Post-Game Analysis: Lakers 105, Rockets 100

[Clutch]

post-game analysis starts here...

[don grahamleone]

at least take a 3, yao

[anesticle]

ah phooey...

[jgon2098]

SKIP TO MY BRICK!!!!

GOD I HATE THAT GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

BRICK A FREETHROW FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BRICK BRICK BRICK

BRICK


BRICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KaiSeR SoZe]

what the hell was yao thinking? we still had time, brooks was open.

your a basketball player, you should know what to do in that situation.

and kobe bryant is ridiculous.

[Rocketsfan_RN]

Atleast we know we can hang with the big boys. We just need Tmac and Artest healthy

[evo8jp]

Rafer man good job

[Yak]

Good effort.

A lot of positive things to take out of this game.

Yao's 2 pointer is understandable, the play wasn't working and he knew the shot clock was dwindling, so he panicked.

Oh well, great effort by a lot of the players.

[Marsarinian]

If only, if only... Wafer should have had more shots... Several boneheaded plays down the stretch, but it was a good game. The Rockets gave all they had. Props to the team.

[rawool]

Terrible... terrible.. ending.

[Zboy]

Rafer is a walking definition of brick.

Enjoy him!

[ind0fo0]

**** RAFER ALSTON you have no brain

[JunkyardDwg]

I don't think I've ever seen a Rockets team (in recent memory) more ill-equipped to execute a play coming out of a time out. Way too many mental mistakes.

And that lies squarely on the shoulders of RA.


And Von Wafer had been shooting lights out all game, yet it was Rafer he was taking the shots down the stretch? Baffling.

[HeWhoIsLunchbox]

It's pretty hard to beat a team with 18 men on it. The foul shot differential along with a few bad decisions cost us this game.

[badgerfan]

Sigh, the Rockets get more rebounds, shoot a higher fg % and get more bench production.

What's the margin of difference? Foul shots.

[jgon2098]

SKIP TO MY













































BRICK

[Air Langhi]

I always thought yao was smart; even if we made that shot we lose.

[Jeff Who]

You DON'T WIN GAMES with Yao and Rafer in the 4th. Those guys ALWAYS fail...

Sad, but pretty good game, I belive. Still, we need T-Mac, I mean a real T-Mac and a healthly Artest.

[Spacemoth]

Just like the Utah game, Rafer got blue balls when it came time to shoot high pressure free throws. I hate to say it, but he's the #2 representative of the culture of choking on this team.

GJ by the team overall. Great heart and passion coming out and going 5v8.

[vcchlw]

Adelman's Rockets = Sacramento Kings II

Got screwed by Lakers' refs and then choked at the end. :mad:

I love the players' efforts but I HATE this game.

[rox0607champs]

you know i would have been fine by losing it with missing a three but my missing 2 freakin freethrows and taking a 2 instead of a 3 at the end....come on thats pathetic............SPLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and why the hell was wafer not getting the ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[King901]

Blame Yao Rafer and Landry, they choked. They couldnt come through in the pressure. They showed why Tmac is needed.

[Bassem]

Hey, even though we lost, I have to say that that was a good game. Both teams played pretty well, and Von Wafer was unbelievable tonight. I think this is a very good sign for the Rockets, who almost won, without 2 of their stars. So, good game.

[Charles Jones]

dont blame RAFER on reason for the L

the REFS

[TexAg]

Sure terrible ending, but wow what a one sided officiating crew! They had 4 times as many free throw attempts than us. Not sure how Kobe's full bucket drive into yao ming in the 2nd quarter wasnt more obvious an offensive foul. All in all Free throw attempts is what kept L A in this game. We played great.

[xouterheavenx]

stupid game.
bad officiating.
and skip sucks.

[JohnnyC]

i just don understand why they give the ball to yao?????

[sleepyassassain]

they don't need tmac they got von the savior oh yeah 24-16 and out of the playoff race now

[Summer Song Giver]

Just wondering if Tracey, on his way out, could take the rest of these jokers with them?

Unbelievable :mad:

[fleshbody]

we fought to the last min, it's just:
1.kobe being kobe at last.
2.rafer's missed ft
3.most important, REFs killed us

who cares about the sitting 30 million? we got von wafer!

[Raibonsters]

i just wonder why Wafer didn't get the ball

[tigernet]

Any coach in NBA knows Rafer is not a fourth quarter material except Rick Adelman.

[baller4life315]

Not that a "moral victory" does anything for you in the Western Conference but this team deserves a lot of credit for having the Lakers on the ropes the way they did. What can you do when guys like Ariza defy odds and get hot from downtown or Kobe hits impossible shots?

[Shaunjon]

smh...

Rafer is a cancer ON the court. He tried to play hero and blew an easy shot, two free throws, and completely forgot about Wafer in the 4th.

Bad Refs+Rafer= Loss

[daddy cool]

The lakers got spotted 20 points in free throws from teh jump and the only reason reafer had the rock at the end wa because they denied all the passing lanes.



Nobody's fault we were undermanned and still should have won the game. Kobe misses the three we win this game yall.



The lakers can't handle Yao just wait until tracy and Yao come back. The lakers are softttt and got handed 20 free throws as a spot.

[Nick]

Did Yao even score in the 4th quarter???

How the heck is he the franchise player if he can be this neutralized with no other options?

[mic]

I wasn't expecting a win, but jesus... did we tank or what.

Sigh.

[sab504]

Team is complete garbage. Coach is an idiot. I cant believe he choose rafer over aaron for the last play.. ummm

We're paying a 20 mio knee jerk glass guy.

Argh, very hard to watch this team play, especially when yao runs out of gas in the 4th qrt.

[J.Will.Xu]

Refs sucked,Skip to my BRICK and poor decision in final possession. :mad:

FWIW,that was awesome and competitive.I love Von Wafer!He's the man! :D

[Bustnani]

For years a lot of us have been calling for a new starting PG, and Rafer retains his starting spot by default

[john_l]

Game was fixed by the league or by the refs. It doesn't matter which.

I'll start believing something else when they start calling all of the inside contact on Yao in our favor.

Sigh, the Rockets get more rebounds, shoot a higher fg % and get more bench production.

What's the margin of difference? Foul shots.

[JuNx]

True, I would have been happy with Wafer taking a crazy three!!!!...

[The Brian]

whenever we need a final bucket to score, adelman always fails.

get it to barry, battier, or wafer if we need a 3.

rafer was terrible; we really lost the game there. i mean making 2 free throws squares the game up and changes everything.

yao...wtf was that? he could have passed it back out to brooks or someone?!

one thing i don't understand: why did brooks pass to yao in the first place? they need a 3, yao should not have it.

[legacygt777]

dude....landry was wide open!!!! :eek: why did he not shoot?

[lethe]

That's the way it is... Yao was not himself at the end, he was too nervous obviously. But still a good effort by this team, thank you guys.

[dave18]

what the hell was the plan for the last shot??? YAO for 2? Are you kidding??? How was that able to help?

[aurocketfan]

freaking kobe,,,,damn,,,,
nice effort by the players thogh...

[davidxhz]

Damn it, Why is it a loss!

[1individual]

I didn't expect a win anyway, but Rafer blew the game with his horrible FTs. Far by the worst free throw shooter in our team, even Chuck is better. Battier for 3 was awesome, but how in the world did Kobe shoot his?

[solid]

1. Perhaps the most entertaining game to watch all year, certainly up there.

2. Why did the Rockets go away from Von Wafer when he was on fire for most of the game?

3. Why was Barry not in on the last play? That's just stupid, threes are his specialty.

4. Why did Yao shoot a two?

5. Overall, the Rockets have some very good young players, and, overall, Yao had a good game. With a completely healed TMac and Artest, this team could be really, really good, but at least the future looks bright with Brooks (not good tonight), Landry, and Wafer. I enjoyed watching the game, but it was very winnable. The Rockets made some boneheaded plays down the stretch. I don't even want to talk about Rafer.

[engr_alex]

you can blame RA/DM for putting too much faith on rafer.

why would you go to rafer for a floater to tie a game? you ALWAYS go to your best guy!

[lalala902102001]

It was a well-played game. Tough ending.

Yao had a mental breakdown there. Rafer just plainly sucks.

