GIVE YOUR HEAD A SHAKE

This is the biggest deficit that the Vancouver Grizzlies have ever overcome. EVER!

Our young team needs to learn to be serious and play 48 minutes, they were outhustled and their defense was horrid.

Francis is a sensation on offense, but his D is really..REALLY bad.

I don't mind the loss, as it should be a lesson game.

The front court barely touched the ball in the 2nd half, and therefore was not there when they were needed.

Too much ISO equals losing. Hopefully, the kids will learn by next year.

DaDakota

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Why is it that during parts of the game they will play some really good team ball, but then all the sudden they start with this damn ISO-ball??
Its obvious to everyone that Isolation plays dont work for sh*t!!!
One thing plain and simple...team=ball and team-D wins games!!

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Go Rockets Go

Need more LottoBalls!!

 

Jack Ramsey said this about Francis.

"We thought he was the most talented player coming out of the draft, but you never know when he is going to go JUCO on you"

Guess what happened? Yep, he forgot that he had teamates, and they all started standing around. He will learn, and unfortunately for us fans it can be painful.

The frontcourt was playing well in the first half...we were working the ball around, playing as a team..then...WHAM....it was...ME..ME..ME ball.

Too much ME...not enough team.

DaDakota

Oh and the defense sucked too.



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I think the game went downhill because Rudy was overconfident in his guards. He had a smile on his face when he went to 4 guards and Bullard. Experimentation is one thing , but he did it when the Rockets were down by 7. That would have been just a "desperation move" if the Rocks were catching up, but they were losing ground on an 18 point lead and the momentum was switching against him. In a situation like that , he would have been better off counter-reacting with defense, instead of trying to match their offense. I guarantee you he would not have used that strategy if it was a home game, he would have kept Cato and Thomas in the game. ( where was Rogers ). This almost seemed to be a form of "tanking" , but actually it was just that the Vancouver guards were Bad Ass - at the end of the game anyhow.
At least the Rockets can get revenge on the last game of the year- and I'll be there screamin.

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I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Now, I suppose I could be a real turd and taunt you guys big time but I won't do ... wait a second...maybe I will after all. Just kidding.

Seriously, I just got back from GM Place and checked your board for intelligent commentary and lo and behold, there is the usual insightful analysis here along with my name. DaDakota gets it right about Stevie. He is an incredible talent (much more in control than the last time I saw him) but he needs to get his team more involved. I thought the Rockets had a big advantage with Cato and Thomas once Harrington got tossed but Steve chose to try to win it himself in the second half (and he just about did). The guy is fantastic but his natural position is as a 2 guard with the new rules. If Mike Bibby were your point guard and Francis was at the 2, the Rockets would be in the playoffs, even without Dream and Charles. There is ample talent on the Rockets but you need the guy who stirs the drink as well as the one who wants to be the whole milkshake. Moochie's got a cute name and he plays his heart out but he's a career backup. Maybe you guys should go for Mateen.

This was an incredible basketball game with the two teams that have the most athletic potential in the NBA on display. Who cares who won the trade? (But of course we already know the Grizzlies did, right, HeyPartner?) I hope this rivalry continues on for the next five years and one of our teams wins a championship with the other breathing down their necks. Neither team should be messed with in a major way over the summer no matter how disappointing this season turned out. I'm starting to love the Rockets again as much as I did in your championship years but if you guys don't admit the Grizzlies have some wonderful talents, too, after our two wire-to-wire brawls this season, you're not real basketball fans, just home-town hiccups not worth the keystrokes. C'mon, these games are great fun -- I can hardly wait 'til the season ender.


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I love Stevies athleticism and his game.

However I for one am concerned, still, that he will never be a great PG. Eventually he will be a SG. He has too much game to get others involved, at times he just wants to take over. I guess I see too much Iverson in him (that is not a cut on Stevie but just a comparison).

My solution: I think we have 2 alternatives. We either need to find a large PG who can match up on the other teams big 2 guards and allow Stevie to D up on the PG. Or we need to find a point forward, like Anthony Mason. And no I don't want Quitten back!

For Stevie, and the team, to develop we need someone else to set up the offense.

I know at times Stevie does get others involved, but it doesn't happen on a consistent basis.

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I don't understand, you guys are ripping on Francis, but I don't think he was the one who came up with the idea to put in 4 guards and "air" Bullard at center. Who's bright idea was that? And if I recall correctly, durring that time Francis was playing 2 and Moochie was at the point, and Moochie was being ate up by Bibby.
Just like Houston Rocks said, where is Rogers, and Pig? Maybe they were at Academy buying more ping pong balls!

RAWW

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[This message has been edited by raww (edited April 05, 2000).]

