1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Chron: Warriors inhospitable to Rockets

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by vtkp99, Mar 20, 2004.

  1. vtkp99

    vtkp99 Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2002
    Messages:
    1,320
    Likes Received:
    7
    Warriors inhospitable to Rockets & Rockets summary By JONATHAN FEIGEN

    [​IMG]

    http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/rox/2458605

    March 20, 2004, 1:49AM

    Warriors inhospitable to Rockets
    Loss at Golden St. first in 16 trips
    By JONATHAN FEIGEN

    OAKLAND, Calif. -- There was a time this season when the Rockets would play games like Friday's and win ugly.
    Friday, they were just ugly.

    They did the low-scoring, close-game thing for a while. With a thorough offensive breakdown swarming with turnovers and blind one-on-one charges to nowhere, the Rockets collapsed down the stretch as the Golden State Warriors pulled away by default, then held on 90-84.

    The loss ended the Rockets' 15-game road winning streak against the Warriors, which had been tied for the longest in NBA history. More important, it began their pre-postseason stretch of 11 out of 16 games on the road with a crash.

    "I don't think we came out like we're supposed to," said guard Cuttino Mobley, who led the Rockets with 25 points. "We needed this one bad. Teams like this, Phoenix, they don't want to do anything but spoil our time."

    The Rockets did play hard, according to coach Jeff Van Gundy. They just played badly, especially offensively.

    "I thought Golden State did a good job defensively with pressure," Van Gundy said. "And I thought we struggled with ball-handling again. Until Steve (Francis') late flurry, he and Yao (Ming) -- who we count on, obviously, offensively -- both struggled.

    "I give (the Warriors) a lot of credit. They were up and into us harder than we were into them. The harder people pressure the ball, the more you have to get the ball into the paint on the dribble. We struggled to finish around the basket. You also have your post players, and Yao obviously struggled.

    "(Erick) Dampier was getting much deeper post position than Yao got. That was a huge factor. Yet I think Yao can score effectively in any game. We just didn't tonight."

    Yao made just four of 15 shots, and Francis, who had a 15-point fourth quarter, made just one of his first 11.

    "They didn't play very good defense on me," Francis said. "They fouled me for 48 minutes.

    "It was tough not getting a feel for how they were going to call it all night. They let somebody (Mickael Pietrus) cross-block me the whole game. I've been played tougher by a lot of players, but normally they won't let all that hand-checking and pushing go on."

    As horrid as the Rockets' offense was through three quarters, it fell apart in the fourth. Trailing by one with nine minutes left, the Rockets were then outscored 14-3. The only points came on a Mobley 3 that he chose to celebrate by standing with his face up to Troy Murphy's.

    Seconds later, however, Pietrus dropped in a 3 for a 68-61 Warriors lead. The rookie added a free throw and later a slam to give him a career-high 20 points. Murphy and Avery Johnson each sank layups as the Rockets' defense sprang leaks as damaging as the shortcomings of their offense.

    By the time the Rockets scored on a Francis follow, they had gone 5 1/2 minutes with only the Mobley 3-pointer, making one of eight shots with four turnovers in the Warriors' run.

    Even with that basket, Francis was 2-of-12 with six of the Rockets' 21 turnovers with 3 1/2 minutes left. But he had a late drive and a 3 with 26.9 seconds left that pulled the Rockets within five.

    The Rockets found themselves with an unlikely chance when Pietrus missed two free throws. But the Rockets could not get the rebound, and with another chance, Pietrus made both foul shots for a seven-point lead with 20 seconds left. Francis made another trey to cut the margin to four with 11.5 seconds remaining.

    Cliff Robinson made two free throws before a Francis drive gave the Rockets 18 points in 3 1/2 minutes. They had scored just 24 in the rest of the half, however.

    Even with their late run, the Rockets made just 32 of 79 shots. Starting forwards Jim Jackson and Scott Padgett combined to made two of 13 attempts. Yao, facing only man-to-man defense, had just 10 points in 30 minutes.

    "(Dampier) made it difficult for me on offense," Yao said. "But the ball just didn't go in. I don't want to make any exuses. He can say his defense was successful. There were two shots I didn't think were good at all. But the rest I had confidence when I put them up."

    But even when the Rockets were in the game, they never seemed in control of anything.

    The Rockets trailed by as much as eight four minutes into the second half. Mobley, who had proved too quick off the dribble for Jason Richardson, drove to consecutive layups. But it took the Rockets nearly four minutes to get their next field goal.

    The Warriors' offense was doing even less. After taking a 53-47 lead with 5:05 left before the fourth quarter, Golden State did not score again in the third, missing its last five shots and committing three turnovers while the Rockets put together a 7-0 run.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rockets summary
    Educating Yao
    A year ago, former Rockets center and Hall of Famer Moses Malone was hoping to work with Rockets center Yao Ming as an assistant coach or at least a tutor. A year later, he raved about the work he believed Rockets assistant coach Patrick Ewing has done.

