ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 1/29/2003

Crap. RudyT should be asked "1) Why didn't you bench Mobley and Francis." "Why did not trade Mobley when he will never get it?"

Trading players is what can save the rox this season. Posey is a good addition, remember? Hell, trade Francis if he cannot be seperated from his 'buddy'.

 

By the way, I don't think what Posey did was so bad. But if you start some sh*t, you better back it up.

We had our chances to play perimeter D.

 

since our other players missed most of their shots early in the game... they figured that they have to shoot more to get out of the shooting slump.. they have high bball iq therefore they defer to the law of averages...

 

Dallas outplayed us in the second half. They passed the ball really well and found the open man. When a team is that hot from beyond the arc, it's hard to stop them. On the defensive end, they effectively took away Yao's touches by double teaming him and we just had no answer for that. Steve had a bad shooting night although he passed the ball better. Cuttino made some stupid mistakes on the defensive end. Overall, we simply got beaten by a better team.

 

Rudy has been hiding all the years behind the injuries, chemistry, players not been in his system long enough. Finally now people are starting to see that this guy can't coach. Les, if you are reading this "Please Fire Rudy". If you want to tap into the vast China market, winning basketball is required. As long as Rudy is the coach your vision of Yao Ming being bigger than MJ is going to go down the drain.

Another thing I would like to point out is I watch the game last night between the Warriors and the Sonics. The warriors have improved and you can see it. All the teams that put in new systems are working with the exception of Rudy's.

 

It wasn't because of Bradeley. It was a combination of inadequate set plays to pass the ball to our big guy in the zone defence, lack of ball movements, and a tired Ming since end of the second quarter.

 

what i saw was a team go into panic mode...when the mav made their push in the third....they(mobley) went back to the familar(iso) versus continuing to run the offense which got them a 7pt lead at the half...the players dont trust or believe in the system...

on defense..the rockets were forced to go to a zone cus raef was stroking the three...but they didnt rotate or react very well...on multiple occassions i saw mobley hanging in the paint...instead of being planted on the three pt line..and gave the hot shooting mav OPEN looks from the three...on one of the aforementioned occassions...rudy called a timeout in disgust..its rather simple as i see it..they are hot from outside..make them go inside..where yao is waiting...

yuck...

 

Bradley made a difference in the 2nd half. He stuffed Yao on two plays and made Yao threw up an ugly hook in the other.

I think Yao needs to show some of his outside shooting skills when Bradley is not coming out to guard him. Yao can hit the 18ft Js. Make Bradley pay.

But you are right though. Yao was tired toward the end of 2nd quarter. That was the game right there. No Yao, no inside presence. We are no match for the Mavs from perimeter.

 

This is a good one.

cbm 9Lessons fail to sink in for not-so-young guards
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
Sometimes it's about being young.

Sometimes it's about being dumb.

Eight nights earlier, after losing by 21 points in Dallas, Steve Francis offered up his analysis of the Mavericks.

"They've got a lot of work to do," he said.

This might, of course, be like Van Gogh criticizing a guy with two ears because they happen to stick out a little.

Nonetheless, the Mavericks earnestly went back to the drawing board, did a little tinkering with their plan, then came to Houston and hammered the Rockets by 23 Wednesday night.

There were no alarm bells ringing inside Cuttino Mobley's head either after last week's disaster.

"I'm not really worried about the Mavericks," he said. We're OK. A lot of us are young. It takes time."

But is there enough left in all eternity to wait this out?

We might all be older then Yoda before they get a clue.

This is more than another no-worries slump now. For one thing, there have been too many of them. For another, the past week has looked more like a giant sinkhole that swallows up everything for blocks.

When the Rockets fell to the Pistons at home last Friday night, it was officially their biggest loss of the year.

But this was their worst. As Bill Walton, sitting at courtside for ESPN would say, it was h-o-r-r-r-r-r-ible.

It was inexcusable because for a half the Rockets actually went out and showed they are capable of executing an offensive and defensive game plan.

