As If There Was Any Doubt. . .

Everyone did their part in winning last nights game. It wasn't just Steve, it wasn't just Yao, it wasn't just anybody.


Yao got the Rockets started with his high pick n' roll sets and low post moves to help spread the court. He was also pretty much scoring at will until the 2nd half when we left dumping the balll into him instead of using the high pick n' roll that was working so effectively. Nonetheless he did a fantastic job, and best of all his foul trouble was a blessing in disguise. He didn't really play a whole lot of minutes and his body shouldn't be so exhausted or bruised for todays game against Denver. So not only did we get the win, but also got a little bit more rested Yao.

Steve did his thing at the leadership role and played a great game. He actually got inside Payton's head in a matchup where you think Payton would be one doing that to Steve (Steve got Payton T'ed up.). He also played solid defense on Payton pretty much holding him to a quiet night the whole game. There just wasn't one time where I thought the whole game, "Oh no Payton's going to go off about now." There were a couple of times where I thought Francis was trying to take over the game instead of deferring to his teammates but given his overall performance and how few that was compared to previous games, Steve did a great job.


Cato defended Shaq incredibly well along with the helpside defense from his teammates in the 2nd half. He was pretty much the only banger in the frontcourt that kept Shaq from going off. Normally Shaq is able to get his dunk and foul, but was able to keep Shaq with 2 FTs. He also had one sick dunk on Shaq that made me smile.

MoT actually stole a couple of rebounds from Shaq's hand last night while grabbing a few more in a crowded area of Red and Yellow jerseys. Not to mention he pretty much killed anyshot of a Laker comeback with his open court steal and jam late in the 4th.

Moochie actually provided some productivity on the bench and a clutch 3 to to extend the lead to 7 in crunch time in the 4th.

Cat was clutch like usual in the 4th and with a consorted team effort was able to hold Kobe to 9-26 throughout the whole game.

JJ helped spread the court early on and set the tempo of the game with his made perimeter buckets and hard nosed defense. Shots he normally was missing in earlier games he was making last night and was just plain and simple stroking his jumper. He really helped make the PnR effective by being a reliable guy to kick out pass to after the plays been run.

Alton Ford actually handled Shaq for a few moments in the game and did admirably.

Pike had a decent game despite that blown layup in the game, and again was another threat from the perimeter the Lakers had to respect.

JVG made some smart substitutions, smart decisions in preparation of tonights game, and got this team motivated the right way. If he kept them humbled last night after the win and hungry for todays game against Denver then I would be ever happier. Denver is good, but they're beatable and I think we should beat them to start talking about a 4 game winning streak with 76ers and Sonics coming up at home afterwards instead of talks about coming off a tough loss after such a huge win. If he can do that, that was would really be a fantastic way to close out the month of a December.

 

Amen... I sometimes find myself wanted to toot the Steve Francis horn just because there is so much negativity out here towards him. Last night Steve played a great game and there are still folks finding reasons to nitpick or make ridiculous claims; "oh he missed Yao on a PnR", or "He is completely ignoring Yao" or "He plays harder when Yao is not in the game, because he wants to win w\o Yao".

When you only focus on the negatives of one person and only focus on the positives of another then you are biased. I could expound on Yao's negatives and make him sound like the worst big man in the NBA:

1. He is awful at getting and holding position (so much so that I have recently seen a play in which a guard or forward picks his man for him to allow him to get better position)

2. He has awful hands

3. He lacks stamina

4. He lack aggressiveness (much needed for battling in the paint)

5. He has poor rebounding mechanics (often fails to box out or get inside position, and is content to tap the ball instead of going up and getting it. Once last night I saw JVG admonishing Yao to go up get the rebound, but I guess you missed that).

6. Piss poor vertical...

I could go on but I think you get my point. If all I focus on are his negatives and not look at his many positives (which far out weight his negatives) then I could paint an unfair portrait of Yao. But not only would the portrait be unfair it would also be unrealistic. So lets stop the Yao over Francis biased and root for them both. They are both good, they are both needed to take us to the next level, one w/o the other would not work. Period.

 

About Yao:

I absolutely agree that he needs to get aggressive out there. The only time I was yelling at the screen last night was to say, "YAO, JUST GRAB THE BALL!"

As far as his demeanor, I did see him chest-bump out there once. Kinda made me smile. (I think it was before the game.) But as far as being a vocal leader, his lack of English, and his natural reticence---no matter how well he learns to speak English, that Chinese-ness will still be in the way---preclude him from coming out and saying, "Come on, you ****s, just throw me the rock and get the **** out of my way! AAAARGH!"

The attitude will come along as his game comes along.

P.S. Anyone notice Steve "mic'ed up" for the game, sounding like Calvin Murphy? "THAT'S what I'm TALKin 'bout!"?

P.P.S. Yao needs to be more of our high-screen center on offense. I hope JVG figures this out soon.

 

This is all i gota say about Steve, "Ya Boi! Ya Boi! Thats what im talkin' bout! Thats what im talkin' bout!"

 

Lack of edit! I meant, high-post.

 

Everyone played a good game last night, so I don't know why we start the Yao-SF fight again.

Actually Yao and JJ carried the teams' offense first half and SF and Mo took over the second half.

