ClutchFans Game Thread: Timberwolves @ Rockets 2/5/2007

Sometimes you people make me want to throw my computer against a wall you talk about V-Span so much We just won a great game, and he's all you can talk about. I've never seen this much love for a scrub (and yes, he still is one for now) ever. It's pretty ludicrous. He's more than likely not going to contribute to our playoff run, so I don't know why people waste their time. In a couple of years, let's talk.

Anywho, GREAT game tonight! Unfortunately, I had to miss a little of the opening, so I hesitated before turning it on, worried that we would have a bad response to the other night's game- plus, we tend to struggle against Minny at TC for some reason. I was shocked to hear how well everything was going. I loved T-Mac's play in the 3rd, it's great to see how much he is taking charge of our team, especially after so many people declared him "done" early on in the season. Also, Rafer running our offense just looks so much better than any of our other options. I love the way this team plays when they come out like they did tonight, it's so much fun to watch. That T-Mac-Howard-Battier lay-up drill reminded me of some of those wonderful Clutch City plays of old. Very nice.

Also, I got to see the postgame conference on FSN, and wow, JVG had so many great things to say. He declared T-Mac's play to be "inspirational", and kept going on about it. Great stuff, hopefully some more of you guys will get to see it.

 

can someone post the post game quotes? macfan stopped posting them, and i don't know where to find them...

 

ROCKETS HEAD COACH JEFF VAN GUNDY

(on the 1st 18 minutes of play) "I loved the way we played tonight, the energy level we had. I thought our big guys were great, I thought Mac's(Tracy McGrady) energy, even though he wasn't making it in the 1st half was tremendous and you get pretty consistent energy out of Shane (Battier) and Rafer (Alston), so I really liked the way we played."

(on the play of the Rockets' point guards) "Without Yao (Ming) we have tried to play quicker, getting into our initial break and then whatever we flow into to try to attack teams that have great size like they (Timberwolves) do before the defense gets set. On the nights we play with energy, we can be a very good offensive team, even without Yao (Ming). When not (playing with energy), we can be a very below, below, below average offensive team."

(on the energy of Tracy McGrady) "I can only reinforce that when he plays with energy, the offensive rebound, to me, is a primary example. He had 3 offensive rebounds in the 1st half where he missed, went up, got it back quickly, put it in. Those will plays like that are much more inspirational than even some of the great things he does one-on-one. The tip dunk he had was, to me, was just so inspirational. You can go through the whole film of the New Orleans game and we had 1 Shane (Battier) ball pressure that was semi-inspirational, but you couldn't have found one other inspirational play. I think tonight those plays or couple of sequences by our bigs where they defended, rebounded, ran and got rewarded, those were inspirational, those galvanized the team. So I can only reinforce it and emphasize how very important it is to our play, his play and when he leads like that, with that fire, good things happen."

TRACY McGRADY

(on the Rockets' energy) "That's the type of team we need to be. Night in and night out, just great energy, defensive intensity, execution. We need to be consistent at that. If we can be consistent at that, we will be one hell of a ball club."

(on what the Rockets need to do to continue to play like they did tonight) "I think we've got to be hungry. We've got to be one of those teams that understands how good we really could be. I think tonight it really showed."

(on the challenge of facing Minnesota) "Minnesota, you can't really look at their record. They're a hell of a defensive team, they have a great leader over there in Kevin Garnett. He's a handful to deal with, especially with us being a small team. I think our big guys did a hell of a job, but with that being said, we brought the energy and focus and the concentration that we needed to win this ballgame and we got it done."

(on whether the loss on Saturday against New Orleans was a wake-up call) "I think anytime you lose a ballgame, especially at home, when you're rolling and you lose like we did the other night against New Orleans, it is really going to make or break you in terms of which hill you're trying to climb.
Are you going to go backwards or are you going to move forwards and get over that loss. I think that with the maturity that this team showed, the character that we showed, we bounced back pretty damned good."

SHANE BATTIER

(on the energy that the Rockets brought to tonight's game) "It was a good game for us. and we just need to get that icky feeling out of our mouths after the New Orleans game when we played horribly. It was a good night for us."

(on the challenge of going up against Kevin Garnett) "He is the reason why he makes the money he does. He is one of the best in the world and anytime you lace them up against him, you know you're going to go up against the ultimate competitor. And that's probably the biggest compliment that we can give him. He gives it his all every single night and it's never an easy night with him."

(on the keys to the Rockets' win) "Our energy was great tonight. We were covering for each other, we were running back in transition, we held them to very few transition points and when we're doing that, and when we're communicating, we're a pretty good defensive team. Sometimes we get away from that and that's what causes our team a lot of problems, but if we can play with that energy and consistency on the defensive end, we can match up with anybody in this league."

JUWAN HOWARD

(on his role offensively tonight) "I've just got to come out and play with a lot of energy to help us win. They gave me the ball and I tried my best to deliver."

(on how his back feels) "It's all right. I'll be okay tomorrow."

(on whether the loss against New Orleans was a wake-up call to play better
basketball) "Of course we did not want to repeat what happened last game. I think today everyone was in tune and focused and was ready to go. I think you could see it from the start of the game with our energy and the way we played."


MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES HEAD COACH RANDY WITTMAN

(on his team's play) "Our guard play was atrocious. There was no direction at all. I didn't recognize what we were doing offensively. I don't know what to do but I have to find the answer. If you have good guard play in this league you have a shot but we are not getting any guard play. Maybe we have to walk the ball up the court and I have to call every play. I've not seen the answer. This loss is the whole damn team. We didn't have anybody come out with any heart or desire. I told our guys before the game to cherish the ball. You have to value the ball against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA."

(on his future team plans) "I'm not going to keep the status quo. I didn't see this coming. We'll see who wants to play, even if it is only five guys.
I want to see who wants to play every night. I have three or four guys I can count on every night and that is about it."

(on Tracy McGrady's play) "He's capable of doing that. He can make tough shots and the others feed off him and then the other guys are open and they start hitting their shots. He was pretty good tonight. I told him he didn't need to do that against us."

KEVIN GARNETT

(on the team's play) "I thought we were well prepared coming in. I don't know what happened. We have to get into our sets offensively and we had no consistency. We were all messed up. We need to win some games on the road.
Coach really got on our ass at half-time and let us know how he felt."

MIKE JAMES

(on what happened) "They jumped on us early and we didn't retaliate. They came out with a lot of energy and we didn't match their energy and this is what happened."

 

thanks buddy! i love post game quotes!

 

You can find the quotes at: http://www.nba.com/rockets/index_main.html
then click on the game just played in this case mondays win and in their you can find the link quotes.


Anyway good win and that T-Mac puback was Mactacular.

 

Houston Correspondence


February 2, 2007

Mike Trudell
Wolves Reporter
Monday night's contest in Houston will be the fourth meeting between the Wolves and Rockets this season. Minnesota won both home games (90-84 on Dec. 6, 103-99 on Jan. 7) and lost 75-82 in Texas.

It's back to the Lone Star State this time to face a Rockets team that was an impressive 10-4 in January despite missing Yao Ming's 25.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. So, we called our Houston Correspondent Damien Pierce, Rockets.com’s beat writer, to get the inside scoop.

Mike Trudell: What's up Damien? Thanks for checking back in with us. Before we talk about basketball, how surprised were you to see your man Dikembe Mutombo sitting next to the First Lady during the State of the Union speech?
Damien Pierce: I was shocked to see him there. That must have been top-secret information because no one really knew about the trip until shortly before it happened. Most of Mutombo's teammates didn't even know he was there until they saw him sitting next to the First Lady on TV. But it was great to see for Dikembe. He was grinning for about a week after making that trip to D.C. No one is more deserving of the honor with everything he has done in Africa. He's hoping to open his hospital in the Congo this summer.

MT: Indeed, putting up $16 million of his own money and raising millions more for a hospital is just awesome. Anyway, let's talk about why Houston has been able to play so well without Yao Ming...
DP: You're right, they've figured out a way to play without Yao. Tracy McGrady returned from a back injury and has taken on the role of playmaker and scorer. He has pumped in 30 points some nights, or has slashed in the lane and created shots for other guys on different occasions. He's doing what Yao did before, just from a different position.

MT: T-Mac is tearing it up stats wise, scoring 29.3 points in Yao's absence to go with 6.3 assists. But the supporting cast is better as well, right?
DP: They're a better team than last season. The team suffered through a ton of injuries last season and couldn’t overcome them. That’s changed. Shane Battier is a glue guy that just makes everything fit well together for his team. He does everything, including matching up against another team’s best offensive player. The veterans, Dikembe Mutombo and Juwan Howard, have also provided a major boost.

MT: What do you make of T-Mac's career-high 6.3 dimes?
DP: It's not really surprising because T-Mac has always been a solid decision maker. The funny thing is that he should probably be averaging one or two more assists and he lets everyone know about it in the locker room. Chuck Hayes has been guilty of missing a few wide-open layups after catching some lasers from T-Mac and McGrady has jokingly pointed that out once or twice to the media when he comes up a few assists short of 10. Dikembe Mutombo has dropped a few of T-Mac's passes, as well. But McGrady doesn't really pick on him. That probably has something to do with Deke's elbows.

MT: I hear him on that. Speaking of Mt. Mutombo, how much has his lane presence eased the blow of losing Yao?
DP: A lot. Mutombo has found the fountain of youth. He stepped right in after the injury to Yao and has filled in defensively. I don't think anyone expected him to be able to play as well as he has at age 40. "Deke" has been very good on the glass both offensively and defensively. Now, he's considering coming back for another season after it sounded like this would probably be his last season.

MT: What about Juwan Howard? The former Fab-Fiver put up 20 points, 10 boards and six assists last Monday.
DP: He wasn't really in the rotation when the season began, and the Rockets didn't think he'd fit as they were looking for more of a jump-shooting power forward. But since Juwan stepped in, he's done everything they've needed. He's been shooting the midrange jumper well, and has been attacking the boards as well. He'll pick up hustle plays, offensive rebounds and do a lot of little things off the ball. He’s also a great guy to have in the locker room.

