ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Sixers 3/18/2007

I regret that I miss the game, I thought no game tonight

I am in EU, so normally I hang on overnight to enjoy the game.

 

dominator, your caption was spot on.

 

Hey Yao, wanna kiss?
-_-


LOL just kidding, jkjkjkkjk. STOP rubbing my leg.
OHLOL jesusLOL you had me there tracy


Sheez, ain't it good to win by fifty?
LOLOLOL. I touched your knee!

 

That was a fantastic game by Rockets. If the team play like this, I think we can beat every team.

I really llike V-Span and Jake Tsakalidis combination.

ROCKETS ROCKS!

 

First post

What a slaughter for Sixers
Little AI must be missing his big brother right now

 

Man 76ERS got owned so hard. They all got shut down. They need room for improvement.

 

Too much Harold and Kumar for you.

 

nice one

 

I noticed that a long time ago. We've been joking about it all the time on hoopchina, saying that they are unseparable.

 

1 + 11 forever

 

You can't spell "Slaughter" without "laugher"

 

A few articles from philly.com

1st Stephen A. Smith rips the Sixers:

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/spo...ixers_lose_by_50_-_and_it_may_get_uglier.html

Stephen A. Smith: Sixers lose by 50; it may get uglier

Post a comment The clock stood still with 7 minutes, 8 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and of all the despicable, abominable things the 76ers displayed to the viewing public, nothing compared to the contagious effect they ended up having on the few people who decided to ruin their Sunday evening by witnessing a defeat of epic, embarrassing proportions.
At that moment, the Sixers had just surrendered a three-point play. At that moment, they were down by 40, their biggest deficit of the season. Yet, somehow the crowd had just started booing - about an hour after the fans' lungs should have been exhausted - showing up much later than folks in Philadelphia normally do.

They should never have shown up at all.

A show of hands from those who still think the Sixers are better these days. Who still think this team is heading in the right direction, with the right players, after a 124-74 annihilation by Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets.

Please raise your hand if you still think it's an absolute plus that these players even bothered to win games over the last few weeks, diminishing the Sixers' chances at grabbing a coveted franchise-caliber draft pick.

Let your voice be heard if you're comfortable with the idea that more wins do nothing but ensure that resurrection will be left in the hands of Billy King and Co. - without a sniff in the direction of Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.

"It was a whipping from start to finish," a depressed Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks deadpanned, stating the obvious. "There's not even a whole lot I can say about it. From the start of the game to the end of the game, they just beat us from beginning to end. From coaches to players.

"I've been in this league, and that's a very good basketball team. I told the players, 'They're not 50 points better than us but [Houston's] a good team.' Certainly the progress we've made over the last few games is not going to be negated by the game we played tonight. We throw this game out the window and try to come back tomorrow and, obviously, be a lot better."

It can't get much worse.

The Sixers have two 56-point losses in franchise history, but it wasn't this bad because it wasn't under these circumstances. Back in 1993 when both losses occurred, they finished 26-56, so everyone knew this franchise was garbage.

Ignorance was bliss before yesterday, as the Sixers entered the game having won eight of 10 contests, sauntering around with their chests poked out as if better times were actually on the horizon. Even chairman Ed Snider was seen smiling, appearing lost in all the artificial hoopla surrounding this franchise.

Then we have the audacity to wonder what's wrong, while evidence continues to stare right in our faces.

"We were up by 40, dunking the basketball," Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said after the game.

The Sixers "didn't give any hard fouls," surprised Rockets guard Kirk Snyder added. "They didn't get called for any technicals."

The Rockets weren't saying this to insult the Sixers. But their faces told the story. Houston cringed at the Sixers' lack of competitive fervor, their unwillingness to compete, to fight.

"Please don't put my name to this quote," another Rockets player said. "But damn! They broke the code. Everyone knows you could be playing in the park and if someone is running it up you say, 'Yo! Enough's enough.' "

Not to waste anyone's time, but numbers are needed to illustrate a point. The Sixers were outrebounded by 54-36. Houston recorded 29 assists; Philadelphia had just 10 the entire game. Samuel Dalembert looked asleep. Steven Hunter looked despondent. Andre Iguodala looked like he should consider changing his initials, and Kyle Korver looked like the Sixers' best player.

"It was just one of those games where everything went right for us and everything went wrong for them," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy explained. "We played well, shot well, defended well on one of those nights when they just didn't. That's the way it goes on occasion."

Not when you're a good team.

The truth is, the Sixers are not a good team. They're not a playoff-caliber team, either. And there not about to be any time in the near future unless risks are taken and people stop fooling themselves.

