Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Kings 3/23/2003

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Clutch, Mar 23, 2003.

Tags:

Page 13 of 15

Dreamlead Member

Joined:

Jun 19, 2002

Messages:

82

Likes Received:

2

Just wondering. I know Rockets had no Timouts left, and calling one w/o having one emits one freebie for the other team like a technical foul. BUT we still keep the ball if I remember but what I want to know is can we advance to half court?

#241 Dreamlead, Mar 24, 2003

RedDragon Member

Joined:

Jan 5, 2003

Messages:

17

Likes Received:

0

This question has undoubtedly been asked before, but I was just wondering if there is any way to watch Rockets games on the internet. I really want to watch this Wednesday's game. My cable was cut off and it won't be reinstalled in time for that game. Also, none of my friends live close to me so there is no way that I will be able to see it on TV. I would really appreciate it if someone can give me information about this.

#242 RedDragon, Mar 24, 2003
story_teller Member

Joined:

Nov 22, 2002

Messages:

484

Likes Received:

0

Originally posted by Yetti
Great coe back by the Rox! Poor selection for the last shot!! If only we had our free throws.
Click to expand...

Yetti, I'm going to ask you a serious question, okay? And you be honest with me: Do you hate Steve Francis or are you just incredibly dumb? Seriously. I mean, it seems like everything Francis' does you despise. Even now with Francis playing quite possibly the best b-ball of his career, you seem to find something wrong still. I know you're a Yao-only fan, but seriously, you're post border on the line of mental r****dation. *sorry, I had to jab you there*

So what kind of shot constitutes "good selection" in this situation: five seconds left, NO TIMEOUTS, and in order to get a shot off the Rockets have to run the length of the court? Would you rather Francis get off a good shot with NO TIME LEFT?

*shakes head*

#243 story_teller, Mar 24, 2003
saleem Member

Joined:

Jan 1, 2001

Messages:

30,269

Likes Received:

14,709

Both Mo and Yao are good free throwers but Webber missed them too. A tremendous performance from Francis. We came back and didn't fold which was in itself a great achievement.If we could have slowed them down some more we would have won.
We have to take the positives from this game and improve on but we have to realize that unless Yao scores big we won't be able to win.

#244 saleem, Mar 24, 2003
lavarock Member

Joined:

Nov 22, 2002

Messages:

192

Likes Received:

0

Originally posted by gwatson86
By the way, this has been bothering me...what are the little lightbulbs next to peoples' user names for and what does it mean when they're lit up???
Click to expand...

Yeah I want to know too, sorry for us being newbs....

#245 lavarock, Mar 24, 2003
YaoFan Member

Joined:

Nov 29, 2002

Messages:

332

Likes Received:

1

As a custom, we got to bash somebody. Since we cannot find anyone in Rox, let's pick someone from the fan-base. How about Yetti?

#246 YaoFan, Mar 24, 2003
sabonis Member

Joined:

Dec 27, 2002

Messages:

847

Likes Received:

12

Originally posted by AGBee
But a 20 doesn't advance you to half court, does it?

You take that 20 second and allow the defense to setup, and you might not get a shot off at all. Of course that assumes that you don't get it at half court.
Click to expand...

No? Well... who knows what would've happened.

Woulda Coulda Shoulda...

Eh...

Stuart

#247 sabonis, Mar 24, 2003

kwik_e_mart Member

Joined:

Jun 30, 2002

Messages:

962

Likes Received:

0

Man! that game was close... what a tough loss... with a sensational performance by all of our starters...

#248 kwik_e_mart, Mar 24, 2003
story_teller Member

Joined:

Nov 22, 2002

Messages:

484

Likes Received:

0

Originally posted by dn1282
how about take at least a step and a half more...which would have gotten him right to the 3 point line. The replay showed that there was more than 1, almost 2 seconds left when he let it go.
Click to expand...

There was not close to two seconds left. I went to NBA.com to see the play-by-play and it said Yao got the board on a C-Webb's miss with four seconds left. Francis dribbled down court and took the shot with 1.1 seconds left. If he tries to get any closer, he probably doesn't get the shot off. Plus, Bobby Jackson was right in front of him, so he took it where/when he took b/c it gave him the clearest look.

#249 story_teller, Mar 24, 2003
sabonis Member

Joined:

Dec 27, 2002

Messages:

847

Likes Received:

12

Originally posted by lavarock
By the way, this has been bothering me...what are the little lightbulbs next to peoples' user names for and what does it mean when they're lit up???
Yeah I want to know too, sorry for us being newbs....
Click to expand...

I think it means they are currently perusing ClutchBBS.

