It's good to not let the opposing team get another shot to beat you, but at the same time, you have to get somewhat of a decent shot at winning the game. Mobley did a good job of not letting Golden State get the ball back with time remaining, but like I said before, he did not put us in any sort of position to win (even though we did). I can't see how Rudy is pleased with Mobley's decision making. Mobley should have at least jacked up a 3 pointer 2 or 3 feet behind the 3 point line. Shooting a 35 foot jumper is not a descent chance to win the game at all. That'll only happen once every 1000 games or something. But oh well... Rudy's happy means the Rockets are happy. Everyone except for Shanderson... man I hope he gets into the groove quickly; I dont want him to leave. ------------------ da ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence - alaskanSnowman
I thought it was only me. It was a big surprise to me that Hakeem did not play in the 4th. I do not know if Rudy is just giving the young guys experience how to respond under pressure or what. We will not go too far with that line-up in the 4th. If not for anything else, Dream could clog the middle and change some shots. Also, I do not see anymore plays for Dream at the low post where he is deadly. All his points now is in the high post right near the free throw line. Rudy is making this game really simple. Phil Jackson is right, there is nothing new in Rudy's play. His main philosophy is mismatch and the open man gets the shot, so whether in the low post or guard play these ISO's are intended to get a mismatch either by beating your man or pass to the open man if the double team comes in. Very predictable but I guess if you could get your wins that way then who cares? Not good for NBA though or rather not a good selling point for the NBA. My main beef is the same as Hakeem. The Rocks is no longer taking advantage of what Dream can contribute. I can really imagine Dream's frustration. No wonder he is talking about him leaving to a contender. Sad, really sad, but true. ------------------
I don't recall mentioning Olajuwon in my original post. How did this thread get to be about him? I think Moochie is very effective at point, but Steve doesn't get nearly as involved in the offense with him on the floor. Francis had 8 assists in the first quarter. He had a rough shooting night, but the way he involved other players made up for the poor shooting and that is the kind of consistency you want to see from a point guard. I love Moochie and think he deserves the minutes, but it isn't every night that match up's will allow you to put Steve and Mooch on the floor for long periods of time together. It's one thing if Steve is matched up with Vinny Del Negro or even Larry Hughes. It is another thing entirely if it is Kobe Bryant or Steve Smith. ------------------ Mmmmmmm. Sacrelicious.
I don't know, maybe I'm the only one who sees it, but even though Hakeem is looking alot better, he's lost his hustle. I watched him let the warriors get rebounds or take the ball away from him when he could have had it with any sort of exertion of energy. Maybe he's too tired, I don't know, but it seems real silly for him to be demanding more time in the offense when guys like Kenny Thomas and for the first time Mo Taylor are working their butts off on defense and the boards to get the Rockets some muscle in the front court to prevent people like Antwan Jamison or Mark Jackson even from tearing us apart. Maybe Hakeem will play better at home. But you gotta hustle, or you're just a waste of time. ------------------ -jbond77
I was laying in bed watching the end of the game. I was yelling at Cat to "DO SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING!!!!" I woke my wife up, she thought I was yelling at her. Cat was just standing there dribling. He was not in a stance like he was fixing to make a move, no crossover drible, no between the legs, no nothing. He was just standing there like he was going to let the clock run out. Thank goodness that Moochie reads the Bible a lot. his prayer was answered last night. ------------------
I hope Rudy teaches that <h1> CLOWN</h1> Mobley a thing or two about givin it to the hot hand, and about time management. Cuttino's not the brightest person in the world... ------------------ da ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence - alaskanSnowman
Was I the only one who heard Rudy say during the post game interview that he thought Cuttino did a good job at the end of the game. I don't remember his exact words but it was something along the lines of Cat doing a good job of watching the clock, because the Rockets did not want to shoot the ball to soon and give Golden State a chance to win... "which is something that we've done before" (I remember him saying that for sure). So in other words the Cat was only doing what Rudy told him to do, so his "smarts" had nothing to do with it. ------------------
