Rockets’ Downward Spiral Continues as McGrady’s 2nd-half Absence Assists Jazz Victory 82-74 By Dennis L. Silva, II. 12.27.05 As if the circumstances for the Houston Rockets weren’t abnormal enough, now newborn babies are playing a role in the outcome of games. After scoring 21 points in an electric first half, Tracy McGrady missed the second half due to his wife going into labor and on the verge of delivering the couple’s second child. From that point on, the Rockets seemed confused and in complete disarray on offense, and handed the Utah Jazz an 82-74 victory before 18,088 at Toyota Center. Coming off consecutive games that birthed 11 points per on 6-28 shooting, McGrady started the game on fire. He hit his first three shots and scored nine points in helping the Rockets to an early 13-8 lead midway through the first period. The Rockets’ offense as a whole looked noticeably healthier as the team started 5-7 from the floor. The adjustment in McGrady’s offensive attack was clear as day. Instead of allowing the double and triple teams to get to him, McGrady attacked from point A, driving to the basket at any open opportunity and refusing to allow Utah’s defenders to crowd or punish him with physicality. Juwan Howard chipped in with 8 points of his own in the quarter, and McGrady finished with 12 as Houston held a 26-19 advantage heading into the second quarter. Houston elevated their lead to eight (28-20) in the second as Utah struggled to hit anything from the floor (the Jazz finished the first half 10-30 from the field). But Utah went on a 7-0 scoring run to close to within 26-28 with 6:53 remaining as the Rockets committed four early turnovers in the period (two of which came on offensive fouls). The game stayed nip-and-tuck throughout as neither team could gain an advantage, and no rhythm was established due to a foul-marred first half (both teams committed a combined 27 personal fouls). The game was tied at 35 points apiece before McGrady hit two clutch shots (a long 20-footer and a highlight-worthy reverse lay-in), and Houston’s lead was 41-36 heading into halftime. McGrady finished the half with 21 points, four rebounds, and five assists, while Howard contributed 10 points on 4-7 shooting. However, it was the defense of the Rockets that was the primary cause for their early lead. Houston held Utah’s versatile Andrei Kirilenko to only 3 points on 0-4 shooting, along with four turnovers. The Jazz’s starting frontcourt (considerably stronger than Houston’s with Mehmet Okur, Kirilenko, and Jason Collins) was outscored by the Rockets’ 32-17. McGrady left the team sometime during the halftime period, and both teams started the third quarter poorly. The two clubs shot a combined 1-9 to start the quarter, but Utah managed a 45-43 lead on behalf of an early 9-2 run. The Rockets’ did nothing to help their cause, committing seven turnovers in the quarter and getting into the penalty situation very early, allowing the Jazz to embark on a parade to the free throw line (Utah was 18-23 from the charity stripe in the second half). However, due to the inspired play of Stromile Swift (6 points, 7 rebounds) late, and some help from the good man above, Houston was able to close the quarter with an 8-4 scoring spree of their own, highlighted by an emphatic Swift dunk over two Utah defenders late in the period. Utah’s led by the slimmest of margins, 60-59, heading into the fourth quarter. Utah’s lead was three points (64-61) with 8:43 remaining, but Houston had more than their share of opportunities to close the gap. Luther Head botched a 2-on-1 fast break when he thought Kirilenko was on his team, Swift missed an easy jump-hook, and Wesley missed an open trey. Utah pushed their lead to seven (68-61) midway through the period when Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy decided to go small with his lineup. Employing a squad of Juwan Howard (center), Ryan Bowen (power forward), Stephen Graham (small forward), David Wesley (shooting guard), and Luther Head (point guard), the Rockets made a subtle run to close Utah’s advantage to four, 68-72. But an Okur (20 points, 17 rebounds) trey capped five consecutive Utah points as the Jazz bumped their lead back to nine, and Utah walked away 82-74 victors. Houston shot an abysmal 12-43 in the second half, and it was clear that this game was lost as soon as they stepped out on the court following halftime. Their body language expressed depression, discouragement, and a sense of bewilderment as they seemed unwilling to accept the challenge of 24 minutes without McGrady. Utah pounced on the