thre is alot of talk abotu the heat making the finals etc. but man, its essentially Shaq, a very young Wade and a bunch of scrubs.. will be very interesting to see but that team needs another foward. Rahim would fit nicely. I mean, Usalem and Rasul Butler has got to be the worst starting foward tandem since I can remember
This was a perfect display of Jeff Van Gundy offense. Tuesday, March 22 against Miami at Toyota Center, with T-Mac and Yao playing 40+ minutes, it will be a surprise if the Rockets score 85 points.
Sleepy! There he is! Man, I don't remember him being that ripped. Who does he think he is, DRob Jr? BTW, why was he called Sleepy? I never thought his eyes looked sleepy. Bug-eyed and wild, yes, but sleepy, no. Now, TMac, there's your sleepy look. (or baked look)
You can post your "OMG! 95pts! I can't belive it!" comments when that day comes. You implied no such thing? Hmmmm? One thing you're overlooking. We have Yao, Tmac, Howard and Lue. "Turnover happy" Francis and "stone hands" Cato are gone.
Malik Allen had a very good outside shot tonight. With a dominant low post presence like Shaq, the power forward has to hit a mid-range jumper in order to prevent excessive double teams. It's going to be Dwayne Wade who's going to have a tough time this year. Eddie Jones can hit the 3. Wesley Person and Damon Jones can light it up.
Eh... I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about tonight's game was lacking. It's just so weird to see such a huge roster change and having half our players gone. We're just not the Rockets anymore... more like... the McRocks. I'm actually more tempted to watch an Orlando game. Oh well, just gotta see how the season progresses and familiarize myself with the new players.
i had almost the exact same feeling. i think it's mainly because yao and mcgrady barely played and mo didn't play at all. i love the look of this team though and once the games start counting, or atleast i see a couple more pre-season games it'll start to feel more normal.
As much as Shaq dominates the paint area on offense, Dwayne Wade is going to be limited to outside shots off the catch and shoot. At least Yao sometimes went out to the high post for the occasional roleplayer mode in which he shot jumpers when Steve drove into the paint. There's no way Shaq is going out to the high post. Stan Van Gundy is going to drill the ball into Shaq every offensive possession until Shaq falls down from exhaustion.
Recap from other site: Link:http://www.hoopdynasty.com/GameAnalysis.htm Late Surge leads Rockets past Heat October 10th, 2004--Mark that day in your calendars, Rocket fans, as well as Heat fans. It was the debut of superstars Tracy McGrady and Shaquille O'Neal, who lost over 20lbs in the off-season. Not just was it the debut of those fellow stars, it was also the debut of Juwan Howard, Reece Gaines, Tyronn Lue, Ryan Bowen, and also Dikembe Mutombo for the Houston Rockets. A re-shaped Houston Rockets managed to compile a ton of exciting moments into 1 game. From Tracy McGrady's first basket being a top of the key three-pointer, next possession McGrady dunks it, to just under four minutes in the 1st quarter, Yao Ming swipes the ball out of Udonis Haslem's hand while he was going for an easy two, Tyronn Lue's buzzer beater at the end of the 1st quarter! And Mutombo's fast-break block on Haslem, as well as his 24-shot clock beater from 17ft away in the 3rd! Late first quarter the unexpected.... BOOM! McGrady crashes to floor with just above 2 minutes left in 1st quarter. Fear arises in fans of the Houston Rockets, and the Rockets organization. Luckily, he shook it off stepped up to the free throw line after the timeout and sank two free throws. Rockets led 22-13 over Heat. The biggest question this season is can McGrady co-exist with Yao Ming? Well can two unselfish people (in this case, players) cooperate? Of course they can. The biggest observation tonight was that McGrady's offensive talent can mesh with the plan on offense, of Yao Ming being #1 option. When you have talent like McGrady, it doesn't matter you are going to get your points, work on something that you are weak at. That leads us to defense. Defense was a huge key, as well as our much improved offense. McGrady, by many coaches and scouts are described as "long" and "athletic". Tonight, even in a pre-season game, he showed both, his athleticism played parts in both offense and defense, as well as his length. McGrady drove to the basket constantly, and landed up at the free throw line numerous times, while using his long arms to harass Heat's shooting guard at that time. Yao Ming was a huge improvement, too. His offense and defense is improving, but what was most improved? His