As If There Was Any Doubt. . .

how can people say he has no heart. Just look at what he is saying during the game. He is the fire on this team! HE gets everyone riled up! He is even telling yao to demand the ball. He just doesnt show his leadership by example but also by vocally reaching his teamates.

 

I say trade him.

I agree entirely. Steve has a long way to go, and maybe he'll never adequately address the problems in his game as others have asserted. But he is the heart of this team, and it is not the first time that he has willed the team to a win. It does seem like he reserves his biggest games for the Lakers.

Our roster could still use some tweaking. But the core of this team re-inspired my confidence in them tonight.

 

Just shows what we're capable of when we get all our pistons firing.... and actually, we could've done a lot better: we made quite a few poor shot choices in the first half, we no longer have Eddie Griffin, who was supposed to be our brightest forward and Pike still hasn't found his shot and is having the worst shooting season of his 12 year career.

If they'd have had Malone playing tonight, they'd have beaten us. Oh well. Too bad. We win.

-- droxford

 

I see nothing wrong with letting Yao dominate early, Cat and Taylor keep it close in the middle, and Steve cleaning it all up in the end. Say what you want about Steve, but he is the kind of player whose hands the ball needs to be in when the clock is winding down.

Anyone notice that Steve usually steps it up in big games, especially nationally televised ones? You can take that however you want to (and I know just where the Steve haters will), but Steve's big game mentality is tailor-made for the playoffs. I can't wait.

 

Nomar with a good thread - it must be Armageddon.

Good point. I never thought about it, but this team has 2 players that can be the heart of the team at the moment : Francis and Mobley. Period.

Yao can indeed become a force, but he has not shown yet he can be the heart of a team. There's nothing wrong with that, though. He can still be great without being the emotional force behind the team.

Yet another reason I'm afraid to get rid of either Mobley or Francis (although oftentimes I want to).

 

Yeah, but if Steve is gonna handle the rock he has to consistently get everyone else involved offensively...without getting away from the gameplan of course. There was never a question of him getting his shots off, which he can do pretty much at will. Since the rest of the team lacks his athleticism they have to rely on him hitting them with the pass where they have the best chance of scoring.

 

I think the Rockets have a lot of players with heart, but their attitudes fend off one another- attitude is contagious. Every single player who went out on the court today had heart and it was amazing to see the passion they played with. Everyone scrambled for loose balls, EVERYONE played defense, less turnovers.. but the best was to see the bench stand up as each shot was in the air, waiting for it to go in.. and when it did, a cheer and a wave of high fives could be seen. It was great- an awesome game.

 

Pike got the chokes a little bit, but I think he's not used to playing in these widely televised games since he was with the Clippers his whole career. I've got more faith in his shot than any Rocket when he gets a good pass and doesn't rush his shot.

 

I trust his 3- point shots more then his layups. He has Matt Maloney syndrome.

 

Distribute to his teammates? Are you kidding me? Have you watch the 1st three quarters? It's really apparent to me Francis is selfish ball hog? Time and time again, when the ball end up in his hand, he has to go one on one, ignore his teammates who have much better position. Wide open. In one play, Cat waiving for the ball, and SF ignore him and decides to heave up a long 3 pointer with a hand in his face. Francis gets 2 nice steals while let Gary Payton steals from him twice.

"Because it's not in his nature. He's not a leader." How can you be enthusiastic when you set 30 something picks and only get 2 kick out pass for the roll. One of the reason Rox was hot at the beginning is Yao setting nice screen to free up the guards. If I'm Yao I won't play on a selfish team like Rockets after my contract is up. Props to Yao for still cheering for his teammates when on the bench even though they ignore him on that pick and rolls most of the time.

Just take away the brilliant Rockets' defense in the 4th, see if Rox can still win last night against the lakers. Remember the scoring drought from Rox and lakers make the run to tie the game from 14 down? Why? simple, boneheaded guard plays to drive all the time and ignore Jackson, Yao and everyone else that has much better position.

 

rvpals,

Posts like yours are the reason why people get labeled a YOF, either fairly or unfairly.

Some of Steve's biggest critics on this BBS have given him his credit in this thread and in others. Steve played a nice game and led us to a huge, much needed, upset win.

And all you can talk about is how selfish Steve was last night and how Yao didnt get his touches shots. I guess 14 shots in 30 mins just isnt enough.

This is just silly. Didnt we score 99 pts, even with that drought???

