After a long time, I finally got to see this Rockets team up and close. Showed up at MSG and got a decent seat in section 50 - close enough to hear a few curses from the players - but only in the first qtr. The great thing about seeing a game live of course is that you see everything - not just what the camera's show. So here's some observations that you may like or not. This was a highly entertaining game - not being decided until basically 4 minutes left, and no dramatic choke from our team... The big news of course was V-Span. 30 seconds before the half, a few minutes at the end of the third, and most of the 4th QTR saw him on the court. He looked like an overactive energized kid - on defense looking every which way to make sure he was in the right spot. At one point, he left his man and I thought "oh no", but to my amazement, he had anticipated a cross court pass so early that he almost had it for a fast break. He defended drives by Marbury and Crawford relatively well. And played hustle defense, always getting a hand up. He did look a bit scattered though...frantic might be the better word. On Offense - without the ball he tended to camp out behind the arc and seemed to disappear. He seemed timid with his outside shot, twice passing on open three's or driving. His passes were crisp, and when he did drive - good things usually happened - although he had one careless turnover. However; showing the potential that many here drool over - he made a slick pass to battier on a drive that led to foul shots by Yao. When he got off the court, he got an applause from the garden - who appreciated his hustle - diving for loose balls, trying to open court steals, and a few of his nifty passes. Yup, this was V-Span's big night - playing the 4th QTR - and he's showed that he's going to make it in this league - and on this team. Welcome to the rotation V-Span. Juwon Howard played strong and within his game. However; we are definitely undersized at the 4 and that's clearly a problem. Yao played well early, but the last 15 minutes he was dominated by David Lee - not just in points and the block we saw with Yao grabbing his face - but just pushed around and you could see Yao bending over at times, once asking JVG to take him out of the game. So Yao's drop in performance may simply be the increased physicalness that opposing players are going at him. They were clearly trying to wear him down whether he got the ball or not. And without a strong 4, opposing teams can use that many more players against Yao. Battier while a solid player - still doesn't seem to quite fit with this team - is he a back-up to T-mac or a 4? This game, he was undersized - and while he did so many intangibles - I can't help but think what if we had that Kelvin Cato guy playing PF for us? How much easier would that make the game for Yao? Other then that - the team chemistry is excellent - with that starters hugging each bench player before the game, and the bench players huddling on their own. The commrodrity is definitely there, and everyone seems to like everyone else very much. JVG has done a good job in the chemistry department, and you can see his team respects him. Final note - Wells was no where to be seen. After seeing how this team behaves, the hustle away from the ball, the intensity on the bench - I have to say, Wells may not ever play. He has an attitude issue, and might only bring a distraction. I would not be surprised if Wells is moved in the near term future, possibly packaged with Howard or Alston....in fact, other then Synder's injury, this could be a reason V-Span saw a lot of time tonight. Synder's injury was particularly sad - he's clearly our most athleticaly gifted player.
I was also at the game tonight - lucked into a lux box invitation from a friend. That said, MSG is a complete craphole - being in a lux box there is the equivalent of watching the game from a toilet in The Summit. Anyway, that place is freaking LOUD. Maybe it's the roof - curving inward - I don't know - but even for stupid steals in the 2nd Quarter that place was going nuts. Vspan played well, though he needs to stop being such a puss and just shoot the ball when he gets it. His hesitation cost us 4-6 points. He's new though, he'll learn. I am of the same ethnic heritage as Vspan, and was entertained to hear the Knicks fans yelling, calling him "Teen Wolf." Much better nick than Kill Bill or Vspan. Last thing, I was incensed to see them "honor" Patrick Ewing by putting him up on tghe Jumbotron while playing the theme to Gladiator... Ewing the "Gladiator?" F YOU! Olajuwon owned your ass Ewing. Damn New Yorkers! I was so happy to see these damn Knicks lose. I may live up here now but I am a Rockets fan 'til I die.
thanks for the thoughts guys. I do hope we give Wells a chance though, he could help big time w/o snyder....screw comrodory, sometimes u just need some friggin points man!
I agree with JVG on this, if Yao and T-mac are willing to put in the work and play by the same rules - why should Bonzi get special treatment? For those of us who remember Vernon Maxwell - sometimes less is more....
Well, it's certainly not a modern arena - but it has it's mystique. The Organ in the back ground, the crowd...and it's a crowd that can complement opposing players. The announcer...and of course the fact that it's one of the few arenas that's not named after a fortune 500 corporation.
I'll give you the announcer - it was nice hearing an announcer who could annunciate his words. But the NY fans are the most obnoxious of ANY I have ever encountered. Boston fans give them a run, but NYers still win. GAWDDAMMIT! WE WIN BUT ESPN LEADS WITH THAT BLOCK ON YAO WHERE THEY POKED HIM IN THE EYE! F YOU ESPN! See! Damn bitter NEasterners!
Well, hopefully some of you guys in Houston can do the same for us who can't make the Houston games....that really would be awesome....
i'd love for yao ming to be able to do to what everyone else does to him. i've never seen any player with that much visible damage done to him. it's amazing to see how well he performs considering the rules are against him, the refs are against him, and obviously the opposing team is.
All I know is I saw some hustle out of that guy. I liked it. Maybe Van Gundy did too...he almost got that steal...
I think it's time we all just stopped giving a F*ck about even watching the BSPN highlights. Sigh. I dunno, maybe there is a racial climate to this Yao disrespect business (like how Reggie, Kenny, and Chuck were all way more excited about Dwight Howard when they were supposed to be discussing Yao Thursday) and the best way to combat it is to just keep winning. I mean, it's not just because he's a big guy, right (you know, the whole underdog bias thing)? I've honestly never seen a big guy in NBA history averaging more than 20-10 that has gotten the amount of disrespect Yao does on a nightly basis. Anyway, VSpan was great. I didn't get to see the game, but I saw a few highlights my friend sent me, and he looked like a pretty competent PG. I hope JVG continues to stick with him, through the good and the bad. He's gonna be special.
Totally agreed. V-Span all the way. Make it happen JVG! He is the difference maker with all his energy. I can foresee that he is probably the only player in Rockets that's most fearless coming crunch and difficult time. He has the mental makeup to be that kind of player.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), the only way to shut them down is to win a championship, thats the way it is. Jordan was once described as someone who was unable to make others better right? I don't think its racial, race is just a tacked on bonus and not the key. The key is the darkness of the human heart, we are conditioned to be happy when others fail. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a tall poppy syndrome. A lot of times, we feel like **** and can't understand why others are better, and thus want them to fail as well.
