ClutchFans Game Thread: Knicks @ Rockets 1/21/2004

You should have watched KJ plays when he was with phoenix.. he put one of the sickest spin pass I ever seen. He was stuck under the basket at the right side.. he just wrap around the defense and spin a pass to a cutting toward the basket at the left side.
You probably can't picture what I am trying describe.. but it was a nice pass.

 

I'm glad to admit my wrong prediction, and happy for the Rockets


--daoshi

 

I thought it was Mo that kept us in the game in the beginning of the second quarter.

Some people just imagine things.

We see things.

 

but he ws also a major reason for us being down in the beginning of the first half.

 

Don't know exactly what your issue is. But to help you better maintain your mental health, I would suggest you become a YOF too. If you cannot conque them, become part of them.

 

I dont know why some people on this board were so high on Kurt Thomas? What does he bring that MOt or Padgett dont? there all about the same size and weight too.

Everyone had a great game Yao/ Sf/ MJ/ Cat whomever.. we played tough Def and played solid I was happy. Glad to see Yao go off like that tonight I think he really dominated this game.. put Dikembe and Doleac in early foul trouble you cant quantify the impact that has on a team.

SF didnt score as much but had nice passes (some jacked up shots too but hell that happens) he played good D on Stephon and would have tons of assists if people hit their open shots.

Yao's best game this season I think.. showed everything inside/ outside I hope the Rox start utilizing him more..

Overall im very happy with this win especially against Marbury and the hype the game was building up too. Interesting what a pure PG could do and was fun to see SF playing some 2.

I hope we can carry this momentum against Indiana and im glad its also televised.

WHOOO HOOO im a sleep happy tonight!

J

 

Am I imaging things or did Yao look more aggressive, not necessarily more physical, when MJ was in the game. He definitively moved better without the ball, looked more ready to receive a pass, and much less hesitant to take those 15 footers. Let me remind you all these seems to hold true even late in the game. If all my observations were correct, it could only mean deep down inside even Yao knows that he needs a true PG to complement his game.

 

He's in-between Cato and Mo, really, in terms of his game. Better on D, not as good on O.

Personally, I prefer Taylor. I think his D is better than it once was... and when he's hot, Mo can hit J's or go 1-on-1. Thomas's post game is fairly unimpressive, imo.

 

b/c jvg just finally figured this out a few games ago. when yao is hitting those outside jumpers, which is fairly often, it opens so much up and makes the offense so much smoother than just pounding him in the post or trying in vain to pass through 3 defenders. he can get the shot almost any time, it almost can't be defended, and he hits them. i love when we let him shoot jumpers b/c everything seems to start going better then. imagine how many 70 point games could have been avoided if jvg weren't so damn stubborn.

 

That's so true.

Yao seems to be a bit of a streak shooter for a big man, but when he's hitting that 18 footer... it's completely undefendable. I almost wish, when he's hitting, the Rockets would just let him take shot... after shot... after shot... after shot from there.

Almost no risk of a turnover (as with the post). Can't be blocked. Renders the other team's big man useless.

And if the other team decides to try to stop it (ha ha) by double teaming him that high, Francis is going to have a really, really easy trip to the bucket.

 

Your 11 is a lucky number today.

Anyway, all Rockets played well tonight: either offensively, or defensively, or both.

Congrats!

 

Cato has done so much this season for the Rox. I hope he can still keep the fighting spirit.

 

This is way over used. I'm not saying our players are automatic but I can guarantee you they will definitely make more of their shots if they do not have to slide over, reach up high or scrape the ball off their feet just to catch the pass.

This was a solid win for the Rockets and the addition of Mark Jackson further disproves the necessity of Steve Francis in the backcourt. M. Jackson is not the answer for all of our problems, but tonight he proved to me what I already knew, in that we should be spending that 86 million dollars elsewhere.

 

Terribly overused.

Hypothetically, let's assume that our jump shooters are the absolute worst in the league and say, shoot 10% worse than the average jump shooter out there (in reality, they probably don't shoot 10% worse than the best jump shooter out there... but still).

This would mean that Francis should have 10% more assists than he has right now. Meaning, not even a whole extra assist per game. Woo freakin' hoo.

Although I will say this: I don't view Francis' lack of assists as a real problem anymore. The style the Rockets play just isn't conducive to it. It's the decision-making that's at issue.

 

the guy is like 40 years old. Rockets have no future with him at the point.

 

this is what is overused (well the other thing is too, as in the aggregate you can see from haven's example it doesn't make a huge difference, though it can make a big difference in an individual game). professional athletes are among the most coordinated people on the planet. hitting a guy 20 feet away right in his hands (or within a few inches) is a simple exercise for them, and seeing as francis is one of them, he has no problem with it. perhaps 6-7% of his passes are of the variety in which he drives, gets caught, and then doesn't have an out and just throws it at the nearest rockets (this happened tonight once on a pass to cuttino). these types of passes might turn out like the ones you described. however the other 93-94% are simple passes to open men, drive and kicks to the open man, or hitting someone like padget after a pick has been set. these get to the guy just fine and at that point it's on the shooters. putting in on either factor is hyperbole. we don't play a game that produces a lot of assists and steve is still asked to score. he's not going to average 8+ assists ever and that's just the way it is, no matter how much he, ugh, "gets it." oh yeah, that's overused, too.

at least steve is making a much bigger effort to get people involved. unless i missed one just recently, i don't think he's had a game with under 5 assists in a long while, maybe a month.

 

I have never been at issue with Francis' numbers. Numbers belong to statisticians and fantasy leaguers. The bottom line is that Francis is not worth 86 million dollars to the Rockets on the court. The only way I see Steve having that kind of value to the Rockets is if he is traded for players that will convey that value to the court and in the system.

 

haven - you're killing me. that is all.

 

You damn RIGHT!~~~

 

come back you haven't got all the wrong prediction posts yet!