Wow! What a game! Glad we won! Yao was phenomenal. Luther Head was Clutch. T-Mac solid. We expect that from those three guys, though. However, we could not have won without the contributions from many others. For example, Ryan Bowen almost had a double-double (13 points, 8 rebounds) and numerous hustle plays and great defense that would not show up in the stats. David Wesley is also a candidate for the unsung hero award of the game. Wesley made some uncharacteristic mistakes, such as a bad pass in the fourth quarter and falling down after grabbing the rebound that caused us to lose the possession with seconds left. However, he also played a key role (making threes) by scoring his season high. How 'bout Stro. Stromile Swift is probably the least likely to be the unsung hero of the three. But he contributed on the defensive end and made some shots early in the game (which many may have forgotten by now). I am still wondering why Stro played less than Juwan Howard. .... And The Mooch. Sure he has not played much this season. Nonetheless, he was infused into the lineup and he made a nice hustle play which resulted in a Rocket three that inched them closer to overtime. JVG probably felt that Norris' historic 35 foot shot against the Golden State Warriors in December of 2000 would have produced another clutch moment for the backup point guard. Only difference is that Moochie is not looking for his shot and he has shaved off the time that he holds the ball dribbling without moving (he passes quicker
One thing I noticed was JVG moved Bowen from the perimeter to the blocks. Instead of him roaming around at 18 feet, he was going block to block looking for passing lanes. That resulted him in getting all those points off the layups. If he can keep finding the open seams, maybe it won't be 4 on 5 on the offense side anymore.
I was following the game thread last night and it surprises me what some people see and what they don't when watching a game. T-Mac did not look "right" in the 2nd half (he did make two huge plays in the 4th). Wesley hit some shots, but that TO with 5.6 seconds should have killed us. Yao played a great game despite the TO's - he was very active on both ends and other than his hustle there was only Bowen that got the team playing hard again in the 4th. The victory was great, but I'm holding my breath with Wesley playing the 1 - we need Alston and Sura back ASAP.
I dont' know why TOlbert always says give the ball to Richardson when BOwne is guarding him..I think Bowen is a good defender.
Yeah, I think he said something like, "If I were Richardson, I don't I'd even have made a pass. He's got Ryan Bowen on him." Brilliant. I guess he thought Bowen was a main offensive weapon as opposed to defensive. Conclusion: I HATE STUPID ANNOUNCERS!