I think.

STuart

#250 sabonis, Mar 24, 2003
Newgirl Member

Joined:

Mar 11, 2003

Messages:

752

Likes Received:

1

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/rox/1832901

Francis' prayer goes unheard in Rocket's loss
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Steve Francis was on the run and 31 feet away. But he had every reason to believe the shot would fall.

It was no less probable than earlier plays that kept them in the game. But when Francis' runner smacked off the front of the rim and away, the Rockets were out of chances Sunday night in a 109-108 Kings win.

The Rockets had rallied in the last minute when Glen Rice and Francis each nailed 3s. Francis' trey with six seconds left gave him 38 points, his third-highest this season, to go with nine assists and pulled the Rockets to within 109-108 with six seconds left.

The Rockets sent Chris Webber to the line. Webber had already scored 24 points and made all four of his free throws. But he missed both attempts. Yao Ming pulled in the rebound, and passed to Francis, who chose to take the last shot.

The loss was the Rockets' eighth-straight loss in Sacramento. It dropped them back into a tie with idle Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, with Golden State 2 1/2 games back. The Suns host the 32-36 Super Sonics tonight.

In many ways, however, the Rockets had to lament far easier plays they had let slip away.

The Rockets had come back from their usual Sacramento collapse to see a stunning win within reach. The Rockets needed to do the simple things to take a win. Make free throws. Finish a break. Rebound the ball.

The Rockets missed five free throws in the fourth quarter, eight in the last 14 minutes. They gave up the basket that would become the game-winner after Vlade Divac beat Yao Ming to the Kings' seventh offensive rebound of the quarter, then passed to Chris Webber for a jumper that gave Sacramento a 106-100 lead with 34.5 seconds left.

But no play might have better typified the inability to make the simple play that had to be made than when they came down the floor on a 3-on-1 break with Mike Bibby backpedaling into the lane before Mobley threw the ball to the only defender he could see.

For much of the night, the Kings seemed able to toy with the Rockets.

After Francis flew through the lane to send a no-look pass over his shoulder to Yao for a dunk, the Kings topped them. Divac slipped as slick a pass inside for a slam, and after uncharacteristically tap-dancing and high-stepping through a drive, Bibby pulled up for an easy jumper that pushed the lead back to 70-56 five minutes into the second half.

After Francis beat the Kings up the court to set up Griffin for a fast break dunk, Webber immediately lost Griffin on a baseline drive to finish with the most violent of slams over Yao Ming.

As they had in the first half, the Rockets cut a 14-point lead in half when Francis swished a trey from the corner. But in the last 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter, the Rockets made just three of six free throws while the Kings made four in a row. Bibby stepped behind a screen for a 3 and with a half-second left, Bobby Jackson nailed a jumper over Maurice Taylor to give the Kings an 86-73 lead.

The Kings had a 39-3 record when taking a lead into the fourth quarter, including 26-0 at home. So when the Rockets cut the lead back down to seven, there really did not seem much reason to think the Rockets could make the run last.

But when Glen Rice dropped in a 3 with seven minutes left, the Rockets had cut the lead to five. Scot Pollard tipped in a Webber miss, but Francis hit a jumper and Taylor made a free throw to move the Rockets to within 96-92, as close as they had been since the first quarter.

Even then, the Kings only were only able to hold on to that lead with six missed Rockets free throws in a span of seven minutes. But with less than four minutes left and the Rockets still just down by four, Yao Ming missed two more free throws. And with that, the comeback, was not stopped, but close to forfeited.

The Kings moved within range of their customary rout of the Rockets in the second quarter. With their starters resting comfortably through most of the quarter, they pushed their lead to 14. The Rockets made just 13 of their first 46 shots.

Yao, Maurice Taylor, Eddie Griffin and Cuttino Mobley had combined to make just six of 31 shots. But with the Kings lead at 48-34 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining before the second half, the Rockets showed some signs of life.

It helped that the Kings spent the next three minutes sending the Rockets to the line. Mobley hit four free throws and Yao, hit two. And Francis finished the half scoring the Rockets last six points to get 18 in the half and bring the Rockets to within seven.

But when the half ended with Webber knocking down a driving jumper that he made look easy and with Glen Rice missing a trey, little really seemed to have changed.

The Rockets had made just 32 percent of their shots. The Kings had made 50 percent. And as always in Sacramento, the teams seemed about as close.
Click to expand...

#251 Newgirl, Mar 24, 2003
story_teller Member

Joined:

Nov 22, 2002

Messages:

484

Likes Received:

0

Originally posted by story_teller
Yetti, I'm going to ask you a serious question, okay? And you be honest with me: Do you hate Steve Francis or are you just incredibly dumb?...
Click to expand...

