ClutchFans Game Thread: Grizzlies @ Rockets 12/5/2007

I wish Tmac could grab every rebound like how he did with the last 2 to get his triple doulbe tonite.

 

They are an injury away from being broken down. If they can play this style ball the whole season consistently, no major injury(baron, jackson), hats off to them, but we will see.

 

Aren't we an injury away from being broken down too?

 

Are we overusing Yao?

 

There are tons of reasons to fear, but there is only one way to win. If you want to be a winner, don't fear, just try to be better.

 

I loved T-Mac in this game. He was a floor general on both ends of the court -- showing tremendous court vision, finding the open man every time on offense, hustling on defense, contesting shots, blocking shots, rebounding, and in general just being a great team leader. I loved it when, late in the fourth quarter, he had the ball in the high post and everyone was just standing around in their positions, turned around expecting to find someone curling around to roll to the basket and nobody was there -- he got pissed and called a timeout.

That's how you lead your team, T-Mac. I don't care that the Grizzlies' front line was depleted and we had bad mismatches to exploit with Bonzi and Battier. We get mismatches every game -- we have the talent. The point is that for the first time in a while, we saw this team executing their gameplan on both ends of the court. If T-Mac can do this every game night, and you've got people like Bonzi and Scola coming off the bench, running within the offense and getting you production, this team is going to be darn near impossible to beat.

Just have to start doing it consistently.

 

great game

but i'm so worried

is that sf3 still doesn't recover from his sore back?

he just shot the air ball..

btw , i think this lineup is very powerful

yao
scola
wells
t-mac
sf3

(but the 3pts...is )

 

And speaking of mismatches, I really wish Battier would start to take a few pages out of Bonzi's playbook. Bonzi has a quicker first step, but Battier also has that size and quickness advantage that he can use against smaller guards/bigger forwards. It's just that he isn't nearly as aggressive. I really think Battier could average 16 points a night if he wanted to, even though we don't need him to do that. I still like him primarily as a defensive stopper, but he needs to start showing Bonzi-like aggression on offense as well. Take people down in the post and punish them, and crash the glass. Be a 3rd go-to option in the starting lineup.

 

Why the hell is scola not starting yet???....the guy is amazing at finishing around the rim, as decent rebounder as hayes, play decent defense and can hit jumpers, san antonio was foolish to pretty much give him to us

 

Someone here said Yao has a big cotton ass, I totally agree, look the pictures by Pryuen.

 

Over all, well played game. Besides the obvious accomplishment (Bench scoring, congrats), I noticed that the Rockets played great DEFENSE. We out rebounded them by a great margin and caused a lot of turnovers. No matter what anyone says, you can't win games without great defense. We need to build on that and continue the bench contribution as well as Shane's. Before you know it we'll be among the top 3 teams in the NBA. No DOUBT!

 

he missed like 3 or 4 shots in a row... before he got a dunk... looked tired to me...

 

Has anybody ever considered that maybe the reason SCOLA and BONZI don't start is they give us production off the bench?

Whats the point of putting 5 of your best scorers at the beginning of the game when Yao and Tmac take 70% of the shots?

ITS FOR EVEN PRODUCTION people.... Starting doesnt' mean everything. There is a reason why Ginobili / Terry and Barbosa come off the bench for their respective teams...

 

At least move one up to the starting lineup. Our starting lineup is struggling when Battier can't make shots and Rafer bricks threes. Chuck is chuck. How are you suppose to spread to floor for Yao and Tmac when they know you can't shoot. Just one from Steve, Bonzi, and Scola would make a big difference in the starting lineup.

 

I definitely agree that they can be more effective off the bench. The problem is they don't get involved right away when they get into the game like they did tonight. If they can come in every night and go hard to the basket every chance they get, then our bench will be complete. It is when they come in and shoot jumpers and don't pass the ball around that our team suffers. We can not have any inconsistent performances from the bench. After tonight if we do not post up Bonzi the first possession he gets in the game I am going to be pissed.

On another note, I liked how we posted up Shane early(even though it was because of a match up problem, Navarro). I think we should try to get every one easy baskets early when they come in so they can find their rhythm. We should run plays for James when he is in so he can get an open look and see if he hits it. I am glad Adelman worked on getting everyone involved as much as possible. Seems like Tmac had the same idea or something and it seemed to be contagious. That was one of the better all around games I have ever seen Yao play. They were playing him pretty good which is why he didn't score 40, but we still got him enough good shots throughout the game.

 

This is how Tmac got his 10 reb.... from Yao .... for his triple double..

 

If you're wondering why Alston played so many minutes, all you have to do is put a stop watch on him. He really pushes the ball, sometimes being the only player down court.

One play got me a little pissed at T-Mac. Rafer was coming down the right, leading the pack with T-mac trailing on the left about 3-5ft behind (almost by himself). T-mac never tried to race ahead and he had half the court to do it.

Maybe Rafer was just too fast for T-Mac...

BUT, it was a great, balanced game to watch. Kudos to our boys! Hooray for Wells and Scola.

 

i love this game!!!

 

Clutch made the same comment in the game summary. I will continue to point out the obvious. The PG position needs more balance, more shared minutes, more players getting a chance to contribute. This will improve the team overall. Yes, Rafer is a great ball handler, but he is a horrible offensive player. One attempted shot last night missed everything including the backboard. He got 8 boards? That is very rare for him. The team was leading by 15 and the starting lineup was sent back in. Hard to explain. I don't believe Francis or James got any minutes in the second half. Also hard to explain.

 

Good win against an inferior team. It still felt like there was something left to be desired, but I really like the balance. Definitely something to build on.