NBA Opening Night: Grading Each Houston Rocket's Performance Against Los Angeles
This was the game that Rockets fans had been waiting for since finding out Yao Ming would be lost for the season last year. A chance at redemption, at revenge after losing to the Lakers in a heartbreaking seven game series in the 2009 Playoffs.
Now, at full strength, this was the time where the Rockets would show all the experts that they were for real, that they could compete with anyone in the entire NBA. There truly was no better test than the Lakers, the reigning NBA champions, and while they lost the game, they proved to the NBA that they can play with anybody.
However, much like the Rockets tend to do, they made the loss as gut-wrenching as possible. After blowing a huge lead, the Rockets clawed back to retake the lead with just 29 seconds to go before giving up a Steve Blake three pointer that the Rockets were accustomed to having Derek Fisher make. They got two more tries at the tie; however, both Scola and Brooks' shots had little chance of going in.
What does this loss tell us?
The simple fact is without change, this team is not going to be a contender to go deep into the playoffs this year. When it mattered most, in the fourth quarter, the Rockets were at their worst. The offense stagnated and they took jump shot after jump shot as the Lakers came back and eventually built a big lead.
They simply do not have a closer, and until they find one they are going to struggle in games like this against great teams.
Without further ado, here are the grades for each Rocket.
Aaron Brooks
1 of 10
The Rockets' featured scorer last year, Brooks was expected to step back into more of a secondary role this year with the return of Yao Ming and the mid-season acquisition of Kevin Martin last year.
However, Brooks seemed eager to prove his worth early on, scoring fifteen points in the first quarter while propelling the Rockets to a seven point lead.
After the explosive first quarter, he certainly cooled off, but played a well-balanced game while dishing out nine assists. However, from there on out, he only had nine points and seemed to lose some confidence in his scoring ability.
While Battier put him in a bad position on the last play of the game, Brooks should have made a better decision, as his attempt had no chance before he even left the ground. He went for a reverse lay-up when his patented jump stop and front-side layup may have been the better choice. Still, it's hard to criticize a player who generated most of the offense all night and played 42 minutes.
Grade: B+
Final Stats: 24 points on 7-16 shooting, including 4-6 on 3 point attempts and 6-6 from the free throw line, 3 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Kevin Martin
2 of 10
After an injury-riddled year in which he couldn't even lift weights because of a shoulder injury, Martin worked extremely hard to improve in the off-season. He focused especially on three point shooting, area he had historically succeeded in but slumped in last year.
And early on, his work looked to have worked out. In the first quarter, Martin hit two of his first three three pointers on his way to twelve first quarter points. He looked extremely sharp in the offense, and his chemistry with Brad Miller was evident as the two connected on multiple occasions on back door cuts.
Like Brooks, Martin cooled off after the first, and his fourth quarter disappearance was particularly troubling. Martin's lack of a killer instinct has been one of his detractors' greatest issues, and he certainly did little to dispel that notion tonight.
He had one crucial and-one but otherwise was seemingly AWOL when his team needed him most, making only made two field goals in the fourth quarter. He was unable to get open on two separate occasions on the last play of the game, and that forced the Rockets to go into Brooks for a difficult lay-in.
While he scored 26 points tonight, he did little else to help the team.
Grade: C
Final Stats: 26 points on 8-17 shooting, including 3-6 on three point attempts and 7-7 from the free throw line, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Shane Battier
3 of 10
Battier's performance can only be described as Battieresque. He only shot it five times and only had three points, but played solid defense throughout on his way to an all-around solid performance. His solid passing was on display as he kept the offense moving and found shooters in their favorite spots.
However, as has the criticism been for years on Battier, the offense was nearly non-existent against the Lakers. For a starting small forward, you have to expect a bit more. Battier is constantly lauded for his intangibles, but at a certain point, he needs to contribute in more tangible manners.
Still, his impressive defense was on display against Kobe and Ron Artest. Kobe struggled from the field all night and Ron Artest shot few shots other than outside jumpers. However, when it mattered most, Battier failed. After the Rockets got within two with less than two minutes remaining, Battier conceded a crucial and-one to Kobe Bryant.
Additionally, while he passed to the right player on the last play of the game, his pass was too close to the baseline for Brooks to make an easy move to the basket which forced Brooks into a brutally difficult shot.
Grade: C
Final Stats: 3 points on 1-5 shooting, including 1-3 on three point attempts, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.
Luis Scola
4 of 10
Scola looked just like the same old Scola that has been a leader in the locker room since he arrived in Houston. Unfortunately, he's still a somewhat flawed player.
Defensively, Scola looked completely in a fog on the floor at times, losing Lamar Odom multiple times and conceding his share of open baskets to the Lakers. He's never been a good defender, but his defense was particularly bad against the Lakers.