[sleepyassassain]

i just wonder why Wafer didn't get the ball


Kobe really started playing d on him couldn't get open

[Rokkit]

WTF was Yao thinking?

Brooks was screaming for the ball to take the three.

[Chamillionaire]

i guess there are a lot of factors for us losing, but rafer missing the free throws, not acceptable. especially by our starting pg. had it been anyone else, i'm sure they woulda hit both.

[fleshbody]

Blame Yao Rafer and Landry, they choked. They couldnt come through in the pressure. They showed why Tmac is needed.

are you serious? talk about tmac under pressure? he QUITTED, thanks

[tigernet]

The players on the court don't have discipline at clutch time, because their coach doesn't enforce discipline during training time.

That's the difference of the game. Von Wafer no ball but Rafer dominates the ball.

[daernoth]

My comments:

1)That last play was badly drawn up. Yao should have never touched the ball. He should have been a screener. Why post up?

2)Wafer didnt get any shots in last minutes of the game. Why??????? This is th e main complaint against the Rox. They play dumb and dont look for the people that are hot when it matters.

3)The refs killed us. Many terrible calls. They effectively neutralized Scola and gave the Lakers a good FT advantage.

4)Otherwise a great game by the Rox. Wafer was awesome. He elevates high on his jumper just like Tmac so its very hard to defend him in the perimeter.

5)All in all a good beginning for the post-McGrady era... wait, that guy is still on the team? Nm :(

[oldyellow]

we fought to the last min, it's just:
1.kobe being kobe at last.
2.rafer's missed ft
3.most important, REFs killed us

who cares about the sitting 30 million? we got von wafer!

Can not agree more. A man's loss > A lady's win!!!

[TexAg]

Blame Yao Rafer and Landry, they choked. They couldnt come through in the pressure. They showed why Tmac is needed.

I could not possibly disagree with you more. Comments like these might explain why you have almost 3 times as many post than I and are still Rookie Status. Yao Ming 9 for 18 with 17 rebounds (all while being hacked and abused) , Rafer not as hot at 5 for 14 but he usually doesn't shoot well and Landry was 8 for 12. Yao had a mental error in the end, but the game shouldnt of been close considering they had 3 times as many attempts at free throws than us and we were the home team!

[stylus8088]

man what a game. i have to say they all fought hard out there. i mean, kobe was just clutch even with battier on him. however, i was terribly disappointed at the last few seconds. i mean rafer should've made those FTs. second, i was hoping to see wafer shoot at the last second. he was 3-4 at the 3 pt line. i don't blame yao for the two though. he had to do something as the shot clock was going down. overall, i was happy with the team effort. GO ROCKETS!!!

[bgismh]

The point guards were just awful tonight. Alston missed both free throws that would have tied the game with 8 seconds left and only shot 5-14. Brooks was only 2-10, that's a combined 7-24 from those two.

[dunk11]

a good effort by this team....
that shall be the way we play every night!

[oldyellow]

The players on the court don't have discipline at clutch time, because their coach doesn't enforce discipline during training time.

That's the difference of the game. Von Wafer no ball but Rafer dominates the ball.

Exactly, it is aldelman's fault!!!

[dlite316]

good game, but terrible officiating

[JoeBarelyCares]

Rafer = choke.

[waihh]

It was a good fight until the last play.
RA's done a poor job in not being able to come out with a play that give someone a clear shot.
Yao had a mental collapse in not realizing his last shot was giving up the last chance.
I do not want to bash after a good game of everyone from the team. Everyone played hard which gave the rockets a chance to win. That being said, the mistake in the last play is unforgivable. The coach had to do a better job.

[blender]

The Rockets haven't played close games where McGrady was not their go-to player. It was an unfamiliar situation and they panicked.

But still, it was a great game and definitely something to build upon.

[llRainmanll]

you all are so typical, when we lose yall get mad at the people that yall were thanking like 15 mins ago. Yao Ming didn't come up big in the 4th because they were giving him a weak-side double team, where he had to pass out of it, they put rafer in at the end because brooks can't run a play worth shxt. Von wafer had a great game. Carl Landry isn't clutch, after seeing him pass up that wide open shot. Great game, no excuses, just learn from the loss, pick up the goods, change the bads, keep it rollin. :cool:

[steping]

watching ODOM on NBATV now, talking about their big D that win the game...

to me, it was the refs won the game

although, rox has a lot to improve... like the last offensive, can not believe that was fresh out of a timeout....

and Rafer Alston.... I don't see any reason he can play in the 4Q of a tight game... too many opportunistic shots

[northeastfan]

The NBA wants a Cleveland - Lakers finals based on the officiating.

Step one ... get Yao out. Check.

Step two ... all close calls go to the Lakers. Check.

Step three ... pay off officials.

[Shaud]

Tough loss. We had so many chances when we were up 4 pts, we kept allowing Ariza to hit 3's to keep them in it.

Then Kobe took over at the end and we folded.

[dave18]

Nice, we are dropping out of the top 8.
We are always unable to put the ball in the hands of the player who obviously plays best in the game. Where was Wafer at the end when we desperately needed 3 pointer??
We cannot be a contender unless we stop making mistakes and play wisely.

[EbolaScola]

Terrible... terrible.. ending.

And it was such a good game with great promise :( :( :( :( :( :(

[johnstarks]

There's no way in hell they should get 3x more free throws than we did

[conquistador#11]

why do we even need refs when kobe plays? they should just let him call his own fouls like in streetball.

[RocketsHero]

This is not a game 7 in the playoff, we can build on this. It is time. We can be victorious if we believe.

[jingle77]

Just want to say : when clutch , no rafer attack !!!


Elite teams always have most successable attack when CLUTCH. We have to get those tragedy in prepare for the hardest defense.
At least , NO RAFER ATTACK WHEN CLUTCH ! :mad:

[KaiSeR SoZe]

what the hell was yao thinking? we still had time, brooks was open.

your a basketball player, you should know what to do in that situation.

and kobe bryant is ridiculous.

[janpwnz]

Reasons why we lost.
1.) REFS GOT YAO IN FOUL TROUBLE
2.) REFS FAVOR LAKERS IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY AKA JUMP BALL/DEFENSIVE FOULS/LIST GOES ON
3.) AIRBALLSTON
4.) RICK ADELMAN'S LEFT HIS "END GAME PLAYS BOOK" AT HOME

I am not gonna describe the first 3 things coz i am sure all of you guys witnessed the game and refs with their shade on. The last play where they needed a THREE to tie the game. There were no off dribble PICKS what so ever. Yao should have designed to set a off dribble pick for someone then we can get a 3's even if we have to pray for it. That play was so godawfully broken that i think my old 65 oldsmobile is in a better shape than that play. Gawdawful last 20 second of the game. Witnessing all the Free throws from Rafer and the Godawful plays at the end will give me nightmare for the next 10 days. AMEN!

[eveluvsrox]

BROOKS WAS WAITING FOR YAO TO PASS IT BACK TO HIM.
YAO SO UNCLUTCH.
WAFER WAS BEING GUARDED TOO WELL.
RAFER SUCKS ASS UNDER PRESSURE. that was the biggest choke ever.
KOBE WITH A DAGGER TO MY HEART.

overall nice try.

[Shaud]

Refs were bad but we had a chance to win but didn't execute.

Giving them open 3's
Rafer missing two free throws
Last play not executed correctly.

Nope not blaming the refs for this one.

[thegame_2234]

GREAT GAME BAD RESULT BUT REMEMBER NOW THAT WE HAVE A ARTEST IN THE REST AND TMAC


AS MUCH I HAVE SAID TMAC IS BROKE DOWN (THAT HE IS) WE WOULD GET BETTER THIS IS THE TEAM I ROUT FOR NOT THE LAZYNES THAT WE WAS PLAYING.

[Charles Jones]

good game, but terrible officiating


exactly!!

look at the free throw comparison kobe and pao yell every time they shoot and when kobe got the tech they started giving him the calls this is BS the league should look into this


noticed that one ref the one on the bottom on the screen most the game called everything for the lakers he probably had the spread

[adagio75]

Are U Kidding Me!!!!!!!! I am not content nor proud of that game!

#1 Rafer Alston-Stupid Stupid Stupid!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do you shut out the leading scorer of the game???????? That was so direspectful!!!! This man got you the chance to win the game and you selfishly avoid giving a chance to win us the game through most of the 4th quarter??????

