Here is the power of our guard tandem. Close game, Francis is at ease scoring at will, keeping us in it. He gets too exuberant late in the game and gets stripped trying to split a double team on the wing. Next series, the defense absolutely smothers him and after pass, pass, pass, Francis with it and has to beat the clock...miss, fastbreak score for SA. Last minute. Rudy calls Mobley's number after Francis rules the game but the defense takes the game out of his hands. Same wing as Steve previously...same defense. Cat cuts to the free line and ... wham...darts down the *far* side of the lane, jukes, and lay-up from one foot...right through the heart of the weakside defense of SA...that is covering a lot of ground! Rockets by 2! Rockets defense stops them. Mobley again. Same wing. Same defense. Same cut to the free throw line...yet...oops..."you are overplaying me too much for the far side move"..."let me just cut *now* on the near side"....tackle!! and another tackle! who saw the tackle for the foul. Did I see something in my dreams? Didn't Mobley make an early cut and SA tackled him out of embarrassment? ...man...talk about GO TO!!! Talk about a great team effort. This team is ready.
I know which play you are talking about, but dont remember it exactly. Seems like it was sort of a fastbreak and the guy guarding Mobes undercut him while Mobley was about to shoot. Then someon else bumped into him. Cat was pissed though. I dont know who he was trying to fight however. I love him and he is awesome, but come on I could almost whoop Cuttinos ass
I'm not talking about that stoppage of play. I'm talking about a tackle during play for a foul. The "tackle" in the last 30 seconds...after the 1 min mark half court set drive layup directly through SA for a 2 point lead?? right. Mobley drove twice in a row for the win!
I totally agree that the team is ready. I just missed the play that you're referring to & kept waiting for them to show the replay, but they didn't. One thing was for sure, Cat was pissed off. I definitely like what Willis brings to our team & can't wait until he gets a few more practices & games with us. By the way, I never noticed it before, but have now since some of the posters here have pointed it out. Willis's arms do appear to be too short for his body. I hope it's just an optical illusion. How long do you think it'll be before Griffin beats KT out of the starting PF spot. The kid can play. Is stickum illegal in the NBA? I've not been a big Cato supporter, but he has shown a lot of hustle for several games in a row. If we could just put a big glob of stickum on his hands, he might be able to grab hold of the ball. It's definitely nice to have a team with great starting talent & exceptional bench talent. Whomever the final twelve end up being, it looks like you'll be able to plug any of them in at any time & they'll have the potential to come up big. Both the present & the future look bright for the Rockets. The Rockets are back with a vengence!!!
Hottoddie and ROckets03 I am not talking about the play on the fastbreak. I am talking about Mobley's last two drives in the final minute for the win. The first one he cuts across the free throw line and dives down the far lane for a layup through the heart of the Spurs for a 2 point lead. The next set, some thing but he decides to cut earlier because the overplayed his last move and so he dives right down the near side lane for totally a score and his defender tackles him, and what seemed to be a second tackle. Who saw this in the last minute? Mobley for the win after the defense took the game out of Francis's hands. What a tandem!!!
I was listening to the game on audio league pass in the last 27 seconds I think with Houston up by one and Gene Peterson described Mobley as getting tackled. I did not see the play unfortunately.
Steve Smith tried to tackle Oscar Torres too! Maybe Oscar knew Smith was taking out his frustrations on him. But Oscar wasn't about to take any mess. It looked like he gave Smith the voto psycho loco eye and even sacred Popovich, hombre.
I SAW THE "TACKLE!" It was more of a gang tackle...one of those situations where you can't stop a guy so you try to make it look like you accidently grabbed him...the thing is : not ONE guy could get a hand on Cuttino because he is so FAST!!! It looked like all three players had a separate part of the tackle and I'd have to give them all 1/3 of a quarterback sack. Mobley got up fast and was ready to swing at someone...but, since it took all of them to tackle him, he couldn't figure out which ONE to pick on!!!
Cuttino is the man. But he shouldn't have to play runningback in an NBA game. If SA had to tackle him, that is pathetic! It just shows that Mobes has skills to break defenses down. He's lightning fast. And this Rocks team is damn exciting.
If they're going to tackle Mobley, then I'm doubly glad the Rockets reacquired Willis. Cat doesn't really strike me as the enforcer type. I think Willis'd throw some elbows if he thought his team's star was getting hammered.
I actullay had to record the game and watched that play a few times. Mobleys rage came from when Bowen fouled him. As the tackle was occuring he swated at the ball that was down at Cats waist. He swatted pretty hard and hit him where it counts. Cat probbaly thought he ment to do it since Bowen had to keep fouling him every time he drove the lane.
