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No Time to Panic

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by crash5179, Nov 16, 2002.

  1. crash5179

    crash5179 Contributing Member

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    Rudy sucks, trade Steve, Yao Ming is not playing enough…blah, blah, blah…

    The fact is that Rudy T had our team in a position to win the game on the road against a play-off contender. We were in a position to win on a night that both of our primary scoring options were having an off night and our players looked out of sync as a team. We had our chances to win and just did not execute. You can’t blame Rudy for missed free throws and you can’t expect our team not to have games like last nights from time to time. So many new faces still trying to find there role on the team and a team still trying to get used to each other. I think it is looking good.

    Steve Francis is not passing enough? Why should he pass more? The new team concept appears to be team passing. Steve’s assists are down by about 1 a game but look at the other players assist totals. Both Cat and KT’s assists are currently at career highs and should continue to go up as the team continues to get used to playing together. People complain about turn-overs from Steve but for the 3rd straight game he goes under his career and season averages.

    Yao Ming is looking more and more comfortable in the offense with each passing game. As a result he is also looking more aggressive on defense. Over the last three games we have seen several flashes of why he was the number 1 overall pick and why Rudy T was so excited to get him in a Rockets uniform.

    Mo Taylor provided great instant offense off of the bench against the Suns. We have all witnessed what he can do when he gets hot. Two years ago when he got hot he stayed hot for the rest of the year and was a major contributor on the 45-win team. This is a great sign. If he keeps it up than he will be a legit 6th man of the year contender. Rudy T might even be tempted to put him back in the starting line-up.

    The so-called Killer schedule might not be so killer:

    We play the Lakers on Sunday at a time closer to what our players have been used to playing. On top of that the Lakers have looked more like the Cavs with out Shaq and he is not going to be back for Sunday’s game. The Rockets essentially have a day and a half of rest and preparation going into the game Sunday. If we play the way we should play then we should have an outstanding opportunity to come away with a win.

    Next up is Cleveland after a day’s rest. I don’t think that there is really any real reason to go into depth on this game. After all Cleveland is still just Cleveland. This should be another win.

    After another day’s rest we head back to Texas and play against the super hot Mavericks. The bad thing about this game is that this will be the fourth game in seven nights. The Mavericks are not only an elite play-off team but they are also smoking hot right now. The good thing about this game is that although we will have played several games in only a few nights the Rockets still have not had to play a back to back. The Rockets also match up very well against the Mavericks and have not lost a season series to the Mavericks since the Mavs have been a play-off team. This is probably not a win but I think we have an excellent chance at an upset.

    Friday the 22nd we return home to MJ and the Washington Wizards. Its Friday night, MJs in town and the Rockets have played well with big home crowds backing them up. This will be a back end of a back to back with the Rockets and the Wizards will be fresh off of a couple of day’s rest. This will be a great game I think. Cato vs. Brandon Haywood; Eddie vs. Kwame, KT vs. Byron Russell, Cat vs. Stack, Francis vs. Larry Hughs. There are some very good match-ups there but I think the Rockets are better across the board. We can also go very deep into the bench with a lot of quality subs. By this game we should definitely have developed a chemistry that only comes with a lot of time together and a lot of games together. I expect a Rockets win.

    If we can win 3 out of the next 4 then we will be in very good shape heading into the longest road trip of the season and I will fill very good about our chances to get 3 out of 5 on that trip as well. LAC, Portland, Golden State and Seattle are all teams that we can beat. Only Sac is a team that we still need to prove we can beat.

    The rest of the month is going to tell us a lot about what this team is made of. I don’t think it is prudent to b**** after every single loss because we are not going to go 82 and 0. I think it makes a lot more since to let something become a trend before we start calling for major changes. After the Portland win everyone thought we were on the right track and now after one single 1 point loss on the road we suck and have no chance of making the play-offs with Rudy T as coach? I just don’t buy it.
     
  2. arno_ed

    arno_ed Contributing Member

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    great post crash, i agree with you 100%.the rockets will make the playoffs. and ming wil dominate,maybe not this year but he wil.
     
  3. alaskansnowman

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    And who's fault is it that the players/offense looked totally out of sync? I'll give Rudy time, but it's frustrating watching this offense sometimes... and yesterday was no exception.
     
  4. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    We may become world-beaters, crash, but if I have to listen to that Tolbert/ESPN pile of steaming dung again I'm going to drive to Houston and jump into the Ship Channel.

    Arrgh!


    (Francis was not himself, IMHO. Find yourself, Steve, your needed. At the rate your "accidentally" getting the $h!t knocked out of you by the opposing team, that may take awhile. Waiting for a fellow Rocket to return the favor for you may take longer. First Wallace, now Danforth "I'm a man, I still am" Langhi. At this rate, we better enjoy you while we have you... whatever is LEFT of you.)
     
  5. crash5179

    crash5179 Contributing Member

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    Why does it have to be anyones fault? MoT back for just his second game. No Cato. Rudy is trying to work Yao Ming into a regular rotation along with Taylor and Rice. Couple that with the fact that Steve and Cat both had bad games and we have a team that is out of sync.

    What I liked about it is that we still almost won and we should have. Tell me when you saw cat go to the line for two foul shots in the last minute that you did not think the game was won. I sure did.

    When the team is going through last minute problems on the floor like they were it has to be a player that steps up and takes charge. Tonight our leader (Steve Francis) had a bad game and could not do it. That is all.
     
