ClutchFans Game Thread: Bobcats @ Rockets 12/22/2004

And can we get Bugs Bunny to fire Elmer Fudd. This management s**ks. Well lets see if CD pulls something out of his hat, because if ever a trade or new coach was called for it is now. If CD can't see it and doesn't do something to change this team chemistry then he needs a plane ticket out of town.

 

The players should be blamed just as much as the coach. All you have to do is follow the fundamentals. Yesterday the Rockets missed 9 free throws (McGrady missed 6). Then the Rockets lost by 3. Ofcourse you cant blame the entire game on just poor freethrow shooting but just imagine what the outcome might have been if they were able to make just 4 more freethrows.

I cant say that I like Van Gundy as a coach..he is alright but I am noticing that the players are missing too many wide open shots and cant even hit freethrows anymore...

They should have some LONG shooting and freethrow practices to change this quick.

 

Not sure whether you watched the Toronto game. From my inexperienced eyes, they looked good in uptempo. They didn't just run and gun, but they actually looked to push, made the defense uneasy. In fact, Yao looked good to finish some of the breaks, and got deep positions. He has a condition problem, but it saves lots of energy to run a little bit rather than fighting for position in every trip downcourt.

 

The fans aren't the only ones worried.

 

IMO anytime a team's FG column includes entries like: 1-8, 1-6, 6-17, the team is doomed. Power houses like Dallas and San Antonio are no exceptions either. They both lost too last night. Their FG columns include: 0-5, 4-13, 7-19 (Dallas); 1-6, 2-9, 4-13.

Of course it will be fatal if the poor shooting team also outturnovers the opposing team.

Can a coach identify the crappy shooters before the game? That is a crapshoot.

 

ZERO ASSISTS FROM THE POINT GUARD POSITION

 

You're right. The Rockets don't have to go run like the Nets, but the Rockets need to get shots off early on in the clock before the defenses can just all surround TMac and Yao. After too many seconds have passed on the shot clock, the defenses go into double mode. They double TMac and Yao which forces the 3 pointers to get launched.

 

No, you can't identify crappy shooters but you can identify what kind of shots you are getting during the game and adjust the offense to get better shots. And you also have to play the better shooters, not stack them up on the injured list.

The adjustments that should have been made was with the players not getting the ball to TMac and Yao. Anyone who watched that game knows that realistically Yao had 4 turnovers. THe other 6 were total bull. So, you gotta get him the ball and get the ball to McGrady in scoring position. We missed so many post up entries last night it was pitiful on both Yao and TMac. Then Yao and TMac wind up getting the ball too late and in bad positions to score which leads to turnovers and low shooting percentages. They were doubling off the pick and roll on TMac and leaving the pick setter wide open. It doesn't do any good for TMac to try to throw the ball to the picker when the picker can't even shuffle their feet to the right spot on the floor to receive a pass without TMac having to throw it through 2 defenders and a 3rd defender lurking in the paint for the steal.

The play that would have worked last night would have been the pick and roll with Yao at the top of the key. I think they ran every other pick but that one. They had Juwon, Mo, Lue, Sura, and even Yao a time or two setting the pick out at the 3 point line. Juwon, Lue, and Sura couldn't shoot worth ...., Mo got a couple 18 footers, and then Yao is trying to run back into the paint after setting the pick out there.

I saw one, maybe two plays where Yao set the pick inside the circle and the defense had to choose between fighting around the pick or giving Tracy the jumper. That is the pick our poison that we want, not Lue, Ward, and Juwon picking their nose at the 3 point line.

And for some reason, the deep penetration by Sura totally stopped last night. I can't explain that besides it had to be a coaching decision. Or else Sura just didn't want to work that hard. I find it hard to believe it was Sura. I've seen him play for several years. He always likes to take the ball all the way into the paint, all the way to the bucket. He's a scrappy type player who likes to run and plays off the energy he creates. When you see hesitation in a player like him, 9 times out of 10 it is due to the fact he doesn't understand exactly what the coach wants him to do and he is thinking too much about what he is supposed to do.

On the defensive end, Yao was doing the best job of defending Okafor and Primo. Van Gundy takes him out and brings in Padgett and leaves Mo in with Padgett. As soon as I saw that, I knew it was a recipe for disaster. If Yao is doing a good job on Okafor, then why would you not substitute Deke or Spoon for Mo for a few minutes and let them work on Primo. That would take away the inside game and force Primo and Okafor to the perimeter. I'll take Okafor and Primo shooting 20 footers anyday. Yeah, they are decent shooters and will hit a few, but we would have a much better chance of getting them to take rushed, bad shots, getting the rebound and getting ourself going on the other end. At the very least, if you think you have to get quicker and smaller, bring in Padgett for MoT. Don't substitute Padgett for Yao.

Instead, now we've got Yao all concentrated and upset about his 10 TO's of which 6 were total bologna. Instead of working to fix the things that need fixed, we are probably gonna spend the next practice shooting free throws and working on Yao not turning the ball over, which means that the perimeter players like JJ will throw him the ball even less, he'll get less touches, and our offense will struggle while everybody scratches their head and wonder what has happened to Yao again and why TMac can't hit a shot.