#2 Von Wafer- He Gets u there and yo dumb point guard does'nt let him touch the ball in the last 5 minutes!!!!!!

#3 Yao-We need a 3 pointer not a 2 pointer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugh!!!!!!!!!

#5 Rick Adelman- No coaching in the crunch!!!!!!!! you suck at clutch coaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to take a breath because i am soooooooo pissed!!!!!!

[eazy123]

gud game i must admit.......dum mistake at the end brooks shud neva have the ball in his hands in a situation like that.............even tho rafer missed the two free throws i wud hav given the ball to him to create sumthin 7 secs is pretty long......jus a dum ending.....

[thacabbage]

Did Yao even score in the 4th quarter???

How the heck is he the franchise player if he can be this neutralized with no other options?
It's hilarious because almost every game plays out the exact same story and reaffirms the same things.

We have a great group of guys and are DEEP as hell. Yao's a great anchor to keep you afloat for a few quarters. A weapon to be utilized.

But once again, emphatically, if Yao Ming is your best player, you have no hope of being relevant. I still can't believe people are still delusional about this. You have to have some sort of closer in the 4th.

And Rafer...good grief.

Very encouraging effort overall though against a tough opponent.

[Felixthecat]

The Fakers have 8 Players on the floor at all times.

[dadesokan]

We gave this one away. So said. How did Wafer not get the ball at the end. Yao is not very cerebral. After that 4th foul, he was just not the same.

Sad loss. Rafer, what can you say....He is just not good enough

[The Brian]

the ending ruined a great game for me.

so tired of losing.

we need artest back!

[MorningDew]

You DON'T WIN GAMES with Yao and Rafer in the 4th. Those guys ALWAYS fail...

:mad: They will be there... hey hater, another game proving you have failed since day1...

[janpwnz]

The NBA wants a Cleveland - Lakers finals based on the officiating.

Step one ... get Yao out. Check.

Step two ... all close calls go to the Lakers. Check.

Step three ... pay off officials.

As a rockets fan

Step one ... Gather like 20 rockets fans

Step two ... Buy 20 plane tickets and 20 home stand tickets

Step three ... 20 guys all get into the court just to beat the refs up

[James Gabriel]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a317/shinobi155/raferchoke.jpg

[doggfrenzy2]

told ya
Yao in the 4th is complete garbage and that's why we need ron or Tmac

[esteban]

This team minus Mcgrady showed some true grit tonight!

The deck is stacked against them with those f***ing refs.

How about trading Mcgrady for a real starting point guard?

[daddy cool]

The lakers ar sofftt, They can't hang, They were spotted 20 free throws and still almost lost.We are tougher than them,Just think if we had ron and tracy.They can't guard us but we can guard them

[lcmeng]

You DON'T WIN GAMES with Yao and Rafer in the 4th. Those guys ALWAYS fail...

Sad, but pretty good game, I belive. Still, we need T-Mac, I mean a real T-Mac and a healthly Artest.

For a healthy Mac, I'd suggest you go to McDonald's...

[john_l]

It happens all the time. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5830586.html

Don't tell me that the rules for Kobe are different.

There's no way in hell they should get 3x more free throws than we did

[big11]

Stop crying already! So what if we tie the game with a three, Lakers's probably going to win it in the overtime anyway. Get over it, we just don't have enough firepower right now.

[kaitanuva]

I am not content nor proud of that game!

#1 Rafer Alston-Stupid Stupid Stupid!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do you shut out the leading scorer of the game???????? That was so direspectful!!!! This man got you the chance to win the game and you selfishly avoid giving a chance to win us the game through most of the 4th quarter??????

#2 Von Wafer- He Gets u there and yo dumb point guard does'nt let him touch the ball in the last 5 minutes!!!!!!

#3 Yao-We need a 3 pointer not a 2 pointer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugh!!!!!!!!!

#5 Rick Adelman- No coaching in the crunch!!!!!!!! you suck at clutch coaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to take a breath because i am soooooooo pissed!!!!!!

This pretty much sums up Rockets basketball in clutch time.

[dave18]

you all are so typical, when we lose yall get mad at the people that yall were thanking like 15 mins ago. Yao Ming didn't come up big in the 4th because they were giving him a weak-side double team, where he had to pass out of it, they put rafer in at the end because brooks can't run a play worth shxt. Von wafer had a great game. Carl Landry isn't clutch, after seeing him pass up that wide open shot. Great game, no excuses, just learn from the loss, pick up the goods, change the bads, keep it rollin. :cool:


But Yao still missed all three shots in the 4th quarter, of which he should at least have made one. No matter you are or not a fan of Yao, you've got to admit that Yao has some problem with clutch shots.

[Felixthecat]

Lets trade Tmac for 3refs!!!!

[rocketsmetalspd]

So, what was the TMac's press conference all about after all?

[janpwnz]

Maybe we should just cut T-mac and use the money to buy all the refs around the league! :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

[uchlha]

lol whered #4 go

[Francis3mvp]

I was proud of the Rockets tonight, nobody gave them a chance against the Lakers, yeah Rafer choked at the line but at least he got to the line, I think we are coming down to harsh on Skip. He bailed Landry out by getting the ball with super pass to battier in corner and floating layup over gasol to cut lead to two, just choked his free throws, he's human. Of course, getting it to Wafer would be nice, but yall must not have noticed Kobe was all over Wafer and we know wafer won't get a call with Kobe on him. Yao played great, don't know why people are complaining about him for, he dominated a supposed "elite" center in bynum. Damn proud of rockets, Refs love Kobe and give him whatever he wants and horrible calls against us guarding odom. Healthy T-mac and artest plus a confident wafer is gonna be sweet.

[The Brian]

told ya
Yao in the 4th is complete garbage and that's why we need ron or Tmac
a center cannot finish games.

what a collapse by our point guards and coach.

[zazahan]

Rafer Alston, PG 33 5-14 1-2 0-2 1 2 3 6 1 0 1 0 N/A 11

Aaron Brooks, PG 17 2-10 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 N/A 4

[Tfor3]

man this really sucks.........

[BZ-B]

Houston is nicknamed Clutch City.




lol wut?

[bushbush1988]

this is worse than losing in a blowout...sigh..

[JohnTX281]

you skipped #4

[CHI]

YAO played awesome tonight. That last play sucked, but Rafer should have tied the game up, and it should not have ever even reached that point where Yao takes that shot.

[tmactoyao]

poor officiating by the referees today, but the rockets still could've closed it out..
-landry passing on an open jumper he was hitting all night
-open 3's to ariza?!?!?
- rafer's choke.. barely grazing iron on the floater at the end then missing ft's
-terrible execution by yao.. there was no reason for that shot whatsoever- down by 2 give to back to brooks for a 3
-kobe is too clutch...i thought the rockets would've won since kobe shot over 21 times and lakers have a losing record with that? :o
that being said, von wafer is FANTASTIC.

[Summer Song Giver]

Everything up to and including the Rager FTs might have been the most horrible thing I have ever seen, Rafer is lucky I don't own this team, that big big dumb stiff in the middle is lucky I don't own this team. Rick Adelman is lucky I don't own this team and that pussy of a SG is lucky I don't own this team.

[northeastfan]

But Yao still missed all three shots in the 4th quarter, of which he should at least have made one. No matter you are or not a fan of Yao, you've got to admit that Yao has some problem with clutch shots.

Not as much as Airballston.

[solid]

1. Perhaps the most entertaining game to watch all year, certainly up there.

2. Why did the Rockets go away from Von Wafer when he was on fire for most of the game?

3. Why was Barry not in on the last play? That's just stupid, threes are his specialty.

4. Why did Yao shoot a two?

5. Overall, the Rockets have some very good young players, and, overall, Yao had a good game. With a completely healed TMac and Artest, this team could be really, really good, but at least the future looks bright with Brooks (not good tonight), Landry, and Wafer. I enjoyed watching the game, but it was very winnable. The Rockets made some boneheaded plays down the stretch. I don't even want to talk about Rafer.

[rocketsmetalspd]

Sad thing the Spurs will benefit from the Rockets giving the Lakers a tough game.

