[SL 2010]Game 3 and random thoughts

I was debating to write another article type thing about game 3 but that game was just a total debacle one that I really did not want to relive over in my head at all. Clutch agreed with me on this so I am gonna just write a few things about it here and then just add in my usual Summer League nonsense and all.


Game 3 Versus Portland

There really is much else to be said about Jordan Hill and his defense its bad, real bad. Granted that I maybe saying this because I had set certain expectations for him, but seeing him get handled by Omar Samhan and Jeff Pendergraph on consecutive days really does not bode well. Two more games left will see how he does but I shudder to think what could happen. Toronto and Denver really have no front court players outside of rookie Ed Davis that could be considered a scoring threat. If Hill's assignment does well in the remaining two games, Hill better move in with Chuck Hayes and train with him the rest of the summer.

Daryl Morey really was frustrated as I mentioned earlier in the post in game 2 he gets really into games now take that with when they are actually losing? In the first half Cunningham threw a ball off of Hill to retain possession and all of a sudden I hear "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT REF??!!" and I turn to look over my right shoulder (Daryl was sitting two rows up and a few seats over probably about 10 feet away) and it was Daryl yelling that. He follows its up with "HE WAS STANDING OUT OF BOUNDS WHEN HE THREW THAT BALL!" it was really funny and good to see our GM get that into a summer league game. The gym was pretty quiet so Daryl's voice was real audible. You all heard what he said on NBA TV. When the NBA TV guy came to ask Daryl to go on air all I could think of was...this may not be the best time to ask him.

from where I was sitting Daryl Before the game started (notice his fly kicks)



Daryl during the game (and this was there was worse expression than this but I did not want those on here he may not find it too funny) He could have been frustrated about the game or having to sit in row DD could have also pissed him off..I would bet on the game but the latter wouldnt surprise me either




The biggest difference I saw in the Portland game was that the Rockets actually ran an offensive play. It was a play called "Corner" where Patterson would post up on the right elbow (right when facing the basket) and get the ball from the guard (1) at the top of the key. That guard would swing around Patterson towards the baseline setting a back pick for the guard (2) on the baseline who would turn curl up towards Patterson. Patterson had two options here, either dump it off to the 1 who may have gotten free from the initial pick if both defenders follow the 2. If the 1 is guarded then the 2 guard would rub hard off of Patterson and get the ball driving into the key where he has the option to shoot or pass off t Patterson who is supposed to role. At the same time the 1 guard continues on the baseline gets a screen from the center and fades into the weakside corner where he should be open for a jumpshot if the 2 does not have a clear shot himself or has no lane for Patterson.

A traditional Adelman type play with multiple screen and multiple options the first time it was run JT I believed missed the shot. The problem was that it was ran again the very next time down the court and the Portland defenders recognized it right away and defended it perfectly and forced JT into a turnover.

I liked the play but no way you can run the same play twice in a row, especially calling it out very loud at the beginning what the play was.

Seeing Taylor hit the 3 at the buzzer was nice but for the most part this game was painful to watch real painful. There was no effort at all from the players it could be the lack of energy from playing their 3rd game in three day and the night before the Rockets did play the night cap game so it was less than 24 hours since the previous game.

The only video I took worth watching from the game:

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After the game Chuck stayed back and was chilling right by us across the aisle. I told Chuck what the heck was going on with the defense he needed to smack some sense into these young guys. He said "I KNOW! They played with no effort out there man no effort."




After talking to Chuck I was escorted to the Rockets "locker room" (the side of the bleachers) to talk to Patrick Patterson - that conversation is here



Other Random Stories

I am not even sure where to start really. We sat behind the Rockets bench for game 1 and it was fun apparently we were visible on TV? Anyways we sat down right in front of Patrick Patterson's parents which was fun. We (two of my friends from LA -not rockets fan- Dave2000, tm1ym11 and Kwame) and so we kept talking to them throughout the game. Both of them were really really REALLY nice people. I was really impressed to see them cheer and be genuinely be happy whenever the Rockets made a good play, it didn't have to be Patrick making the play. I showed his mom the great article Jason Friedmanwrote about Patrick's debut and she read it aloud with a sort of a pride only a mother could have.