    "They're doing a great job with him," Malone said. "Patrick's got him down on the block. He's getting the ball. He's scoring. He's playing strong. He's throwing that 300 pounds around with that 7-6 frame. He's doing what he should do.

    "Patrick's doing a great job. You get a young player like that, you make him physical, you make him strong, you make him do what you got to do. When you're 7-6, nobody is going to stop you. And you're a scorer, too? C'mon. And you're a scorer, a rebounder and a good defender? C'mon. The Rockets have a great opportunity, and their coach is doing a great job."

    Malone attended Friday's game in Oakland, Calif., as part of the Warriors' Legends Nights series. Malone, Jamaal Wilkes, George Gervin and Connie Hawkins. have been brought in to visit with suite holders this season. Lenny Wilkens made a visit before he was hired by the Knicks.

    Malone could still get a chance to work with Yao should Yao ever make his way to Westside Tennis Club for one of the summer pickup games. But Malone only occasionally plays and Yao's next summer will be occupied playing for the Chinese National team.

    "I don't want to play a guy that big," Malone said. "I'm too old to play a guy that big. I got to shoot a jumper over him. He's too big to bang and push against. That's for the young guys. But I'd love to see him come down and get an opportunity to play."

    No worries
    Rockets forward Maurice Taylor has seen the Rockets bring in Charles Oakley and Clarence Weatherspoon to also play his position this season. But Taylor said he has no concern about his role or that the latest move was the result of injuries he, Kelvin Cato and Weatherspoon have suffered rather than a reflection on his play.

    "I'm not worried about it," Taylor said. "I don't think it's a case where they're bringing in somebody to replace me. Coach knows what I can do. I feel like obviously with the injuries we had -- injuries to three of the four (power forwards) we got -- it was a no-brainer to bring somebody in. I don't think it's bringing somebody in because of something I'm not doing."

    Taylor said his strained ribs and sore left knee felt better Friday than they have since he was injured.

    "I do the same thing every game," Taylor said. "I'm not concerned with who they bring in or don't bring in. They felt they needed help in certain areas and brought in Oak. I don't think they brought him in to play him 40 minutes and sit me on the bench. But I do think the last two weeks, with the injuries I've had, I haven't been playing the way I was before."

    With Cato out, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy started Scott Padgett at power forward, with Taylor returning to his usual role as the first substitute.

    "I thought about Clarence, but injury-wise, he hasn't played in a couple of games," Van Gundy said. "Mo I like coming off the bench.

    "I thought it was best on short notice, ... to get somebody we know can play quickly and knows basically how we want to play. I'm not kidding myself. I know it's 2004. It's not 1994."

    Peterson recovering
    Rockets radio play-by-play announcer Gene Peterson used the break in the schedule this week to have cataract surgery, forcing him to skip the Rockets' three-game trip. In 29 years as the Rockets' radio voice, he had missed just 21 games, most when he had a heart bypass in 1992.

    Rockets radio studio host Craig Ackerman filled in.

    "It's what I've been working for my entire career, to do NBA play-by-play," Ackerman said. "It's always been a dream of mine, although it's only for three games keeping Gene's seat warm until he comes back on Wednesday."

    Ackerman became the seventh play-by-play announcer to work with commentator Jim Foley in his 17 years, along with Peterson, Milo Hamilton, Jim Durham, Bill Worrell, Ron Thulen and Jeff Hagedorn.

    -- By JONATHAN FEIGEN
     
  2. GATER

    GATER Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2000
    Messages:
    8,325
    Likes Received:
    78
    Van Gundy's take:
    "I thought Golden State did a good job defensively with pressure," Van Gundy said. "And I thought we struggled with ball-handling again. Until Steve (Francis') late flurry, he and Yao (Ming) -- who we count on, obviously, offensively -- both struggled.

    "I give (the Warriors) a lot of credit. They were up and into us harder than we were into them. The harder people pressure the ball, the more you have to get the ball into the paint on the dribble. We struggled to finish around the basket. You also have your post players, and Yao obviously struggled.


    Francis's take:
    "They didn't play very good defense on me," Francis said. "They fouled me for 48 minutes.

    "It was tough not getting a feel for how they were going to call it all night. They let somebody (Mickael Pietrus) cross-block me the whole game. I've been played tougher by a lot of players, but normally they won't let all that hand-checking and pushing go on."


    Yao's take

    "(Dampier) made it difficult for me on offense," Yao said. "But the ball just didn't go in. I don't want to make any exuses. He can say his defense was successful. There were two shots I didn't think were good at all. But the rest I had confidence when I put them up."
     

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now