiency. But he still puts up points and gets touch buckets inside. And he fills the do-shit stat sheet. He definitely has the makings of a special player.

I love the rebounds, however in todays game defensively at least it's just one player taking it over another. Like three Wolves going for the same ball. Teams usually don't offensive rebound much.

I still love the aggressiveness to go get it and not just "let" KAT get the board. Because certain times the other team will leave a guy or two in to offensive rebound as well. Go get the ball!!!

I'm sure the analytics say to get back on defense rather then try for the board and leave the other team in transition for easy buckets.

This is absolutely correct. But still, I'd rather see a player pursue a ball versus being passive, so it shows some level of positive activity for him to go grab those boards even if a lot of them aren't contested by the opponent.

Edwards' pull-up jumper looks awful off the bounce. That is what he needs to work on more than anything as his release and arc seem to be different versus catch-and-shoot.

It's a little flat I think. More arc has many benefits. Less power needed to shoot from distance. Shooting higher (45 degree is highest) allows the ball to travel further with less effort.

The ball has a smaller path (MORE ROOM) to enter the hoop, don't have to have the distance as perfect.

Also the ball is coming in a bit softer to the rim, more chance it could bounce in off rim. Versus Ricky scud missile.

Ants shot needs a little more arc.

[Coolbreeze44]

Here is the problem with Ant's shooting. He may need a slight mechanical tweak, but the thing he needs more than anything is repetition. He's so naturally gifted, and I've never heard him called a gym rat. But he needs to get up 1000 makes per day.

[Lipoli390]

How about Ant. This was his third game in a row with 9 rebounds. He also had 3 steals and 2 blocks. Last night he had 4 assists and 1 steal to go with his 9 boards. The night before, he had 5 steals and 4 assists along with his 9 rebounds. Obviously, Ant needs to improve his three-point shooting and overall shooting efficiency. He really needs to take fewer threes off the bounce, so shot selection remains an issue for him and perhaps the biggest reason for his less than optimal scoring efficiency. But he still puts up points and gets touch buckets inside. And he fills the do-shit stat sheet. He definitely has the makings of a special player.

I love the rebounds, however in todays game defensively at least it's just one player taking it over another. Like three Wolves going for the same ball. Teams usually don't offensive rebound much.

I still love the aggressiveness to go get it and not just "let" KAT get the board. Because certain times the other team will leave a guy or two in to offensive rebound as well. Go get the ball!!!

I'm sure the analytics say to get back on defense rather then try for the board and leave the other team in transition for easy buckets.

This is absolutely correct. But still, I'd rather see a player pursue a ball versus being passive, so it shows some level of positive activity for him to go grab those boards even if a lot of them aren't contested by the opponent.

Edwards' pull-up jumper looks awful off the bounce. That is what he needs to work on more than anything as his release and arc seem to be different versus catch-and-shoot.

I didn't do a count of how many of Ant's rebounds were "contested." But as KG once said, you don't get rebounds if you don't go after them. When you get 9 rebounds in three consecutive games, you're getting after it and helping your team win. He had a total of 9 steals in those three games as well. There are things worth nitpicking. But getting 9 rebounds as a wing in three consecutive games, all of them wins, just doesn't seem like something that cries out for a caveat. We finally have a player other than KAT who rebounds.

As for Ant's shooting? Now that's worthy of a critique. The difference between his jumper off the bounce is really bad much of the time. He needs to take fewer of those shots. I'd like to see go to the hole even more and I'd also like to see him get more catch-and-shoot three-point opportunities. Looking ahead to next season, Cool is right that Ant needs to spend his days and nights in the gym this summer shooting threes off the dribble. Repetition with a good shooting coach at his side is what he needs. I worry about his perimeter shooting because he's never been an efficient shooter. The track record isn't there, but he doesn't have a fundamentally broken shot like Culver. So I still have hope for Ant as a shooter. In the meantime, l love that he's doing other stuff at a high level - rebounds, steals and even assists. He has the makings of an elite multi-faceted player. Now it's a matter of him putting in the time and the work.