ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 4/28/2005 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 3)

always agreed with that..

 

Oh, But they did my friend... they did. It's no surprise that the Rockets were down by 10 when TNT finally let us watch the game, and they quickly got back into it. But in the end the will of the fans couldn't overcome the bad karma of the cocky fans and premature gloating.

 

Turnovers killed the rockets plus Dallas just had more intensity all night. The crowd SUCKS, what's up with that?

 

They're +36 FT attempts in the series. And I really don't see them attack the basket more than we do. Plus, we have Yao who only works inside where as they only have Dampier who doesn't have any offense worth mentioning

 

For the last time, you don't get free throws when you're taking jump shots. Our downfall came when the jumpers stopped falling, we just continued to jack them up instead of taking it to the rack.

Quit using the refs as the scapegoat, the refs weren't the guy firing up bricks in the fourth. Yeah, so there was a couple of bad calls, there always will be. You have to be able to rise above that and win the game when your up by 8 with 10 minutes left and the chance to bury the Mavs. Instead, we laid down and let them smoke us 20-0.

 

The Rockets have been playing the Mavs AND THE REFS this entire series. Does the NBA send down a memo to the officials, "It is in the interest of the league that Dallas advance, do what you can." I am looking for Ming to get a foul while sitting on the bench! Or maybe between games, like during practice. Or maybe while he is sleeping. It is absolutely ridiculous. If a player comes within three feet of him, if he breathes too heavy on them, if he looks at them the wrong way...... Dallas has lived at the line the whole series; you can not tell me that this series is not being called in a prejudical manner. All I want is consistency and fairness.

 

IMO, and I don't expect any Rockets fans to agree with me on this, TMac is the only Rocket that makes an effort to get to the line. The mavs, all season, have made getting to the FT line a priority.

There's also a difference in team composition. The Mavs team is comprised of "scorers." The Rockets have more shooters. The difference being that when the Rocks come with Barry, who can kill you with 3's, the Mavs come with Stackhouse, who is historically great at getting to the line.

Also, swiping at the ball when Dirk sweeps across the lane results in FT's 80% of the time. If the Rocks are gonna defend him with TMac, they should either expect there to be SOME FT discrepancy, or tell TMac not to come down on Dirk's forearms.

 

I was wondering to myself "does Stern have all these series rigged?" during 0-20 run in the fourth. McGrady cannot get one call with all the hacks he's taking on drives and yet the Mavs end up on the line if a Rocket defender blinks at them wrong. Game 1 was bad enough. But at what point do the bullshtt calls on Yao (which are so redundantly absurd to even list here game after game) start to get recognized by somebody in the media. I'm watching Kenny Smith and Chuck say right now "Yao needs to stop fouling". I'm like Dampier must of really given those two whatever he's been smoking because Yao is trying his hardest to stand still, put his arms up, and avoid contact. It has gotten so frickin bad that even when Yao gets fouled himself they call him for an offensive foul. I don't buy for one second that so many NBA refs can consistently make such bad calls game in and game out. These are calls that one-eyed YWCA refs can get right.

 

Anyone see Cuban flipping the finger to the crowd??

 

Agreed, except I think TMac does a better job on Dirk than you give him credit for. He's not all hacking or anything close to that.

Huge Rockets fan, but TMac (and Mike James) are the only ones who consistently take it to the hole and look for the free throws. Yao and Sura on their good nights, but not consistently..

 

Perimeter play got us lead, it got us out of the game in the end. Bad plays down the strech. Forced 3pt when we should drive. Passed up the 3pt when we should take it. This is nothing new to this team. Careless plays lead to tentative plays lead to blowing big lead. We have seen it. Yao got step up!!!! He has to establish the inside presence. You know the guards are happy to pass him up if he himself not trying to station down low.

Namely, these plays were costly

Tmac missed 2 freebies
Bob Sura forced the issue when he really should pass Yao down low
Yao bad rebounding
Tmac shot quick threes

 

Sleepless in Seattle......

 

Why that Yao basket wasnt a "and one"? The ref called it on the floor. Cost us 3 pts. I thought that was the momentum killer. It was huge.

 

Oh, don't get me wrong. I definitely think TMac is doing a good job defensively on Dirk. My point was that he doesn't really NEED to try and swipe the ball while Dirk is driving. That's where Dirk gets a TON of calls. Smaller guys try to strip him and get some forearm. When he just plays straight up, Dirk is bailing him out and fading away. As a Mavs fan, that's a NIGHTMARE.

 

I would've f*cked him up if I was sitting anywhere near him

 

you must not have watched sura and james play lately.

It just wansnt our night, its over now... shots werent falling, layups were in and out. Fouls werent being called, the wrong fouls were being called. its over, khallas. we just need the team to focus for saturday.

 

Don't forget the Rox missed 8 free throws...

There was also a tip-in by Yao in the 1st half that didn't count..

Then the 3 pt. play in the 4th when it was 88-80 Rox that didn't count...

That's 13 pts right there---

 

I am starting to think the mavs may even this series and ultimatly pull this out. How long can sura play like he belongs in this league? I worry about everyone else keeping it up. And watch t-macs shots start to rattle out like that last three. I hope we keep up the pressure.

 

WRONG. McGrady was not getting calls on his drives the entire game. He got one call when he drove on Dampier when he missed the 2 freethrows. Other than that, he did not receive calls on 5+ drives in which he was fouled in this game. If you are not getting anything out of driving the ball then you start settling for freethrows.

Now granted I will concede one difference between the calls the Mavs were getting on their drives and the ones TMac et all were not getting. Dallas was constantly forcing contact on their drives and forcing the refs to call something whereas the Rockets were looking for the open seams and not really forcing the contact, even though Mavs defenders were swiping, putting forearms on the driver's hip, and outright mauling. Either way, a foul is a foul and NBA refs should be able to recognize such.

 

FSN showed the replay and he got all ball. The call was made from an official behind the play. Ridiculous.