[Clutchfans Game thread] Preseason: Rockets v Grizzlies 10/10/2006

My Impression of the game:

Starters:

Obviously they played well Especially Mcgrady and Alston. I thought Rafer controlled the tempo very well and took the right shots--although he didn't make them all. I think him alone could have made the second unit alot more fluid. Battier and Hayes Hustled all over the court as expected. He is WAY quicker then I had imagine (Steals, Rebounds, and more importantly I liked his baseline drive.) The one starter I wasn't impress with was Snyder. With tracy in the game he did decent but then again...he was playing with t-mac. Like Mogrod explained earlier, he seemed to be the guy that plays well off of others. In the second half, it was unbearable--maybe not because of him but the whole second unit as a whole...

Novak: I’m in love with this guy!!! His stroke was flawless even when he missed, but when he makes it…nothing but net!!! I am really excited about him.

Lucas: He wasn’t too good tonight; especially his jump-shot, but then again you could say that about the whole second unit....His playmaking was nearly as unimpressive and he looked nothing like how he was during the summer league.

Billy: V-span made TONS of mistakes tonight. He had turnovers left and right and his three-shot looks horrid. Also, he looked lost on defense. Haha on a brighter note, it seems as though he got at least three steals tonight, and it was apparent that he will be a good player in this league. He was aggressive the whole time, even though it was evident that he was nervous. His passing was very very impressive.

Anyone else that I did not mention….don’t even ask. It was embarrassing. This includes Buike, Jacobson, The Body, and Haryasz. Just imagine Mcgrady on Shawn Bradley!!!

Final notes of Game: I didn't think we should have thrown the game that way...If you wanted to test players, then put them in the regular rotation and not just throw five unproven players in the game to see how well they run ther plays. At least develop some cohesiveness. I know this is only a preseason game but that lost was depressing...

 

Rumor is NBA League Pass doesn't carry preseason games.
Stream from Asia instead.

 

To add to impressions:
Tmac played well. Starting unit was nice, with Hayes and Battier providing a lot of energy and hustle. Alston did well.
Novak is a good shooter, but his misses weren't too pretty. Can't expect him to make them all.
I'm glad that Padgett is back, but he seemed a bit rusty..immobile? I hope we keep him.
Jacobsen is all right, sometimes he's quick and into it, sometimes he wasn't.
Harris was pretty bad in my opinion, and it seems like he'll be waived.
Azuibuike didn't do too well either, but maybe he'll get another chance.
JL3 was good, and he made some of his shots.
Damon Stoudamire is still good.
I really like Spanoulis even though he made mistakes. We should let him get experience and hopefully make him part of our main 8 or 9 person rotation.
Snyder has pretty good size and athleticism, and he made a few shots, but he needs to be consistently productive. We can't have one inept player (Ryan Bowen). We need a complete team of 5. I like our main players Yao, Tmac, Bonzi, Battier, Alston, Spanoulis hopefully, Hayes, and some role players like Novak, Padgett, Jacobsen, JL3.

2nd half was pretty bad to watch, but I guess it has to be done.

 

yeah, i ordered league pass yesterday and no games were on tonight, which pretty sux.

 

V-Span was on a complete different level in WC than tonight... he totally owned Chris Paul...he is that good...

Yea.. today he made some mistakes and shot an air-ball..but consider the guy just got to this country for what? a weeK? he probably is still affected by jet-leg. talking about going to a whole different country and city.. speaking whole different language.. and a brand new basketball rules.. brand-new teammates and he played with scrubs tonight....i am not surprised he made mistakes... he's gonna be way better than tonight in a short while

 

Lucas reminded me of Moochie Norris, not a happy thought. VSpan was spastic, but, for some reason, I think he going to be really good. Looks like a street-fighter. The second half was a "last year flashback," not good, utter offensive impotence. Novak is a shooter, but that's it, still a valuable asset on this team. Battier will be a difference maker. Gay did not impress me. TMac looked very good, but I am still worried about his back. I wish we could have heard from him after the game. Synder is an interesting addition. Alston looked faster, stronger, more confident, and actually made a shot. Health issues are still floating around this team and that bothers me. If they go away, the starting talent appears to be excellent. The bench, not so excellent.