body, conditioning, strength, and believe it or not...quickness and speed. When the game started to become a running game, with McGrady and Ward running it down, Yao became tired, naturally. But if it was last season, he would've gotten tired within a minute, but with the great improvement he lasted 3-4 hard minutes of running. With Yao doing a nifty move, used with speed on the baseline, and around the 315 plus pound Shaq just missed an And 1 opportunity! The lead of the Heat started to dwindle, when Shaq picked up his 4th foul with 4 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. The score with just under 3 minutes left in the 2nd, was tied at 38. It seemed to be a deadlock, with a lot of defense, running, and even more defense, such as charges. Also something to notice is that even though it is a pre-season game, it still ended out being played like a regular season game throughout the first half. At the end of the first half, we had a whopping 2 fast-break points compared to the Heat's 11 fast-break points. One part of Van Gundy's is to play great defense and start the break, the Rockets played great defense of holding the Heat to 40% shooting at the end of the half, but yet could not capitalize on the break. Another problem, was the 2nd rotation. As soon as either Yao or Tracy left the floor, the team started to struggle, no scoring, poor defense. Just flat out bad. With a lot of hopes on Bostjan Nachbar's shoulder, the coaching staff at the end of the game felt he was thinking too much, and " should act loose" according to injured guard, Bob Sura. The Rockets did not play forwards, Maurice Taylor and Clarence Weatherspoon, in the victory over the Heat. Good news and bad news; Rockets do plan on bringing forward Maurice Taylor to China versus the Kings, but the bad news is Clarence Weatherspoon is not coming with the Rockets. Mid 3rd Quarter score: Heat led 53-51 Bad news....for Heat fans. Shaq picks up 5th foul....but refuses to leave game. First time appearance, Reece Gaines checked in the game just below the 6-minute mark in the 3rd quarter. Bad news....this time for Rocket fans. Back-to-Back three pointers by the Heat, let the Heat take a 61-55 lead over the Rockets. And first time appearance for the Miami Heat, Dorrell Wright checked in right above the 4-minute mark. Something to note on Reece Gaines, he tends to drive that line, basically he loves to penetrate and kick it out. Which is a great attribute for a 6-6 combo guard, with as much potential as Gaines has. Start of 4th Quarter with a 65-63 lead over the Heat! Reece Gaines with a smooth jumper to capitalize on the Heat's turnover the possession before. With the Heat lineup including Dwayne Wade, the only projected starter from both teams on the floor, the Heat took a 72-69 lead over the Rockets. 2 minutes later, Mutombo with a basket and a foul, led the crowd to cheers. And Mutombo got his 9th point of the night off of the free throw. 6 minutes left in 4th quarter, the score is tied at 72. The Rockets lineup with players like Padgett, Zimmerman, Bowen, and more players, filled the Rockets with hard-nosed, dirty, and hustle players that showed more heart than ever. Rockets lead 74-72 with 4 minutes left in 4th. Lead bulks up to 77-72, possible 78-72, but with a missed FT attempt, more hustle came from the Rockets. Which was an offensive rebound, foul, and 2 more FT attempts, and both went in. Rockets 79-72 with exactly 3 minutes left in 4th. Like mentioned before, one of Van Gundy's plan is to play great defense and get the break starting, which is what the hustle 4th quarter Rocket players are doing, such as Hawkins, Sales and Zimmerman. Those 3 players led the Rockets to a 16-0 run, which added on to the lead to make it 85-72. Gaines put on a dribbling showdown, around 2 players right before Damon Jones hit a three pointer, to get the Heat 75 points. End of game: Rockets 85 Heat 75 , McGrady and Yao both added 10 a piece, with leading scorer Tyronn Lue pouring in 14. Another key player is Juwan Howard, who ended out with 8 points and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes of play. Shaq led the Heat with 17. Next Up: Sacramento Kings, twice, in China.
One of my favorite comments that Bullard made was the following...."Lue has a quick step! But his quick step actually has a purpose...he's under control..." Ouch! Dig! Ha ha ha!
Some pictures from the game. What I found interesting is that Yao's biceps are almost as big as Shaq's, but his calves completely dwarf Shaq's! More from the link. http://sports.sina.com.cn/z/2002-2003NBA/photo/7154/index.shtml
Thanks for the pics! Did Shaq foul Yao on that block or was it clean? Also, did they double Shaq? Did Shaq dunk on anyone?
