ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Sonics 1/23/2008

We get to give him due appreciation to help us close the win!

 

How do you think T-Mac's knee is feeling though? He was probably thinking, **** man, why do I have to work so hard to win against the Sonics?

To those who feel the need to blast Houston for having to fight hard against the Sonics: http://www.nba.com/games/20080123/PHXMIN/recap.html

AND it's happened twice already! The only difference between good and bad teams in the NBA is that the good teams play well more often.

 

i DO think tmac should run more and play efficient.
when he on court, rox stopped ball movement, and always 1on1 or his nowaytogo pass out to blessing his teammate could make shots.
damit, that is not TEAM ball.

when we play like this, these happens:
1\ no easy layups
2\ FGM/FTA down low
3\ no efficiet with low pts per shot.
4\ teammates ice cold without touching the ball
5\ fewer FTs
6\ Rox live or die on Tmac's Jumpshots.

plz check his points/shot and yaos. he takes too many possesions on Jump thats giveup easy opptunate like layup or FTs or wideopen shots.

thank god, are there some people who know the truth why we suck?

 

lol! Good one. Can I pick Manu?

 

it's probably going to be sore. but he's going to play big minutes sooner or later. it's best the medical staff to see how his knees are responding to more responsibilities. if it's bad, then adelman will cut his minutes. if not, he'll slowly see around 30-32 mins.

 

Thanks Chuck!

Chuck Hayes is a clutch defender.

 

Good post.

 

Whenever T-Mac stands still, there's always an extra defender being sucked to him. I think that he sees the opportunity and tries to do his drive and kick thing, if he doesn't just throw a bullet to some open teammate. The Rockets have some work to do in terms of getting the system right. No doubt T-Mac has to be more energetic and make the hard cuts that are so necessary in Adelman's offense, but that will come (I hope) when he starts feeling better.

 

Without Yao, we would have lost this game too! 26/12/6
However, Tac was great at the last 1:30 except two freethrows.

 

Those people are called idiots. You don't have to be one.

 

T-Mac runs off ball when the plays are called for him to run off ball. Therefor, if you want to see him run off ball more, it i on Adelman to make it a bigger part of the gameplan.

 

Thats because T-Mac dominates the ball so much that the offense becomes stagnant forcing him to become a playmaker when Yao is on the court. When both are on the court the game slowes down alot and becomes a half court game with a full court system. The ball movement stops, but picks back up when 1 of the 2 either Yao or Tracy is on the bench. I like the idea of having Tracy play more minutes without Yao on the same floor. That is crucial having McGrady close out the 4th quarter with more energy and loging more minutes with out Yao on the court. It makes for a more efficient offense. Landry should be starting over Hayes who cant hit a wide open lay up to save his life. Landry is going to be a very good solid role player.

 

Maybe because he thought Yao was unclutch.

Seriously though, just be happy about the win. It doesn't really matter now which player that last play was called for. I'd be comfortable with either Yao or T-Mac. Also, RA must have thought that T-Mac could either take the shot himself or setup his team mates without turning the ball over.

 

Tmac‘s big plays down the stretch won Rox this game, otherwise it doesn't even matter. so you cant blame him too much on missing those fts. though itz still bad not to make fts in that situation, anyway, almost like a turnover.

 

Try this if it is not Durant. Is that still gonna be a sweep? But I think I am just thinking too much about this one. Good job, Chuck!!!

Here actually comes to T-mac. He did not pass the ball when the time is still at 13(?) seconds on the clock. I think he could if he wanted. He also knew Durant was gonna foul him and he was going to make the FTs. Did he not notice he was cold at FT line tonight? Or he was overly confident? When it is 13 seconds remaining on the clock and the opponent was 2 points behind, it is wise to keep the ball moving or pass the ball. Other than that, he did a great job tonight.

 

Rafer is taking too many shots. I know he can be hot some nights, but statistically his taking so many shots doesn't do us good.

 

anyone get the idea that chuck hayes will sooon be the odd man out. the guy is worthless on the offensive end. chuck better watch his back, cuz landry is breathin on his neck

 

Some may say the game should never have been this close, but this is the NBA, where on any given night any team can win, no matter how bad their record. The Wolves beat the Pheonix Suns tonight, who had all of their players, so that just shows you how much talent is in the NBA, and that you can't take any team for granted.

With that being said, the Rockets came out flat tonight, and took the Sonics for granted, but to their credit the Sonics shot extremely well. But I was glad to see that the Rockets have some heart and hope left in this season to care to comeback on the road, in an empty arena to comeback from 13 and take care of business.

Glad to see Tmac play the way he did. He's playing smarter for the most part (took a couple of ill-advised shots), especially since he knows his explosion isn't nearly what it was before, so now he's almost forced to play in the offensive system. He also showed some enthusiasim on the court tonight, which I haven't seen from him in a long time. Plus I agree with Matt Bullard who says its better for Tmac to come off the bench. He can watch the game, and see how the game is being played, see how the defense is playing Yao and he can start off against the other team's 2nd unit, which will usually mean he'll be shooting better and with more confidence, and will be more fresh during the 4th quarter.

Yao was great as usual and set the tone early inside for the Rockets. You can almost count on me saying this about Yao after every game. Most people wouldn't have believed me if I said this 3 years ago, he's come a long way.

I think Carl Landry earned himself a lot of minutes and trust from Rick Adelman after tonight's game. Great hustle, strength, and energy. Glad to know we have somebody who can finish strong inside and not force Yao to be the only one to finish inside.

Rafer and Shane were huge with 3's tonight. I think AB and Scola to a lesser extent have hit the rookie wall, so hopefully they both bounce back soon. Bonzi still doesn't look right (shoulder injury) and Luther just struggles against big shooting guards, so I kinda give him a break tonight. Chuck Hayes, although had another horrible offensive game, made a huge block on Durant on his way to the basket!

Great comeback win by the Rockets, but most teams won't let you do that, with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter, so they gotta step their game up and play great from start to finish the rest of the way.

 

Yeah yeah yeah, but ya know what, in the NBA, you're going to have to be able to pull out a lot of games in the final moments - that's what the best teams are able to do. That even if a weaker team leads for most of the game, they can still win it in crunch time.

That's what we did tonight and is a good sign. We did it against San Antonio too, but failed against NO and Philly. So there is some growth. But we also won some easy games too in our 5 game win streak.

Look - Boston lost at home, Detroit is 4-6 in it's last 10, phoenix is losing to Minnie - bad teams can beat good teams, and teams slumps from time to time.

So really, you have to look at the trend here - and the trend overall is very positive. One game doesn't mean much, but 20 games do. And over the course of the last 20 games we're beginning to look like a completely different team than the first 20 games.

Now really, we just see what happens in the next 3 games. These will be tough because all of these teams know we are gunning for them and they want the playoffs bad.

I sense we have to go 2-1 at least to keep on pace to end up a 7th seed.

 

Durant made T-Mac look so old!!! I can't believe time just flushed away....so scared....