Jeff, Mentioning Hakeem's lack of play in the 4th quarter is an "observation". ---------------------------- jbond77, I cannot believe people are still saying Hakeem wasn't rebounding well. HE HAD 6 FRIGGING REBOUNDS IN 17 FRIGGING MINUTES! How many more should he have had? Also, tell me what Jamison's stats were through the first 3 quarters, when Hakeem was in there, then compare that to Jamison's 4th quarter stats when Olajuwon wasn't in the game. No Hakeem wasn't guarding Antawn, but he was keeping him out of the paint. Both KT and Mo are sub-par defensive PFs, plain and simple. Also, Hakeem is leading the team in FG%, while KT is shooting below 40%, and Taylor below 46%. Moochie and Francis are shooting better than Mo. I try to hold back my bashing of Taylor and KT, I really do. But, when people complain about Dream, and sugar-coat the lack of consistency out of our PFs, it irritates the heck out of me. Hakeem right now, not four years ago, is a better defender than both, a better shooter, a better shot blocker, a better passer, and a better rebounder, so get of his back already. ------------------ "I have a DREAM.........his name's Hakeem." DREAMer's Rocket Page
Gotta be a happy medium. You don't want to shoot too soon and give the other team a chance, but I'd hope to see something better develop than a 35-foot heave. Given the choice between the two, I'd go with Rudy T. What Drexler did in 97 vs Utah was unforgiveable. ------------------ "Thirty-seven?" -Randall, Clerks www.clutchtown.com
I'm not one to put up negative posts. I personally much prefer positive posts, even when I don't totally agree. However, my thoughts on last night's game has to include some downers. First, though, in hindsight, I don't have as much a problem with Cat dribbling the clock out as most everyone else, although my jaw dropped as I watched it happen. The only problem was Cat cut it as close as absolutely possible. He took the safest approach at that point in the game. If you are tied and take a shot right at the buzzer, you cannot lose the game. You might win. If you start running a play, you run more risks of losing. You don't score and leave time on the clock, they score and win. You score and leave time on the clock and they score a 3 and win. So, I have no problem with taking the very last shot in regulation with a tie game. Ideally, he could have made the pass 1 second sooner, but no more than that. It was nice to see Mo have another good game. Success builds confidence and vice-versa. I would like for all our players to be confident and successful. Now, for the downer. I hated the lineup in the 4th that let GS come back. We had Walt AND Bull in the lineup during the stretch where GS made up the most ground. Bull couldn't guard my grandmother and Walt couldn't guard my grandfather. My blood pressure goes up just thinking about it. Contrary to an earlier post, Hakeem was not having a bad game. He did have some turnovers, but he hit 50% of his shots, got 6 boards in 17 minutes and was a force defensively. I don't think GS would have made that run if he was in for either Walt or Bull. The other downer is that Moochie was absolutely devastating when he was running the point. He might be the best in the league getting penetration and either finishing or dishing. His stop and start style keeps his man off balance, unlike Stevies style which gets him into places he can't get out of. Remember in the 4th when he lost the ball when Porter slid over to double? So, in the 4th, with Moochie in the lineup, I think he should have been playing the point all the time. He is not that effective at the 2. He hit the game-winning shot, but how would you like to count on that on a regular basis? On a different tack, who prior to the draft said that Chris Porter was too short and couldn't shoot? I do remember OP saying that he WOULD be a player. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Moe (edited December 15, 2000).]
"Also, tell me what Jamison's stats were through the first 3 quarters, when Hakeem was in there, then compare that to Jamison's 4th quarter stats when Olajuwon wasn't in the game. No Hakeem wasn't guarding Antawn, but he was keeping him out of the paint." I am wondering if you were watching the game last night. I have said this in two other posts, the reason Jamison went off is b/c Rudy went his ridiculous lineup of Matt Bullard and Walt Williams where Bull guarded Jamison. Maurice Taylor did an excellent job on Jamison last night and really kept him out of his high pct areas on the floor. Down the stretch, Taylor stopped him THREE straight times. A big part of the reason the Rockets controlled GSW's scoring down the stretch was Taylor's inspired defense last night. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
Yeah Mo showed some defense. I agree. ------------------ President of the Moochie Norris fan club & Vice President of the Jason Collier fan club!