[TXRoxBBall]

It is absolutley stupid for a player to not know that you have to have a three. It's on the guys on the court, but even more on the coaches who sit on the sidelines an are paid very well just to make sure crap like that doesn't go without being mentioned. Step up coaches! That wouldn't have happened under JVG.

[rox0607champs]

OMFG!!!!!!! the rox pretty much played a bad ass game for about 47 min and for about the last 1 min the rox had a seizure or something.....they freakin went into a coma specially yao and rafer WTF!!!!!!!!both of our veterans royally screw up....yeah that will boost the confidence of the younger players.. :mad:

[lcmeng]

i just don understand why they give the ball to yao?????
Because of Lakers' D!
There is no time-out. The ball had to go to someone...like Yao.
People are arguing AB being open. Please, go watch the video again, there's a guy between AB and Yao.

[BigM]

these comments are hilarious. yao plays a monster game until he's taken out by the refs, we keep toe to toe with the lakers without t-mac and artest, and little bitches still only want to talk about yao being unclutch and this team sucks. unfreakingbelievable. what game are you people watching?


maybe if yao could even get remotely close to fair officiating he could give you whatever it is you're looking for.

[eazy123]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a317/shinobi155/raferchoke.jpg
ha haa haa lmao

[OCballfan]

Good game guys. Almost gave us Laker fans a heart attack lol. This Rockets team is gonna be tough to beat when Artest/Mac return. I noticed that Carl Landry was playing small forward, does he do that a lot? Or was it just a matchup adjustment to match Odom/Ariza?

[dave18]

The last one I thought about during the game was T-Mac. T-Mac is becoming a joke, isn't he?

[doggfrenzy2]

a center cannot finish games.

what a collapse by our point guards and coach.

Explain to me why he couldn't hit a shot to save his life in the 4th quarter. I am not talking about the stupid 2point attempt he made at the end.

[spyajing]

told ya
Yao in the 4th is complete garbage and that's why we need ron or Tmac

he got double and tribble team. passed the ball out and got 2 assist, what do u except other than that

[archinkent]

we lost but it was a good lost. they have a kobe and we dont. and ppl shouldnt blame yao for that last shot, it was a broken play and he had no one to pass it to anyway.

[AGBee]

It's kind of funny that Yao was kicking the ball out all game long until we absolutely needed him to.

[MD_in_Training]

It's hilarious because almost every game plays out the exact same story and reaffirms the same things.

We have a great group of guys and are DEEP as hell. Yao's a great anchor to keep you afloat for a few quarters. A weapon to be utilized.

But once again, emphatically, if Yao Ming is your best player, you have no hope of being relevant. I still can't believe people are still delusional about this. You have to have some sort of closer in the 4th.

And Rafer...good grief.

Very encouraging effort overall though against a tough opponent.
A closer isn't necessarily the best player on the team. If we got Joe Johnson (who's pretty clutch), Yao would still be the best player on the team.

[UrlPerlMonroe]

Rafer Alston!!! He really pisses me off to no end.
Rockets are going no where with him leading the way.

[TheDreamShake]

I give Rick this loss, you don't get Wafer the ball none in crucial mins. late in the game. :confused:

[doggfrenzy2]

Stop blaming the refs, that's for b1tches. A winner like Kobe will make the shot that counts the most!

[Crush]

Lots of unclutch blame to go around etc but the real problem is with the refs.

'It' always matters not just in crunch time. Adding on a few fouls here and there and taking yao out of the game and the refs can insure the lakers have a nice cushion to win with while rabid fans focus on clutchtime

[BigM]

the refs played this beautifully. blow calls the entire game until the 4th and then call it fairly even so that everyone forgets what happened.

we lost this game because of the refs. period.

[RocketsHero]

The best part for me was Yao showed some leadership initiative and we fought hard all the way.

I hope people don't start pointing finger at each other. We desperately need some chemistry building right now.

[larsv8]

Man we have got to deal with this Point Guard problem. Rafer has proved time and time again that he cannot do what we need him to do. Officiating was awful as per usual. Was a really great game to watch though.

[MD_in_Training]

It's kind of funny that Yao was kicking the ball out all game long until we absolutely needed him to.
Who would he have kicked it to? The double team didn't come until Yao turned his shoulder for the jumpshot.

[UrlPerlMonroe]

I blame the whole loss solely on Rafer Alston!

[BigM]

Lots of unclutch blame to go around etc but the real problem is with the refs.

'It' always matters not just in crunch time. Adding on a few fouls here and there and taking yao out of the game and the refs can insure the lakers have a nice cushion to win with while rabid fans focus on clutchtime


bingo.

[The Brian]

one thing that should be added is that kobe is their clutch closer.

we just don't have a closer on our team with t-mac being such a wimp so we are at a disadvantage at the end.

[tinman]

this loss wasn't so bad. hey, the best team in the NBA came to town and we gave them all we got.

every player on our court played
with HEART
and played like they CARED


I like Wafer, he plays like a ROCKET, not like an ORLANDO MAGIC player
he plays like a ROCKET, FEARLESS and like a MAN

[rox0607champs]

these comments are hilarious. yao plays a monster game until he's taken out by the refs, we keep toe to toe with the lakers without t-mac and artest, and little bitches still only want to talk about yao being unclutch and this team sucks. unfreakingbelievable. what game are you people watching?


maybe if yao could even get remotely close to fair officiating he could give you whatever it is you're looking for.
see post #120 :rolleyes:

[buptjinhe]

**** the refs. I do not see any host advantage here. How come?

[Crush]

Stop blaming the refs, that's for b1tches. A winner like Kobe will make the shot that counts the most!

Winners break the game for cheaters.

Unfortunately, such an action is not possible here. Have to go through 'legal' channels overlooked by fair uncle stern

[RocketsHero]

Also, I am not sure if the play by Brooks is right. Was that the play Alderman drew?

[UrlPerlMonroe]

what coach should have done is to design a play for Yao shooting 3. Water under the bridge now.

[raycf]

Man, everyone here needs to chill out a bit. We were one Kobe 35-foot game-winner from beating the best team in the league without T-Mac and Ron and with the calls going against us. Granted, the Alston FTs and last play were a pretty horrible ending, but all in all I thought it was a thoroughly entertaining, and well-played game. And there were many pluses we can take out of it, including the offence from Wafer and Landry, Yao's ability to consistently get good shots and punish the single coverage (and demand doubles, as seen throughout the 4th), the depth the team showed, especially with Yao and Scola in foul trouble, and the resilience shown by the team to stick with, and be on top of a 30-6 Lakers team for much of the game. I am pissed off/baffled with the ending, but hey, its only January, right?

[BigM]

Also, I am not sure if the play by Brooks is right. Was that the play Alderman drew?


no. adelman said in the post game he wasn't sure why brooks threw it into yao to begin with.

[elnino1985]

it is so obviously that AB didn't run the play RA designed.

he is not intentional to do this, but lack of experience makes him trapped at the corner.

Yao completely didn't expect the ball will go to his hand

[IamKhan]

With Tracy, we lost by 20. (you would replace wafer's 10/13 with 5/20 and no one would guard kobe when battier's on the bench)
[
QUOTE=daddy cool]The lakers ar sofftt, They can't hang, They were spotted 20 free throws and still almost lost.We are tougher than them,Just think if we had ron and tracy.They can't guard us but we can guard them[/QUOTE]

[The Brian]

Explain to me why he couldn't hit a shot to save his life in the 4th quarter. I am not talking about the stupid 2point attempt he made at the end.
he only took about 3 shots before he was swarmed and got a couple assists.

[RocketsHero]

I don't think Mcgrady is a closer at all.

[OCballfan]

I give Rick this loss, you don't get Wafer the ball none in crucial mins. late in the game. :confused:

someone named Kobe was denying him the ball ;) And besides Yao was dominating us inside

[The Brian]

what coach should have done is to design a play for Yao shooting 3. Water under the bridge now.
i'd take yao taking a wide open 3 anyday over what happened today.

[RocketsHero]

The best part for me was Yao showed some leadership initiative and we fought hard all the way.

I hope people don't start pointing finger at each other. We desperately need some chemistry building right now.

[DreamWeaver]

A good game overall.

I think we have a good player in Wafer. Landry came up big again.

Yao was awesome until he was hit with his 4th foul.

