The second game of the Rockets Summer League came against the interstate rival Dallas Mavericks. The biggest difference right away from the first game was the insertion of rookie Patrick Patterson over Maarty Leunen in the starting lineup. The coaching staff must have a lot of confidence in the young rookie to push him into the starting lineup so quickly.
As I mentioned in the Day 1 recap, the coaching staff is really letting the players play this year. In previous years, the coaching staff, regardless of who was the "head coach", was always vocal in calling out assignments, plays and defensive sets. I am not sure if this is more reflective of wanting the young guys to read and react or just a higher confidence in the young players.
I really hope that what I have seen from Jordan Hill so far this Summer League is more due to rust than anything because his play so far, to put it bluntly, has been very poor. Hill was matched up against NCAA tournament darling Omar Samhan and Samhan just took Hill to the shed early on. Hill really let Samhan get into his head -- his entire play on both ends of the court was very timid after Samhan scored a few buckets early on and Hill picked up some quick fouls.
Hill wasn't the only front court player who performed poorly on day 2. Patterson, after an impressive debut, came out shooting bricks (which I actually expected considering he is a rookie and it was his second game). What troubled me was the type of shots he was taking. He shot and made two three point field goals in day 1, which was impressive, but then he went 0-3 in the first quarter alone from beyond the arc. A lot of these threes weren't forced and one in particular was very early in the shot clock at the top of the key. Patterson will have to learn to play to his strengths and improve his shot selection, but just as its good to not to get too high after one game, I don't want to get too down on him after his second game.
Hill's second poor performance is far more troubling to me. Hill showed a lot of promise after getting some playing time last year and he honestly should be putting up far better numbers on both ends of the court than he has been. His defense especially has been very poor as he routinely was getting pushed around in the paint. He rarely recovered well in pick and roll situations and even though Patterson rotated, Hill would not rotate himself over, which led to several offensive rebounds or open opportunities for the Mavs. I'd rather not use the word "apathetic", but that was how I felt about Hill on defense.
On the other hand, Jermaine Taylor had another impressive showing scoring the ball from the field. Taylor may be that offensive spark off the bench, someone they can throw out there that will be able to get his points and create for himself. "Create for himself" is the key phrase there because Taylor will not nor ever be mistaken for someone who will average three assists a game. This sort of tunnel vision can prove to be a negative as he took some tough shots despite having open teammates. His role during the season though should be more along the lines of finishing plays rather than starting them. The coaching staff didn't seem to mind the shots that Taylor took so who am I to argue against the coaches? If the Rockets hope to improve, a lot of their success will depend on the development of their young bench. Taylor's aggressive scoring is a step in the right direction.
The point guard play continued to plague the Rockets in the summer league. While Ishmail Smith is a blur on the court, his vision is limited and decisions delayed. Blake Ahearn was off from three point range today, but he was even more ineffective than Smith. Both continued the trend of poor defense as Mavericks sophomore guard Roddy Beaubois torched the Rockets guards for 28 points (but it seemed like a whole lot more). He got to the rim with ease several times, which prompted Jason Terry, who sat courtside, to tell Roddy to just drop 30 and end this game already. As much as I hoped the Rockets guards would prove Terry wrong, it just didn't happen -- Beaubois kept scoring (though luckily the Rockets did do a good job as a team at the end to get the ball out of his hands).
Some random thoughts I had of the game:
Alexander Johnson was the most aggressive player in the paint for the Rockets, he was also the loudest player grunting every time he touched the ball.
The Rockets pick and roll defense was atrocious -- too many open spaces and poor rotations kept forcing the Rockets into mismatches.
The team needs to get more physical in general. The Rockets were able to make their runs when Samhan, the Mavs most physical player, was on the bench.
There is still a lack of a shot blocker on this team. Jordan Hill has the length and size but is showing a lack of instincts to be a good shot blocker.
There was one play where Chase was stuck on a quicker player on the perimeter -- he was about to rotate off of him when the Mavs player got the ball because he didn't want to guard him. He ended up fouling the Mavs player in the end but it surprised me that he wasn't up to guarding him.
As alluded to yesterday, Patterson still has yet to be featured in the high post as past PFs have been in the Rockets' system. I wonder how soon they will try to add this wrinkle to his game.
Rebounding was a big problem for the team as a lot of guys never got a body on their man when the ball went up.
Patterson often times had to direct Hill on pick and roll rotations and it really should be the other way around. It goes to show that Patterson is a very smart player and I think he can improve on his defense.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey watches the game by himself and it looks like he gets pretty caught up in the game too. Expressions of frustrations and anguish were visible even across the court.
Chuck Hayes was on the bench again helping the Rockets big men with some pointers on defense.
The good news is that despite the poor performance, the Rockets still won, but that really should be expected given the talent they have on the roster. After two days, the biggest concern for Rockets fans should be the regression of Jordan Hill. Hill may not be the long term solution for Yao, but he is the best option right now under contract. Time will tell -- one last game for me to view tomorrow against the Blazers and I am hoping Hill breaks out of his funk.
