ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Blazers 11/21/2003

Why wouldn't you? It's a valid point.

That 8 sec. violation was in no way JJ's fault. It was a combination of Portland's well-played surprise press and the Rockets' overall lack of awareness.

Frankly, that is the type of thing that I thought JVG would fix. I never thought we would see an unprepared Rockets team after JVG's hiring. It was a bad game, and hopefully we will be able to bounce back from it.

BTW, someone get a leash for Bostjan!

 

dude, Stephania is as good a rebounder as Yao, if not better. check his stat with Heat last year! he averaged 7 boards a game in just 20.2 mins! it doesn't surprise me at all he won a few boards over Yao. this guy is 7'1 and can rebound.

 

I feel really sorry for JVG; it's like he has a special-ed basketball team to work with. He is probably wondering how he is going to get this group to play smart when they aren't smart and don't seem able to get smart. They really are becoming comical. How have they been winning? Oh, I remember, Ugly! Well they lost this one Ugly.

 

Do you think he'll wait that long? The organization and the fans have been outside of the playoffs for years, and even though we have a good chance of making the playoffs now, despite the strength of the West, a mediocre team will only further erode fan interest.....in a town where football is first.

The only reasons moves haven't been made until now are: 1) JVG probably wanted to see what he had in his players, and ditto for new coaches/GMs around the league; 2) CD probably reinforced #1 by being loyal to his nice-guy players Cat and Eggie (why else not make any number of deals that would have OTHER teams screaming "why the **** did we put Eddie Griffin on our roster?"); 3) Les is being prudent but also too cheap and you get what you pay for; and.....most important, 4) INJURIES/SUSPENSIONS to Pike, Adrian Griffin, and Mo Taylor.

There will be at least one trade before the deadline. When Pike comes back we gain a 20 mpg game with a deadly 3 pt shot. Once he and Adrian Griffin are acclimated, BAM!, we will trade. No two ways about it.

Sean Deveney was correct. Our team is not built to compliment Yao. I would say get Tony Battie as a backup center and solidify your forward spots and there you go. Why not Cato/Mo/Boki for Brian Grant and Caron Butler? The Van Gundys can make a nice deal that balances out both teams (but we NEED a backup center; Cato has done well but the only thing that keeps the wheels from coming off completely is Cato has not yet reverted to Mr Glass).

P.S. Why is it every time Steve gets embarassed on D that his O falls apart?
P.P.S. Why does Damon Stoudamire always come out smelling like Michael Jordan when he plays against Steve? He should offer Steve a hit of whatever he smoked before the game: "Toke up, toke up, you'll play better, and if not, sheeey!!!!t, you won't care anyway."

 

This is pretty harsh of you to say, but as much as I don't like hearing it, there is truth to what you're saying. But the Rockets will get better. I think most people would agree.

Still, I was pretty pissed by some of the mistakes. For example, Mo Tayler missed lots of shots. He took lots of shots, and why did he have to take lots of shots in his second game back? He's still not in shape, and he isn't the main option on our team to begin with. Well anyways, on one play, he drove right into a trap. He dribbled the ball under basket, straight into a tight double team. He was right under the basket, no angle to lay it in whatsoever, defenders completely swarming him. His only option was to pass it out . . . and on my ****ing word, Mo T suddenly thinks he's a rugby player and tries to claw out of the double team only to get the ball stripped away with no call to reward him as he falls on his ass while the Blazers run a fast break without him.

Then again, as pissed as I want to get at MoT, another player who just isn't very smart at all, he was doing what he thought he had to do. What do you do when your star point guard only scores two points? Not knocking Francis or anything, but when one star player shuts down, the role players have to do a little more than usual.

Speaking of Francis. I think he was trying to heed his criticism. He was trying not to shoot too much and cost the game. He was trying to pass more. He tallied 7 assists, and would have had a lot more had the other players made their shots. Cato, for example, missed all five, including a basket on a somewhat solid dunk opportunity.

As talented as this team is, I am honestly bewildered by the mistakes that result from just not thinking. Maybe we should just tear off the roof of Toyota Center and coat the court with black asphalt and tar.

 

ROXTXIA,

Well, I hope you are right. We need to make changes. Too much stagnation. Francis and Yao are the only un-tradable players (per JVG).

Overall, we're playing better. But that has to do more with JVG's system and philosophy rather than players actually improving their games.

I'm going to laugh when the "buddy-buddy" duo of Francis and Mobely are finally broken up. That's going to take "balls!"

Major needs: A PG that can run the offense. A PF that can score/rebound and play D. A backup Center (if not Cato). Mobley and Francis must not play on the same team! And, getting players that actually complement Francis and Yao. We need higher IQ players in the "role" positions.

 

Yea I agreed M. Taylor was horrible in the 2nd quarter when he entered the game. He blew lay ups and he also is too one-dimensional player....by that i mean, he is soooo single-minded that when you give him the ball in the post and when he makes up his mind that he's going to drive to the hoop, he's going to do it even by means of forcing up the shot against double team. It's like he has no alternative options every time he gets the ball. Now he makes up for what he did in the 2nd quarter by playing very well at the end, but still he needs to correct his single-minded mentality, cuz that's not smart basketball.

Also it's true Cato blew up countless layups....I mean very easy layups and it's also the reason Portland were able to come back.