Without one single change to this roster, this coaching staff, their brass or ownership, the Sixers aren't better than 36 wins next season. And that's assuming they lose enough games early enough in the season to gain defeats later through apathy from the opposition.

Stop fooling yourselves, folks! Stop believing the hype that better times are coming when subtractions are more notable than additions.

Larry Brown left years ago. Allen Iverson left months ago. And King's in China.

What more do you need now?

Hip-Hop's resignation?

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Another article praising Yao

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20070319_Chairman_Yao_rules_Sixers.html

Chairman Yao rules SixersBy PHIL JASNER
jasnerp@phillynews.com

JOHN LUCAS III, who spent 2 of his teenage years living in Wynnewood and is now a Houston Rockets backup point guard, had to direct the bus driver to Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine for Saturday's practice.
The 76ers, on the other hand, never found their way at all last night. They were lost in their own backyard.

Even when the Sixers did things right - and that was, to be kind, infrequently - they turned out wrong. When they tried to defend the perimeter, they got burned for 11 three-point field goals. When they tried to fall back and somehow attempt to contain 7-6 Rockets center Yao Ming, their elevator didn't go all the way up.

The word embarrassing floated around the locker room after a 124-74 loss at the Wachovia Center. Do the math: That's a 50-point loss, the worst home loss in team history. It was also the Rockets franchise's second-largest of victory, the Rockets' highest point total this season and the Sixers' lowest output of the season, two below the 76 they generated in a Dec. 27 loss in Sacramento.

So much of this disaster had to do with Yao, even though the five-time All-Star's numbers weren't exactly overpowering: 24 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes, 52 seconds. But the Sixers were so overwhelmed by his presence, they couldn't keep anyone else off the glass, getting crushed in that category, 54-36. And when the Sixers left Yao in a futile effort to cope with the perimeter players, Tracy McGrady (21 points, eight assists), Rafer Alston and Luther Head each knocked down three triples.

"You stand behind Shaq, I'm at least somewhat at eye level," Joe Smith said. "I stand beside Yao, I've got to tilt my neck a little bit. To see a guy that size with the touch he has around the basket [10-for-18] is amazing.

"This was kind of a tough situation. We're pretty much embarrassed by it, but we understand we've got to put it behind us."

Before they do, let the record show that the Rockets shot 53.3 percent from the floor and held the Sixers to a season-low 33.8.

The Rockets had 29 assists on 49 field goals; the Sixers had 10 on 27.

Points in the paint? Try a staggering 54-8.

Second-chance points: 20-5.

Fastbreak scoring: 14-4.

"I think we can learn a lot from them," Andre Iguodala said. "We'll watch the film, look at some of the things they do: the position Yao gets, the way they set screens, the way they get back on defense."

A ray of hope? Depending on your perspective, the Sixers (26-41) are still just five games out of the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with 15 to go, or - in the lottery hunt - they're tied with Atlanta for the fifth-worst record in the league as they head to Auburn Hills, Mich., tomorrow to face Detroit.

"That was a whupping from start to finish," coach Maurice Cheeks said. "There's not even a whole lot I can say about it. From the start of the game to the end of the game, they just beat us from beginning to end, from coaches to players.

"I've been in this league a long time. That's a good team over there, a very good team [42-25]. It's like I told the players, they're not 50 points better than us, but a good team. Certainly the progress we've made over the last few games is not going to be negated by the game we played. We're going to throw this game out the window and try to come back and obviously try to be a lot better."

They couldn't be worse.

"They shot lights out and we definitely didn't have our best night," Kyle Korver said. "They were on point. It's real easy to kind of get down, but as my college coach used to always say - and I took it to heart - don't ever get too high, don't ever get too low.

"They're just so spread out. Their floor spacing is right up there with the best. They have shooters out there, and they have Yao Ming. He's a monster. I've seen him 100 times. Every time I see him, I'm [saying], 'Man, you are the biggest man in the world.' "

The loss was the worst at home since Nov. 29, 1972, when they lost by 48, 139-91, to New York. But Korver was careful to say that, as bad as last night was, they had seen worse times this season.

"We've had a lot of tough things happen to us this season," he said. "This is not going to break us, by any means. We've come way too far for that to happen. It's a tough loss, no doubt about it, but we're just going to stay together, like we have all season . . . We've come so far since that 12-game losing streak. We're not going to let this get us down."

One more ray of hope: OK, we're reaching, but in each of the other three episodes in which the Sixers, in their history, have lost by at least 50, they won the very next game.