Steve seems always exited playing in the National TV game, I just wish him and the rest of team play the same way every game as they played yesterday.

And one thing I want to add, about the leader and heart thing, even though Shaq dominate in the game, he seems never be the court leader and lock room leader, So is David Robinson (the locker room leader is actually Avery Johnson). Patrick Ewing? Tim Duncan? Mutombo?

Those big men use their performance to motivate their teammates. Let their teammates believe they can win the game. They don't seem doing the talk and chest bump a lot. I hope Yao will join them some day soon. I just don't expect he can talk that much especially he is still shy speaking English in front of press

 

Man, Yao knows a lot of street slang and more english than the press and people are led to believe. He knows how to communicate with his teammates well in the game. He's just not talking as much English so that he doesn't have to deal with the press that much.

 

I wonder what the true psychology of the Rocket team is? After last night, It almost seems like the Rockets phone it in every other night.

Last night we played like those other teams who get to play in may and june....what is that thing? oh, the playoffs....

If we only played with 3/4 of the intensity used last night... they would have about 5 more in the wins column.

 

Oh yeah.....why do people think we would trade francis? it ain't gonna happen.... not this year.

 

If you recorded the game (like I did), take a look at the last play to end the first half, when Stevie got the monster putback off of Padgett's shot, and take a look at how fired up Yao was when he seen that (Yao was on the bench at the time), he almost jumped out of his shoes!

Oh, btw.... if they mic'ed Yao, I bet you'd hear alot of exciting quotes. I read his lips a few times yesterday after bad calls, and he cursed... in English! The more he plays GP, the rougher his language will get!

 

It's also a common theme for Yao bashers to constantly complain about his rebounding despite him leading the team in rebounding. The sheep can't get it into their head, that while he can improve, height does not equal rebounds. If that was true why didn't Shawn Bradley or Manute Bol avg 16-17 boards per game. The YOBs want Yao to avg 30 points 20 boards per game, even though no on does that and if he did then they would say, well he should anyways and would complain he should be getting 50 points 30 boards.

 

Without Steve's play we lose that game, period. The 2nd half almost turned into a disaster and Steve took over and completely controlled the offense. 22 pts 9 rebs, 7 assists and only 2 TOs, you do not have any reason to be b****ing about Steve Francis this game.

 

Xenogears,

Yao Ming indeed has some problems with rebounding. Those problems (I don't what those problems are ) can't be solved during the season IMO. He should spend a whole summer in the States working on his rebounding instead of going back to China. You can't use Shawn Bradley as an excuse, Nomar has a valid point: Yao Ming is coordinated. If you happened to see him and Bradley running together on the court, you would have noticed that Yao runs like a regular person and Bradley runs like a robot.


Shrimpie

Shrimpie

 

When his shots are falling, Steve Francis is a great player, pretty much impossible to defend. The problem is when his shot is not falling, his weaknesses usually inhibits the teams ability to win.

Steve is an outstanding player, sometimes great like against the Lakers, but I'd rather have a less potent scorer who has better fundamentals, creates easier shots for teammates and plays better defense. Those kinds of things contribute even when your offensive game is off.

I think SF is better off on a team where he is the #1 option every time he steps on the court, and that team is not the future Rockets. And the Rockets would be a better team with a comparably talented player who is a little bit less explosive with the ball but a little bit more well rounded in the team game. It is not Steve hating to suggest though he is an outstanding player it is a poor fit for all involved for him to be a Rocket.

 

Blah...blah...blah... less potent player creating easier shots...blah... blah...

Here's a point for you to think about; a less potent player would mean one less player that the defense has to respect (ala Cato). Which means another defensive player to rotate and defend Yao, which then lessens Yao's affectiveness even more. Kill the hating and come to grips with the fact that Steve is not going to be traded, once many of you accept that fact then this site can get back to discussing basketball instead of forever dreamcasting...

 

I was ecstatic with the way Francis played last night, but it was still ONE GAME. STart talking like you're talking when he strings several of those together. And save the Yao bashing because he too was amazing last night.

 

I could care less about chest bumps and all this other junk that players try to hype and and do. I'm from the old school and like the motto,"Just win Baby!" Dream didn't do all that and neither did Clyde, but they won games and made the playoffs. Just because Duncan doesn't do all that and guys like Rose do, does that make them the heart and soul? Being a leader is more than tapping a guy on the ass or jumping up and bumping chest. Being a leader, especially at the pg spot is leading by example 1st and foremost. How can you get on a guy about bad shots or to's or defense if you do them yourself?

Francis managed the game pretty well last night despite still having dumb plays sprinkled throughout his performance. Thats one of the things that make it so frustrating watching him play most nights because you know he can do it, but its like he doesn't want to all the time. His objective should be clear every night. Get Ming started early and often along wih keeping Cato and Jackson in th game. Once Ming goes out, start looking to score and keep the offense going. At the end of the games cut out the dribbling and useless to's that works against your team in the end. Do what it takes to win at the end. If that means passing to a open guy, do it.

 

Cant stand some of you kept saying Yao should get this or that simpily because he is 7' 6", blah blah blah. These were probably the same people who were against drafting Yao last year because they were saying no 7' 6" could be worth the #1 pick. Anyone that tall is clumsy, poorly coordinated, just like Bradley. BLAH BLAH BLAH.