During a timeout I yelled out to Chuck and asked if he was staying for the week, which he said he was and told him to be on the lookout for HayesFan who should be there for the last game. I told him how she was the one who created www.chuckhayesfans.net and he laughed and said that was cool and that he'd look out for her. -- I showed Chuck her website back in december when we met and he got a huge kick out of it.

For the other Chuck Fans out there...speaking to a Rockets coach I was told that Chuck was spending the rest of the month in Vegas practicing and training and that he was out every morning training at the UNLV practice facility. Chuck constantly putting in hard work is great to see a coaches dream.

Throughout the game Chuck would pull Hill or Patterson aside and talk to them constantly and when Alexander Johnson took a pretty nasty charge Chuck was the first one up out of his chair cheering for AJ.

During halftime I went up to where Daryl Morey was sitting and he sees me and asks "I thought you'd be rocking a Patterson jersey by now" to which I replied "I learnt my lesson I am not buying a jersey until they are gonna play a real game spent too much money on player jerseys only to see them not play or be traded away" Daryl started laughing and then explained to his wife the situation and we went through the jerseys of players I bought that is no longer on the team thanks to him. It was at this time I asked if he would mind answering a few questions for CF and he was more than happy to do that. After that we talked about a few more personal and logistical things about the interview the following day and I went back to my seat. I called Clutch up told him what I did and Clutch was pretty excited about the whole interview thing and then I realized crap I hopefully I will do ok.

During the night cap game of golden state and new orleans I look over to my left and see Moochie Norris and I yell out loudly MOOCHIE NORRIS! like a kid in a candy store..of course dave2000 has no idea who I am looking at and didnt recognize Moochie right away (take away his fan card) The funny thing was I went over and asked Mooch for a pic and he just nodded, didnt say a word. He just nodded his head, I asked another question and he nodded his head again. Mooch looked really high, not much has changed.

After the game Patrick was signing autographs in the foyer for fans. I waited in line to get a picture when former Rockets GREAT Tracy Murray walked by and we all talked to him and shared a laugh. I gave Tracy crap for not wearing his 95 championship ring (he normally does all the time) he said he forgot that morning and would have it on tomorrow (which he did) Tracy does UCLA radio and I see him all the time at the ball games there so it was cool

In a awkward moment I went to go use the restroom and then as I was washing my hands Jason Friedman says to me "stop following me into the bathroom" or something of that nature. I didnt even know he was in there honestly I just went into the stalls and handled my business and then was washing my hands. After I got out he was waiting for me and we talked a little about the Rockets. In the process though I missed out on being able to meet Pat, but I got my chance later so it was cool. Of course the first thing Jason says to me is: Hey your boy Brian got a contract...great how is this guy my boy? I am flabbergasted at how he is just stealing money and getting away with it.


SATURDAY

Saturday we saw that Jarret Jack his dome made an appearance..seriously Jack cant even put a hat on right. But then out of no where we see another former rocket ...Randy Livingston. I went down a few rows to ask him for a pic, he seemed a bit unsure as to why I would want his picture. I was like man I loved watching you on the Rockets and he said "wow you remembered I played on the Rockets?" took the pic and said Moochie was here last night now if only Mo Taylor showed up it'd be perfect. He laughed. It looks like Randy is working with the D-league Stampede team now.

We moved to the other side of the court for a better view and who goes and sits in front of us? Jason Terry man the entire time I kept thinking should I kick this guy in the nuts? If I do I'd be kicked out and wont be able to talk to Daryl so i decided to wait till I talked to Daryl first before doing anything.

So when I saw Daryl I walked over there and he was talking to someone else I waited and he saw me and I asked if he had a minute. He said after he is done with the guy he was talking to (didnt recognize this guy at all) he asked me to hang around there and he'd come over to talk to me.

