ClutchFans Game Thread: Kings @ Rockets 4/4/2004 - 12:00PM CST

Today's game (should) have been a blowout. I had more confidence in them beating a small, no defense, sputtering Kings team at home versus going out on the road and taking on the other west foes.

All these other teams (besides the Clippers) have had great success against Houston.

 

Are you referring to the missed lay-up at the end? The Rox were down three, and a lay-up would've cut it to one. Please pay attention to the game you're watching.

 

That travelling call at least wasnt his fault. What the heck was that pass by SF. That guy has 0 guard passing ability. That was a bail out pass. Does he have any basketball IQ. :mad

 

yeah, but many TO's are caused by passing to Yao.

 

Yeah, then what? Shot clock is turned off. You still need to foul.
King is a great free throw team. Even makes one out of two, you still need one more poession to setup. Why not just setup to make a 3 in the first place.

 

It was a hard-to-handle pass, but don't blame that travelling call on Steve. Yao should've been able to handle it and go up without shuffling his feet.

 

what? with that much time left you go for 2. It's a no brainer. The lead is cut to 1. There is no guarantee Sacramento would make both free throws. The rockets made the right call, they just couldn't execute when they need to most.

 

I didn't really mind Yao's turnovers because all of the Rox were mishandling the rock. The only one that pissed me off was the one where Yao gave up on the loose ball and let the Kings get to it. Luckily the Kings gave it right back.

 

Suck it up is the exact words. They are going to lose a lot fans if they dont make the playoff this year.

 

Yes but it mainly the passers fault for making such poor rasses.

 

Lets see....

Steve is not a good shooter
He is not a good defender
He is a below average passer
He turns the ball over WAY too many times

but...

He has a nice crossover and he has a 46" vertical.

Franchise player? Sure why not.

 

Are you going to blame Yao's 2 foot missed shots, and his 2 for 9 in the second half (all close shots) on Steve also???

I thought that Yao and the Rockets had the best game of the season, in terms of getting him the ball deep against inferior competition. He just did not have enough tenacity when he got the ball that close, and he proceeded to fumble, get blocked, whine to the refs, miss layups.

Had Yao been making those shots, the refs probably wouldn't have even called a travel... they'd understand. As of then, all they were seeing was a huge guy who can't hold on to the ball, and was letting a 6'9 player with one leg defend him.

 

I've gotta put this loss on Steve. Sure, there were some questionalbe calls...sure, Cat didn't show up in the second half. But Steve has to quit trying to be the man with the game on the line taking an ill-advised 20 footer and then the next trip down missing a layup. Neither time did he try to get teammates involved. He got those 13 assists by penetrating and dishing to the open man. Why not use the same strategy that gave you a chance to win on those final two possessions? Padgett (hell of a game), Jim Jackson, Yao, even Piatowski could've knocked down a shot

I'm all for a team having a go-to guy in the 4th quarter. Steve is NOT the go-to guy for the Rockets, however. At least not until he finds his jumper.

 

Of course you still need to foul, but you're extending the game and bettering your odds, instead of missing a three and leaving zero chance to tie/win. Of course, it's all moot because the lay-up was missed, but criticizing that decision is nothing more than the predictable, tired Steve-bashing.

 

Not with the King. Except for Webbe, everybody else is dead eye free throw shooter.

 

First of all, lots of us are frustrated. That doesn't make it okay to CONSTANTLY substitute v's for u's to use banned words. And you do it several times after every loss. There is no question that you should be banned from the board. If I can't use those words, and if nobody else can, you can't either. I changed my mind. I'm not putting you on ignore. I'm making it a mission to get you banned, like you so richly deserve.

Second, you're an idiot. And we've been on this losing streak because the Rockets share your idiocy. The refs didn't decide this game at all. The team had a legit beef with the refs several games ago. And it was so bad I didn't even mind Steve breaking the rules (once, not a thousand times like you) to curse about it on TV. But since JVG voiced complaints it's like the Rockets decided it was okay to play sloppy ball because the loss would just get blamed on the refs. Of COURSE we're not going to get as many calls. Our big man fades away half the time instead of drawing contact. I don't know how you expect him to get calls when he's fading AWAY from his defender to put up soft shots. Plus, no team in the league reaches out and just grabs guys instead of contesting shots as much as we have over the last several games. In today's game, that was the foul differential right there. If the Kings had reached out and intentionally fouled as much as we did, the calls would've been even. I counted one bad foul on a clean block from Yao and one bad travelling call. The Kings had some questionable ones too.

I understand everybody being frustrated, but first figure out who deserves the blame. The officiating has actually gotten better where the Rockets are concerned and on everything that's actually in their power, they've regressed. Badly. We were only in this game at all because four scrubs plus JJ led a comeback. It happened with Steve, Cat and Yao on the bench. The team just sucks right now. There's no other way to say it and you can't lay it off on the refs.

But no matter how bad it gets, it's no excuse to CONSTANTLY break the rules of the board. canoner's gotta go. If there's any doubt, review the game threads over the last week. He's been blatantly breaking the rules of the board for some time now.

 

They played terribly in the 3rd, but came all the way back in the 4th.
refs absolutely can determine who wins and who loses. Most NBA games are close games, and one or two calls can change the outcome. We just don't get those calls. To those who believe keep playing will change the way refs make calls, you are dreaming. we never got those calls, in this whole season, when we play well or poorly. We never got those calls, in good years (a long time ago) or bad years. It is not about one or two players. refs choose to scr3w Rox when they are not sure about a call. Les and CD are too soft, and they don't protest enough.

 

Steve had a wide open layup. He just missed it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with taking it to the basket, he simply missed an easy shot. Hell, Yao Ming missed a crap load of easy shots. I'm more frustrated by his play then anyone else's today

 

thank you Miss Cleo. Why don't you tell that to Nick Anderson