Rockets bench collapses in loss to Bulls

The Rockets played a great third quarter Tuesday night, outscoring the Bulls 30-14, to bring an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter. They followed that with a horrific five minute ten second stretch in which the Bulls went on an 18-0 run on their way to their first road victory of the season, sending the Rockets to 3-7 through 10 games. In total, Houston was outscored 32-21 in the fourth quarter, they were outscored 30-15 in the second. The bench was awful.

The Rockets were once again shorthanded. Of course Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks didn’t play, but they were also without Chase Budinger. Ish Smith turned it over twice in less than five minutes in the second, Courtney Lee had four in 12 minutes. Chuck Hayes wasn’t terrible, but there is a reason why the Rockets were badly out-rebounded in this game. The Rockets bench played just 38 minutes out of a possible 240, just barely under 16% of the game, but it did its damage in those limited minutes. The Rockets bench had a +/- of -51. The starters were +36.

When we started the season, most people figured the Rockets bench would be a strength, it is not right now. Obviously, when you are missing three rotation guys your bench isn’t going be great, but it might be time to give a few other guys a look. Tonight, Jermaine Taylor and Jared Jeffries didn’t play. Maybe its time to give them a shot, at least Taylor in place of Lee, who doesn’t appear to fit into this team.

I said after the first game of the year in Los Angeles that I wasn’t a big fan of Courtney Lee, and he hasn’t done anything to make me rethink that. A great athlete, and good defender, but at the offensive end its been the opposite, and the team has suffered because of it.

The Rockets will play the second game of a back-to-back in Oklahoma City, and with the minutes the starters had to play tonight, the bench will be more of a factor against the Thunder. I don’t think Durant and Co. will mind that one bit.

The Rockets Simple Problem: Finishing

There were a lot of negatives in the Rockets latest loss Wednesday night in Washington. Yao got hurt early on and only played 6 minutes, John Wall’s first triple double, which included 6 steals, The Rockets getting outrebounded against the worst rebounding team in the NBA, and their inability to handle the lightning pace of the Wizards, but above all these issues last night the one that stands out, as it has through the first 7 games of the season has been the Rockets inability to finish games.

The Rockets are 1-6, the one win was a blowout against Minnesota. In all six losses, Houston has had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, but for one reason or another, they haven’t been able to get the job done at the end. One day its not being unable to get stops, the next its going on a drought at the offensive end.

One problem I see with the Rockets inability to finish games, is their inability to finish at the rim. One of the most frustrating aspects of Luis Scola’s game is how many layups he misses. He can’t finish at the rim, and late in games, plays are being run for him, and executed perfectly, except, he misses shots that you have to make. Its one thing to do that early, but when one your key guys at the offensive end can’t be relied upon to finish plays in crunch-time it makes life difficult and it explains a 1-6 team.

There is still a lot of season left to play, and this looks like it is still a talented team, but if you aren’t concerned about whether this team is in for a long season then you haven’t been paying attention. The problem is, if this team can’t get it together in the next few weeks, changes are going to need to be made, and I don’t mean small changes either.