I'll try to address all of your points... which are valid contentions: 1.)Yao's defense of the pick and roll: He definitely has a problem when the smaller defender tries to run past him on that pick and roll... but what is your suggestion? Have him not attempt to defend it at all? I said it before in this thread... Yao defends that play WELL about 75% of the time. Its that 75% that prevents teams from running that play ALL THE TIME against us, because they know that Yao will at least attempt to prevent the wide open shot that Shaq, or some other slow centers normally allow on the pick and roll defense. As long as Yao is out on the court, the defense will always try to exploit his deficits... which are lateral quickness and reaction time. You can't hide him out there, and at the same time, you can't just tell him to not contest any jump shots simply because it might make him tired. Teams will kill us on that... guards like Bibby can hit open shots. 2.)The Offense : I think right now its very hard to evaluate this offense because of a.) the dependence of it on having T-Mac healthy and playing, and b.) the new players we have. That being said, you are seeing signs that the new guys are starting to get it, and that Tracy is starting to feel like his old self. As far as it being "predictable", I'm not going to argue with you there... but consider this for a second. You know what the best sign of a great team is? Its their ability to run the same plays over and over again, and force the other team to adjust. Why must we be the one to adjust to their defense... that's silly when you have two players who are mismatches for the other team virtually every single night. The championship Rockets ran an even more predictable offense than this one... there was far less movement, far less pick and roll... teams knew what was coming, and they couldn't do a damn thing about it. Also, it still wasn't that long ago when this offense was firing on all cylinders.... humming like a well-tuned machine (Jon Barry... "welcome to the machine."). We lost a little of that luster this year... some of it with age, some of it with injury, and some of it with plain cluelessness.... but I still feel that this team can make improvements if they put forth the effort, learn from their mistakes, and try to avoid any more injuries to T-mac. 3.)Yao: I think its pretty obvious that Yao cannot stay in one place on the court without drawing a ton of attention/double-teams/fronts. The key with him is to keep him in constant movement... which is what happens a lot in the 4th quarter, with Tracy in there. That is going to have to be how he makes an impact on the offensive end of the court... whether it be pick and rolls, running around the baseline off screens like Reggie Miller, or simply being at the right place at the right time... Yao will find his niche soon enough.
Yeah, did anyone else notice how relaxed the guys were together tonight, joking on the sidelines even when just holding a 2 point lead in the 4th. Think about that kind of comradere(dont know how to spell) coming off of a big griding out sort of win, and going to vegas together. This was a good call by JVG, i loved the way he played his rotation tonight, playing luther in the 4th. By the way Yao looks like a G.D. Warrior!!!!
Man, I likes swift's play tonight, That one hand dunk at T-Mac miss is a turn around point of the game. The pass to Yao is sweet. We will see more pass between Yao, T-mac and Swift. Head plays great again. He is much mature than Mobley. Yao played so so, his turnover is too many. JVG, Give the kid a chance, he will give you a surprise! Forget about old knick's players, they are too old and should retire long time ago.