 

raww

with respect to rogers and pgi they are both being held out due to injuries...rogers had a pretty bad concussion a few games ago and is still feeling the effects...

miller has a leg injury that reduced his minutes in the last game and kept him out of this one...

you are certainly right about bibby eating up moochie....

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I am sticking to my guns about not complaining about (insert the reason you think the rockets lost here) because I want these guys to tank. Gimme mo' BALLS!

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The truth is out there.

 

I have two questions.
1. Who calls the iso plays, Francis or Rudy?
2. Who gets the majority of the iso plays, Francis or Mobley?

Here is my line of reasoning:
1.If Rudy is calling these iso plays that you hate so much why aren't you guys b****ing about him not playing team ball. I mean I could understand if Francis was ignoring the plays that the coach calls and taking it upon himself to shoot, shoot, and shoot again. But he must be getting some one involved, because of all of our gaurds he not only leads in assists but also dished out the most assists last night.

2. Most of the iso plays are run for Mobley, who either pulls up for the jumper, drives for 2, or turns the ball over. Very seldom have I seen the Cat pass the ball back out to one of his teammates. Don't get me wrong I love Cat's game and from the number of times that the play is run I can only assume that he is doing what Rudy wants him to do (again where is the complaints about Rudy).

With that being said compare how Cat penetrates off the iso play with how Stevie does. I can think of a couple of times last night that Steve penetrated and kicked out to Bullard (who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn lastnight)and didn't get the assist because Bullard missed.

Last but not least do you think that Grizz fans are complaining about the number of times that Bibby and Dickerson shot the ball last night. Sure Bibby got 10 asst. with his 27 points, but that could be attributed to the fact that his team hit their shots when he passed it to them, not because he gets his team any more involved than Francis does. Besides, at crunch time whose hand is the ball supposed to be in, your stars or some also ran.

Folks Francis hit key shots last night that I wouldn't rather have had any one else on our team taking. So if you're going to complain about him, let's be fair and share the blame.




[This message has been edited by O-dawg (edited April 05, 2000).]

 

Heypard'
I'm right there with you in the team-flag-waiving moron department. I love this team and the players on it, but I also enjoy constructive critism. What I hate is blanket statements like "Francis will never be a great point gaurd", "Francis doesn't get other people involved" or "He forgot that he has other players on his team" without any facts to base these statements on.

I agree with you to a degree on the play calling situation. But the point I was trying to make was one you also seem to agree with and validate, that Rudy calls the iso (or "two shakes") play for Mobes and also gives the go ahead on Francis' play which Francis makes a decision as to how to run the play depending on the defense. Either way it starts with Rudy and fans should take that into account too when complaining about losses.


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[This message has been edited by O-dawg (edited April 05, 2000).]

 

Say dawg, watch what you say about Frudy T. Remember there are some people here who believe he can't do no wrong! (I am not one of those boneheads)

RAWW


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Hey , I think that's what I said, just north of here.
Quit Drinkin on the Job Rudy!

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Nice to see you back GIVE YOUR HEAD A SHAKE.
Twas a good game, and went down to the wire. I was a bit disappointed in our defense, or lack thereof. But it's all good. Now I am salivating for draft day and to see which players the Grizz and Rocks pick respectively.

SO, we are 2-1 this season against the Grizz, with one more game between us on April 19th.....the last game of the regular season. Anxious to see how it SHAKES out.

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HOOP-T

Hey Shaq, Acme called, and they want their bricks back!

 

o-dawg:
In this thread I said "However I for one am concerned, still, that he will never be a great PG"

How does your constructive criticsm differ than my feelings that Stevie may be playing out of position? All I am saying is I feel Francis may be a better 2 than a PG. I believe my "blanket statement" is correct, just like you feel your "constructive criticism" is correct.

I also love this team and it is a frustrating situation but I don't like to be mentioned as someone who talks w/o facts. My facts are this: a great pg will help others have great years. Who on this rocket team is having a career year? It wasn't CB before his injury, it's not Dream, it's not Walt, Mobley is more aggressive this year but I think his improvement can be partly attributed to expereince, Anderson finally has a defined role so his stats should be better than his Utah years, Cato never played many minutes in Portland.
What I am trying to say is (we all know Francis will be a star in the league) Francis looks more like a 2 than a PG to me. And for the facts, well facts are hard to come up with since Stevie hasn't played many minutes at the 2 (occasionally he does play w/ Drew or Moochie and slides over) but I don't have access to stats that shows our offensive productivity of us when Francis is at the point or at the 2 (I don't care about tstats when Francis isn't in the game and someone else is at the point, because I know we are a better team w/ Stevie in the game). My only fact is noone is having a great year, except our PG. IMO, a great PG makes the team better.

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Hilarious Heypard', but no its the "Steve Francis Bandwagoners Club".

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