Once again we could use some size down low.

We also badly need a closer. Tmac, please come back.

[esteban]

these comments are hilarious. yao plays a monster game until he's taken out by the refs, we keep toe to toe with the lakers without t-mac and artest, and little bitches still only want to talk about yao being unclutch and this team sucks. unfreakingbelievable. what game are you people watching?


maybe if yao could even get remotely close to fair officiating he could give you whatever it is you're looking for.

Yao coudn't even catch a break from our so-called Rocket fans/posters here, what makes you think he can catch a break from those bastard refs.

I feel your pain man!

[solid]

this loss wasn't so bad. hey, the best team in the NBA came to town and we gave them all we got.

every player on our court played
with HEART
and played like they CARED


I like Wafer, he plays like a ROCKET, not like an ORLANDO MAGIC player
he plays like a ROCKET, FEARLESS and like a MAN


Here! Here! I like this post, brings back memories! Good memories! Rocket's Glory, Rocket's attitude!

[verti89]

Firstly...GREAT game all around. The ending hurts but move passed that and its a great game. Especially when you consider that their questionables showed up big time and we played with 10 players

Secondly, yea Rafer choked hard core on those FTs but people very quickly forget the rest of the game and the clutch shot he made right before that.

Thirdly...Yao...really??? no excuses worst decision EVER (1st qtr 2 of 5, 2nd 2-3, 3rd 4-5, 4th 0-4. Maybe Yao isn't actually chinese, maybe his face just looks like that from all the CHOKING he does.

Fourthly I am tired of Battier and his intangibles...have been for awhile. Honestly it looked to me like Wafer played better D on Kobe than Battier did.

5thly and I am NOT making excuses because like I said I am not disappointed in the overall outcome of the game only with the way it happened at the end, BUT Vegas had the Lakers favored by 4. That means in order to win they had to win by 5...24 FTAs for the Fakers...8 for us...8? really???

im done

[choujie]

When Yao needs to set screens, RA put him in low post for some reason.

[legend215]

we lost but it was a good lost. they have a kobe and we dont. and ppl shouldnt blame yao for that last shot, it was a broken play and he had no one to pass it to anyway.


No doubt....well...no loss is a good loss but this is as close as they come. Alot of you guys are pretty funny. The ref basically hand the Lakers the game on a silver platter and yet we were in a position to win it at then end. Face it, they played hellacious D on that last play. And please, please, please don't keep saying that a "healthy" Tracy Lamar would have made a difference. The only difference he would have made - according to his history of playing against Kobe Bean and other elite players of the game - would have been a much lower team FG% and a lost by double digits

[T-Yao]

what the hell yao....

[UrlPerlMonroe]

Had Ron Artest played, I am confident Rockets would have beaten the Lakers.

[northeastfan]

A good game overall.

I think we have a good player in Wafer. Landry came up big again.

Yao was awesome until he was hit with his 4th foul.

Once again we could use some size down low.

We also badly need a closer. Tmac, please come back.

Get serious. TSlack only closes our window for a chance for a win.

[archinkent]

they should have ran the last play by having someone driving in and kicking it out for the 3, ala novak game winner. oh well

[buptjinhe]

Something wrong with RA's head, maybe some water in it. How come Yao stayed on court for the last shot, we need a 3 point, not 2. :mad:

[roxwin]

8 free throws? that says all

[Francis3mvp]

Yao 19 Pts 17 RB 5 AST

What more you want from the guy, he kept us alive in the 3rd quarter, I think Adelman keeping him on bench until 6:00 in the 4th is what does it, not easy when your in a zone, then sit for 20 minutes on bench. Yao's last shot was cause Brooks got trapped in corner and Yao bailed him out and he knew we had to score quick, the man tried, cut him some slack. Lets trade Yao now. How bout Bynum 11 pts 1 RB? Good Game Yao, some people just don't realize how much Yao brings to this team, those 5 assist he had were to guys like Wafer who knocked down threes cause Yao was double teamed, watch the game and yall will see. Gotta Believe

[northeastfan]

No doubt....well...no loss is a good loss but this is as close as they come. Alot of you guys are pretty funny. The ref basically hand the Lakers the game on a silver platter and yet we were in a position to win it at then end. Face it, they played hellacious D on that last play. And please, please, please don't keep saying that a "healthy" Tracy Lamar would have made a difference. The only difference he would have made - according to his history of playing against Kobe Bean and other elite players of the game - would have been a much lower team FG% and a lost by double digits

Correct, absolutely correct.

[fleshbody]

You DON'T WIN GAMES with Yao and Rafer in the 4th. Those guys ALWAYS fail...

Sad, but pretty good game, I belive. Still, we need T-Mac, I mean a real T-Mac and a healthly Artest.

how soon people forget things...who snatch the game winning put up in the boston game? and if you want to see a healthy tmac, see him in other teams before the trade deadline.

[OCballfan]

Something wrong with RA's head, maybe some water in it. How come Yao stayed on court for the last shot, we need a 3 point, not 2. :mad:

Like the Portland game maybe he thought he'd get fouled on a fallaway 2 pointer and go for a 3 point play. It's also possible the Lakers would double him (like they were doing most of the game) and he'd kick it out to the open shooters

[httran8]

When T-mac is shooting terribly Rafer is quick to pass him the ball for us to go scoreless for a few minutes, but when von Wafer is shooting lights out he denies him the ball? This is what would've happened if we left Rafer in during the Boston game, von Wafer would've been denied the pass hence no 3 and a loss in Boston. I thought Adelman would've learned something from that. Rafer should not be alllowed to run our offense in the 4th until he learns how to be a pg.

Definition of a point guard: A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position -- essentially, he/she is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right players at the right time. Above all, the point guard must totally understand and accept his coach's game plan.

So what is Rafer doing out there on the court?

[verti89]

Here! Here! I like this post, brings back memories! Good memories! Rocket's Glory, Rocket's attitude!


Yao had 19 pts 17 rebounds 3 blks 5 assists and ONE REALLY BAD DECISION. He also went a big 0fer in the 4th quarter...having a lot of rebounds and 3/4ths of a good game doesn't make it ok to suck goats in the last 4th.

[buptjinhe]

exactly!!

look at the free throw comparison kobe and pao yell every time they shoot and when kobe got the tech they started giving him the calls this is BS the league should look into this


noticed that one ref the one on the bottom on the screen most the game called everything for the lakers he probably had the spread

Now you know the secrete why Laker won so many games. This is NBA where big city counts.

[BMoney]

Big picture, people. This game was a positive experience that the Rockets can build on.

1. Yao was assertive. He showed fire out there. The refs really took him out when he was taking the game over.

2. Von Wafer. Von Wafer. Von Wafer. We got the slasher we've been looking for.

3. Carl Landry was awesome. Our two headed power forward continues to be one of the best tandems in the league.

4. The Lakers were on a roll, played well and still needed the refs and Kobe hitting some ungodly shots to beat a Rockets team without McGrady and Artest.

[erlang]

If you could stretch your view on the whole game instead of focusing on the last one minute, you would be happy to see it is good game indeed. Whatever, did we expect a win before the start of the game? but they almost made it. I am all for the loss if rockets can play this way in the future games. I just checked the schedule, there almost no easy games left for us, so we better play well now.

[alexunique]

But Yao still missed all three shots in the 4th quarter, of which he should at least have made one. No matter you are or not a fan of Yao, you've got to admit that Yao has some problem with clutch shots.

ok，just trade him for a better center, have you ever find someone?

maybe you can find one on another planet.

or, maybe you can play better than him.

I am sorry to say that, but you are a guy who can never be satisfied.

[rox0607champs]

Firstly...GREAT game all around. The ending hurts but move passed that and its a great game. Especially when you consider that their questionables showed up big time and we played with 10 players

Secondly, yea Rafer choked hard core on those FTs but people very quickly forget the rest of the game and the clutch shot he made right before that.

Thirdly...Yao...really??? no excuses worst decision EVER (1st qtr 2 of 5, 2nd 2-3, 3rd 4-5, 4th 0-4. Maybe Yao isn't actually chinese, maybe his face just looks like that from all the CHOKING he does.

Fourthly I am tired of Battier and his intangibles...have been for awhile. Honestly it looked to me like Wafer played better D on Kobe than Battier did.

