ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 11/13/2003

I hope Yao can stay out of early foul trouble, and that he makes the man guarding him *fortson/Bradley* get into foul trouble.

I hope Yao comes out Aggresssively. Hope to see him play as though he did against the Asian teams (I think it was Korea), where he was a monster. He should be, this team shut us down last year. It's time for payback!

Cuttino Mobley is on a hell of a roll, I hope he can keep it up since I am sure we will see more than one defender scramble to Yao when he has the ball and so our shooters will be open on the arc.

 

the Dallas Maverick fans have comics, we have rhymes...
way to go Kate!

 

THat was quite a post Kate. I think that is the first time I have ever read a poem about a Rockets regular season game, in the GARM thread....or anywhere else.

 

Yao will get frustrated and denied the ball. Cat's hot streak is going to end with a major thud. Steve will end up trying to do it all himself.

Rockets lose big: 120-85

 

Rockets Win: 120:85

 

I think that Rocket's defense willl step it up a notch tonight and make it hard for the Mavericks to score. Van Gundy's signature on the team will showed tonight I hope. Predict Rockets will win by 6.

 

No matter the outcome, may fans of both teams unite in their unwavering knowledge that traffic on I-45 sucks real real bad.

 

That's why the best way to go is by using Highway 6.

 

Mavs fan here, a tale of two Mavs ...

At home the Mavs are 3-0, averaging 118 PPG, FG% of .537, I REPEAT, .537 FG%.

On da road, the Mavs are 2-3, averaging 86 PPG, FG% .388.

Which Mavs team will the Rockets see tonight?

The rout of the Hornets Tuesday was the first game this season where the Mavs LOOKED like the Mavs we all know and love [or hate]. With Nash's injury and the road shooting woes and the confusion incorporating all the new talent into Nellie's evil ways, the Mavs have been nearly unwatchable at times. But Tuesday was different. Should the Mavs deal on the Rockets the same way they did on the Hornets, then fear the Mavs and the chemistry they've suddenly found. Should the Rockets upset the Mavs' home applecart, they could delay the gelling of their upstate rivals for a few weeks. Gotta have goals.

Antoine Walker is a demanding oppressive talent that is impossible to ignore. He whoops like Magic Johnson for the ball and is relentless offensively. His Celtic modus operandi was general inefficiency, and the Mavs are trying to get him to realize that there are few better looks available for a Mav than that of simply throwing the ball to Dirk and getting out of his way. So, before your showboatin', shoulder-shimmying clover-leaf behind throws the ball away on some low-percentage hotdog pass or chunks up a too-quick 30-footer, embrace the barometer of Dirk's game into your hoops judgement system. If the German hits, you must submit ... your silly inefficient game to fit Nellie's scheme of exploitative, efficient productivity. AW is showing signs of recognizing the value of Nellie's words, if he can rinse repeat his Hornet performance then Job 1 is done.

Job 2 - Antawn Jamison. So far, he can do 3 things: 1 - circle in the offensive set [you'll hear the Mavs' bench shouting 'wheel, wheel'] clockwise on the right, CCW on the left, cutting down the lane looking for a pass to quickly flip at the rim. 2 - post up in the blocks, receive the entry pass, and suck all light and matter into his maw, bending space and time, pulling a move from some other alternate universe via his Tarheel wormhole only to immediately perform said alien move on some unsuspecting defender, cue twilight zone music. 3 - collect garbage by hanging around the rim and running the floor - don't overlook how good the boy is at item #3. Slowly, hair-pullingly mind-numbingly slowly, Nellie is starting to pull the VC-wannabe game outta AJ's clutching mitts and convince him that doing items 1-3 to the best of his ability will produce the desired contribution towards Dean Domes full of Dallas W's. homina homina

Nellie knows he'll earn his money this season when Jobs 1 and 2 are in his rear-view mirror.

My point is that, for the Mavs, this game ain't about the Rockets, it's about the Mavs. Sounds the same for the Rockets after reading the Chronicle story - for the Rox, it's all about the Rox.

I've only watched a bit of the Rockets this season, sounds like JVG has not so much encouraged the Rockets to find the best shot in the offense, but DEMANDED that they find the best shot in the offense - with the normal ego-induced growing pains a team might go thru pulling their cart outta the old ruts and onto their new insistent coach's unfamiliar path. I can't visualize the JVG Rox vs these new Mavs, sounds like the first team that deviates from it's game plan because the other team is starting to roll will be the loser.