There was another beautiful one on Tuesday. Remember in the 3rd when Mobley was shutting down Stackhouse, yet throwing up rushed shots on the other end. I think Mobley went about 4 shots too far in trying to get out of his slump. Finally he stopped and started passing, all along though he was shadowing Stackhouse and putting in a lot of running on the defensive side. Notice Stackhouse was skunked...no points...no free throws! Feigen said it was due to good help d. I disagree...it was due to Mobley staying in front of Stackhouse, and chasing him everywhere denying him the ball a lot. anyhow, after about 8 minutes or so, Mobley taking yet another pick towards the top of the key...casually dribbling like he's still looking to pass, then dart! splits the pf and stackhouse straight down the middle of the lane from the *top.of.the.key* one stride to split them and a second stride to go airborne for a tomahawk slam! He left the first two defenders wondering "where did he go, where did he go." The slam was there...big time. But the both baseline defenders dove in and both tomahawked Mobley from each side for no other reason than to avoid an embarrassing Sportscenter highlight. btw: the proof in Mobley this year is going to be whether he can develop a bread-n-butter shot from midrange. He needs something that he can count on. I have the feeling he practices a wide array of shots, but hasn't really chosen one to call his own. A lot of shooters will practice shots from everywhere, but then end there practice by taking like 50-100 from one spot and its mirror image angle. I'd also like to see Mobley stop all the fading when not necessary, as if worrying about being blocked. Just take it straight up like Francis. (Francis should be a good influence. Francis is unstoppable from midrange. He has a very cool and collected shot, every bit like John Stockton.) Amazingly, Mobley does seem a bit quicker this year. And he does seem to recognize this is a different ball game now. For sure, we can forget worrying about him being against a change in offense due to zone. And we can definitely say Francis is becoming more natural and playing a pure PG game and just taking the shots given him...which are many, because the defense must back off him a lot.
Did you just compare Franchise to a Jazz player? The second worst of all Jazz players? I have to step outside for a minute. OK, I'm ok. I know it was a compliment, but my limitless loathing all the evil one they John Stockon prevents me from being able to accept the comparison.
just another comment from the game.........that tierre brown kid can ball! once he learns who to challenge and who not to challenge, I really think he can be a solid pg in the league. he does need to bulk up a bit more tho.....he looks so puny out there.. and do you guys remember who kevin willis almost got into a fight w/ in seattle a few yrs ago when he was with us?
The one towards the end, where Cuttino got up and looked like he could punch someone, right? I thought I'd throw in my game thoughts: Griffin was VERY impressive. At first, he seemed to be forcing shots, and missed a trio of 3s. The big thing is, they were open looks. My guess is, Rudy told him to get some shots early. Griffin rattled the Mermaid the whole game. After rejecting him a couple of times, Robinson tried to get tough, and got called for an offensive foul. All of Griffin's baskets came in the paint area, or close to it. He had a gorgeous turnaround over Duncan on one of the few post up oppurtunities he got. I personally liked the Steve Smith play. It was so KG-like it was scary. Griffin was switched on to Smith on the perimeter, and Smith tried to drive. He went up for the dunk, and was sent into last week on a Griffin block. Griffin only had 1 foul, which is very impressive for 6 blocks. It should also be noted that Griffin was picking for Francis a lot-including one where he absolutely leveled Antonio Daniels. He intimidated so many other shots as well. Now onto Cato. He only had 1 block, and a seemingly low # of boards, but don't underestimate his influence. He held Duncan pretty well, and was instrumental in sealing off the paint. Willis mentioned it in the post game-the big men for the most part were trying to prevent Duncan/Robinson from getting the boards rather than get them themselves. Considering we won the rebounding battle, it worked. This strategy can be successful, because Francis is the best rebounding PG in the league, Cat is above average, and Rice is above average as well. Cato and Griffin provided great intensity down low, not many went in without fear of rejection. He had some trouble catching passes (the box score has no turnovers for him, must have gone to Steve/Cat), but the team had a turnover bug in the first half as whole. Rice got a few open looks, but it'll take a few games for the whole team to know when and where he wants the ball. His shot will fall, form looks as good as ever. He is getting along with Francis well. One of the biggest things about Rice, is that while not a great defender, he knows how to funnel his man to a shotblocker when he's beat. He also gets back in transition defense as well as anyone else on the team, which cut down on the Spurs fastbreak oppurtunities. Morris played well. He didn't play any 3 at all, and spent time guarding David Robinson and Malik Rose. He had one block robbed on a foul call, that was all ball. He got free for "Carlos Rogers" type of buckets. Seriously, he's very similar to Los, except he doesn't have the injury bug, and can shoot from the outside. Kevin Willis adds a nice wrinkle to the team. No, he still hasn't mastered the concept of passing, but he's in as great shape as ever. He muscled down low, and drew fouls early in the 4th quarter, to soften up the defense for Steve and Cat, and allowed them to get to the line later on as the Spurs were in the penalty. I expect him to play next to Eddie a lot more than Morris-Eddie has long enough arms for both of them, and Willis can teach him, and protect him down low. There was a span in the late 3rd and early 4th where Willis/Morris were in, where San Antonio was getting inside, but Big Kev and T-Mo stepped up and clogged the lane. Ho hum game for Steve, as well as Cuttino. Types of games we've come to expect. Steve was scoring at will, and seemed to be taking it easy most of the time. Cuttino's defense has really improved. Not many teams have 2 playmakers in the backcourt like Steve and Cat. Mobley stepped it up when Tierre Brown was in there, and made some nice plays. Tierre Brown reminds of a Tyronn Lue type guy. Not bad as a 3rd PG. crispee-Do you think that Griffin will become the main picker for the guards, and make Collier obsolete?
You should have heard the Spurs fans during this though -- they were livid! Spurs fans are not just homers -- they are TOTALLY FREAKING IGNORANT! I saw the tackle, and it was bad. The game was called pretty well, although they pushed us around an awful lot.