5thly and I am NOT making excuses because like I said I am not disappointed in the overall outcome of the game only with the way it happened at the end, BUT Vegas had the Lakers favored by 4. That means in order to win they had to win by 5...24 FTAs for the Fakers...8 for us...8? really???

im done
seriously i think yao is just sick of the tmac "issue" and its becoming a distraction to himself and probably others

[pmac]

Why are we always putting our center in a position to make the last play of the game? That's a recipe for disaster.

[WillG]

I dont know if its been mentioned, but does anyone else think Wafer plays alot like Dwade? Hes like a poor mans Dwade with a better 3 point shot

[UrlPerlMonroe]

Lakers had to put a double coverage on Yao in the 4th. Rockets were short changed to day due to injuries and dramas. When will this team becomes healthy and consistent?

[rox0607champs]

Why are we always putting our center in a position to make the last play of the game? That's a recipe for disaster.
...or why does chuck sometimes have the ball at the end of the shot clock?

[daernoth]

Biggest problem with this offense particularly in the last few minutes of a game its that it depends too much on the decision making ability of one Rafer Alston.

[badgerfan]

One more time:

The Rockets shot a higher fg%.
The Rockets got more rebounds.
The Rockets got more bench production.
Deke scored 4 points!

How could you not love this game? The Rockets are going to build on this, I have no doubt.

[badgerfan]

Biggest problem with this offense particularly in the last few minutes of a game its that it depends too much on the decision making ability of one Rafer Alston.

The Rockets played great basketball for 99% of the game. Then they kind of had some brain farts in crunch time. Rafer wants to be the man too badly. Give the team some time to gel and get rolling.

[The Brian]

why we lost:

1. our point guards: rafer most of all he cost us the win; almost airballs a layup then redeems himself with a rebound only to brick two ft's. brooks shot terribly today and on the last play passes to yao for no reason at all.

2. refs: every charge was called a block; kobe got a lot of calls but he always does.

3. kobe: too clutch. he sank some really tough shots in final possessions after struggling all game.

[Nick]

One more time:

The Rockets shot a higher fg%.
The Rockets got more rebounds.
The Rockets got more bench production.
Deke scored 4 points!

How could you not love this game? The Rockets are going to build on this, I have no doubt.

Yao was a non-factor in the 4th quarter... the team doesn't run any motion offense at all in the 4th quarter... the defense is still not there.

[rox0607champs]

One more time:

The Rockets shot a higher fg%.
The Rockets got more rebounds.
The Rockets got more bench production.
Deke scored 4 points!

How could you not love this game? The Rockets are going to build on this, I have no doubt.
i hope they build on it WITHOUT tmac :)

[guokees]

Good game,poor ending.
Yao should have passed the ball to Brooks!

[badgerfan]

Yao was a non-factor in the 4th quarter... the team doesn't run any motion offense at all in the 4th quarter... the defense is still not there.

Yeah, but they ran the motion offense for most of the game. Considering the problems they've been having that's a considerable improvement.

The defense will come as the players get more time with each other. All they have to do is go out and compete hard every night.

[buptjinhe]

no. adelman said in the post game he wasn't sure why brooks threw it into yao to begin with.
Maybe adelman should say "I am not sure why yao was even on count for the last shot"? :confused:

[roxwin]

Good game,poor ending.
Yao should have passed the ball to Brooks!


that will become turn over

[BoomShakalaka]

Good game,poor ending.
Yao should have passed the ball to Brooks!

Brooks is the one that passed it to Yao for some reason, and put him in a bad spot.

[big11]

Yao 19 Pts 17 RB 5 AST

What more you want from the guy, he kept us alive in the 3rd quarter, I think Adelman keeping him on bench until 6:00 in the 4th is what does it, not easy when your in a zone, then sit for 20 minutes on bench. Yao's last shot was cause Brooks got trapped in corner and Yao bailed him out and he knew we had to score quick, the man tried, cut him some slack. Lets trade Yao now. How bout Bynum 11 pts 1 RB? Good Game Yao, some people just don't realize how much Yao brings to this team, those 5 assist he had were to guys like Wafer who knocked down threes cause Yao was double teamed, watch the game and yall will see. Gotta Believe

Wow that's pretty good stat against the Lakers. Now only if we have our killer back!

[Shaud]

Brooks is the one that passed it to Yao for some reason, and put him in a bad spot.
Ariza was on Brooks so I have no clue why we would run him to the corner for a 3. Would of been tough for him to even get that shot off.

[mrfirefly7]

There were 4 mistakes during last min. of play. Kobe's 3 was bad shot selection which he made it anyway, but ours mistakes starts from here.

1st: Landry passes his open jump shot.
2nd: Rafer missed 2 FT
3rd: last play in bound pass went to Aaron Brooks at the corner where he was cut off and he pass it to Yao.
4th: Yao shot jump shot with 2.5 sec left.

There was mental breakdown at last min.

[abc2007]

No, I don't think he has Dwade's playmaking skills.

He plays more like Monta Ellis.

I dont know if its been mentioned, but does anyone else think Wafer plays alot like Dwade? Hes like a poor mans Dwade with a better 3 point shot

[The Brian]

i don't like sitting yao that long.

he sat for so long; i'd like to see him out there with 4 fouls a bit sooner; you can get cold in 20 minutes doing nothing.

[jfidd11]

bingo.

yao and scola at that, not taking any credit away from landy but i no tha experience scola had would give him more confidence to take a wide open jumer in tha end of the game

[legend215]

I'll go out on a limb and say that if RA took the exact team that played tonite into the offseason - without Tracy Lamar and yes, dare I say, even Artest - and he actually had a chance to figure out what he has and implements roles and plays accordingly and most importantly give them a chance to practice together, this team could be pretty scary, even in the west.

Our only problem right now is that the players are so used to Tracy doing his thing that they're confused when the game is on the line. An offseason and preseason together would fix that problem for good.

[Legend Killer]

Dont understand why Yao was even on the floor for the last play of the game. Its not like he should be out there for an offensive rebound because even if they were lucky enough to get one, the clock would run out even before he could pass it to a shooter.

[WhoMikeJames]

I'm so depressed right now.

[aaarcher]

my heart broken

[nycundaground]

Earl Watson? Dickau ->>> Alston

[BigM]

Yao was a non-factor in the 4th quarter... the team doesn't run any motion offense at all in the 4th quarter... the defense is still not there.


well the refs took him out of the game when he was on fire and he cooled off until rick brought him back nearly halfway into the 4th. the lakers, collapsed on him and that's why the offense bogged down. if artest or t-mac are playing and healthy, you can counter that better. he only took 4 shots and the disadvantage of being the big man is that you have to have help in getting the ball, particularly with the way teams are allowed to defend these days.

yao played with fire, I really don't see a problem from his end, IN THIS GAME.

well the last shot sucked.

if you give yao a fairly called game he's one of the 5 best players in the nba.

[abc2007]

As Chris Webber said, this game exactly showed why this rockets team still need Tmac. All the fans remember Novak's 3pt during 22 winning streak, but seldom mentioned Tmac's passing!

[Tobe]

what happend with Rafer? I´ve not seen the game...

[badgerfan]

As Chris Webber said, this game exactly showed why this rockets team still need Tmac. All the fans remember Novak's 3pt during 22 winning streak, but seldom mentioned Tmac's passing!

The Rockets don't need T-Mac. Most of the game featured great ball movement and offensive efficiency. Once again the Rox play harder without T-Mac.

What they need is the $21 million they're paying him.

[busta_cap]

Are U Kidding Me!!!!!!!! I am not content nor proud of that game!

#1 Rafer Alston-Stupid Stupid Stupid!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do you shut out the leading scorer of the game???????? That was so direspectful!!!! This man got you the chance to win the game and you selfishly avoid giving a chance to win us the game through most of the 4th quarter??????

#2 Von Wafer- He Gets u there and yo dumb point guard does'nt let him touch the ball in the last 5 minutes!!!!!!

#3 Yao-We need a 3 pointer not a 2 pointer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugh!!!!!!!!!

#5 Rick Adelman- No coaching in the crunch!!!!!!!! you suck at clutch coaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to take a breath because i am soooooooo pissed!!!!!!

