Rockets v. Wizards, In Person Perspective

It’s been a while. Well, I’ve gotten some things taken care of and happily took in the Rockets v. Wizards game today. Houston was wracked with determining whether Dwight Howard would play in the nation’s capital or in Canada’s best city (Take that, Vancouver). Thankfully, I got a chance to watch the Rockets keep the Wizards down in my current city.

Before I get too far into it, shout out to my friend and coworker Kevin for parting with a pair of his season tickets. It’s definitely a bird’s eye view, but it was the best of the lot.

Now, this isn’t quite a recap. This isn’t much of anything, really. Just one man’s observations of the team, in-person, adding a different perspective than those watching on tv. The following are the thoughts that churned through my head watching this afternoon’s game.

Rockets Point Guards

When you’re digging deep and leaning on Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni, two players who by NBA standards should be signed up for AARP, you worry. On paper this is an old unit with a lot of question marks. Thankfully, the game is played on the court.

Prigioni leads the team and has a great sense for the pace of the game. The biggest thing I loved about Prigioni? He is smart enough to know which fouls to use and when and plays complementary transition defense. His spacing and quick ball move freed up Nick Johnson to block a Wizards fast break and without Prigioni making the player hesitate, it doesn’t happen.

Terry is the consummate veteran keeping the team’s head in the game when a lead starts to dwindle. He plays so well off the ball and keeps the floor spaced just right so that he has a nuanced game you really only appreciate when you pay attention to it and stop harping on the box score.

Rockets bigs

Howard, at times, looked like hot garbage. You can tell he’s readjusting to being on the court and that’s fine. A couple of errant passes and horrible foul calls was enough to curtail his contributions tonight but you let it go because he’s Dwight freakin’ Howard.

Josh Smith is a confusing case to me. He cans the threes that make you wince but he seems to have learned. I sat next to a Rockets fan and we shrugged when he hit his threes. After missing a couple more, he continued to drive and it was to great success.

Side note: If Drew Gooden III is guarding you and you don’t drive, you’re less of a baller than you could be. Seriously, go 1-on-1 with your grandfather, similar level of challenge here.

Corey Brewer

Biggest pick up of any team this year. LeBron James could have been traded out of Cleveland at the deadline and I’d still be singing Darly Morey’s praises and Brewer’s accolades. The guy lays it out on the court and refuses to let the team get lagged up. Every time he checked in an air of relief came over any Rockets fans in attendance. We knew he was going to run. We saw him hit some incredible shots.

Nick Johnson, sit down

Johnson had a couple of great plays and disrupted some breaks but other than that, I was really disappointed. Johnson is in a great place to make the case for some minutes but instead, he aimlessly wandered the perimeter, put up a couple bad shots, failed to force the issue when appropriate, and ultimately showed one great hustle play snagging his own board and getting to the free throw line. On the bright side, he is the reason we got free Chick-fil-A (Opposing player missed two free throws in the 4th quarter, DC gets free chicken sandwiches).

I’m ready for K.J. McDaniels time and I still don’t know how to feel about that.

Daaaaaaaaaa Beard

James Harden ended the game with 24 points. Watching it in person, you questioned if he was touching the ball enough. This is a guy who gets to the line a little over nine times a game and if we’re honest, it should be about 14. So many whistles are swallowed on Harden drives. Whistles you see on one end of the court need to get earned.

When comparing Harden to a guy like Stephen Curry you’re stuck with having to confess one thing, if Curry were half as aggressive as Harden, Curry would probably score about 10 more points a game. Harden is amazing to behold in person. Seriously, go buy whatever standing room tickets you can when the Rockets are in town.

Momentum

There’s a lot to be said for this intangible. The Rockets seemed to control the emotion in the building. They would collapse or shoot themselves in the foot at times but the veterans steeled resolve. In timeouts you could see McHale’s comfort level with his staff. He actively walked out of the huddle to give his squad time to talk it over. The team really controlled the ebb and flow of the game. There’s something special about Terry and Brewer going out of their way to explain to Harden where he’s got opportunities. The assistant coaches have a real fetish with showing Dwight how to use his butt, though.

Post-Season Awards

Rockets v. Wizards, A Bird’s Eye View

By Brandon Davis | Mar 30, 2015