ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 11/5/2004

Gasol is smarter than yao. His timing is much better than yao. Although he is a super class flopper.

 

i think a ligament tear takes a good long while to heal... i'm expecting him to be plagued with this injury and the elbow brace for most of the season...

 

Tmac carried us tonight, and I loved beating Memphis after getting crushed by them so much last year. Even on plays when our big men didn't execute, Tmac was making some great passes. He had his total game working tonight, and it was a great thing to see.

I hope we progress in this direction. It will make things easier on the rest of the team, and possibly give them a more solid identity, which they seem to have been lacking earlier.

It was fun to see when things were working.

 

I don't think Gasol is SMARTER than Yao. Yao's timing might be off but P-Gas's bball iq is unparallel to Yao's.

 

I see T-mac as our Tim Duncan, with Yao getting back into the groove, we should be dominant. Jim Jackson has seem to find his shot again and thats a good thing.

 

Anyone seen the highlights of SF in Orlando. He is a warrior, rebounds like a 4. I say trade Yao for SF and Cato, the way Yao is playing by the end of the season we'll be lucky to get Alonzo Mourning plus cash.
This is supposed to be his breakout year but he is regressing or at best he is at a plateau. This maybe as good as he gets if he doesn't develop a power move or a skyhook, he does all the same things since he came into the league. I don't buy the elbow bit either, its his left elbow, not his shooting hand/arm and I don't see him wincing in pain when he flexes or extends it. Yao, prove me wrong.

 

Yao should sit out the games because obviously some fans don't appreciate him playing with a ligament tear.

 

if he's wincing in pain then he obviously wouldn't be playing

 

I wanna say something about defense.
today's game have shown that if mo and juwon lost their man , then yao will face a very difficult situation due to his lack of lateral moving ability. Today I saw several times gasol roll over mo completely and rush into yao's body and leave him in foul trouble. If we cannot find a defense power forward at least like cato, I can even promise you that yao will not play more than 25 miniutes per game. This is a really big trouble to watch out. MO and even juwon simplely can't defense, that is to say yao will defense 4 and 5 , it's pathetic.

 

Gasol definately get's calls. He also works the refs better than most locals. Yao still doesn't talk to refs. I'm anticipating the day the big fella inquires directly to the ref why - for example - Pau didn't get called for a foul on his block of Yao's dunk attempt when he (Pau) lead with his KNEES to Yao's body before blocking the shot! This is consistently the approach of opponents to Yao - they have the elbow or arm or body - or in this case the knee - down low pushing when they go up - and it's not getting called. After the block - Yao just turned the other way and ran up court like nothing happened. He's gotta take issue in the moment - or later during a break in action - or one of his teamates has to be his spokesperson. Ewing could become involved - but he sits there like a potted plant orbiting some other planet.

Turn overs were 13 at the half and 19 for the game - so the second half was an improvement with only 6.

After Yao's ugly layup miss - JVG talked to him and the rest of the night he went for the jam.

Mo-T stepped it up on defense - it got him in foul trouble - but I've never seen a stronger effort on D from him. Over all team D was much better - holding Memphis to 81 was significant.

T-Mac is a FREAK - I was surprised watching some of his passes - and I haven't missed a game - so it's no surpise that Yao was a little startled - he will get used to the looks coming from T-Mac.

 

ha ha ha..yeah i actually saw a clip of somebody (probably the rockets' trainer) handing him the brace and telling him to put it back on, and he was like shaken his head saying no

 

Personally I put a lot more stock in his play over the course of his first 2 seasons than the first 3 games of this season. He is averaging career lows in almost every single catagory by a lot. I certainly don't buy into the theory that he has lost skill since last season so I believe it's the elbow.

Yao's elbow hurts with out a doubt and I'm sure that big bulky pad he has to ware bothers him as well. Give him time to heal and then judge him.

 

<i> Personally I put a lot more stock in his play over the course of his first 2 seasons than the first 3 games of this season. He is averaging career lows in almost every single catagory by a lot. I certainly don't buy into the theory that he has lost skill since last season so I believe it's the elbow.

Yao's elbow hurts with out a doubt and I'm sure that big bulky pad he has to ware bothers him as well. Give him time to heal and then judge him.
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Looking at it that way I would say that he is consistently inconsistent. The coach needs to lock him in the video room with all of Olajuwan's game reels and perhaps Yao will learn what is required to play center in this league. Maybe then we will see less of Yao the lost marhmallow boy. Either that or we only play the Heat all year.

 

I wonder when JVG will learn how to attack a team that fronts Yao. Everything is going fine as long as they stand behind Yao, but once they decide to front, JVG pisses his pants and have players not named TMac dribble around like idiots until the shotclock expires.

 

Yao has averaged about 16 pts, .510 f/g%, 8.5 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 2.3 turnovers, 80% free throw and only 3 fouls a game in his career.

While Yao has certainly had some inconsistancies his numbers averages certainly are still good.

Compare to this year where he is only averaging 10pts, .400 f/g %, 7 rebounds, 60% free throw shooting and about 4.5 fouls a game.

I think it is obvious that there is something else wrong with him. It also seems obvious that the problem is his elbow and probably the extreamly bulky brace he wears on it.

 

The last time I looked Yao was right handed, his LEFT elbow is the one with the brace.

Yao is playing badly because his reaction time to help defense has been awful.

DD

 

The last time I looked, players shot with two hands.

 

Yao also has a left-handed hook shot and left-handed layup. I think it has a small effect on his game. However, his play over the last two seasons and in the Olympics gives me confidence he'll adjust and start being an impact player again.

Also, I think it'll take about 30 games for the players to gel as a team. Remember in '95 when Clyde was traded to Houston, the Rockets closed out the season with a 14-16 record (or something like that), and limped into the playoffs. You guys know the rest of the story. And that was only incorporating one major player into a team that won the championship a year before. This Houston team has far more changes than the championship teams.

 

You need BOTH arms to shoot the ball and grab a rebound. That's why you see guys sit out when they have a broken left hand when they're right-handed players.