  6. RocksMillenium

    RocksMillenium Contributing Member

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    LOL Deckard, it wasn't fun at all listening to ESPN that's for sure. I completely agree crash, this team showed potential. It was great to see Mo and Rice getting into shape and producing, that's going to help big time. And having our "Big Three" have an off night scoring, along with KT, and playing with Cato who has been playing out of his mind, it's a wonder Phoenix didn't beat the Rockets by a bigger margin. And Ming, man he's going to be something else! He'll be a good producer by January. The pieces are there, the offense wasn't run badly so much as the main scorers were just off tonight. This offense actually has been looking good lately, especially in the first half, but again people have to be patient. You can't instally a new offense 7 games into the season, it's going to take at least until the All-Star break to see this offense somewhat consistent. And this team will have to go through an entire season, this season, and training camp next year before you see full confidence of the system along with full knowledge of the system.
     
  7. trifle3A

    trifle3A Member

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    Ming is 8-9 in last three games get him some more shots he looking comfortable on offense.
     
  8. MManal

    MManal Member

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    Crash,

    If the Rockets can win 6 of the next 9 games, I'll be very happy. I dont think this team will really start peaking till about January so 6-3 in the games coming up is pretty good at this stage. Basically, that would mean winning 1 of the 4 on the road against Portland, Seattle, Sacramento and Dallas and taking care of business in the other games. I have been very impressed with Seattle and Dallas so far and Sacto is playing well aside from letting teams get back in games. At this stage, I would consider a win against any of those three teams a huge plus.
     
  9. alaskansnowman

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    Crash:

    You're right. It just seems that it's always been the "take the positives from the loss" for us the past few years. I'm just tired of it, but I guess I'll have to put up with it for at least the next month or so. My main concern is the improvement of our offense... naturally, unfamiliarity with each other and new plays will contribute to a bad offensive flow. However I wonder if anything will change at all, even as the team gels.

    You know what I loved... I think it was a high pick and roll (If i recall correctly, my memory is a bit fuzzy) with Francis and Yao. Francis passed it to Taylor, and Taylor zipped it right to Yao who was cutting/rolling after his pick on Francis, and Yao slammed it in. Perfectly run play, that involved more than just Francis and the picker. <b>THAT</b> is what I want to see more of... where the ball is moved around and given to the right players IN THE RIGHT PLACES. I'm hoping that Rudy can continue to make plays like these, and keep instilling this mentality into the players... here's to Rudy T and the growth of the 5 man offense.
     
    #9 alaskansnowman, Nov 16, 2002
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2002
  10. NIKEstrad

    NIKEstrad Contributing Member
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    I think crash is right.

    The Rockets lost by 1 point on the road to a playoff contender minus their starting center.

    We're not going to win playoff games on days when Cat/Steve play like that. To win the big games, your stars can't have off nights.

    Off nights happen, because the players are human. We were 2 free throws from a guy who shoots better than 85% away from winning that game. It's forgivable.

    However, NOW is the time for the team to start showing up as a whole. Before it was Francis and Mobley. Last night, basically everyone else picked things up. Now it's time to show we can put things together.
     
  11. Chip123456

    Chip123456 Member

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    I'm trying to be patient about the Rockets and I think i can do it, but don't Phoenix is a contender. I doubt they're gonna come close to making the playoffs and we won't make it either if we don't stop losing to teams like these. The Suns are lottery bound.
     
  12. Mr. Clutch

    Mr. Clutch Contributing Member

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    I agree, the Suns weren't good last year and I wasn't impressed with them this time. Marbury seems to lose wherever he goes. A Stephon-first offense isn't gonna win many games. Penny was pretty brilliant at times running the offense though.
     
  13. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Contributing Member
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    Very nice Post Crash. I agree with you big time. Sometimes I'm amazed at how a bunch of people can all watch the same game, and have such different opinions about things after it's over.
     
  14. declan32001

    declan32001 Member

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    Nice thread Crash and much needed. Deckard you sound exactly how I feel. I think everybody's right here. I expected the first 10 games or so to include some real ugliness, but it was painful last night. Steve and Cat looked unhinged, KT's game last night looked like he's living in a new universe, and Eddie is still having "those kind of games", but I don't have a problem with his game last night. What was up with Moochie?. He looked liked he'd never seen any of his teammates before.

    I'm not down on anybody. I want to see what this team can do and is doing at midseason. We have to be hovering around .500, period, but by then we'll have some form of set rotation. We'll have disappointments and pleasant surprises. For the record I think Seattle and Indiana played good games against us. I thought last night Phoenix played worse than they actually are. So this one hurt. Well, on to L.A., it's always fun to beat them even when they're bad :).
     
  15. Darrinlane

    Darrinlane Member

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    Good post Crash......I'm tired of everyone thinking that we are going to win 82 games. This is very refreshing after the 1000 hating threads. Thanks.
     
  16. Vengeance

    Vengeance Contributing Member

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    Nice post Crash. Last night was not Rudy's fault -- it was the players not executing. We had about a dozen chances to win the game, and the players failed to execute on every single one. Straight up, we sucked last night. But if we could play as badly as we did and still almost win, that's a definite positive. Now it still sucks that we lost, but we can't win them all. You'll get in tight games like that and win some and lose some. Versus Portland, we won one, and versus Phoenix, we lost one. Learn from it and move on.
     

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