So Boki comes in the game and immediately the Hornets start picking on him. Why not? Van Gundy has let the whole world know that he can't play defense. So Boki picks up 2 quick, cheap fouls and to the end of the bench he goes and sits for the rest of the game. Now, if you were coaching this team and you inserted Boki into the game, and you didn't think he could play any defense, then why not switch to a zone for a couple posessions at least to help the guy out, give him a chance to play a few minutes and get a couple shots up? Why is Boki in there and what are his strengths and weaknesses? His strengths are providing a 3rd scoring option, to shoot the jumper and slash to the hoop and his weakness is man to man defense. Instead we play the man, they send Boki's man down low, post him up and there is zero help. They throw the ball from the top of the key right down the middle of the lane and Boki gets called for the foul. It's almost as if Van Gundy was making a point as to why Boki shouldn't play.

Yes, we may need better players. Every team in the league wants better players. But, are we getting the best out of the players that we have? I don't think so. I think games like last night show that we are very good at bringing out the worst in a player. What is the reason that players like Boki, Spoon, and Barrett are in the doghouse and players like Lue, MoT, and Ward are not in the doghouse?

 

10 TO is bad, but not uncommon. Tim Ducan, KG , Jason Kidd all had that records since they had the balls in their hands all the time...

Since our back court were so horrrible, the Bobcats simply ignored them and surrounded Yao/T-Mac with double or even triple team, that contributed big time to the 10 TO.


Don't understand why JVG put A. Barrett on IL, I think this kid has heart and the skills. If Dwyane Wade of Miami was in Houston last year, guess he's still on bench or IL under JVG...

JVG just doesn't know or doesn't want to develop players...

 

Finally someone said it!! I agree completely. How JVG play Lue over Barrett and keep a straight face??? MoT looks like he has never played organized basketball before. We need a 4 and a new Coach!

 

I like the fact that Boki is back but Barrett should not be the one on the IL....should have been Lue or one of our Marshmellow Forwards to teach them a lesson. They make mistakes all the time and dont get punished enough.

 

Too many times have I seen these...

1. We build a play, but move the ball too slowly. The defense compensates and the play breaks down. With time running out, the Rox try to force a shot they didn't want to take, which inevitably misses.
   
2. Point guard or power forward left wide open from long range misses. There's just no excuse for that. Even the expansion team was making their wide-open jumpers. We missed 15 out of 22 3-pointers last night. Pathetic.
   
3. For some reason we have always struggled against full-court presses. Now, with our slow-down offense, there's rarely more than 12 seconds left on a clock to build a play. That leaves no time for a "plan B" if the play fails.
   
4. Rockets let opponents build a slight lead in the second half. Since the lead isn't much (10 points or less) the Rockets don't seem to play with a sense of urgency. Because of that, in the 4th the Rockets start feeling the crunch. In that panicked mode we continue to fail.
   
5. Rockets become too conservative late in games. Example: last night, with 18 sec. left and down 3, JVG wanted to get a quick basket and foul them. But it's a miracle for the Rockets to get a win in the old "foul them to stop the clock" game (San Antonio game was just such a miracle). Not a wise strategy when you have a sharpshooter like T-Mac. Why not build a play that gives McGrady an open shot at a three? Remember the high pick that Yao used to set for Steve? That worked great - why not use it with Tracy?
   
6. Bobby Sura missing another free throw. I like the guy's game and energy, but for cryin' out loud, he's GOT to make free throws. Shooting .655 from the charity stripe is plain aweful, especially for a guard.
   
7. Yao begins a game well with good scoring and few fouls. But late in the game he sputters - partly because he is turnover prone, partly because he doesn't get calls, partly because the guards are unable to get the ball in his hands, and partly becase we simply aren't trying to get the ball in his hands.

These occur over, and over, and over again.

-- droxford

 

7) I think mainly because teams do want Yao and Tmac to score in second half. The'd drop in a zone, or just crowd Yao and Tmac everytime they have the ball. It's not like our other players can take advantage of the situation.

 

Is it me, or has anyone noticed that we keep bringing guys from crap teams from the east. Orlando, NY, Atlanta...what's Dawson thinking?

Oh well, I'm a die hard rocket fan, and I do think this move is good. It's just weird that we're bringing guys into our team from not so great teams...

 

for all of you, who called out Yao's 10 TO's, you either didn't watch the game or simply stupid !!!!!!!! The game was lost when Yao was sitting on the bench...

 

oops wrong thread :-x

 

LOL Either Yao didn't watch the game or simply stupid. If Juwon, Mo, JJ , Ward or any other rockets had 10 TO yesterday under the exactly same situation as Yao, they would be all killed here, quite possibly by the very same posters who are defending Yao.

 

That's just Yao being Yao, and being too hard on himself. Those turnovers in and of themselves did not lose this game. The entire team couldn't drop the ball into the ocean in the third quarter when Charlotte took the lead. And while Yao did have a poor 3rd q, T-mac was practically invisible, so there's enough blame to go around.

And by my count there were at least 4 of Yao's turnovers that were either BS, understandable, or a freakly rare occurance (two offensive fouls on horrific flops, a 3-second call when a shot should have gone up, and that offensive goaltending). Some say that a couple of those passes were poor, but that's a bit more debatable.

6 turnovers is still bad, but it's not nearly as bad as it looks at double figures. Yes, they absolutely contributed to the loss, but Yao did not lose the game for the team. The entire team lost the game for the team. And that includes JVG who must have called an idiotic, "go for a quick 2" with 13 secs left, because T-Mac has shown time and again that his favorite move is the pull-up 3 pointer.