Rockets’ open wound, outscoring the Rockets 46-31 in the half as the league’s best offensive rebounding team claimed 15 offensive boards. For the game, the Rockets tallied 35 personal fouls, and committed 17 turnovers, even more evidence of their lack of concentration and focus. Houston turns right around to play the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets tomorrow night. With a team lost within themselves and having no faith nor belief in the system or their own play, progress and hope seem further now than at any other point during this disheartening campaign. ROCKETS RECAP · Former University of Illinois teammates Deron Williams and Luther Head faced off each other for the first time this season. Williams finished with 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, while Head compiled 7 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. · The Rockets accumulated 17 offensive rebounds. · Both teams shot a combined 5-22 from 3-point range. · Howard finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds (5 offensive) on 8-15 shooting. · Utah shot 23-66 for the game, but scored 33 of their 82 points from the foul line. http://www.nba.com/games/20051227/UTAHOU/boxscore.html
I saw this game live from about row G behind the basket. General observations (this is the first game I've seen start to finish this year and the first ever at the TC for me, so sorry if this is redunndant): 1. Wow the Rox are terrible without Tracy. It's a miracle they stayed as close as they did, which leads me to point.... 2. God DAMN. The Jazz are freaking terrible this year. The Rockets team that was out on the floor in the second half was quite possibly the worst squad I've seen out on the floor since pre-Yao when Cat & Steve were injured - actually I think those teams at least had Walt Williams and Mo-T which gave them a little offense. But the Jazz - holy sh-t, these guys could barely - BARELY pull away. Their offense was a snooze. When Mehmet Okur is your second biggest offensive threat - problems. Not as big problems as when Luther Head is your second biggest threat, but big nonetheless. 3. The Rockets tactics when Tracy was out generally consisted of either the dump-down to Juwan, the run up and take a shot that misses, or a really bad version of the Harlem Globetrotters weave which was apparently them running a play. The Jazz' offensive sets resembled the latter. Either way - ugliness 4. Short Bus Bowen is worse in person than on TV. WHy is he in the NBA, other than the ability to give Dirk fits? 5. Stromile looks the part of an athletic PF when he's standing around. Otherwise he is useless. His range extends to one foot beyond the hoop. His season was epitomized by his taking advantage of a Jarron (Jason? Who knows or cares which one is which? I sure don't) Collins flop by moving to the hoop with a Tomahawk layup (with predictable results) somehow managed to get the ball back, and then blew two FTs. Close to hopeless. 6. Tmac was on wh en in, obviously, and he didn't even hang his head when his incompetent teammates fumbled away passes from him. Then he was gone. His fiance owes me 50$.
Er, Dennis -- The "good man above" does not help the Rockets. Either he doesn't exist, or he's above taking sides in NBA games.
Rocket111, you're practicing to one day be a sportswriter, correct? Just a suggestion; you'll have to get the hang of really cutting down the text in your recaps. They are too wordy for newspaper publication, for the most part, and would be manhandled by an editor. They are looking for more concise, straight to the point writing. Also a very quick grab, not long and drawn out. Just something I noticed.
you mean, it's too wordy or too lengthy? I've just tried to be as detailed as possible...I think you're correct in some points...if I was writing for a paper, I would be more opinionated, but I figure ClutchFans can get that part from Feigen...thats why I try to be more thorough and intricate, because it's what Feigen (or most sportswriters period) isnt...
Too wordy, which leads to too lengthy. Most sportswriters don't get too intricate because that's not what they are supposed to do. Other than editorial/opinion pieces, most publications don't want that in a recap. What you see in the sports section/news articles is exactly what the job is looking for. It then falls on you to create a readable, informative and enjoyable piece while still staying within those guidelines. For clutchfans, you're right; it's fine. But if you are trying to practice to do it for a living someday, there's no better time than now.