MT: So Dikembe and Juwan have picked up some slack, but it's T-Mac running the show...
DP: Last week's game against Seattle says it all. In the final six minutes, T-Mac came in and just ran everything. He took over point guard duties, scoring five points and dishing four assists. He does handle the bulk of the scoring, but his ability to run the offense in key stretches shouldn’t be overlooked. He has confidence in his teammates.

MT: We know that Bonzi Wells had his fair share of problems early on, but it looks like he's starting to get going...
DP: He's come on of late. He's had several hiatuses, including trying to get on the same page with Jeff Van Gundy and getting over a back injury. He's really just now starting to show the signs of being the player the Rockets were hoping for when they picked him up. He's cutting to the basket more, and with Yao out, he’s one of the few offensive players on the team that draws double teams. He's a guard, but he has an outstanding low-post game. He’s at his best with his back to the basket

MT: What's the update on our favorite Chinese player, anyway?
DP: He's coming along pretty well. He is expected back in mid-March, right on schedule. He's been running on an underwater tread mill and he's catching footballs from the coaching staff to keep his hands ready for those passes from T-Mac. He is mainly keeping his upper body going. Other than that, I’ve heard he's been eating ice cream and playing wizard fantasy games on his computer.

MT: That doesn't really surprise me. When I interviewed Yao last time Houston was in Minneapolis, I think he mentioned the Wizard game, but I couldn't really hear him because he was munching a Subway sandwich throughout the interview.
DP: Uh-huh.

MT: Seriously. Anyway, it looks like you all are feeling pretty good about yourselves down in Texas?
DP: I think the guys have started to develop a little bit of swagger, and recognized what they're good at. They are a good halfcourt team with solid defense. They realize they can't beat a Dallas or Phoenix in a shootout so they have to be able to control the tempo. The Mavs and Suns are still the teams to beat in the West. But the Rockets are starting to see feel like they're getting into the conversation.

MT: Kevin Garnett has had some very good games against Houston, and was just outstanding with weak-side defense during Minnesota's two straight wins over T-Mac and CO.
DP: The Rockets have to find a way to get into their offense when Garnett is on the floor. I think it's pretty obvious on the offensive end that Houston's strength is when T-Mac is creating, but what Garnett does so well is cut off the lane. The Rockets have to find a way to get T-Mac some more space, but KG is all over the place.

MT: Does Shane Battier read Aristotle at halftime?
Possibly. The real question is whether he'll run for President. Maybe he and Mark Madsen could run on the same ticket? Battier is such a polished speaker that I could see him becoming a politician. But he might settle for becoming NBA commissioner when David Stern retires.

MT: Well, Mad Dog gets my vote. Thanks for the knowledge, Damien.
DP: No problem.

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/houston_correspondence_070205.html

 

Wittman was pretty ticked off at the team and threw their guards in the garbage can. I'm so mad I had to stop watching in the 2nd quarter. It must have been beautiful.

I'll always have fond memories of Wittman's college years at IU, but I don't know if he has what it takes to be an NBA head coach. He is failing miserably compared to Casey. Kevin McHale strikes again.

 

Did Shane Battier really use the word "icky" after the game? Haha, he's such a dork. I have a big man-crush on him.

 

Its always good to win...Way to go Rox...

 

Some amazing stats from the game.

*The Rockets biggest lead was 37 points.
*They committed only 6 turnovers.
*They had 9 steals compared to Minnesota’s one.
*They outscored Minnesota 42-18 in the paint.
*They outscored the T-Wolves 17-0 on fast break points.

Wow!

Although they upchucked in their last game against the Hornets on Saturday night, the Rockets showed their pride. Van Gundy gave his team one of the best compliments I have ever seen when he said after the game:

“I loved the way we played, the energy level we had.”

That’s just as astounding as the stats mentioned above. JVG was also more encouraging during the game than seen in recent memory, clapping and applauding his players throughout.

And something in the locker room after the game.Battier as always was the first one to have the interview,and Vspan was the first one finished the shower and quickiy put on his t-shirt to pick up T-mac's big necklace and watches,so Vspan may complained about playing time,but it looked like he was doing his rookie duties just fine.

Wells was flying with the team and looked O.K.,but not sure will play the game tonight tough.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4529061.html

Not sure if this has been posted yet but here's something I thought was cool.

Did they show this ceremony on TV?

 

Whoops, nevermind....didn't see pryuen's post. Sorry.

 

I'm sure this has been mentioned but did anybody here Clyde during the game when he said Rafer was a top 5 PG in the league......un freakin beleivable...yes he runs our offense smoothly but rafer isn't even in the top 3 in our division let alone top 5 in the leauge....Its almmost unbearable listening to the guy sometimes...almost painful....

 

I heard that too. "Top 4, 5 point guard in the league" I like Rafer and think he's doing good but I couldn't help but laugh and think Clyde is an idiot when he said that.

 

Yeah, I thought that was a little odd, too. I mean, if he meant just in terms of distributing and maintaining the flow of the offense, I might be inclined to agree, maybe... But as far as the all-around package, I would disagree wholeheartedly.