Again with the ill-founded bashing! When will it stop?!!?!? Napoleon lost Waterloo because he relied too much on his subordinates, who didn't do what he asked, and sometimes didn't even tell him they hadn't until it was too late. There are about 10 different things which, had they been done as Napoleon asked ( and we;re not talking difficult tasks here, ...taking Quatres Bras with a 20-1 superiority, staying in touch with the Prussioans, or not making repeated unsupported cavalry charges, just to name a few), most historians, and Wellington himself say Waterloo would have been won by the French. He was ill that day, so relied on many beneath him, particualry Ney, who had performed exceptionally well in the past. They were terrible on the day in question. Additionally, had Napoleon stayed with the Penninsular Campaign instead of deligating, the war would likely have been over years earlier. It would be more accurate to call it the Louis XIV complex...
It seem like Francis starting freezing out Cat after Cat starting lighting up Carter. It was weird. Cat was obviously starting to heat up and could get by Carter anytime he wanted and Francis just started hogging the ball. Cat should had the ball in iso the last possession and should have taken it hard to the rack. He would gotten the shot or gotten fouled. There was no reason for Francis to take a fadeway three pointer when you are tied. You only need one point.
And we'd all be speaking French! JVG sounded really frustrated. It was difficult to watch, so I can imagine what being there in the flesh must have been like, much less being the coach. I thought Cat played some good D on Carter, but FB was right about Jackson seeming "off" during this game. Cato came to play. Yao seemed a step slow all night, to me at least. What were your impressions of the game, MacBeth... having seen it "up close and personal"? And thanks for Van Gundy's comments.
Firstly, great post MacBeth. Secondly, while there is no defending late-in-the-game mental and physical lapses by everyone out there in Rox unis, anytime the Raps want to cede Mr Carter to my Rox I am ready to welcome him enthusiastically!
It's all good. Watching games like this is painful (after Bosh hit the three and Steve dribbled into oblivion and flung up the no-way-in-hell-will-it-go-in-but-I-didn't-defend-properly-on-the-Bosh-play-and-I-don't-trust-my-teammates-no-matter-what-and-I'm-a-stubborn-superstar shot), it will be a matter of time before the Steve and Cat show is broken up. Sorry, but I said it, and there it is. We're so much better defensively, and yet the basketball IQ will always be lacking. These guards have been in the NBA for 4 and 5 yrs and still look lost. Cat could have hit Nachbar for the open three and chose instead to dribble into traffic and thus force away a bad pass.
JVG comments summarize my 700+ posts on this board. I have labeled the last four years "Stupidball," and no term better describes this dark and dreary period of Rockets basketball. I hate stupid worse that losing. To lose a well played game is disappointing, but is no dishonor. Even when the Rockets won last year I often experienced post-game neck pain from shaking my head. And my T.V. suffered too; it still has scars. I am not the world's formost Francis fan. In many ways he is the antithesis of every basketball fiber in my being. I love system, structure, crisp passes, heady plays, etc. I hate show boating, ball hogging, iso, etc. BUT, I think Francis is trying to adjust, and I am willing to give him time, and even try to learn to like him and stop praying every day that he will be traded. Yes, I have put on my happy face. However, restraint has its limitations. If it becomes obvious that Francis is bucking JVG and given up on team ball, then all bets are off, and the "Francis is god" crowd will need to buckle up.
I'm gonna go over the game on tape for a more detailed analysis, but my first blush impressions were; 1) Yao originally was shooting way too flat, and wasn't setting his arms right, angling his elbows out too wide beneath his set to get away from contact. 2) Steve and Vince had bad games to begin with, but whereas Carter's was inspired because of what we were doing to stop him, and his initial poor reactions to it, Steve's was simply poor individual shooting. As such, you could argue that each did what a top scorer should do given their respective reasons; Carter passed out of continual double and triple teams, rather than force it, and got the Toronto offense going that way. People who praised what Bosh was doing failed to realize that, once he got over his intial flurry of bad decisions, forced shots, and turnovers, Carter was far and away the key to the Raptors offensive success, as almost every other player's score came as a result of being left open to double Vince, and Vince finding them with the ball. On the other hand, a scorer who is simply shooting poorly should, it can be argued, simply shoot his way out of it, otherwise he is taking himself out of the game without having to cost the defense any extra attention. This can't usually be said for point guards, but Steve is not a usual point guard...or at least not what used tobe a usual point guard. That said, his decisions late in the game have to be seen as a reflection of a fundamental lack of faith in his teammates, or certainty that he is the superior option, or both. I don't see how an objective analysis could fail to conclude that. Whether or not his perception is correct is another debate. 3) Mobley played excpetionally tonight as an individual offensive player. Unlike years past, Carter is fully commited to playing D this year, and has generally been spectacular. And if you watch the game, Carter was usually all over Cat, but Cat was making exceptional moves or difficult shots to beat it. AN impressive game in that respect, and even if you argue against not going inside, which I don't, I can't see why we didn't try and exploit Carter's foul trouble more late in the game, as Cat was certainly giving him trouble. 