It was abominable because it came on the heels of road losses at San Antonio and Dallas, then the wipeout at home to Detroit, then the Super Bowl Sunday defeat to the lowly Chicago Bulls, followed by a less-than-inspiring win at Memphis.

If you're counting, that's five losses in six games.

If you're really counting, this is the fourth year of the great rebuilding process, and in a lot of ways, the Rockets haven't taken a step forward.

The problems are not to be placed at the feet of Yao Ming, who may or may not be feeling a bit fatigued at the midpoint of his longest-ever professional season.

The problems are not with Eddie Griffin, Moochie Norris, James Posey or any of the other peripheral characters in the cast.

This is all about Francis and Mobley, who have repeatedly and consistently come up smaller in the leadership department than Yao's friend Mini-Me bending over to tie his shoes.

How many pages get torn off the calendar while listening to the talk about youth? Francis is 25, and Mobley is 27. Francis is in his fourth year as a pro. Mobley is in his fifth.

 

"The first half is the best we have had all year," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We had good shots and created good situations. In the second half we came out and they spaced the floor and took 3s. It was a barrage. We see why they have the record they have."

 

I really thought we would have a good game tonight. For about a half we did. Is it asking the basketball gods for too much, is it the height of hubris to think we could put together TWO halves of solid basketball??

Yes, I guess it is.
It's really hard to be an optimist right now. I'll have to sleep on it.

 

Heh heh...lack of BB-IQ. Not youth.

 

Francis' shooting has really taken a dive since the Lakers game. That's something worth being pointed out... we don't have much offense, but he's our biggest weapon. So if he's cold, we're screwed. I don't understand how someone can go from Player of the Week to a 33% FG% the following week. I especially don't understand how he's shooting so average on the season anyways. Last season and into this one it looked like he was majorly on the rise. He never had a bad shooting game when he didn't have a migraine. Francis was looking like he could really be a "Franchise" player, and practically just carry this team on his back.

Yeah, yeah, I know that massive holes in our offense are what make this such a big problem, but it's still something that people don't pay enough attention to. The holes in our offense went unnoticed for so long (for some of us) while Francis was shooting well (and we were playing a little D), and we could win a game or two more with Francis' offensive production back.

But it still sux that we're still living and dying by our gaurds, despite Yao's rejuvenated play the last 3 games.

 

And where did this "consolation" come from? Out of your a$$? The Rockets suck right now. They need to regroup and find their chemistry somewhere. It's deep in **** right now. Rudy really needs to think about this team and find some leadership somewhere. Find a true quality point and find a new offense. And that defense, man, it SUCKED!

 

..and we have a WINNER!

How can anyone say straight-faced that the Rockets are better than Dallas? The thought is completely laughable. They have earned their top spot in the league and will not just roll over to the Kings as some people seem to expect.

Controversy or not, it's time to shake it up. I hope Les is paying attention and is willing do what is necessary to get the team to the next level.

 

hey do not take it out on me. it was a sarcastic remark...wise guy. it's just a game. no need for that kind of talk.

 

What I cannot understand, and just cannot, is why our guards leave their man wide open and hang around the basket on defense?

I have seen this happen a million times, both steve and cat just leave their man and are loitering around the basket. Today, when Finley was hot, the least Cuttino could do is stay with him. Its not like Shawn Bradley needed to be double teamed inside?

Their defense is ridiculous.

 

Didn't sound sarcastic to me, wise guy.

 

Let's face it, NOBODY came out to play in the second half....nobody...

Steve couldn't hit a shot, What few minutes Ming did get in the second half, he was getting called for travelling and having passes bounce of his hands, Cat was playing too much one-on-one, and Griffin couldn't post up a street lamp

Was ANYBODY guarding Dirk?? Crap, you think somebody would be at least within 10 feet of a guy that is hitting his threes...

 

that game was just plan terrible. Rudy's starting to show his true colors at this point. Something has to be done.