I'm a graduate of the UT-Austin Journalism department, and will start student teaching Journalism at the high school level in January. Here is some helpful advice. 1) The lead is good, but you need to explain why the circumstances are difficult. (ie say how many players are on the injured list) 2) Don't get carried away with words that your readers may not understand, or could be confusing. Abnormal should be replaced by hard or difficult in the lead, and replace the word birthed in the 2nd paragraph. I know you were trying to play off of the lead, but it doesn't work well. I also would use the word increased instead of elevated, etc.... 3) Know your game terminology. (the Jazz finished the first half 10-30 from the field). I wouldn't use field there since basketball is not football or baseball(ie they play on a floor/court). In fact, just say the Jazz shot 33% in the first half. 4) Active voice at all times. (and Houston’s lead was 41-36 heading into halftime.) Replace with Houston led 41-36 at the half. (The Jazz’s starting frontcourt (considerably stronger than Houston’s with Mehmet Okur, Kirilenko, and Jason Collins) was outscored by the Rockets’ 32-17.) You could say the Rockets frontcourt outscored..... In fact, I bet if you thought for a little while you could change most if not all of your sentences in passive voice to active voice. 5) Avoid repeating yourself and be specific. (The game stayed nip-and-tuck throughout as neither team could gain an advantage, and no rhythm was established due to a foul-marred first half (both teams committed a combined 27 personal fouls). You don't need the neither team could gain an advantage part. Then you can avoid passive voice by writing: The game stayed nip-and-tuck throughout as neither team established a rhythm due to a foul marred first half. Also in the lead, I think you are being redundant saying newborn babies. Earlier you said Houston did this in the second, forgetting quarter(it needs to be there). You know what you are doing, you just need to focus on making sure you do the little things right(active voice, consulting the AP stylebook, being specific/never assuming your audience will get it without it).
No problem. I went through the same process in college with my journalism professors. The more you write, the better writer you become. For another example on repeating yourself: (The game was tied at 35 points apiece). When you say the game was tied, you don't need apiece, and points is unnecessary when writing about sports(this is the one thing you can assume). You could just say the game was tied at 35. And as far as active voice goes: (The game was tied at 35 points apiece before McGrady hit two clutch shots (a long 20-footer and a highlight-worthy reverse lay-in), and Houston’s lead was 41-36 heading into halftime.) You could rewrite this to say: With the score tied at 35, McGrady hit two clutch shots giving the Rockets a 41-36 halftime lead. Also, on the terminology thing, always stick to quarters for NBA games(periods are in hockey).
Know your game terminology. (the Jazz finished the first half 10-30 from the field). _______________ Shooting 'X amount from the field' is commonly used basketball terminology ~ as is 'field goal'. _______ More impressively, Allen added more points while sacrificing little in the way of efficiency. Allen's 44.0% shooting from the field was right at the NBA average, but more than a third of Allen's attempts were from long distance, and he converted 39.2% of his threes. If the added value of threes is accounted for by considering them equal to 1.5 field goals...
But game recaps and sports columns are two different things, correct? Recaps are more concise and direct while columns can be more in detail and thorough?
Field Goal, yes. "X amount from the field" is not the correct way to write it, regardless of how many writers are lazy and forget it. The proper way is Allen's 44% shooting from the floor(or court) because NBA teams play on a floor/ or court, not a field. If you said field of play you could get away with it because it's a generic term.
Yes. Columns give the writer more freedom in the style of the piece. A game recap follows a similar pattern almost every time. You find a lead(like all stories-most important part), then you describe the who, what, when, where, why(like you did with the Rockets losing last night). After that you go into more detail based on the game.
Appreciate it...I think that's where I was getting confused, I was placing traits of a column into a recap when they're two completely different things...hey DVauthrin, if you've got any of more advice or tips, I'd love to hear 'em, via email or anyway else...
First of all the Jazz have 13 wins thats 3 more than we have. All that being said if Tmac plays the second half we win that game. THe Rockets changes of a playoff run are in the hands of Tmac yes but the Shooters named Alston,Anderson and Barry need to get back and help thier leader win a few more games to. WE'll see whats happens. Go Rockets!!!
That's fine, you can email me at davidv2001@yahoo.com if you want me to look at anything you write, or have any questions. I'll be happy to reply when I have time. The best resource for you is to get a current Associated Press Stylebook and here is the UT journalism department website page with links to other useful sites for journalists: http://journalism.utexas.edu/links/