And that's a couple questions, but you get my drift, right, Yetti?

#252 story_teller, Mar 24, 2003
vcchlw Member

Joined:

Jun 26, 2002

Messages:

6,826

Likes Received:

1,056

Posey played way too much. Rice should have taken his time.

Not a good shooting nite for the Rox except Francis. Taylor was great for the 4th quarter comeback, but missing those crucial free throws. So did Yao. But at least he could defense and clean the glass well.

Yes, it is tough to have a W in Arco Arena. But we really could have taken some chances, sadly we didn't. The coaching of Mr. Mean is alrite, except for the playing time of Posey/Rice. It seems that Mean is really in favour of Posey...

#253 vcchlw, Mar 24, 2003

Ying Yang Member

Joined:

Mar 2, 2003

Messages:

193

Likes Received:

0

Are you refering to Yettis comment about the shot selection? They should have had a shooter down the floor to take a pass from the PG.

#254 Ying Yang, Mar 24, 2003
bigballerj Member

Joined:

Nov 22, 2002

Messages:

1,785

Likes Received:

9

Rice should start in front of Posey. We need more shooters to compliment Yao and Steve. Posey can still play 20-25 but just coming off the bench.

#255 bigballerj, Mar 24, 2003
RocketGuy3 Member

Joined:

May 20, 2002

Messages:

725

Likes Received:

0

Well how convenient. It appears that Yetti is no longer in the building (his lightbulb is off, afterall ). And we finally had everyone in a united front against him... I was hoping to see some entertainingly pathetic attempt from him to defend himself.

#256 RocketGuy3, Mar 24, 2003
montelwilliams Member

Joined:

Dec 16, 2002

Messages:

714

Likes Received:

0

1 point loss to the second best team in NBA at their home court isn't anything to be ashamed of. The Rockets played better than I thought they would. They just need to get over their mental block against the Clippers. I'm not sure why they have that mental block against such a low ranked team.

#257 montelwilliams, Mar 24, 2003
story_teller Member

Joined:

Nov 22, 2002

Messages:

484

Likes Received:

0

Originally posted by vcchlw
Posey played way too much. Rice should have taken his time.

Not a good shooting nite for the Rox except Francis. Taylor was great for the 4th quarter comeback, but missing those crucial free throws. So did Yao. But at least he could defense and clean the glass well.

Yes, it is tough to have a W in Arco Arena. But we really could have taken some chances, sadly we didn't. The coaching of Mr. Mean is alrite, except for the playing time of Posey/Rice. It seems that Mean is really in favour of Posey...
Click to expand...

I agree. See, here's what I love about Yao, even when he's struggling offensively -- which is rare - he does OTHER THINGS to help us win! We have too many "Just think about offense" guys. Mo Taylor, Cat Mobley, Glen Rice, Moochie, Eddie Griffin (with the occasional block parties). If theses guys are off offensively, what else do they really give us? That's why Charles Barkely says he likes Ben Wallace and he thinks Mike Finley is the best players on the Mavs b/c he can help his team in more ways than one.

And it just might work having Rice start....he is really shooting the ball well and that's what we need @ this point, like you said, consistent shooters to help take the load of Francis and Yao. Man, I don't know how many times Posey and Griff' miss WIDE-OPEN jumpers.

#258 story_teller, Mar 24, 2003

story_teller Member

Joined:

Nov 22, 2002

Messages:

484

Likes Received:

0

Originally posted by Ying Yang
Are you refering to Yettis comment about the shot selection? They should have had a shooter down the floor to take a pass from the PG.
Click to expand...

Yes, I was talking about that. And you are right, it would've been good to have Yao and Steve and maybe one other rebounder to get the Webber miss...Cat and Rice could've/should've already been down the floor to take the pass from Stevie.

#259 story_teller, Mar 24, 2003
bobododo Member

Joined:

Jun 30, 2002

Messages:

261

Likes Received:

0

Quotes from the game!

"Even though Sacramento is considered a really good team, I think we basically gave the game away,'' Francis said. "We basically gave the game away in the first half, missing some free throws, and our big guys couldn't make point-blank layups.''

"They made some tough 3-pointers, especially Francis -- and I don't know what was into Mo out there,'' Webber said of his fellow Detroit native and Michigan alumnus. "I've been playing against him since he was about 8, and I've never seen him do the stuff he did tonight.''

#260 bobododo, Mar 24, 2003

(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Page 13 of 15

Share This Page