The thing about Daryl he is a really nice and humble guy he sits down and I tell him I have about 10 questions but I asked him for 5 so I can do just five and he said lets try to do them all but I cant spend too much time. I did the interview and we exchanged pleasantries and jokes and went our separate ways. I was hoping the entire time the audio recording came out ok since I had to use my iphone to record it.

during the game though Terry was just talking and commented on the speed that Ishmail had shown and the crossovers he pulled on Roddy B. I was hoping Seck would be back in the game the way Samhan was in beast mode again Hill the only way the Rockets could make a run was if he was on the bench. On a particular play Roddy B turned the ball over and Terry made a comment about how as a point guard you need to know when to pass and where to some guys also right by him. I replied "WHAT? Since when do you ever pass? You get the ball the shot is going up" I dont think he heard me but he was real quiet after that. He told Roddy though that if he dropped 30 they would win the game..he almost did but the Rockets prevailed anyway.

Coach Adelman came to the game and he liked popcorn:



Ric Bucher also loved the popcorn out there he was scarfing it down all the time. I think I should get the popcorn next time I didnt buy any myself.

After the game we hung around and Dave2000 got his pic with some of the players, I wanted to talk to one of the Rockets officials to see if I could get an interview with Patterson the next day which was granted.


SUNDAY:

During the Knicks/Nuggets game Sunday who else walks by but Chucky Brown! Man I was stoked I asked Chucky for a pic and he was more than happy to oblige and good times were had by all. Chucky is a cool guy missed getting a pic with him last year when he was actually coaching the Lakers.

Sunday was the final day we would be there and we met up with sanjiv_rm who had custom made Daryl Morey tshirts on (with "the picture" on it) and Daryl laughed when he saw it and said that dont jinx it he hasnt won anything yet. I thanked him again for yesterday and he said he was happy to do it. When the Rockets team came in they sat right next to us and I went up to talk to Patrick and just told him good luck and that I may be asking him some questions after the game and if he was cool with that and he said sure not a problem.

I got a quick snap of him and he went back to listening to music and following the world cup on his phone



One thing I noticed was that all the Rockets players that day except for Jordan Hill was in their warmups when they arrived, Hill was still in street clothes and when everyone went to go sit in the bleachers Hill went out to the foyer. That usually means he aint playing. I tried to tweet that but my phone was near dead (stupid phone) and my twitter app kept crashing so i called Clutch and let him know that Hill may not play but I would find out first. So I went out to the foyer and asked Jordan and he said he would be playing I called Clutch back and said it was premature I guess he didnt have time to change before leaving to the game. He may have been better to stay in streets though the way he played.

After the game ended I was allowed back to the "locker room" and I was like man this must suck for a guy under contract like Chase, Hill, Taylor who were used to the hotels, TC and other arena's locker rooms they have to change under the bleachers here! Thats where I did my interview with Patrick and thanked him and said my farewells to some of the other Rockets officials and went back to my seat to watch the anticipated debut of John Wall.


Totally Random

so now a game I always love to play during the summer league is to find the crappiest player possible and cheer for that guy like crazy when it comes to the other teams out there.

This year the players were:
Moussa Seck -Dallas
Brian Butch - Denver
Rob Kurz - Lakers
Michael Fey and Luke Schenscher - Portland
Michael Roll - Toronto
Kasib Powell - Golden State

Kasib, Moussa and Butch by far were the best ones to watch from their goofy expressions, uncoordination and lack of skill. If I had to crown a winner it was Kasib Powell running away. If anyone attends the SL and goes to a golden state game WATCH Powell you will be entertained. I took a pic with him and man he was soo happy. He jumped out of his seat and said "Sure man love to take a pic"



now why was this hillarious to me?? well one cuz he jumped at the chance right away and two when he spoke to me I was able to smell his breath which totally reeked of weed. This guy was smoking right before his game, but then he did have a summer league high 9 points so maybe it did work.


A lot of stuff was said in the article I wrote earlier if anyone has any specific questions I can try answering them about what I thought of players on the roster etc. Sorry for the post late at night only time I had to write this so hopefully people can see this in the morning and not have it be bumped to page 2 by then. I do appreciate the thanks and comments I am just grateful that I am able to give something back to the CF community after all it has given to me.