He tried to be a hero and insted became the goat. It should have been steve or mo with the ball. Mo had a good game against grant(horry slowed him down a bit). Who was out there guarding him in the clutch? Horry or Grant?
It was Horry. ------------------ Francis out top, 9 seconds on the clock, he gives a no look pass to Cuttino Mobley, 4 seconds left, Mobley passes to an open Langhi in the corner with 1 second left! Langhi at the buzzer.......YES!!! How Sweet It Is!!
I think the ball should always be in Steve's hands when the game is on the line. He handles it better then Cat and is more likely to make things happen. He's also more likely to pass it off if he can't. ------------------ "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence ?
Perhaps we should quit saying young, and call it what it is...STUPID. The Rockets make bad decisions at crucial times, and it does not lend itself to winning basketball. Right now we are 2 years away from being a contender. Mo is playing better though. DaDakota ------------------ If Mankind evolved from Monkeys and Apes, then why are there still Monkeys and apes?
DaDakota is right. How does youth have ANYTHING to do with not winding the shot clock down before taking that shot... or knowing that you probably shouldn't take it if you're hurt. Crap, my highschool soccer team (not quite basketball I know, but similar enough) was smarter than that. If there wasn't much time left, you made the smart play, or you were going to play less next game (or at least get yelled at). They beat themselves tonight. That was perhaps the WORST end of game performance I've ever seen from teh Rocks. ------------------ Shandon Anderson rocks. The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001.
1yr if we get C-Webb ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
venting is fine, but exaggerations like this are to be exposed. Show me 1 Rudy quote to back this for every two Rudy quotes that say his game winners are based on individual talent.
Can sombody PLEASE, Please tell me why don't the Rockets go to Francis for at LEAST ONE freaking play in the fourth!!! WHY! DAMNIT, WHY!!! $h!t is pissing me off!!! The Rockets will live by the Cat or die by the Cat and it's been evident this whole season down the stretch. ------------------ The begining of www.steviefranchise.web.com
dude. Ummm...you don't remember Francis's air-ball against Denver just 2 games ago. This is crap. Reinvent history to make some lame point.
Ya, let's trade Cuttino's ass! ------------------ Will the REAL Steve Francis, please step up! I repeat....
Guys it was a silly shot Cat took, I'll admit that. But one shot does not lose a game. Like someone else said we are not that good of team. Good teams play defense. We have one starter who is a good defender (SA) and an aging Dream who is not the same as he use to be, although he is playing very well. Walt, Francis, Cat, andand both of our PFs are not good defenders. You can say Cato can make a difference defenisvely, but unless we play Cleveland in pre-season games every nigh I don't see it happening. Bottom line is we are a young, offensive-minded team which is exciting to watch, but realstically in a tight game we can't stop the opponent, just like most players can't stop Francis and sometimes Cat. We are exciting but we are not good.
To me the Board is getting more unrealistic every month. Does anyone really expect that we should clearly beat the World Champs this year? Losing to the Lakers and the Spurs in tight games is no disgrace. Naturally you can always point to a misplay or two that could have won a tight game. In years past with Hakeem and the veterans we usually won those tight games that Duncan, Shaq and Kobe are winning now. As Rudy remembers in the several years before the championships we usually lost the close ones till we learned how to win them. Why should we be so surprised that veterans stars on the other teams tend to win them now? I for one am quite pleased with the Rockets they are exceeding my expectations. Cuttino reminds me of Mad Max, but better. Where would we be if Cuttino was a wall flower who always liked to play it safe and let the other guys take the big shot? ------------------
ABSOLUTELY!!!!! FANTASTIC POST!!!! And there's no need to eleborate. ------------------ "ON-BEE-TAH-BULL!!", Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, alumnus, University of Houston
they are exceeding my expectations, too. We are up by 7 (?) in the fourth, and Rudy finally releases the double team on Kobe. I for one, like to wait on the more aggressive defense for crunch time, so the opponents don't get to respond to it throughout the game. But, dammit, Kobe finds Rick Fox twice in a row for two 3 ptrs, and the lead is three. What a game by Kobe. The 4th Q doubles on him did not matter. As for the Mobley shot, we are down by three. It is very hard to find a good three pointer when down by 3. His man backed off him, so Mobley takes one step back and shoots. It is questionable whether we find a better 3 pointer. And a 2 pointer is just not going to cut it. (Actually, that is a matter of preference whether you like to score the open layup, then foul, then do it all over again with less seconds.) The time on the clock was insignificant to me, because you can't be picky down by 3. Take your best look. The defense was not going to leave the arc guys. I know it hurts. Damn, we had them. But, blaming that last shot is a personal vent against Mobley in my opinion. Do it if you need to, but don't exaggerate or reinvent history. Leave that for Fran Blinebury.
glynch -- welcome to the board I disagree though. If you're talking about it by looking at a 48-minute basketball game each time against the Lakers and we "expect" to win the game each time, at this stage you're right -- that is ridiculous. But I want to narrow it down to the last few minutes... the game was close. I know that's what you're referring to in losing "tight games", but I feel the Rockets made specific blunders that cost them this game -- I don't believe it was a matter of the "World Champs" taking over, but rather the Rockets not getting the job done. Though Mobley made one key blunder late (the forced airball three), he made several throughout the game. Though I appreciate Mobley's offensive agreesiveness on a game by game basis, I don't on a night he himself said he is in pain, he can't shoot the long ball and he hurt the team in the last game. He hurt us this game too. And that's not an unrealistic board post nor "re-inventing history". That's just a fact. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET [This message has been edited by Clutch (edited December 22, 2000).]
bingo, my man. bingo. i reviewed the tape on that particular play five different times, and let me tell you now...that was the best shot available. with a chance to tie, against the world champs, at home, with 14 secs to go, with your man 4-5 feet off of you, not that far after you hit another three whaddya do??? you have to shoot it. if he makes it, the step back 3 was a great shot. if he doesn't, R0ckets03 calls him gay no one else was open on that shot at that point. so would he have been better off backing it out and passing up on an open 3? or would he have been better off shooting 1 foot inside the line? nope. he made the right choice. he just missed. at least he has the balls to shoot. can't say that for mooch last night. ------------------
I would say the now-Rockets are a lot like the then-Kings. Weren't the King exciting to watch yet losing close games? Look at the Kings NOW. It took them 2 years to get to this point. Let's be patient. Speaking of Cuttino ...... I was at SRO last night watching the game. I almost broke the small TV in front of me throwing a fork at it!!! Reason? Cuttino being absolutely, extremely STUPID!!! I don't hate him, and I don't blame him for a bad game, BUT ... what the hell was he doing shooting longballs with a bad elbow??? Down the stretch, the stupidity was not needed. I hope he won't play Saturday, just to give himself time to heal. ------------------
At least Maxwell could play D. ------------------ "Thirty-seven?" -Randall, Clerks www.clutchtown.com
I think what many are saying is why does Mobley bring the ball up that time in the first place. Down by 3 with one possession left, I'm calling his number over a Francis being guarded by Kobe. But, many wouldn't, and I can't argue with the hurt elbow thing. Clutch, You are not re-inventing history, but imo, you are ignoring parts of it by focusing too much on Mobley. I really think you should look at Moochie's goofs. There is more to blame on Moochie when we were losing the 7 point lead. I hate pitting one blame against another. I really do Clutch. So, let's not do that. I just want to tell another part of the story. Moochie got yanked by Rudy for two bad guffaws in a row at crucial moments. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited December 22, 2000).]
