[Ball Don't Lie] Behind the Boxscore: Rockets Vs. Sacramento

Houston 115, Denver Sacramento 98

Houston has Yao Ming, and you don't.

That's the difference. Ron Artest (26 points on only, for him, 18 shots) played quite well against his old team, but that sort of lame "revenge" is to be expected. Yao (20 points, nine rebounds) was the pillar that the Kings just couldn't counter. His ability to score way down there opened up all sorts of spacing options for Houston.

His Sacramento counterpart, Spencer Hawes, actually out-scored Yao (22 points and 11 rebounds ... out-rebounded him, too), but he had nowhere near as much impact. Hawes has had a great year, and made a point to go at Yao (nailing a 15-footer on the first possession of the game), but Houston's big just opens things up on a level that most defenses (especially the worst defense in the NBA, Sacramento) just can't counter.

 

An insight that you actually have to have watched the good in order to obtain, unlike the fools who only watch the box score and yell 'Yao sucks'.

 

An insight that you actually have to have watched the game in order to obtain, unlike the fools who only watch the box score and yell 'Yao sucks'.

 

He included a rant on the commentary of Doug Collins and Jeff Van Gundy into his Chicago game recap. He says Collins just says things that are flat out wrong too often. Not sure if he has the same view on JVG, or its something else that bugs him.

[rquoter]I just have the privilege of listening to some truly great color men, night in and night out, on League Pass. Some awful ones as well, make no mistake, but also some very, very good ones on TV and on ESPN Radio. And to know that entire generations of fans will have grown up on Collins and Jeff Van Gundy ... it just frustrates. And you see the result, down at the bottom of these posts, in the comment pages.

Conventional wisdom gone mad, which results in "Timbo8929" telling me to "get off CP3's jock," and telling me that my credibility is shot because I dare relay the fact that Portland's offense has played better offense than any other offense in 2008-09.

And it's not some Dizzy Dean or Tommy Heinsohn-style homespun commentary, stuff that you can immediately dismiss. It's presented with gravitas, by people who expect to be taken seriously, and yet you know they couldn't tell you who was first in the NBA in offensive efficiency. And you'd have to assume that they'd yet to see Luc Mbah a Moute play this season. [/rquoter]

I can't speak for Doug Collins, but to me Jeff Van Gundy comes off as encyclopedic in his knowledge of all things NBA. I'd really like to know what Kelly's beef is with him.

 

true enough yao's impact on other players doesnt show in the box score
hence the howard v yao for the best center in the league is irrelavant
yao makes other players better bottom line

 

JVG is so much win as a comentator.

 

Houston's big just opens things up on a level that most defenses (especially the worst defense in the NBA, Sacramento) just can't counter.

I wish more people would realize. Dude is not Hakeem, but he essentially has the same impact on the game on the offensive end. Defensively..he is slow, but i cant but name but 2 or 3 current guys i would want to anchor my defense.

Thats why i cant buy into the Howard better than Yao. The difference in Yao's impact on offense is bigger than Dwight's impact on defense. forget stats.

 

In no way shape or form does Yao have the same impact in any aspect of the game as Hakeem. That isn't a slap to Yao, but a testimony to Hakeem's greatness. Hakeem just flat out took over games. You could see it in his eyes. When he got a certain look, it was trouble for the other team. Yao commands attention on the offensive side of floor and is decent on defense too. But he just isn't comparable to Hakeem (oh, but I should say Yao is the better FT shooter!).

 

I recall Kelly saying that JVG goes off topic way too often. Even when there is an great game going on, JVG tends to spend too much time bantering with Mark Jackson about movies and rap albums and random ****.

 

But that's what is strange. He blasts Collins for over-analyzing the game. The basketball portion of JVG's commentary is top notch. The other stuff is just funny to listen to ... I don't find it distracting at all.

 

The Denver Kings of Sacramento?

 

Mark Jackson probably begs JVG to go off topic once in a while because that is the only way JVG can ever be wrong.