As a Mav fan, I was pretty comfortable throwing the tandem of Raef and Bradley at Yao. Raef is gone, leaving the pair of Bradley - had off-season knee surgery which has left him unpracticed and out-of-shape - and Danny Fortson - as wide as he is tall - at center. Expect Dirk to cover Yao some [lots?!] when these two fail - good things could happen for the Rox if Yao deposits pts, rebs and fouls on Dirk's burr haircut. Delk is out hurt, which is a bit of a bummer 'cause the dude can pester quicks defensively. Cato has impressed from afar, Braggs sounds like a bruiser, Padgett has historically shot well against the Mavs - Boki's .444 % for 3's is worrying for similar reasons, JJ has a Mav chip on his shoulder, but the Mooch seems to have lost some spunk. Beat the Mavs by dominating the paint - Yao, Cato, Braggs, JJ. Wink rebounding and penetrating. If it becomes a floor game the Mavs will put up a 125 and your 100 won't feel very good at game's end.

Mavs will play a rotation of Fin, Dirk, Nash, AW, AJ, Bradley, Best, Eddie and Fortson - AJ will be 6th man. Delk is gimpy. If you see the 2 rooks then Nellie is really desperate or garbage time has arrived. TAW and The Iceman are in streetclothes.

Watch the Mavs' shooting percentage, it'll tell you whether a Rocket W or L is looming as the game progresses.

My prediction is really a heads-up - Daniels and Howard. Watch how good the 2 Mav rookies perform as they play most of the 4th after the Mavs hit 95 after 3 quarters of play.

 

i truly believe we have a good chance, i saw dallas against the spurs. and dallas didn't impress me at all. Rose killed them. Dallas has a great scoring team, but they have NO inside game. Yao will kill them. and steve wil also. the only thing i'm afraid of is that dallas will use fortson to guard Yao, i think he wil make it diifficult for Yao, he is to strong. I think dallas has a problem with to many scorers. first i didn't believe it, but i think it is true. and i do not like walker.

 

Great post. Thanks for the insights into MavLand.

 

I heard from a source that Cuttin Mobley has his suspicions and concerns about Don Nelson and his appearance which seems to look to much like that of a Commie Russian Spy and he hates commie russian spys, so look for him to take it out on the traitor from behind the arc, and for him to possibly break the three pointers made in a game record.

 

I don't see us beating the Mavs on the road.

102-91 Mavs

 

Mavs92 Rox98

 

two things needed to win this game

1-Yao Ming

2-Superior Defense

 

Nice job, Kate! Especially the Di*kie V. punctuation


--daoshi

 

What I want to happen

Rockets continute to play as a team Yao finally gets some single coverage and gets to do something with it. Francis and Mobley continue to play under control and the defense continues its dominance.

Rockets 91
Mavs 83

What I think might happen

Yao gets fronted and doubled and tripled before he even gets the ball and picks up 3 quick ticky tack fouls in the first half. Mobley comes down to earth some and regrettably start missing. Francis loses control of the game and scores 28 but takes his team out of the game with 7 TO. Moochie fares no better and contributes another 4 TOs.

Mavs 101
Rockets 87

What will happen

Really ugly game... The less said the better

Rockets 86
Mavs 83

 

You give the Mavericks credit, otherwise last years embarrassments will be THIS YEARS embarrassments.

 

Wow, Franz did a pretty good job of laying it all out. Things to remember about the Mavs this year.

1) If they get their pace they will dominate.
2) If they get slowed down, then they are not gelled enough to execute well enough in the half court to beat most teams, but this is getting better.
3) They rebound much better this year than last and they are getting tons of points in the paint from AW and AJ.
4) Nellie has barely started to unleash the 'Fancy Five' as of yet. He has barely played the five together. When he does, it is impossible for teams to match up, but if he does it early, bad things could happen on D with an over matched Dirk at the 5.
5) The Mavs are playing a lot of man defense because the Zones are too complex and have looked useless against all comers because they don't know where they are supposed to be.
6) Dirk, AW will destroy Cato or Yao off the dribble or create a wide open jumper for others so I think the Rockets in Zone might actually slow the Mavs more.
7) AW can actually drive to the basket something that the Mavs have never had. (NVE doing 8ft baby hooks does not count)
8) AJ has an inside game the Mavs have never had. He slashes, he rebounds, he posts, he runs the floor and from the look of it he and Nash are starting to form some chemistry.


What I have seen of the Rockets so far is that Cato is playing really well and they are staying in the system for the most part. That will be tested tonight, but it all goes back to pace. If the Mavs go at their speed, the Rockets can't keep up.

By the way, Dirks best game is the 14-18ft jump shot of which he has been deadly except for the 3rd quarter of the Spurs game. Someone above said he only shoots 3's which this year he is hitting at a crappy .241.

Good luck,

Mavs 110
Rockets 98

Stressboy

 

Our defensive strategy against Dallas last year seemed to be hoping that the Mavs would miss their unguarded three-pointers. The defense is far better this year, the best Dallas has seen so far.
Rockets 90
Mavericks 85