Bob, I noticed that also and am in full 100% agreement. The Warriors announcers who have probably watched the Rockets a handful of times even picked up on this. When Mobley is bringing the ball up in transition, he never dishes in transition and thats horrible considering Shandon is an excellent finisher in the open court. Im hoping all this is just Mobley still learning the game and learning how to think it along with playing it. Simple things like feeding the hot hand or dishing to someone filling the lanes on the break is just simple team basketball, and Mobes needs to learn that. Also, I agree with HP that the Mobes iso is a better play at this stage than the Francis one. The problem with Francis in the iso set is that he tries to get only to the rim every time and nothing else. His thought process appears to be "Im going to take my man off the dribble and dunk over everyone." All this is great when you play it out in your mind and imagine yourself hopping up and down putting your hands to your ears to instigate hostile fans but with big strong interior defenders that cut you off, it doesnt work as well in reality. Steve tries to improvise in the middle of the play and spin around a bunch of big guys and it doesnt work. What Im hoping is that Steve begins to understand this and develop a real consistent mid range jumper. This is not out of the ordinary at all tho, Jordan used to go for the rim every time early in his career as well. He learned later on as he matured that he could be more effective with a really good mid range jump shot. Steve I think would benefit from the same. Take a few dribbles to get to about 17 feet, stop on a dime and elevate for the mid range shot. With as high as Steve can get, this type of move would be unguardable just like MJs jumper was. Also, when Steve develops this aspect of his game, the defense will no longer be able to choke the life out of 2 Shakes. If you put Francis and Mobley on opposite sides of the floor, a weakside defender coming over to double Mobley will leave a lot of spacing open for Francis to create and hit a mid range shot when the ball is swung to him. This will come in time tho, it takes time to develop a consistent pull up mid range shot. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
DREAMer -- I know you're a bigtime supporter of Hakeem, but could you consider easing off anytime someone says something not praiseworthy of Hakeem? I mean in this thread you talk about how great his board work was (6 boards) for how few minutes (17) he played (using few minutes as the reason), but when it comes to turnovers (5), you dismiss it because Taylor and Francis had more or less just as many. Yes, in 2-3 times as many minutes. I question why he didn't play the fourth, but would never credit Jamison's poor play early on and emergence in the fourth solely because Hakeem was/wasn't in there. Jamison missed three key shots late in the fourth with Taylor on him -- Hakeem was on the bench. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Could I ease up? Could I ease up? I reply to approximately 1 out of every 30 frigging negative posts about Hakeem. I don't see the negative Olajuwon posters easing up. But, when someone states that he was both shooting and rebounding poorly, then I have to set the record straight. I did not "dismiss" his turnovers. I merely pointed out that was the only area of his game that was lacking last night. And, that he was not the only person having trouble holding onto the ball. If you read my post, then you know I did not say Jamison's poor play, and strong finish was due "solely" on Hakeem's presence or lack thereof. I said, Notice, no mention of only Jamison, nor that it was only Hakeem's play. I then went on to say, Which was in direct response to jbond77's statement, I was just making the observation that when Hakeem was in the game, Jamison didn't score (efficiently). And, when he was on the bench Jamison did score (much more easily). No one can argue that. And, I believe it has everything to do with Jamison's comfort level and ability to get closer to the basket without Hakeem in there. Jamison also scored the bulk of his points in the 4th. The Warriors as a team also outscored us by 10, and it would've been 13, if not for Moochie's miracle shot. Chris Porter also went off in the 4th quarter, with no one providing a defensive presence in the paint. ------------------ "I have a DREAM.........his name's Hakeem." DREAMer's Rocket Page
Is there an echo in here? Yeah, I was suggesting you ease up, though I didn't expect such a play-by-play response. Every time Olajuwon does something not so hot it seems you put up a very passionate effort to deflect criticism. I just think if you would acknowledge a few of the shortcomings it might make your praise carry a little more weight. I was using this quote: "Hakeem did NOT have that bad of a game. Yes, he did have an abnormally high number of turnovers, but Taylor had 4 and Steve had 6." The "but" suggested to me he was just one of others, but you pointed out earlier Hakeem had 6 rebounds in only 17 minutes. Good stat, sure... but Taylor had 4 turnovers in 35 minutes and Francis 6 in 45 minutes. In those same minutes Hakeem would have had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 turnovers (using Taylor's minutes) and 16 points, 16 boards and 14 turnovers (Francis). Translation: He grabbed some defensive boards (then again, so did Bullard), but he couldn't hold on to the ball Thursday night. I didn't eat anything in the first three quarters and Jamison struggled. I started eating Fruity Pebbles in the fourth and Jamison went nuts. No one can argue that. Joking aside, I think that has close to the same merit. Though Hakeem is definitely a defensive presence, he wasn't guarding Jamison (as you acknowledged) and Jamison played 43 minutes -- to Hakeem's 17. Yet Jamison struggled through the first three quarters, missing 16 of 20 shots. Since the first three quarters take up 36 minutes, and Hakeem only played 17 of those 36, how do you explain the other 19 minutes where Jamison did not shoot well? MManal also brought up the fact that for a stretch in the 4th when Jamison popped off, Bullard was guarding him. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Jamison's game (or lack thereof) had nothing to do with Hakeem being on the floor or not. It had to do with Bullard guarding him in the 3rd vs. Mo guarding him in the first half. That was simply an awful matchup for the Rocks that allowed Jamison to get into the flow of the game. The big thing about the GS game was the fact that they have horrible transition defense. The Rockets have not run against ANYONE this year with any real efficiency but they scored, I believe, 20 fast break points against the Warriors. No way Hakeem could have kept up with that type of attack. ------------------ Mmmmmmm. Sacrelicious.
