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Opening night impressions

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by davo, Nov 1, 2000.

  1. davo

    davo Contributing Member

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    Walt "Scrapper" Williams,
    Walt was great last night - 8 rebounds in 25 minutes, hustling D and chasing loose balls.

    Moochie "Go to man" Norris
    Apparently Moochie is the man we go to down the stretch now. Forget about Francis, Moochie got all the ball in the 4th quarter. Seriously though, anyone notice how much more effective the rockets were when Francis was playing 2 guard?

    Steve "whipping boy" Francis
    Francis got abused by Terrell Brandon. He just could not stick with him on defense. In the first half, Brandon was allowed to penetate at will and was given open jumper after open jumper. Moochie was a much better defender than Francis hands down.

    Rudy "reaction man" Tomjonavich
    Almost without fail, Rudy makes a substitution after someone has made a mistake. Its like the mistake all of a sudden makes him realize he needs to take that guy out of the game. I would like to think that Rudy has a gameplan and substition strategy, not just reactionary.

    Steve "the CAT" Francis
    Steve was wearing an armband that said "CAT" on it. I know those guys are close but is that going too far? [​IMG]

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  2. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Cuttino "Bunny-flop" Mobley
    "I missed a bunch of bunnies in the 1st half."

    LOL on the Moochie.

    One thing about Moochie getting a lot of time: Think about it, if you are Rudy what the hell are you going to do with a starting PG who has 6 turnovers, but he's still your man. You have to send him a message that says "quit with the turnovers or Moochie gets the rock".

    Rudy "Shakes" Tomjonavich
    One Shake, Two Shakes, Red Shake, Blue Shake. Can there be a reason for all the ISOs. No Kenny, a turnover-prone PG, Mo with no practice time, and Minnesota never doubling. Put it all together and there might by a solid reason somewhere for Shake-Shake-Shaking. Minnesota definitely was not doubling Mo, Mobley and Moochie. (Well, Mobley was doubled some, I just had to get the three "Mo"s in a quote.) Moochie was getting right into the middle of the lane almost at will. But, with Minnesota, that is like a death trap as Garnett is there to meet you in a flash. I do not expect too many teams other than Minnesota to be able to do that to us....Garnett gives you a lot of defensive flexibility.

    Look for more movement when KT is back and Mo is in the Flo.

    Lastly
    How about Mo's dribbling. Man, Garnett got him once, but Mo pretty much had his way. That guy will command a double team pretty soon. We need some wins though.

    Quit missing those Bunny layups Cuttino and Francis!!!
     
  3. Kickingback

    Kickingback Member

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    From what I saw in the game the Rockets haven't improved any from last year. There seems to be no game plan on offense. The come down court and try to beat there man on a one on one offense. They pass up the easy shots for a ESPN highlite. That is why Minn kicked there butt. Over and over they won't take an easy uncontested 12 foot jumper. But try to drive to the basket with 3 defenders waiting for them. Also we do not have a pure shooter on this team. Bullard is ok. But other than him we have no one you can count on to make an open 18 to 20 jump shot. I just hope Rudy and do something about the offensive sets they are running. The defense is another issue all together. No one seemed to roll over to cover on picks. I know it's just one game. But if they play this way all year it will be tough to get to 30 wins.

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  4. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    that is a pretty depressing first post.

    Walt, Mobley and Francis can damn sure hit the open shot....not to mention Mo and Dream. Come on....steering you assessment a little wide of reality...eh.

    I give you the "too many ISOs", but consider Minnesota's game plan was to not double and take everything else away. Then use a weakside Garnett to challenge the drives into the lane. I have to give Minnesota some credit there, and point out that plays for Walt were defended well by denying him the ball. That can be done when you are willing to leave our guards in single coverage.

    Minnesota's defense is pretty stellar against us. <font size="1"> <font color="dedfdf>

    [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 01, 2000).]
     
  5. JunkyardDwg

    JunkyardDwg Contributing Member

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    I agree, this post is gettin a wee bit depressing. I mean, come on guys, this is just the first game, and I think we all know they're capable of so much more. I was saying that last season. When they played good, they were on fire, but they just needed some experience. Did u see how they played during preseason. Granted, the games didnt count, but cmon! I was saying through the whole game last night how they can play soo much better than this. And then they FINALLY came round in the fourth. It was just 1st game anxiety...i hope :)


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  6. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Contributing Member

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    My impressions?

    1. The Rockets still can't hit free throws with any consistency.

    2. They play way too many ISOs and too much one-on-one.

    3. They need to learn how to play defense for an entire game rather than just for a portion of a game.

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    I am the b*stard son of LHutz.