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And finally a general recap of the game/massacre

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20070319_Rockets_take_it_to_the_Sixers__124-74.html

Rockets take it to the Sixers, 124-74By Marc Narducci
Inquirer Staff Writer

McGrady scored 21 points in the Rockets' 124-74 victory at the Wachovia Center. Although two games may not be much of a sample, the 76ers have proved that it's not a very favorable matchup when they face the Houston Rockets.
Earlier this season, the Rockets trounced the Sixers by 21 points in a game they led by 41 in Houston. Last night's rematch made the first meeting seem like a barn burner.

With Tracy McGrady scoring 12 of his 21 points in a 32-15 first quarter, the Rockets administered the Sixers' worst beating of the season with a 124-74 trouncing at the Wachovia Center.

Is this any way to make a playoff push?

It was only the fourth time in franchise history the Sixers lost a game by 50 or more points and their worst home loss ever, topping a 48-point defeat in November 1972 against the New York Knicks.

Previously, the Sixers' worst loss this season was a 121-94 defeat Dec. 6 at Chicago. For good measure, the Sixers also hit a season low in points last night.

And there is more.

This was the biggest margin of defeat for the 76ers ever at the Wachovia Center, easily eclipsing the 119-84 loss to Minnesota on Dec. 8, 2004.

Using an NCAA tournament analogy, this one had all the competitiveness of Florida-Jackson State. Although it wasn't as close.

"It hurts and it is embarrassing, but we have to tough it out," Sixers forward Steven Hunter said.

What made last night's performance surprising is that the Sixers had played so well at home recently. They were coming off Friday's 89-88 win over visiting Utah, and even counting last night, they have won eight of their last 10 home games.

"That was a whipping from start to finish," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said in what unofficially was the shortest postgame news conference of the season. "There is not much I could say. They beat us from beginning to end."

In times like this, the Sixers (26-41) have to be happy that they play Western Conference teams just twice.

The Sixers have lost nine of their last 10 against the Rockets.

"They were really on and it was a beating," said Sixers forward Kyle Korver, who had a team-high 17 points.

Even in the slipshod Eastern Conference, where teams 15 games below .500 still have more than a passing postseason chance, time is slipping away for the Sixers. With 15 games left, they are five games out of the eighth and final playoff berth.

In last night's first quarter, the Sixers were outrebounded by 17-6. For the game Houston had a 54-36 rebounding edge.

The Sixers have recently received solid production from their twin-tower starting lineup of Hunter and Samuel Dalembert.

Indeed, Dalembert had two rejections of 7-foot-6 Yao Ming in the first half. They constituted last night's defensive highlights for the Sixers. The Rockets outscored the Sixers by 54-8 in the paint.

While Yao is still feeling his way after returning March 5 from a 32-game hiatus because of a broken leg, he is still pretty dangerous. Last night, he had 24 points and 10 rebounds while barely breaking a sweat.

"We came out ready to play," said McGrady in the understatement of the year.

The Sixers need to play their best just to be competitive against a more talented team like Houston (42-25), and that means Andre Iguodala has to be on his game.

Iguodala shot 2 for 10, including 1 for 7 in the first half when the Sixers trailed by 59-40. In the last four games, Iguodala has shot 20 for 60 from the floor.

"It's easy to get down, but Coach tells us you can't get too high or low," Korver said. "It was one of those games and we have to come out tomorrow and have a good practice."

 

I thought the score was a typo on my text message...great performance...

 

i dont understand...

i know we played the 76ers... and stuff, but we did beat them by 50...

and yet we arent on the front page of nba.com (or nothing mentions it on the other pages).


why is that?

just curious.

 

...Eh, ESPN and national media have never been too Rockets-heavy.

But at least Gilbert got it right a few weeks ago.

 

What is this guy implying here? How did Rockets break the "code" and run up on 76ers? They took out all starters at start of 4th quarter. The lead was 37 at that point of time.

Also, I can't believe Kirk Snyder would say some stupid things like that.

 

I think it is the 76ers that broke the code and let the rockets beat them like a rented mule! They took no pride in keeping the score respectable.

 

The V-Span and J-Tsak combo we saw yesterday are arguably the best 1-2 punch off the bench in the entire league. Not sure if our current head coach can capitalize on the glimpse of success by the new Rockets sensation, though. I bet JVG will stick with the JL3 dribble dribble 1-on-5 routine.

 

Korver needs to meet Sun Ming Ming.

 

These two guys will bring the NBA trophy back to Houston.