[HOUSTON CHRONICLE] Rafer Alston: "Yao should have had 50 points tonight."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3766205.html

April 3, 2006, 12:37AM
Kobe shakes Rockets in second half
Game gets away after teammates stop going to Yao

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

LOS ANGELES - The Rockets perhaps should have seen the landslide of change coming. When Yao Ming's scoring between the second and third quarters was negative-two, there might have been signs that their fast start and solid first half were over. It turned out, so were their chances.

The box score adjustment, correctly giving Stromile Swift a tip-in that had been credited to Yao, was just the start.

Then Kobe Bryant began the half ripping through the Rockets. The Rockets panicked, and the Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 104-88 whipping of the Rockets on Sunday before the usual 18,997 at Staples Center.

Yao had 20 points in the first half. But when Bryant's offensive blitz started, the Rockets turned frantic — and away from their center, and best chance to keep pace with the NBA's most unstoppable offensive force.

While Bryant scored 15 of his 43 points in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second half, Yao had three touches and scored one point. Yao finished with 33, making more shots (16) than he has in a game, and 16 rebounds.

50 potential
"We should have found Yao more," guard Rafer Alston said. "Yao should have had 50 points tonight. He should have had 50."

After double-teaming Yao just twice in the first half, Lakers coach Phil Jackson sent the double teams he generally rejects in the second half, giving Kwame Brown help from Brian Cook, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton and Bryant.

Unclear was whether Jackson double-teamed Yao to slow his scoring or to invite his teammates to shoot. Other than Yao, the Rockets made 21 of 60 shots.

"Yao was dominant, as was Bryant, in the first half," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "A post player is much more dependent on perimeter play than a perimeter player is on post play. So Bryant had the ball on the perimeter, created space and knocked it in.

"We're not a mentally strong team. They made a concerted effort to contest our shooting. It proved to be a good decision. The other four starters shot 12-for-41."

Bryant would have tested many team's mettle, but when he nailed seven of his first eight second-half shots, the Lakers scored 23 points in little more than five minutes, and the Rockets cracked.

"In the third quarter when Kobe made those shots — those are great shots — I think our defense did everything they could do," Yao said. "But we didn't get a good answer at the other rim. It's about being mentally tough. When he hit a couple shots in a row, we were frustrated by that. But we cannot let games go on like that. If they score, score back. It's on us. We have to take care of our game."

Instead, the Rockets rapidly fired shots before Yao could get touches inside or set up teammates outside. They made three of 11 shots before Yao had a second-half field goal, with six of those attempts from beyond the 3-point arc, but just one coming off a Yao pass out of a double team.

"It comes down to sticking with our game plan, not getting away from the things we know we need to — that's continuing to find Yao, and keeping our turnovers down," Alston said. "When we turn the ball over and we're not getting the ball to Yao, letting him create shots for us as they double team and if they don't double, letting him score, we're just giving away the game. We were right there. We should have played the game the same way we did in the (first) half."

But Bryant was different, scoring within the first 11 seconds of the second half and scoring or setting up the Lakers' 23 points to begin the half.

Generating energy
"I just wanted to come out and provide some energy, and my shot started falling," Bryant said, as if he scored by accident. "It turned into a lot of momentum for us that Houston could not hold on to. We wanted to break the game open."

When he added a 3-pointer to end the third quarter, they had. Bryant had scored 22, and the Lakers led by 18.

"Once he makes a few, it's hard to contain him," said Rockets forward Keith Bogans, who switched to Bryant 2:12 into the second half. "He's one of the toughest players I've had to defend in this league. With him, he keeps going.

"With his mentality and his confidence, he'll keep shooting. And once he knocks down a few, and he gets rolling and he's hard to stop."

The Rockets could not come close to that.

 

Here's the updated addition to the article:


Rockets Summary

High expectations

Kwame Brown and Yao Ming, the first picks of the 2001 and 2002 drafts, respectively, have generated intense analysis and criticism. But both have moved toward fulfilling their expectations this season, particularly in the season's second half.

But to their coaches, that does not mean some of the criticism was not useful, and in some cases, even accurate.

"I think it's (about) understanding how much work it takes," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Those are two different guys. Yao was a little bit older, more mature. Kwame Brown was coming out of high school.

"Everybody expects the No. 1 pick to be a dominating player. Kwame Brown has found his niche now where he is a very good rebounder, very good post defender and scores off of others versus as a first-option, go-to guy.

"I think everybody hears the criticisms. Different people handle it better. Some let it affect them. Some let it drive them. Some let it roll off their back. Just because you're criticized doesn't make it not valid. Some criticisms are valid; some are way off base."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Brown, less likely than Yao to be unaware of some of the criticism, could be well-served to use it.

"Some of these guys have to use it as a motivation," Jackson said. "Kwame has it in the back of his head a lot. With Yao Ming, I'm sure that he can ignore it and move forward. To receive the information ... it has to be brought to him on a different level. Kwame can just hear the rumblings in the stands.

"But Yao Ming has shown people in this last return after his injury maybe why he wasn't performing at the level before, and now that he has returned why he was taken as the best player in that draft."

T-Mac watches on bench

Though Tracy McGrady said again that he is out for the balance of the season, McGrady joined the Rockets for the road trip, borrowing teammate Juwan Howard's suit so he could watch the game from the bench.

"I'm just here to hang and support my guys," McGrady said.

Guard David Wesley, who hopes to return to the court this week, has attended the past five games after getting coach Jeff Van Gundy's consent to watch from the bench.

Last word

"It's the white uniforms; it looks like little elves and fairies."

— Lakers coach Phil Jackson
on L.A.'s 5-9 Sunday record

Inside the numbers

• 16 — Yao Ming field goals, a career high.
• 15 — Yao field goals Friday against Washington.
• 12 — shots made by Rockets starters other than Yao.
• 2 — shots made by Rockets starters other than Yao in the second half.
• 23 — 40-point games by Kobe Bryant this season, tying Elgin Baylor's team record.

JONATHAN FEIGEN