    Huh?

    Right!
     
  7. SamCassell

    SamCassell Contributing Member

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    I'll preface this post by saying that I only saw the 2nd half of last night's game. But three points struck me:

    (1) I don't like the end-of-game offense. It did bring us back in the game but I never got the sense that Minnesota was threatened even when we pulled to within 7. Bottom line - I want Francis with the ball in his hands in the last 5 minutes of a game. Not Mobley one-on-one. Certainly not Moochie doing the same. For Stevie to learn how to be a premiere point guard he's got to be given the opportunity to run the game in crunch time - I don't care how bad a game he's been having to that point.

    (2) I can see why Mo's rebounding numbers were low last season. It seemed like half the plays he was out of position to pound the offensive boards - 15 to 18 feet out is not where I want to see my primary interior weapon. Sure, get your pick-and-pops, and by all means open the lane for the guards to drive -> but I want to see our big men cut to the glass when a shot goes up.

    (3) Was it just me or did I see some vintage Dream last night? I mean, very briefly of course - on defense he still looks sluggish and he did miss those free throws. But when he got the ball in the paint he looked very comfortable. And his #s (especially rebound-wise) were solid. Bold prediction - he's gonna have a 30 point game sometime this season. By all means I don't want to return to a pound-it-in type offense. But it's nice to have something other than guard-iso plays to turn to.



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  8. tacoma park legend

    tacoma park legend Contributing Member

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    I was at the game last night and mooch had a good game but what the hell are the rockets thinking making him the go to guy in the final minutes?? Dont bash francis about his D, he was workin his ass off. The rockets just dont know how to play the pick and roll the big man never steps out to help steve and lets brandon have his way.I saw a hell of a lot of bad things with the rockets last night that attributed to their lost, but lets give the twolves some credit. They hit almost every damn shot!!!By the way I hate steve Javvey or however you spell his last name. Every time the rockets got on a run he would call some BS illegal defense. I hate that guy. The funniest thing I saw was a guy dressed up as the pope flicking off the referee.

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  9. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    Tacoma, the Rockets play the pick and roll differently, they go behind the screen and let the player take the LONG shot if he wants it.

    DaDakota

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    All you MO-FO's better stop ripping off my lines !!
     
  10. oeilpere

    oeilpere Member

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    I remember the play well. He also had a wingman on the other side.

    If anything, I would like to tell Stevie Wonder that he cannot do it all himself and he tries far to hard. Be comfortable with your game. Play within yourself.

    All adages that are learned with experience. he is headstrong,but aleader at heart and a smart baller. I expect he will eventually look back at this game, and probably a few more, and chuckle someday.

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  11. BobFinn*

    BobFinn* Contributing Member

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    Way way way way way way too much dribbling last night. Francis dribbled with his head down all night. Have you ever played with someone who dribbles and dribbles and dribbles? You are wide open underneath or on the wing, yet all you hear is bounce bounce bounce. Enough to drive you crazy, isn't it? Either these guys learn that passing the ball is the first option, not a last resort, or we are in for a long long season.

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  12. d man

    d man Member

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    we sucked!!!!!! with that said lets break it down on why we sucked. 1st we have a playground offense with a good athlete but not good basketball player running the show. you can want to be team leader or you can do it, steve has one of those but not the one the rockets need. he's no dream .. the only franchise player in a houston uniform. rudy is a good fella we all love him but his use of our players is ridiculous, or the player do exactly the opposite of what he says. doesn't matter because scoreboard tells all. we haven't won since dream lost his dominance ... showing our championships belong to the dream and not the system. long live the dream ... but a day older and a lot less hungry ... what do we do. well, jump on the bandwagon with the nba hype ... franchise is the answer, NOT. if so we get a C on the test no matter what the question is. is he a point? i don't think so, is he a small scoring guard ala allen iverson? I don't think so, is he a undersized small foward with great leaps? i don't think so, so what is he ... well,imo, he is a few years away and an entire offensive system from being a very athletic strong nba guard. i say a few years away because he lacks so much on basic basketball fundamentals. so all you guys hype him if you want but you are not watching the same games i'm watching ... this guy has absolutely shown he hasn't developed the basketball skills and knowledge of a simple game.

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  13. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Alright please...

    anyone who turns Davo's thought-provoking thread into a flame war with D Man, should think twice.

    Don't turn this into a flame war please! this happens every single bad game.

    Don't do it. This is what sucks about talking Game Action. Someone always comes in an spouts out provocative stuff that has nothing really to do with the game at hand and derails a perfectly good post-game discussion.