[12.8.05] Rockets-Kings Game Recap Late Dynamic Surge Earns Rockets’ 106-95 Victory Over Sacramento By Dennis L. Silva, II. 12.9.05 The last time the Sacramento Kings had lost four consecutive games at home was during the 1997-98 season. Since then, their worst home record had been last season’s mark of 30-11, still brilliant by NBA standards. But behind the strong play of their bench, as well as the magnificence of Tracy McGrady, the Houston Rockets waltzed into California and, yes, handed Sacramento a 106-95 beating before 17,317 at the reknown Arco Arena. Very little defense was played early in this game. Sacramento jumped out to a 16-13 lead as Yao Ming got into early foul trouble, committing two fouls just seven minutes into the contest. The lead would experience fourteen lead changes as each team shot exquisitely, particularly Sacramento who ended the period shooting 73% from the field, which would end up being the cause of their 31-29 lead heading into the second quarter. Houston started the second stanza with an 11-2 run to earn a 40-33 lead just three minutes into the period. McGrady slashed his way, scoring four points early, and Derek Anderson added five points of his own. Houston started the quarter 5-5 from the floor. Unfortunately, as has been the case throughout many of Houston’s contests this season, the Rockets struggled through a brutal dry spell that saw them miss the last 14 of their 16 shots. Sacramento took advantage, going on a 14-5 scoring spree late and claiming a 52-47 lead heading into halftime. The Rockets had no answers for Sacramento’s pick-and- roll play between Mike Bibby and Brad Miller. The Kings shot an astounding 20-33 (61%) in the first half, and had 13e assists as well. Bibby scored the Rockets for 8 points and four assists, while Miller hit long jumper after long jumper, scoring 12 points on 5-8 shooting. As frustrating as it was, Houston refused to come out and guard Miller on the pick-and-pop, instead having their bigs lay back in the paint and allow Miller uncontested open jump shots, which is his calling card in the NBA. For the Rockets, McGrady finished the half with 16 points on 7-10 shooting, and Yao finished with 9 points, though did have more turnovers (3) than rebounds (2). In the third period, the Kings jumped out to an eight-point advantage early as Bonzi Wells scored five early points. The lead reached its maximum of 14 midway through the quarter as the Kings put forth yet another offensive barrage, going on an 11-1 run. The Rockets still had not solved the Kings’ pet pick-and-roll play, and Wells came alive by scoring easy baskets inside, scoring 9 points in the quarter. A strong defensive stand late, as well as a long corner 3-pointer by McGrady to end the period, allowed Houston to close to within six points heading into the final twelve minutes. The fourth quarter was ALL Rockets as Houston cut Sacramento’s lead to three points with 7:40 remaining. Behind their outstanding bench play, the Rockets stunned the Kings by putting on a dazzling display on both ends of the court. Stromile Swift scored four points (two of which came on a fantastic put-back dunk) and dished to Yao Ming for a pivotal 3-point play opportunity midway through the quarter. The Kings shot 1-11 to start the quarter, and Luther Head hit a few clutch jump shots as Houston pushed its lead all the way to nine late in the fourth. Sacramento went on a mini-run late, closing to within five of Houston, but the damage had already been done. All that was needed were some clutch McGrady free throws and a breakaway dunk by Swift in the closing seconds, and the Rockets had secured a 106-95 victory, their third in their last four games. Houston ended up outscoring the Kings 33-16 in the fourth quarter, and it was a testament to their character and toughness that they rallied to win. After being down by as much as fourteen points late in the second half, Van Gundy put in his bench squad of Swift (11 points, four rebounds), Anderson (17 points, five rebounds), and Head (9 points, 2-2 from downtown), and proceeded to see the Kings’ lead diminish in a matter of minutes. Houston’s bench outscored Sacramento’s 37-6 in the game, but it was McGrady creating and breaking down the Kings’ defense that proved to be the difference in the contest. McGrady finished with 28 points and four steals, and it was his 3-pointer with 0.1 tenth of a second remaining in the third period that was the boost to Houston’s closing rally. The Rockets have two days off before playing the second game of their vaunted six-game road trip Sunday against the Portland TrailBlazers. ROCKETS RECAP · Bibby and Miller combined for 45 points on 17-32 from the field. Sacramento finished the game shooting 49% from the field, easily the highest percentage Houston has allowed this season. · There were 16 total lead changes in the game, and 8 ties. · Yao finished the game with 21 points and 9 rebounds, and yet another scratched face as Shareef Abdur-Rahim scratched him inadvertently in the closing minutes of the game while trying to foul. · The Rockets had 13 turnovers (6 of which were credited to Yao), while the Kings finished with 15 giveaways. · The Rockets outscored Sacramento 6-2 in transition points in the second half. http://www.nba.com/games/20051208/HOUSAC/boxscore.html
Although Derek Anderson Sucks... One thing I am glad about (and admittedly a doubter when we drafted him) is the opportunity for Luther Head to come in and prove that he is our best guard option at the moment. What this game showed me is that for all of DA's deficiencies (poor defense, several fouls, bad turnovers), we were able to overcome them as a team against a Sac team that shot 62% for the first 3 quarters. Obviously the difference what seemed like 4 consecutive Tmac steals, but the defense seemed to drastically improve when we used the line-up of Head, Mcgrady, Swift, Yao, and DA. The four minus DA had some serious chemistry. Head hit shots created off of the attention to Tmac, Head was able to penetrate and set up Swift who then set up Yao for the slam, and defensively Sac couldn't get anything to go. Credit JVG for finally using what I have consistently wanted as our closing lineup. One huge positive is that this tells me that the Rockets are probably all the stronger for having gone through the losing streak, and are better off for having to play with a bad player in DA. We have had to play even harder to make up for our deficient guard play, and this will pay off by having Head inserted into the lineup and I believe we will once again take off when both Sura and Alston get back. In addition I feel this game showed how to use Swift effectively - once again Head. Head and Mcgrady are both capable of penetrating and dishing off which is what opens up Swift's game. This would make an eventually excellent starting line: Sura Head Mcgrady Swift Yao with using Alston as part of a three guard rotation as well as Wesley for backup minutes, DA backing up Tmac, and Juwan backing up Stro, with Stro and Deke backing up Yao, this is a team I feel that is significant push even against San Antonio and Detroit.