 

yea...watching the game i would cringe every time MoT got the ball. the guy needs more practice with his shot.
Perhaps then he could kinda be useful at the PF.

 

Here is the blueprint how to beat the Rox:

1. Press Rox guards to bring the ball up, this can create 8 second violation for the Rox, a TO, or little time to set up a pass to Yao once the ball is brought up.

2. In the second half or the 4th quarter, switch defense to zone, which will definitely confuse Rox tremendously, Rox shooting percentage will fall, TO will increase.

 

MoT shot 6-11, not that particularly bad. He did have 3 TOs, but both Cat and SF had 3 TOs, Yao had 2, Cato 2, JJ 2, hahaha, everybody had some TOs.

Seriously, Rox is not good at playing zone or under press. We need a veteran backup PG to relieve SF for some minutes during the game. We also need a good PF who can defend and make the 10-15-foot jumper. Right now even Boozer is better than any of our PFs.

 

What the rockets have to work on is that when they get double teamed they need to pass and spread the floor with shooters, that's why not having Pike really hurts and that is something they should work on but I was impressed with Francis that he didn't force any bad shot when nothing was working for him, he had 7 dimes and 7 boards.

 

This was a tough game to lose because I didn't feel like the Rox really played stupidly. The only thing I wondered was how on earth the Blazers kept getting offensive rebounds over Yao?! It was like the balls were going right over his hands to Stepania.
Otherwise, it was frustrating like we just didn't get the ball to bounce our way and some frustratingly poor calls (the charge on Mobley when Woods clearly had his feet inside the protected circle).
I also feel partly to blame because the Rox are 1-3 now when I wear my new red Yao jersey. It's all I can do though having just moved to DC for law school. I don't want that thing to become cursed.

 

you didnt notice how stepania had yao ming in a bear hug almost all game...

 

Did you even read my post? or do I have to spell everything out for you?

This is what I typed in response to your ignorant comments:
"You are always trying to shut other poeple up by claiming that you have watched the game. If you have really watched the game, then you would know that the Blazers shot a lot of long range shots, these shots mostly tend to bounce far away from the basket. Which becomes a lot harder to Centers and PFs to grab them, but makes it easier for opponents, or your guards to get them. So it's obvious that the opponent to get a bit more Offensive rebounds. So, have you really watched the game? No? then shut up."

Now, before you answer anything, I suggest you to start reading the original post first, otherwise nobody is going to waste time in answering your stupid posts.

 

Ok, this is because when you are successful in boxing out the opponents, it becomes easier for your own centers and PFs to grabs the rebounds that fall closer to the rim. But in last night's case, a lot of rebounds bounced hard and fall far from the rim, and thus it becomes easier for the forwards or guards (not neccessary Centers of Pfs) to grab those rebounds. We can see a proof of that by simply looking at the stats, as you can see, Portland's Centers and PFs did not get a lot of rebounds too ( 14 in total, including backups), but thier backup small forwards Ruben PAtterson and Qyntel Woods got a combined 16 rebounds. in which 7 of them are Offensive rebounds. So this shows us how many long rebounds there has been throughout the game, but unfortunately, it seemed that our forwards/guards (who were supposed to protect the long rebounds) were not very successful in completing their duties last night. My point is, even though Cs and Pfs are supposed to grab most of the rebounds, there is only a limited area that they can cover, for example, you won't see Yao or Cato jumping laterally for 12 feet and grab a rebound that falls near the free throw line. Anyways, I know that sometimes I am not being very clear in explaining my points so thanks for pointing that out.

 

A lot of folks thought Steve sucked because he was tortured badly by Damon S all night long. That's not the worst part of Steve's night. You go to the Portland fans' boards, everybody there were laughing at Steve's classless pathetic layin basket at the end of the game. That's not a way to boost from a 2-point game to 4.

 

Zach Randoph (PF/C) and V. Stepania (C) = 7 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS

Zach goes to the bench. Stepania at C, Patterson comes in, rushes the glass, and gets 5 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS. Stop using "loug rebound" as an excuse. The fact of the matter is that our PF/C did not block out. Paterson came into the lane to get the rebounds. The Blazers were being proactive. We were standing around. It's not where the ball bounces. It's what you do (before the ball hits the rim);positioning.

As far as your comment about their PF/C not getting a lot of rebounds: Try 22 rebounds for their PF/C's. Seven offensive rebounds from just Zach Randoph (PF/C) and V. Stepania (C). The team got 17 total offensive rebounds.

Anyone see the time that two Rockets (Yao/Mobley?) went up for the same rebound and knocked it into a Blazers's hands?

 

People also tend to forget that Damon Stoudamire is not a crappy player. He's a Rookie of the Year recepient after all, pothead or not.

 

What? I am so surprised that it's coming from a senior member of this board.

Cato has been good in the past 11 but not this one.

 

Haha, exactly. I was just wondering if we can set up a system to downgrade some "senior"'s senior status.

Some of the fans on this board are just unbelievably low on their IQ. No wonder this team has been a lottery team for the past couple of years.

BTW, if Steve is the super star and Mobley behaves like he is one too, we can name every team's pg and sg super stars or super super star.

Jesus, this is really bizzar. I am guessing those two stars were really hyped stars by the Rockets team because they need to have the attendance.