ROCKETS 115, GRIZZLIES 103
John Wall and Jae'Sean Tate lead Rockets to dominating victory over Grizzlies
Feb 5, 2021, 1:49 pm
The Rockets suffered a big loss despite getting the win. Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images
The Houston Rockets showed their complete dominance defensively Thursday night versus the Memphis Grizzlies as they won 115-103. No player for the Grizzlies scored over 16 points against the Rockets' defense. John Wall and Jae'Sean Tate stood out the most in the Rockets' win. The saddest part of the night was Christian Wood's ankle injury, which became heartbreaking.
On Wednesday night, the Rockets were defeated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in a blown-out fashion. John Wall did not play because of the passing of his grandmother. The Rockets lacked energy against the Thunder. Wall understood his leadership, guidance, and presence was clearly missing in Wednesday night's loss. In Thursday's victory, Wall had a plus 34 from the field. Wall's misdirection and ability to attack the paint created open opportunities for his teammates. He created pressure on the Grizzlies interior defense, so the Rockets had open shooters on the perimeter. The Rockets shot 42% from the three-point line, including Wall shooting 44% too. Wall increased the Rockets offensive rating from 80.6 to 117.6 against the Grizzlies within two nights.
"It makes it immensely easier," as Coach Silas mentioned on Wall's game. "He has a great feel for the game. He has great feel for the point guard position as far as who needs [a] shot. Attacking defenses and defenders that might not be able to guard him. When you have your leader on the floor it makes every one's job easier."
Wall loves directing the offense, so everyone is involved in different actions and accumulated inside the set. He has become great at catching the defense off guard. Those eight assists came from finding the right teammate in position. Wall finished with 22 points by only taking six shots.
"He [John Wall] sees stuff a lot of people don't see and that's why he is one of the best point guards in the league," as Jae'Sean Tate gave Wall praise. "He is such tough cover because he is so fast and knows how to manipulate the defense to get what we need."
Speaking of Tate, his night was fantastic against the Grizzlies as he took advantage of the creases in their defense. Tate became effective by taking open shots, being aggressive in the paint, and setting quality screens. He even showed his ability to cut towards the basket. Tate's IQ is impressive for a 25-year-old rookie. He shot 77% from the field and had 19 points in Thursday night's game. Tate became sneaky inside the Grizzlies painted area by being 4/4 in the restricted area. Hopefully, Tate climbs the poll of Rookie of the Year candidacy.
Career-high 19pts along with 7reb for @o_tate_ in the win! https://t.co/i81bGmrOcf— Houston Rockets (@Houston Rockets) 1612500680.0
"It's about me being comfortable out there," as Tate mentioned to the media. "Just getting more used to the pace of the game and learning how to read the game. The vets are helping me dissect [the] game."
The Rockets' defense did a tremendous job of slowing down the number one bench in the NBA. In the beginning of the game, the Rockets did have a problem slowing down the Grizzlies transition offense. The Rockets' biggest objective was getting back on defense as the Grizzlies were ferocious with their fast break points. As the Rockets eventually got set on defense, the Grizzlies struggled from the field. The Grizzlies shot the three-ball at 34.3%, as the Rockets caused contested attempts. Although the Grizzlies finished with 11 offensive rebounds, only seven of those rebounds came from the first quarter. Houston's defensive rating was a 105.1 versus the Memphis.
"I feel like if we can get back in transition and get our defense set, we can really defend and make it hard on teams. Versatility is key in our defense," as coach Silas praised their defensive performance.
The Rockets eventually went on an 18-4 run late in the second quarter, which helped the second-best defense control the game. It's incredible how the Rockets have the second-best defense in the league as they are right behind the Los Angeles Lakers.
Up next: Hopefully, the Rockets maintain their play as they take on the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night.
With overnight temperatures dipping into the 20s this week in Houston, it seems good timing to have the warm thoughts of baseball being back, at least spring training games. The Astros have more shakiness about their squad than they have had in nearly a decade, but the Astros still have a nucleus of an American League West contender. With the exits of Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, it’s just a notably different nucleus than in recent years.
Jose Altuve is the last remaining mainstay of the greatest era in Astros’ history, and he is one of the biggest stories of their preseason as he for the time being at least is left fielder Jose Altuve. By every indication he is embracing the challenge with class and energy. The obvious impetus for test driving the move is the soon-to-be 35 years old Altuve’s defensive deterioration. It can be tough for the player himself to notice that his range has declined. The voiding of defensive shifts after the 2022 season shined a brighter light on Altuve’s D decline. Still, last season Altuve made his ninth All-Star team and despite also displaying some offensive decline remained the clearly best offensive second baseman in the American League. It’s part of the tradeoff of reducing the defensive workload on Yordan Alvarez, and hoping to upgrade defensively at second with some combo of Mauricio Dubon, Brendan Rodgers, or other.
The natural comparison in Astros’ history of a franchise icon losing his defensive spot and making a late-career position change is to Craig Biggio. Biggio’s All-Star days were behind him when the Astros moved him from second base to center field for the 2003 season because of the signing of free agent Jeff Kent. It spoke to the athlete Biggio was that at 37 years old he could make the move at all. After not quite a season and a half in center, Biggio moved to left when the Astros traded for young stud center fielder Carlos Beltran. Both Kent and Beltran left in free agency after the 2004 season, and Biggio moved back to second for the final three seasons of his career.
Second basemen are often second basemen and not shortstops in part because of their throwing arms. Altuve’s throwing arm will be an issue in left field. Even though Daikin Park has the smallest square footage of fair territory in Major League Baseball because of its left to left-center field dimensions, Altuve’s arm will be a liability. In understandably wanting to put an optimistic spin on things, manager Joe Espada and general manager Dana Brown have talked of how Altuve will be able to get momentum behind throws more so than when playing second. That’s true when camping under a fly ball in the outfield. That is not true when Altuve will have to cut off balls hit toward the left field line, or cutting across into the left-center field gap. There will be balls that would be singles when hit to other left fielders that will become doubles when Altuve has to play them, and baserunners will go from first to third and second to home much more readily. As an infielder Altuve has always been outstanding at running down pop-ups, so there is reason to believe he’ll be solid tracking fly balls in the outfield. However, the reality of a guy who is five feet six inches tall (in spikes) is that there will be the occasional fly ball or line drive that is beyond his grasp that more “normal” sized outfielders would grab. Try to name a good outfielder who stood shorter than five-foot-nine...
Here’s one: Hall of Famer Tim Raines (also originally a second baseman) was (and presumably still is!) five-foot-eight.
Here's another: Hall of Famer Hack Wilson was five-six. Four times he led the National League in home runs topped by a whopping 56 in 1930 when he set the still standing record of 191 runs batted in for a single season.
And another: Hall of Famer five-foot-four “Wee” Willie Keeler. Who last played in 1910.
Just a bit outside
Another element new to the Grapefruit League in Florida (and Cactus League in Arizona) this year is the limited use of what Major League Baseball is calling the Automated Ball Strike System. The ABS is likely coming to regular season games next year. This spring will be our first look at its use in big league games. Home plate umpires making ball and strike calls will not be going the way of the dinosaur. Challenges can be made until a team is wrong twice. Significantly, only the batter, pitcher, or catcher can challenge and must do so within two seconds of the pitch being caught. No dugout input allowed. No time to watch a replay.
The Astros’ spring park in West Palm Beach is not among the 13 facilities set up with ABS cameras. That seems silly given that the Astros share the place with the Washington Nationals. More use would be gotten from, and more data collected there than will be from a park with half the spring games played in it.
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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