Dude, you're going to need three tow trucks to drag those panties out of your ass. Also, you could cut down the scream symbols (!) by about 90%.

[gogorocketsno1]

K24 is untouchable. NBA sucks.

[badgerfan]

what happend with Rafer? I´ve not seen the game...

Went to the line with a chance to tie and bricked both free throws.

[theREALDEALkid]

This loss gives me the confidence that we can go out and beat teams without Mcgrady and Artest, i think our team will be able to hold a good record without Mcgrady and Artest in the lineup, when they come back i can only hope for the best

I, unlike alot of fans on here still believe in T-Mac and if he can come back from these two weeks in good shape then we will be even better if you ask me, but if he is still hurting and can't jump/contribute like he should be then we have a problem..but untill thenlets GET HEALTHY

[rockets_fanatic]

I'll go out on a limb and say that if RA took the exact team that played tonite into the offseason - without Tracy Lamar and yes, dare I say, even Artest - and he actually had a chance to figure out what he has and implements roles and plays accordingly and most importantly give them a chance to practice together, this team could be pretty scary, even in the west.

Our only problem right now is that the players are so used to Tracy doing his thing that they're confused when the game is on the line. An offseason and preseason together would fix that problem for good.

I think you hit the nail on the head. At this point I am all for T-mac and Artest sitting untill after the All-Star break. The during that weeked, have teh team train together. Not a hard workout, but enough to build some chemistry. Then everyone can return and be healthy. If someone complains of a injury out of Artest and T-Mac, sit them for the rest of the year.

[Kwame]

What more will it take for the Rockets to limit Rafer to 5-10 mpg? I realize Brooks had a poor game, but Rafer has had a poor career. The way he costs the team games like this in the regular season will be what he will do in the playoffs as well. He's the weakest link by far.

[bleh12345]

What's with all the yao bashing? When you watch basketball games, do you just watch the last 2 min of it? w/o Yao this wouldn't even be close. This guy had 19/17/5/3 in the game and lead the team w/o Mac and Artest to a close game vs the LAL. Give him some freaking credit.

But no, wah wah wah Yao is unclutch wah wah wah why gave the ball to Yao. Because he is our star, live with it.

Jez. :mad:

[abc2007]

The ball doesn't lie!

This is not the 1st time, and won' t be the last time either.

bwt, during the 22 winning streak, with Tmac, the rockets had great ball movement too.

The Rockets don't need T-Mac. Most of the game featured great ball movement and offensive efficiency. Once again the Rox play harder without T-Mac.

What they need is the $21 million they're paying him.

[davidxhz]

This loss makes the wariting for T-mac and Ron even painful. It's driving me crazy now. My feelings are totally mixed now. I don't know what to say now.

[uchlha]

My major problem with this game was the officiating, almost everything went for Lakers. The referees took Yao out of the game in the 3rd quarter which pretty much affected the outcome in a way, he was on a roll.

Last problem was in the fourth quarter, Wafer barely got touches on the ball, he was hot all night need to feed him the ball.

Boneheaded play by Yao at the end but it shouldn't have been that close of a game in the first place.

[BigM]

I think you hit the nail on the head. At this point I am all for T-mac and Artest sitting untill after the All-Star break. The during that weeked, have teh team train together. Not a hard workout, but enough to build some chemistry. Then everyone can return and be healthy. If someone complains of a injury out of Artest and T-Mac, sit them for the rest of the year.


i'm down with the idea of sitting them both out till the all-star game.

[badgerfan]

The ball doesn't lie!

This is not the 1st time, and won' t be the last time either.

bwt, during the 22 winning streak, with Tmac, the rockets had great ball movement too.

Until the playoffs rolled around and the Rockets' offense broke down. Kind of like the start of this season.

[BoomShakalaka]

WHEN IS RA GOING TO GET PISSED AND GET A DAMN TECHNICAL AND ARGUE LIKE CRAZY, STAND UP FOR YOUR TEAM LIKE JVG DID.

[DreamWeaver]

As Chris Webber said, this game exactly showed why this rockets team still need Tmac. All the fans remember Novak's 3pt during 22 winning streak, but seldom mentioned Tmac's passing!

Word.

With a healthy Tmac, Houston is lethal and a legit contender.

Without a 50% Tmac, Houston will be in the playoff.

Without Tmac, we are lottery bound.

[daddy cool]

What's with all the yao bashing? When you watch basketball games, do you just watch the last 2 min of it? w/o Yao this wouldn't even be close. This guy had 19/17/5/3 in the game and lead the team w/o Mac and Artest to a close game vs the LAL. Give him some freaking credit.

But no, wah wah wah Yao is unclutch wah wah wah why gave the ball to Yao. Because he is our star, live with it.

Jez. :mad:

Yao owned Gasol and bynum. He was killing them both on the glass and in the post. Them dudes is to softttt for Yao,Yao seems like he's getting tougher and stronger he is using his size better.

[DaDakota]

WHEN IS RA GOING TO GET PISSED AND GET A DAMN TECHNICAL AND ARGUE LIKE CRAZY, STAND UP FOR YOUR TEAM LIKE JVG DID.

JVG didn't do that.....EVER !!

He would scream at his players but not the refs...used to drive me nuts too.....

JVG DID call em out in the press occassionally....I too wish Rick would lose his cool ...those calls tonight....pathetic.

DD

[Gummi Clutch]

Great Game.
I dont mind the loss.

Hopefully this plants the seed for revenge in the Playoffs.

The team didnt seem too upset about losing T-Mac.
Everyone stepped up to fill their new role.
Artest was still on the bench.
Deke got some minutes.

All in all a win would have been sweet, but this was a big step forward.
Remember the Lakers have only lost 6 games, and we played them close as possible with all the crap we have been going through. Which is pretty surprising.

No moral victory, but if we play like this everynight win or lose, you cant be mad at that. It was fun again to watch the Rockets. Play like that and the victories will fall into place.

Unless, we once again just played to the level of our competition.
I guess we will find out Saturday.

p.s. yes the refs sucked major ass, especially the younger one.
most ticky tack stuff ever.
Running into players.
Falling on your back with the ball! no travel?
Fishers blatant carry.
WTF???

Oh well I learned a long time ago you cant count on the refs.
We still had a shot at this game and its ultimately on us.

p.s.p.s. Dont count on T-Mac being 100% ever. He will be 80-90% at best.
You may never see a 'Bradley' Dunk again. :(

[abc2007]

At least, with Tmac, we were in playoffs. Now, all I hope is that the rockets are still in playoff pictures when Tmac is back.

Btw, after long winning streaks, teams usually have losing streaks. See the current Boston team.

Until the playoffs rolled around and the Rockets' offense broke down. Kind of like the start of this season.

[Rowdy Drummer]

THE ROCKETS PLAYED A GREAT GAME ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE LAST SECOND I LOVED THE ENERGY AT THE GAME BUT I WAS A LITTLE UPSET THAT THERE WERE SO MANY LAKERS FANS THERE!!! BUT IT ALL GREAT GAME ROCKETS. WAFER IS GAINING ALOT OF CONFIDENCE

[daddy cool]

THE ROCKETS PLAYED A GREAT GAME ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE LAST SECOND I LOVED THE ENERGY AT THE GAME BUT I WAS A LITTLE UPSET THAT THERE WERE SO MANY LAKERS FANS THERE!!! BUT IT ALL GREAT GAME ROCKETS. WAFER IS GAINING ALOT OF CONFIDENCE


Wafer blew by every laker they put on him. Blew by kobe for a dunk,He is money out there beyong that 3. He got a lot of confidence from this game and right now he is only going to get better.

[rocketsmetalspd]

IF only TMac can see what the Rockets can be with a complete team. Damn come on TMac get it together this team can be a dangerous team come the playoffs.

[OCballfan]

Wafer blew by every laker they put on him. Blew by kobe for a dunk,He is money out there beyong that 3. He got a lot of confidence from this game and right now he is only going to get better.

how come he disappeared in the 4th? I believe a certain Kobe Bryant played ball denial on him.

[MorningDew]

Explain to me why he couldn't hit a shot to save his life in the 4th quarter. I am not talking about the stupid 2point attempt he made at the end.

He were getting double teamed even before the entry pass the entir 4th Q, what the hell he could still shoot regardless the rest of teammates getting wild open?