    D Man: you have every right to start your own thread But you are way off topic here. Come on, allow us to talk about THIS game please!!
    <font size="1"><font color="dedfdf>

    [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 01, 2000).]

    [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 01, 2000).]

    [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 01, 2000).]

    [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited November 01, 2000).]
     
  14. 3Rings

    3Rings Contributing Member

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    Besides the ISO plays, did anyone see one
    organized set?

    I read somewhere that Pat Riley has a 200+ playbook. Is Rudy's playbook written on a napkin?

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    Respect Hakeem's legacy. A championship in the hand is worth two in the bush!!
     
  15. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Come on...Pat Riley does not have much different an offense than Hakeem ball. God he is so overrated.

    Yes, I saw several. If you consider that ISOs are often entries into another play, I'd say Rudy showed 3 new plays I've never seen from him.

    He had Walt coming around only one pick with Mo, Anderson, and Francis sharing the strong side--this I saw 3 times. He went twice to Anderson faking a clear-out and receiving a pass directly under the basket. He had Mobley and Francis playing a two man game to get Mobley an entry in the 10-15' range with little chance of a double team. Then he had a nice cross-cutting picket fence that I need to see one more time before I can say more. Damn I need to get the VCR cranking.

    Quantity was there. Frequency wasn't. ISOs were indeed the story of the game. What are you going to do when you are down by 21 pts at half.

    Relax...have a cool one as Oeilpere says.
     
  16. PhiSlammaJamma

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    Anybody see Barkley's impression of moochie. They threw that afro on his head lastnight and it cracked me up!


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  17. Thanos

    Thanos Member

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    hp, say what you will, but Riley is NOT overrated.

    He has ALWAYS won his division.

    He is arguably the game´s BEST motivator.

    No team plays as hard as a Riley coached team. Riley´s players BLEED for him if need be, for crissakes.

    You can say that jackson is overrated, and even that can be argued against.

    But don´t tell me that Riley is overrated. Say what you will, and i DO like Rudy, but i just don´t see a dream team coached by Riley performing like the Rudy coached team did in the Olympics.

    Being a players coach can only take you so far, IHMO.

    I have stated my thoughts on our offensive showing in another thread, just for the record.

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  18. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Thanos,

    let's take this up in another thread. I was mainly talking about his 200 page "playbook". Actually, I'm sorry I brought it up at all. I have thoroughly satisfied myself in several other discussions on Riley, and don't need to rehash.

    I do agree with your points on several counts.
     
  19. davo

    davo Contributing Member

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    True - Mo seemed to score almost at will in the first half - he definitely took it to his defender off the dribble, including KG, and he wasn't afraid to shoot over Garnett either. His "face to the basket" footwork was fantastic - not many PFs are as quick as Garnett, so whatever Mo loses to them in defence, we need him to gain back with his quickness in offense. After seeing him last night, I am REALLY excited about the post options he brings.

    Enough of this talk about "having a cold one". Its only 4.30, so I still have a couple of hours before I can crack my first one. I remember spotting a couple Rolling Rocks in the fridge before I left for work this morning. Now I can's stop thinking about them.


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    Current Rocket's Salary & Contract Info
     
  20. oeilpere

    oeilpere Member

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    Riley is a premiere coach,no doubt about it, but he tends to get more ink and airplay because of his "motivational" abilities than anything else. Maybe because he has not accomplished a whole lot in a long while.

    I have read his books. I even met him once, when he jhoined our table for coffee at lunch. Nice guy. Seems to be very private. Low key around his family and friends. Almost hysteronic in practices. Cool during games.
    But, folks ... his main knbock is ... he needs superstars to get it done. Magic. Jabbar. Ewing. He has surrounded himself with a fairly decent team over the last couple of years, and has been stymied.

    Love the charisma. Like the suits. Seems like a real nice guy. I would put him near the top five of my all-world coaches. But he needs a couple of winners before I start dropping accolades on him that RT hasn't earned with a lot less talent and a lot more hardship than what Patrick Riley has faced for the past five seasons.

    Let's see what he does without one of the best centers in the game(Zo) for half or more oif a season.

    I already know what Rudy can do with one star, a couple of rooks and some role players. He can lead them to the 1994 championship, And win it!

    I know what RT can do with losing a Hall of Famer to retirement and then losing his premiere stars/future hall of famers to injuries. Rudy can present a credible and competitive product, and a couple games shy of making the 1999-2000 playoffs, with a hodgepodge of mixed up talent all bundled in inexperience.

    I know RT can rebuild a team from almost scratch in a 24 month period. I watched and cried and screamed at them all season long. So, let's wait before we start slinging mud at RT and tossing roses at Mr. Riley.
     

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