Blah blah blah. "Look at all the bad plays that could have cost the Rockets a win!!! Blah Blah blah!!!!"

Well obviously, we made more good plays than bad plays. We beat the best team in the league on their own home floor.

Geez, if you cant focus on the positives and be happy with an upset like this, then you should just quit being a fan of this team.

Life must suck for you right about now.

 

This whole post is garbage, I am so happy that Steve was mic'ed up last night because one sentence by Steve showed his disposition toward Yao: "Yao, demand the ball more... you can take Shaq". You think with a sentence like that Steve is not looking for Yao. Did you not he Steve encouraging Yao(especially) and the rest of his teammates after a made basket. Steve wants this team to suceed and knows that means that Yao must excel.

Posts like this continue the belief that some of you don't care whether or not the Rox suceed as long as Yao looks good.

 

Come on people, it was a TEAM effort. Without Yao's great first half the Rockets would have lost, without Steve's all-around good game the Rockets lose. Everyone, from Yao to steve to cat to taylor to cato, even Moochie did his job in limited action. This was a total team effort. THis is sad that it has come down to this: Idiots arguing over who won the game...the Final score showed Rockets 99 Lakers 87, not Steve 99 or Yao 99 Lakers 87. It was a great win but it's only one "W" in December, they need to play like this consistently to make the playoffs and make some noise in the playoffs. Let's please stop all this siding between Steve and Yao, THEY ARE BOTH GOING TO BE HERE FOR THE LONG RUN SO GET OVER IT!!!! Peace.

 

I think last night was the best game the Rockets have played this year by far, but let's not start reverting back to "Steve's the savior" after one very well played game. Let's keep things in perspective.

 

One good game does not a leader make. Francis has been underachieving offensively this season. Under 40% shooting and under 30% 3 point shooting - and fans coming out hogging credits for him after a good game. Plus, we have seen where Francis's leadership led us to in the past four years.

As for Yao giving chest bumps to show his enthusiasm, I wouldn't recommend it as Yao's chest bumps might cause serious head injuries of teammates.

Whether guard lovers like it or not, Yao is the most valuable player on this team right now for his rare combination of skills and size, even without his market value. Don't take everything Yao brings to table for granted.

I'm amazed at Yao's support to his teammates after he's been ignored in PnRs, and got his low post positions wasted by guards/coach's sloppy play time and time again.

Some of you guys sound desperate to me. How about just be a Rockets fan, ya know, enjoy the win and credit everybody that contributed?

 

Same thing can be said about you after reading your post. You sound too desperate to take away credit from the team and try and give it ALL to Yao.

I'm amazed at Yao's teamates support for him after all his missed rebounds, fumbled passes and missed point blank shots.

See how that works Panda???

Teamates support each other regardless of mistakes.

Quit putting Yao on some pedestal like he is so much better than anyone else on the court with him.

 

Totally agree!

This game showed how the Rox can function well as a team and Francis and Yao can complement each other. On those pick and roll plays they showed shades of Stockton-Malone. Also Yao's play in the first half helped build up a big lead and Francis' ball-handling (a term too rarely used with Francis) helped seal the win in the 2nd half.

I agree with Nomar that Francis is the leader in terms of his voice and enthusiasm. Its probably true that its not in Yao's temperament to be verbally pumping up his fellow players but that may also be part of his language difficulties. If you watched him after a few of those big shots against Shaq there was no doubt he was pumped and judging by the Rox reactions they were pumped up by his shooting too.

If both can keep up this level or even surpass it the Rox will be the NBA force we all hope them to be but from last night its obvious to me they need both Yao and Francis to do it.

 

Happy Holidays everyone.

I saw the game with much interest last night.

I think Steve can do what he did last night when he "feels" it. But, I am starting to wonder about Yao. I believe in him. I think he is the future of the team. I posted that his skills are not found in any bigman EVER. He can dominate games and the offense NEEDS to go through him. Develop the skills and the team will be better. Even Doc Rivers said it a few times last night. But, hello? Can YAO stop being so...nice? His hook shots are HORRIBLE. He needs to jump into Shaqs chest or show some oomph when he takes the shot. Can you hold on to a rebound?

I believe Yao is the man and all. But I am starting to think that Yao needs to change his China from some brass bolas.

And can someone tell me where ABC got the idea that Yao weighs 310lbs? WHERE are those extra 40 pounds he gained since last year?

 

Yao was 295 pounds last year, so that is a 15 pound increase.

-G'day-