The last play obviously was not set that way, as the clock winding. I bet if he passed it out, there will be more people in this forum calling him soft :(

[daddy cool]

Lakers aren't tough enough to beat us 7 games.Gasol to soft, Yao did whatever he wanted,they had to triple team him. The lakers got a 20 point cushion the whole game at the line, they cried about every call,They aren't as good as we thought. We get 2 closers in tracy and ron coming back, they won't be able to deal with us.

[DaDakota]

People who are whining about yao not scoring in the 4th have no clue about what was happening out there.

The Lakers were clogging the paint, Yao needed his teamates to hit some shots to get them out of their zone.

And if Rafer could hit a FRICKEN COUPLE OF MOTHER FRACKING FTs...I would not have to be explaining basketball 101...to the Jr High posting club.

DD

[lastmanstanding]

Tough loss. On the plus, Yao did one of the best jobs I ever seen him do w/ handling double teams.

[daddy cool]

how come he disappeared in the 4th? I believe a certain Kobe Bryant played ball denial on him.

Kobe cried the whole game and barely out scored von taking 20 more field goals, if you are a kobe fan you should go over there on the lakers forum and cheer for him. Lakers are SOFT and won't be able to beat us with a healthy ron and tracy

[mjhaver5]

wtf! Kobe is just annoying. He ALWAYS gets a big shot against us. And RAFER!!! A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER CAN'T HIT 2 FREE THROWS!!!! LET ALONE 1!

BROOKS SHOULD'VE TAKEN THE 3, and not passed back to yao....

imagine if we had the old tmac, and a healthy artest...
just imagine

i guess thats all we're gonna be doing through june.

[BoomShakalaka]

how come he disappeared in the 4th? I believe a certain Kobe Bryant played ball denial on him.

You must not be a Rox fan otherwise you would know that this has happened the whole season. RA fu@ks up at the end of games.

[OCballfan]

You must not be a Rox fan otherwise you would know that this has happened the whole season. RA fu@ks up at the end of games.

You're correct I'm a Laker fan. To an extent yea Kobe played ball denial on him but also the Rockets didn't run plays for Von either 9like they were doing for 3 quarters) like making him curl of screens or do a slip screen to free him up. Yao was killing us inside so I'm not surprised they tried to drill the ball inside with the Laker frontcourt in foul trouble

[testmojo]

Great Game.

No moral victory, but if we play like this everynight win or lose, you cant be mad at that. It was fun again to watch the Rockets. Play like that and the victories will fall into place.

Oh well I learned a long time ago you cant count on the refs.
We still had a shot at this game and its ultimately on us.

p.s.p.s. Dont count on T-Mac being 100% ever. He will be 80-90% at best.
You may never see a 'Bradley' Dunk again. :(

Yes. If not for the kobe's 3pt before the last minute, I think the game is hard to tell.

As usual, laker vs rockets is very entertaining. Laker struggled with the rockets the whole night and they hung by the precious 3pt from kobe, that's pure luck, the defense is strong.

Yao played phenomenal basketball. He defened, he shot and he rebound. His best game this year and I saw flash of 2005 yao.

If rockets play like this, they don't need t-mac even artest. They just need some tuning and they can compete with anyone.

[knickstorm]

wtf! Kobe is just annoying. He ALWAYS gets a big shot against us. And RAFER!!! A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER CAN'T HIT 2 FREE THROWS!!!! LET ALONE 1!

BROOKS SHOULD'VE TAKEN THE 3, and not passed back to yao....

imagine if we had the old tmac, and a healthy artest...
just imagine

i guess thats all we're gonna be doing through june.

this loss falls on Yao Ming, 0 fg's in the 4th quarter.......

landry was hot, had a wide open J and passed it up, man up and shoot it, luckily rafer still managed to get fouled and get to the line......and wtf on the 2nd miss ft, landry should've had the rebound and a follow dunk, he just knocked it out of bounds for no reason...........

and aaron brooks passed it to yao cuz he was guarded tight, so he passed it, ran to get himself open, which he did, but yao instead of passing it back, idiotically shot a meaningless mid range jumper.

[IndonesiaFans]

We show effort in the play, that is the good part.. we loss is the sad part

[MorningDew]

Yao had 19 pts 17 rebounds 3 blks 5 assists and ONE REALLY BAD DECISION. He also went a big 0fer in the 4th quarter...having a lot of rebounds and 3/4ths of a good game doesn't make it ok to suck goats in the last 4th.

The decision by the moment is not on his hand at all... Everyone was expecting a 3 point play, what the hell did someone hand the ball to a center with 2 sec winding? :confused:

[The Brian]

Yao owned Gasol and bynum. He was killing them both on the glass and in the post. Them dudes is to softttt for Yao,Yao seems like he's getting tougher and stronger he is using his size better.
seriously, yao was punking gasol and bynum.

if we ever face them in the playoffs with a healthy team, i'm confident we can win.

yao just dominates those two clowns.

[ibm]

and super-sized jumbo LOL to all the stupid comments in this thread. yeah, like many of you were expecting a win tonight.

biggest factor of our loss of course is the mysterious refs. and it's always the case against the lakers, which makes me think they're not accidents. :mad:

every rocket played well, other than rafer and brooks not shooting the ball well. i see hopes of this current lineup to build on, w/o #1 (and even #96 if and when he makes boneheaded plays).

a loss always beats me hard, but relatively, tonight i'm ok with it. the only thing is the executions of the last 1,2,3 plays. landry passed up a wide open shot he had been hitting all night; rafer to the basket for a tear-drop (don't know if that was a called play; maybe he was hoping yao to grab a rebound?) and then miss BOTH freebies; and then the last shot by yao (but why brooks passed the ball into him to begin with?). on adelman's part, why barry wasn't in for the last play was a myth to me. - okay, those are what i have to vent.

but overall, a lot of positive signs for the team. i'm hopeful...

[doggfrenzy2]

Yao could dominate 3 quarters but disappear in the 4th. If you call that ownage, then you got it.

[daddy cool]

this loss falls on Yao Ming, 0 fg's in the 4th quarter.......

landry was hot, had a wide open J and passed it up, man up and shoot it, luckily rafer still managed to get fouled and get to the line......and wtf on the 2nd miss ft, landry should've had the rebound and a follow dunk, he just knocked it out of bounds for no reason...........

and aaron brooks passed it to yao cuz he was guarded tight, so he passed it, ran to get himself open, which he did, but yao instead of passing it back, idiotically shot a meaningless mid range jumper.


The freakin refs took Yao out the game at the end of the 3rd quarter,Yao was on a Roll and they took him out the game with his 4th foul. He didn't come back into the game until 7 minutes left in the 4th. He came back in cold and out of his rythym.

[JayGoogle]

We are going to get it rolling fellas do not worry.

Ever since that Boston game this team has came out and played hard every night. That's all you can ask.

Now that the NBA Scheduling Gods have let up on us...seriously look at our starting schedule, back2back mania and road trips galore...now that that is done we are going to get it rolling.

We play the Heat...Saturday. Yeah I said it...Saturday. 3 full days to rest and who knows Artest might play Saturday or Monday and with Artest and Battier we can hold down the fort for however long Tmac needs to be out.

We are 2 games out of our division and hopefully Lakers win tommorow and give the Spurs a loss.

After tonight and our recent games...If IF IF Tmac comes back motivated. I like our chances against ANY team in the NBA in a 7-game series.

Also...Von Wafer is the truth...plain and simple.

[ibm]

this loss falls on Yao Ming, 0 fg's in the 4th quarter.......

landry was hot, had a wide open J and passed it up, man up and shoot it, luckily rafer still managed to get fouled and get to the line......and wtf on the 2nd miss ft, landry should've had the rebound and a follow dunk, he just knocked it out of bounds for no reason...........

and aaron brooks passed it to yao cuz he was guarded tight, so he passed it, ran to get himself open, which he did, but yao instead of passing it back, idiotically shot a meaningless mid range jumper.

the most silly post of the night. (i know you're not the only one.)

[OCballfan]

Kobe cried the whole game and barely out scored von taking 20 more field goals, if you are a kobe fan you should go over there on the lakers forum and cheer for him. Lakers are SOFT and won't be able to beat us with a healthy ron and tracy

what happened in our first matchup?