33 points in the 4th! awesome. Head is definately a difference maker. stro came through big with steals and others plays that gave second chances.
Think rookie mobley's missed game winning shot , which burried Barkley's last chance to win a ring, You would wonder if Head shot that one in place of Mobley, We may already had triple Championships. And Barkley may not have life long disaapointment from NBA.
Stro had a big impact on the pivotal stretch tonight, but immediately afterward he had a brainlock TO and my hopes for him are not as high as yours. But I very much enjoyed your hopes.
Weren;t you the one mostly deriding the Rockets for drafting Head or was it someone else? Just wondering...
Swift is more effective than Howard, but his foul trouble keeps him off the court. It's good to start Howard because JH is usually good for 1st quarter only. Let Swift close the game.
True, Yao does a passable job 75% of the time guarding the pick and roll, but I think we can guard the pick and roll 100% of the time if we switch to a zone. Sure, Yao is slow and his lateral movement is slow, but he takes up a big amount of space in the paint. Also, what's the perfect answer to a big slow guy? A freakishly athletic guy with long arms who can block shots from the weak side. And we have that guy on our team. If you get by Yao, you have to look out for Swift...if we were in a zone. Right now, teams can lure Yao out and have an easy bucket + tire Yao out + get Yao into foul trouble + break our defense down because someone has to cover for Yao. As for preventing jump shots and 3pointers, that's something the guards and forwards will mainly have to handle. I think with good training and effort, the Rox guards will at least be able to put their hand in the face of the other team. If the other team wants to bring their big out to the 3 pt line to set a pick, that just means Yao is under the basket ready for a rebound. We definitely need to allow the new players time to get adjusted. But some plays just are r****ded (e.g. Yao waiting for ball while getting fronted). I think last year, the reason we started scoring was BECAUSE JVG let the players play their own game. I doubt JVG instructed Barry to make a behind the back pass, or shoot a 3 pointer on a 2 on 1 fast break. We got by because many of our players have a high basketball IQ (JB, Sura, etc.). This year it seems like it's far more stagnant. I think because of the new players, it just makes it more obvious that JVG's offensive schemes are not working. Like I said before, I would set Yao at the top of the key. Plant Tmac and DA on one side. Plant Swift and Head on the other side. It's hard to deny a pass to the top of the key because that would leave one side open. After Yao gets the ball, we have cutters, Yao can hit a jumper, post up for a hook shot, pass back out for a three, pass to Tmac, so many options. Instead, we take 10 seconds to pass to Yao, he gets doubled, he passes it back out, swing the ball around, take a bad shot. It's gotten better as Head and Tmac penetrates, but if we play that way, we ignore Yao, which is stupid. My plan isn't foolproof, I'm just thinking their are definitely better ways of attacking the basket than what JVG is doing.
Great Game. Stro really played well and stayed within his role...i like that... for once we scored, what I am wondering is why Luther isnt getting many mins in the first half? Despite this, however, I was pleased to see JVG use him in the forth quarter during crucial crunch time. I hope this Vegas trip helps the rockets bond and we can win four of the next five road games...wishful thinking but that would put us back in the mix.....
