From our Houston Rockets blog, The Dream Shake, comes a simple question, and a distressing answer for Rockets fans:
Who Takes The Last Shot In Houston?
You couldn’t ignore it. The Rockets countered with baskets, but you still weren’t convinced. And then, when it came down to the final 13 seconds of the game, you thought about it yet again.
Who is going to take the final shot?
With the final possession determining the outcome of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t about to let anyone score the easy way.
How about sending Aaron Brooks through the lane for a dwarf-tastic layup? Nope. Andrew Bynum wasn’t about give Brooks any space by stepping up late to help again.
Or how about giving Trevor Ariza space to isolate his defender? Nope. Ron Artest wasn’t going to give an inch of room for Ariza to beat him off the dribble.
In the end, the Rockets got caught in between both options, and it resulted in a turnover. When we finally got our answer to who was going to step up at the end, it was pretty clear: Nobody.
It’s a good point, and reminds me of a question I found myself asking back in September, talking about the Rockets:
…Everyone serves a purpose on that roster, and many of the players excel in doing the “little things” that help teams win. Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes, Trevor Ariza, Battier, Aaron Brooks, Brent Barry—they all do one thing or another very well, and in theory, the parts should add up to form a dominant, cohesive basketball team.
But that’s the thing: it’s still unclear if it’ll shake out that way. Can a bunch of guys that excel at the “little things” do the “big thing,” which is “win”?
And though I foolishly ignored the obvious point back in September, last night’s game proves it—a lot of guys can do the little things very well, but in the end, it’s very difficult to win close games without a star player that can create offense for himself down the stretch. When the game gets tense, and both teams bear down on defense, it helps to have a guy who can just put your team on his back. Tracy McGrady, should he ever get healthy again… He’d be a great candidate for that role. Yao Ming, too, although to a lesser extent, as it’s harder to depend on post players in the final minute.
Instead, the Rockets have Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza and Luis Scola—all good players, but not one of whom can ever single-handedly carry a team. They do plenty of things to help a team, but it’s just not in their DNA, and the same goes for the rest of the Rockets. For Houston, that’s a problem.
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