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Chronic: Rockets rout Panathinaikos for first preseason win

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by BlackSombrero, Oct 11, 2007.

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  1. BlackSombrero

    BlackSombrero Member

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    By JONATHAN FEIGEN
    Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

    With his temper and blood pressure rising with every illegal defense whistle, legendary Panathinaikos coach Zelimir Obradovic, winner of six Euroleague championships, began shouting, "It's a zone defense, a zone defense."

    Again and again, he called out, "A zone defense," as a thought bubble nearly popped above official Rodney Mott's head saying, "That's why it's illegal."

    Instead, Mott more diplomatically offered, "You can't do that here."

    With that, it had become clear again how different the game can be on either side of the Atlantic. But as the Rockets ran though Panathinaikos, 107-70, at Toyota Center, there was one recent Euroleague graduate that had no trouble making the jump.

    From the jumpers he nailed to begin the game, to the fast break finishes with which he finished off the reigning Euroleague champion, Rockets forward Luis Scola showed off many of the qualities that made him such an important off-season addition.

    Tracy McGrady sat out with a bruised thigh and Luther Head with a sore right Achilles tendon (both are expected to be able to go through the next practice), while Panathinaikos was without former Rockets guard Vassilis Spanoulis, who did not make the trip because of a sore calf. But even without McGrady and Head, the Rockets had little trouble out-manning the reigning Euroleague champions.

    Yao Ming played 28 minutes, making 7 of 13 shots for his game-high 21 points.

    Rafer Alston continued his strong play from last week's training camp and in Tuesday's preseason opener, making 5 of 6 shots for 14 points with five assists.

    Steve Francis came off the bench and looked much more active and at ease with the Rockets offense, scoring 11 points with four assists in 21 minutes.

    But with Greek flags waving and Greek fans singing, the three-time European MVP from Tau Ceramica had his way with his rival from last season's Euroleague Final Four.

    Scola, who had six points, topped that in the third quarter alone, scoring nine of his 17 points with increasing ease.

    In that quarter alone, he stripped Sani Becirovic to set up Rafer Alston on a break before, on the next Rockets possession, beating Panathinaikos down the court to complete a break of his own. He dunked home a Francis miss on another fast break before cutting to the basket to take a Francis pass to a layup.

    He began the game making his first four shots, three with perimeter jumpers, following by a slick spin move. When he was through for the night, he had made 8 of 10 attempts, adding six rebounds.

    While Scola soared, Obradovic seethed until eventually, he picked up his second technical foul and an ejection, with security called out to more strongly suggest he leave. By then, the Rockets led, 90-55, with Sarunas Jasikevicius and Dimitrios Diamantidis each drawing technical fouls before official Sean Corbin, who is also a top Fiba official, sending Obradovic out.

    Yet, as furious as he was, Rick Adelman had to be thrilled, with virtually everything the Rockets tried clicking, and six days between games to go back to work, a schedule more typical in Europe.

    But that was not the import that had the Rockets most pleased.
     
    #1 BlackSombrero, Oct 11, 2007
  2. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    NBA referee is calling zone defense "illegal defense"? :confused:
     
    #2 wnes, Oct 11, 2007
  3. FFz

    FFz Member

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    theres no defensive 3 second rule in FIBA.
     
    #3 FFz, Oct 11, 2007
  4. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    Well, Feigen's article certainly didn't make it clear.
     
    #4 wnes, Oct 11, 2007
  5. sabesque

    sabesque Member

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    Did feigen have too much ouzo tonight???
     
    #5 sabesque, Oct 11, 2007
  6. onethreeeleven

    onethreeeleven Member

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    that could certainly appear to be the case. . .
     
    #6 onethreeeleven, Oct 11, 2007
  7. scola

    scola Member

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    Scola has never been MVP of the Euroleague.
     
    #7 scola, Oct 11, 2007
  8. dedong22

    dedong22 Member

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    man, they should have used FIBA rules since it's kind of an international game
     
    #8 dedong22, Oct 11, 2007
  9. scola

    scola Member

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    It could have been played with mixed rules... it would have been a more competitive game.

    Unicaja Malaga beated the Grizzlies and Real Madrid the Raptors.
     
    #9 scola, Oct 11, 2007
  10. Yaozer

    Yaozer Member

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    I don't think our refs know how to do coach that. The NBA would've had to go out and get a ref who's used to those rules.. and I doubt they're willing to do that for a preseason game.
     
    #10 Yaozer, Oct 12, 2007
  11. Dave_78

    Dave_78 Member

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    I disagree. It was nice to see how bad the Euros look when playing by our rules.
     
    #11 Dave_78, Oct 12, 2007
  12. El_Conquistador

    El_Conquistador King of the D&D, The Legend, #1 Ranking
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    What am I missing here? THAT team was Euroleague champs? They were horrible. We destroyed them without our best player.
     
    #12 El_Conquistador, Oct 12, 2007
  13. MystikArkitect

    MystikArkitect Member

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    Keep in mind they too were without their best player.

    :D
     
    #13 MystikArkitect, Oct 12, 2007
  14. ParaSolid

    ParaSolid Member

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    Funny how Team USA adapts to the FIBA rules quite seamlessly and the Euroleague champs whine their way through a NBA reffed rout. If NBA teams have to adapt to FIBA rules in Europe, why shouldn't European teams adapt to NBA rules in America? No doubt, with mixed rules, the game would have been more competitive, but methinks the outcome would have been the same.
     
    #14 ParaSolid, Oct 12, 2007
  15. Yetti

    Yetti Contributing Member

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    Possibly without one of our top players,
    As Yao Ming is about to take the spot as our best player!
     
    #15 Yetti, Oct 12, 2007
  16. scola

    scola Member

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    Games in Europe are being played with hybrid rules and with mixed referees.
     
    #16 scola, Oct 12, 2007
  17. blivo

    blivo Member

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    Anyone know the exact reason for Bonzi playing little minutes? Was it because he knows the system so well and the plays etc, or becuase he got a technical? Speaking of Bonzi, did anyone else gasp in amazement when
    T-mac perfectly placed that no look pass to Bonzi on the backdoor cut, leading to an easy dunk during the NO game? That much talent in Bonzi, and hes a bench player, that shows the depth in this team. Also, Snyder musn't have played too badly, his points were greater than the number of minutes he played, and he played very little minutes. One more question, NBA.com says T-mac had a bad knee, but this website seems to think he just didn't want to play, which is fair enough, just wondering which one was more correct. Thanks
     
    #17 blivo, Oct 12, 2007
  18. Spacemoth

    Spacemoth Contributing Member

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    That's dumb. As ambassadors of the NBA, Toronto and Memphis should be confident enough to play those games under the FIBA rules. Rules should be decided by the home court, just like in a pick-up game or even poker. House rules, innit.

    Baseball does it like that too, with the DH employed only in AL parks during interleague play.
     
    #18 Spacemoth, Oct 12, 2007
  19. Grandpappy

    Grandpappy Member

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    Yeah, that one's pretty mixed up. The quote is "Three-time European MVP", and since Scola was technically playing in the European continent, that somehow qualifies him as a "European player" in Feigen's world ( :confused: ). And somehow, he's counting the third MVP from the FIBA Americas.
     
    #19 Grandpappy, Oct 12, 2007
  20. BrockStapper

    BrockStapper Contributing Member

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    Exactly. That's what I kept thinking last night. Throw in V-span's 38 points and we have a ballgame...
     
    #20 BrockStapper, Oct 12, 2007
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