Additionally, down the stretch he missed countless layups as the Lakers built their fourth quarter lead. He could have had 30 points with the number of easy shots he missed throughout.
His sixteen rebounds were crucial, but perhaps the game would've gone the other way had he made some of those gimme shots.
Grade: B-
Final Stats: 18 points on 7-18 shooting, 16 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Yao Ming
5 of 10
One game down, 81 to go. Yao did nothing spectacular and his touch was clearly off, but he stayed upright the whole game and contributed enough to show that he is still a very useful player.
It's very clear that early in the season, Yao is going to be little more than a glorified role player, but he looked like a stellar role player in his first meaningful game in 536 days. He defended reasonably well, rebounded his share of shots, and hit enough shots to show that the old Yao Ming is still inside of him somewhere.
With nine points and eleven rebounds, Yao was just a point away from a double-double and helped tremendously inside. If only the Rockets would get the ball into him a bit more they could've taken advantage of the Lakers' playing without Andrew Bynum.
Grade: B+
Final Stats: 9 points on 4-11 shooting, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.
Chase Budinger
6 of 10
After a terrific rookie season, Budinger picked up right where he left off on Opening Night, scoring 13 points coming off the bench and punishing the Lakers' defense all night long.
His athleticism was on display as he ran the floor in transition, worked off of screens to get his shots, and threw down a couple ferocious dunks. Additionally, his defense looked much better than it did last year, a crucial step young players need to take if they want to become great players.
The sophomore year is often the most important year for players entering the league—there are always many rookies that put up huge numbers but fewer that can keep it up past one year—and if Budinger keeps this up, his career prospects are certainly looking up.
He's absolutely tailor-made for the Rockets' system, and tonight Budinger showed that against the Lakers. Makes you wonder why he isn't finishing game, because his game looked tremendous tonight.
Grade: A
Final Stats: 13 points on 6-10 shooting, including 0-2 on three point attempts, and 5 rebounds.
Brad Miller
7 of 10
The back-up to the 24 minute man, Brad Miller will be counted on for a lot in this season. The Rockets have players capable of masquerading as centers such as Chuck Hayes and Jordan Hill, but there is no substitute for a true seven foot center, especially against long teams like the Lakers.
And boy did Miller deliver in his debut as a Houston Rocket. He only had nine points, but dished out two assists and picked up nine rebounds to help the Rockets when Yao was not on the floor.
His defense looked decent, but he was definitely not quick enough to keep up with the Laker bigs at times. His foot speed is simply not there anymore at his age.
If he can keep this up, the Rockets will look a lot better going forward with another seven foot big man who can match-up with some of the hulking front courts in the league.
Grade: A-
Final Stats: 9 points on 1-4 shooting, including 0-1 on three point attempts and 7-8 from the free throw line, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals.
Courtney Lee
8 of 10
The new addition from New Jersey, Courtney Lee showcased a diverse game in the pre-season and continued that into Opening Night.
He demonstrated a variety of scoring moves—cutting to the rim, pulling up for a quick floater, and shooting from outside. His jump shot was a bit off, but he still was fairly effective from on the offensive end.
Defensively, it was another matter. While he has been a good defender historically, he really struggled against the Lakers. Kobe Bryant and even Shannon Brown scored with ease against him, and while he had three steals, that statistic is not exactly indicative of his overall performance. Whether it was his fault or not, the Lakers seemed to go on runs the moment he entered the game.
With all due respect to Shannon Brown, he has no business scoring sixteen points against the Rockets.
Grade: C-
Final Stats: 8 points on 4-9 shooting, 3 steals, 0 assists, and 0 rebounds.
Chuck Hayes
9 of 10
Chuck Hayes, like Shane Battier, plays for the Rockets mostly because of his defense. Actually, in Hayes' case, he plays only because of his defense.
Tonight was no different. Despite putting up all goose eggs on the stat sheet save one assist and one block, Hayes got fifteen minutes of playing time. With all due respect to Chuck Hayes, that is simply indefensible.
While he can usually get by on less than stellar offense because of his suffocating defense and incredible rebounding, tonight he could not, mostly because his defense and rebounding were neither suffocating or incredible.
Other than an early Pau Gasol post-up in which Gasol was forced into an ugly air ball, Hayes' defense was not very good. He blocked one Artest move to the basket but otherwise struggled to cut off his man and force him into bad shots. Additionally, the zero rebounds are pitiful for a player of his caliber.
Grade: D
Final Stats: 0 points on 0-0 shooting, 0 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist.
Ishmael Smith
10 of 10
Ishmael Smith played limited minutes and had one assist to go along with zero points. With Brooks shooting well, he didn't see the floor because the Rockets needed Brooks' scoring punch. He'll likely be a situational player all year.
Grade: C
Final Stats: 0 points on 0-1 shooting and 1 assist.
