Yao could be unstopable if our guards could put the ball inside the paint

No doubt. Then, they go on to win the Championship.

 

There were 4 consecutive possessions in the early-mid 4th quarter when they didn't even switch it to Yao's side of the court. Yao had at least decent position on two of those. The lead went from 10 to 2 in that span. They failed to score on each possession.

What is Van Gundy thinking? Has he lost control already? Or is he just such a terrible offensive coach that he doesn't realize what happened?

 

Actually, Francis played a good game tonight until late 4th qtr. Yes, he didn't shoot well, but Yao did get plenty of the touches tonight other than a short strentch at 5:30min mark in 4th, when EVERYONE, Mobley, Francis, and J. Jackson, all started took the quick jump shots, or dribbled into the traffic. From there, the Rockets quickly surrendered 9pts led within a span of 2+ minutes. That was not the Rockets' style of basketball, it was too fast, and it cost them the game.

JVG is another reason we lost the game. How could he used all his timeouts with ~2 minutes remaining, and the game was still on the line? This is not the first time we've seen this happening! The guy is just horrible on clock/timeout management as a coach.

Does anyone think we should played some Zone in 4th to save Yao some energy? The guy hardly be able to hold his position near the end of the game.

Another question about the rebound count, I thought Yao got more than TEN(10) boards, ESPN had the same stats, but AP showed 8rb. What's the story there?

 

It was the players. They lost focus.

I was at the game. I watched it happen. JVG call timeout. Pissed.

Out of the timeout, no question where it was going. Yao promptly draws Shaq's 5th.
It turned a solid victory into a game up for grabs. There's no question in my mind.

 

I disagree. The Rockets still had a comfortable lead going into the fourth.

 

it was nine points. which is solid, but something like 15 would have been psychologically damaging for them.

 

Howe coulde they change the JJ 's 3 points to 2 points by looking monitor back, but ignor Shaq's kick ball ?

 

Sure it would have. But the question is where the game was lost... haven isolated the posessions during the span in the 4th.

That's when the Lakers made their run. The momentum in the game and arena clearly changed. And then it was a dogfight until the end, when there were bad calls, no doubt, but the game should have been won handily if the Rockets just kept doing what worked the first 3 quarters.

How hard is that against 1-on-1, non-fronting coverage???

 

i think it was jvg's plan.

 

there was no replay, another official was on it and changed the call right away.

 

If you want to talk about dealing mental damage that could be controlled... check out late 2nd quarter after Shaq's 3rd.

Yao had BRIAN COOK guarding him 1-on-1. Using him. The Rockets are up ~12 with 4+ minutes left. I told my brother, "It's time to go for the throat... push the lead to 20."

JVG takes Yao out?!?!?!?!?!? He had played all quarter, but who cares?????????????

Take an ESPN (long) timeout and pound him for 4 minutes. I was pissed. Lakers go on a mini-run, push to within 7. I got more pissed. Timeout JVG. Forced to bring Yao back in. Yao in and punishes Brian Cook for the rest of the quarter. This game had a chance to be a blowout. Opportunity lost.

 

I totally agree. Even if Yao Ming isn't set up in the paint, he can always face up towards the basket and make something happen. Either that, or pass back out and reposition himself. Either way, the offense simply looks better when the ball goes through Yao Ming, whether he ends up taking the shot or not.

As for Yao's 21 FGA... just because Yao got 19-20 shots in the first three quarters doesn't meant he shouldn't get the ball in the fourth. I mean, why shouldn't Yao be taking 25 shots tonight? When the Lakers were making their comeback, the Rockets guard lost their composure and started trying to take over the game again. They weren't even trying to move the offense through Yao, instead putting up bad jumpshots.

 

That stretch where Yao didn't get the ball was bad, but Yao had something to do with that too. Shaq was able to keep Yao out from the basket area almost the entire 4th quarter. Yao isn't that effective from 8-10 feet in the post position, Shaq defended Yao pretty good in the 4th, I'll give him that.

But the ball should have gone through Yao a lot more in the 4th.

 

were you two ever in the camera shots? i saw two dudes in yao jerseys. could that have been you?

 

A 20 point lead isn't going to last long if Yao gets into foul trouble early, they still had an entire 2nd half to play. JVG would be dumber if he left Yao in and he picked some careless fouls.

 

As a Laker fan I must say that Francis is the best Yao stopper in the NBA. If it wasn't for Francis, Yao would probably be on a similar level with Shaq.

 

That's against SF3's ego.

 

Tonight, Yao would have been on a much higher level. Honestly.

For every clanged ONeal FT there was one pure stroke from Yao. From 8ft. From 12 ft. From 20 ft.

Shaq was outclassed tonight.

 

Yao IS already on a 'similar' level with Shaq.

 

Yao scored the Rocs first 6 points in the 4th and suddenly he kissed the ball bye bye until the 3 min mark when the guards panicked and realized that they could not do it.

Shaq did defend Yao well in the 4th, but they could still use MJ to set up some easy shots for Yao. Cat was not effective on both ends of the floor anyway.