4) Conversely, people who kept asking who was guarding Carter as though his shooting line were reflective of a great individual defensive effort were really missing the game, as Carter was routinely beating Mobes and JJ as the first man, but running into trouble with the second or third man. Neither JJ nor Mobley played great individual defense tonight, but the defensive scheme was really working until A) Carter adjusted and became a playmaker rather than scorer, and B) the Raps started hitting the open shots they've been missing this year. 5) The coaching chess game going on during that extended time out was simply amazing to watch for fans of strategic basketball...moves and counters, trying to anticipate each other, knowing each other so well as they do...really fun. Nothing all that different than what happens in a normal game, but a lot more exaggerated and more time to see the moves being made. 6) For the 2nd and 3rd quarters, Yao was our best player, and his scoring was secondary. The Raps live off of three elements; Vince Carter's individual brilliance, tough defense, and tenacious rebounding, possessing two of the top 6 rebounders in the league. At one point in this game we were shutting down Carter, which was a team effort, but we were also dominating the boards, particularly the offensive ones, and that was all Yao. Yeah Cato and others got some of them, but the vast majority came off of Yao tips and deflections. For those two quarters he was dominant inside, even without the ball. If you then look and see what happened late in the game and overtime, with the Raptors suddenly getting all kinds of offensive boards and clearing their own end with ease, that was them asserting their style on the game, and that was how they won. 7) We will really be able to use Pike when he gets healthy. 8) Cato played an indifferent game...closer to good than bad, IMO. People were raving about his numbers, rebound wise, but as I said, most of those were the result of Yao's efforts, not Cato's. He had a spectacular recovery on Bosh, to block him after having been faked out of his shorts, but after that Bosh's athleticism and inside/outside game seemed to give Cato real trouble, although too be fair to him, he was often one of the 2 or 3 guys running at Carter and then trying to get back. 9) Our most inconsistent element tonight was our help defense. Sometimes it was like clockwaork, and was really fun to watch, especially the secondary rotations to cover-up for the help defenders...at others, especially late, when the Raps were running through Carter rather than with Carter, we seemed to forget how to rotate at all, althoug again, in fairness, we were overplaying Carter as much as I;ve ever seen a perimeter player overplayed, so it wasn't usual behaviour to adapt to.
Time is running out for the Francis and Mobley tandem, I'll say that much. If this continues, one will be traded.
JVG is determined to improved the back court duo's game in order to finish strong to the end of the season.
Thanks, MacBeth. Carter having 9 assists and Francis having 1 (didn't he have 1 during the last game?) says volumes about Carter adjusting his game and Francis not doing the same, imo. I thought Cat did a pretty decent job defending Carter, but I got pulled away from the game a bunch tonight. That's what's nice about getting your take. There's nothing like being there. Cato playing PF really took away from Yao getting some breathers tonight. We could have used Taylor. This has to be the most minutes Yao has ever played in a game as a Rocket. JVG didn't like what he saw with Padgett and Braggs to have Cato play that much at the 4 and not give Yao more of a rest. And I think it showed. Yao must be beyond exhausted.
Oh...I just realized a misunderstanding; I wasn't at the arean...but I didn't miss a minute of the game, and the Raptors Network has an hour long post game show after every game, including extensive interviews in both locker rooms and with both coaches...
Thanks for the post MacBeth. I wonder if JVG is really giving it to the guy which I doubt it. I mean it doesn't take a smart guy to read into what JVG jsut said or maybe the players are really hard headed. What I feel is that its too early to start giving it straight to the person who needs to get his head slap by JVG. You can't outright put down your star players when you just got here. It will take time until JVG earn his stripes then hopefully he's given 110% permission to kick the star's ass and tell it like it is.
Good post by MB, and good comments by JVG with insight. SF is good player but far from a mature and intelligent basketball play or a Superstar. When he said Bosh was just lucky, he implied he would be flawless if he was LUCKY as well...nothing but a speculator's EXCUSE. The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none...an old saying is still there
I agree with 8 out of 9 of these. I think Cato did everything that Yao did rebounding wise including tipping the ball to keep it alive for another chance for the Rockets to try and score. Cato also didn't have Yao's turnover problem.
No problem. You still saw more of the game than I did. Plus you got the local perspective from the coverage. And I like reading your takes. Anyone who can throw in the mistakes of Napoleon's generals at Waterloo and the ramifications of Napoleon not taking command during the Peninsular Campaign, while connecting it somehow to dissecting the game, is aces in my book.
Lets hope JONATHAN FEIGEN can cook up something by reading this post. I feel bad for JVG to have to put up with players who use their star power to upstage him.