 

channel 751 and 752

 

Synder got cut by two other teams for reasons. He has Stro syndrome on the court throught his career.

 

Why are there a few people alluding to Tmac being hurt.
He sat out the 2nd half because this is pre-season game numero uno. He went in and did his thing. I didnt watch the game, but why are there a few talking like this?

 

Great lost!

It's pre-season and we got to see T-Mac in mid-season form. No Yao or Wells and they still wipped the 1st team from Memphis. OK no Gasol but who cares.

As for the 5 guys who played the end of the game, 3 are likely not making the team. That Az guy is likely a goner. Same with the big guy Haryazz. If Sura (who did not play, is out), then that means one other player out there is a goner. Padget didn't look too good nor did Jacobsen so they are playing for a spot. And I didn't see Bowen in the game either.

Novak looks like the real deal with his shot.

Now with Wells and Yao back, who is on the 2nd team? That's Hayes, Novak, Snyder, Head, VSpan - I think. That still leaves Howard and DM which makes 12. 3 inactive would be J-Lucas and 2 of the 3 Padget, Jacobsen or Bowen. The one left out is cut

I am just glad basketball is back

 

Our bench is not weak. It was just weak in this game. Our normal bench rotation will consist of howard, deke, head, synder, v-span, novak, and hayes. that is pretty damn good.

 

Starters totally controlled the first half, last I remember we were up by 20pts...

In the fourth quarter when Memphis finally took the lead we had our 3rd and 4th string guys in the game.....and they played like it.....no worries

Yao and Wells did not even play and our starting unit still was dominant against Memphis...outlook positive

Billie is a player...made his fair share of mistakes but most of them late in the game when the other scrubs were in. Kid can drive and dish and will only get better once the NBA game slows down for him.....will get major minutes

I think Shane is our starting PF with J-Ho coming off the bench at the four and maybe some at the 5 spot when matchups are there...

Although we did not win the game I liked the energy I saw from the new guys. Hustle, hunger, lunch pail carrying role players and exactly what this teams needs....

Novak is a pure shooter. All his made shots were nothing but cotten. 4 of 6 from the field (67%) Get this kid in the game whenever possible and feed him the rock for the long range bombs.....will provide a sorely needed scoring spark off of the bench

No predictions but the future does look brite!

Oh yeah.......ITS PRESEASON GUYS LIGHTEN UP

 

are u serious he did not play good be any means..he had some decent plays but definetly didnt play good..defensively he did some things well got to aggresive at times but point guards are going to hate him and thats a plus

 

Novak really looks a like a less athletic JJ Redick who went under the radar in the draft. He will have to develop some defense for sure though. Hayes is just a beast on the boards and will probably see a lot more playing time. Vspan didn't look great tonight, but he has the fundamentals to be good and is still learning the speed and differences in play of the NBA. McGrady and Battier both played well. Rafer didn't look all that different from last season except he made a few shots.

 

All I know is that Hairyazz and Azbuki are gone...they're beyond bad. Add to that the probable retirement of Sura, waiving Jacobson and Bowen, and then you have your 14 man lineup.

 

I just finished reading the last 6 or 7 pages. I'm really excited about our rotation for the season. Thanks for the recaps & evaluations.

 

You saw those two play for less than a quarter. I think they deserve a little more court time before we definitely say they're not making the team.

 

Was anybody else surprised by how quick V-span was? I didnt expect him to be very fast but hes got that explosive first step when coming off screens (now hes just gotta learn not to travel). He also seems to have a real knack for finding the open man. I think hes going to be a really good player....his game reminds me a lot of Steve Nash.

 

It's just too early to get an exact read- that being said, KillBill looks like the real thing.

 

Obviously he has to learn the NBA still, but from what i saw he has the ability to penetrate and create his own shots. He made some great passes to an open man but they just missed those shots (if battier, tmac n bonzi were playing he could have got way more assist) he could have had 4-5 assist tonite. Defensively he was good too. Its his first game in the NBA so he is going to make mistakes (5 TO), but besides that he showed some signs of being a good PG.