Wahoo... the Rockets win again! Championship, here we come!
Rockets 81
Bucks 69
Box Score
High scorers - Malick Badiane - 18, Dion Glover - 18, Lonny Baxter - 15
Bright spots - Badiane, Baxter, Luther Head
Just when you think he's buried, he rises up again.
Badiane's point total could have been even higher had it not been for 4 straight misses at the FT line. He played decently but his deficiencies were still displayed. He has a lot of trouble bodying people up down low without drawing a foul. He's a great weakside defender/blocker, but I don't know how long he'd last 1 on 1 in the paint against a good PF/C. They say he's gained about 20 pounds, but he's still hops and shaped like a pogo stick. The hustle is still there. He was pretty much MIA in the first game, but put his mark on this game while guarding Andrew Bogut a lot as well. He did frustrate Bogut, but at the same time Bogut got inside position on him a lot - hell, so did anyone else they put on him for that matter. Badiane still seemed lost in terms of positioning on defense and I think that is what is killing him. But you see that, and then you see him pop a turnaround 12 footer. You also see him fly in out of nowhere to swat a shot on the baseline by the opponent. On another play early in the first quarter, you see him fly in again for another blocked shot, but it was called goaltending. It still got a lot of murmurs and ooh's and aah's from the crowd. Then when you think you've seen it all, he pops a 16-18 footer. I know, I know... he sucks.
Luther's shot wasn't falling early on. I don't know what his FG% ended up being, but he could've been the spokesperson for ACME early on. That being said, he continues to play hard and you can tell this kid is an athletic freak. He woke the crowd up on a play where he was breaking downcourt and did a "soft" reverse jam. He displayed some of his rookie bad decision-making when he drove the ball on Bogut and tried to hook it over him. He was swatted. Head just smiled. A few seconds later he pops a long range two while falling out of bounds and the clock expiring. JVG wants people to take the clutch shot? This kid doesn't hesitate. That buzzerbeater followed a 3 point buzzerbeater he took and nailed in the first quarter as time ran out. I saw him get beat on defense a couple of times, but I'm sure he can get over it. He was still trying to hawk the ball though.
The two things I took away about Luther Head from this game are:
- The kid can fly on the fast break - whether he's leading it or running it. He'll remind you a bit of Cuttino Mobley.
- He does a great job passing the ball when in the paint. He had a couple of reverse/wraparound passes he made in the game. Malick fumbled one of them, but the pass was beautiful in traffic.
As I noticed in the first game, I also like the fact the kid doesn't force the issue - he takes opportunities as they're given. I wasn't keeping track, but I believe Luther probably only played about 2.5 quarters. I think he left in the 3rd quarter and I don't believe he ever came back.
I really liked this guy's game the few times I've seen him play in college and in the pros. He's a banger inside, has good mobility, and pretty decent range on a jumper. He had foul problems in this game, but the refs were a bit foul-happy, as well. Baxter bangs around on the inside, scraps for rebounds, and has good footwork around the basket. He can take it in or pull it back for a jumper. He's nothing great, but I see a lot of good that could help this team maybe in the role of a backup.
Dion Glover went off for 18 pts in this game. His game is solid and he was given a chance to show his stuff again. If he has an opening he'll drive or if he sees daylight, he'll shoot it. It'll be interesting to see if we give the guy an invite. I don't see why it would be bad to bring him in especially if we're getting rid of some of our other players in trades... *hint* *hint* *mr. van gundy*.
That was pretty much the rest. No one else really stood out. Chuck Hayes came in and didn't really do much. Hollis Price saw a lot of time at the PG again and distributed the ball well.
You'll see Andrew Bogut's line and it'll show he scored 20+ points. Half of those were on dunks where he was wide open due to our bad defense where we left him alone. The other half of his points were from the FT line. I watched him play and I could see he wasn't a stiff, but after seeing what I saw, I wasn't sure I was watching a #1 pick. But then this is only his 2nd game, so I guess I can wait...
