First, let me say that I thought that Hakeem played well, considering that the Raptors treated him like Chris Dudley on Offense. He had some nice defensive plays and great passes; and just seeing him on the Compaq Center floor was special. Those fans that booed were and still are pathetic individuals, but the majority of the fans tonight were great. Nice job by the Rockets organization for welcoming back the greatest player in franchise history. As for the game, all I can say is FINALLY! Finally, a comeback is completed! The defense was an atrocity in the first half, but the Rockets stepped it WAY up in the third and fourth quarters. The Rockets need to learn that when the defense is stepped up, the offense comes naturally. Fantastic job by Steve and Eddie, though Cuttino was abused by Carter. Anyway, this is just by view as a biased Rockets fan. If I were neutral, I would have found this to be a perfect NBA game. High scoring, and gut-wrenchingly close. It was sweet. Tanking should be out of the question. The Rockets need to focus on winning every game they can, so that they can start next year on a major roll. Steve needs to be aggressive on offense as he was tonight in EVERY game, and the other Rockets need to just follow behind him. Good job by Steve in remaining hot after he was stunningly benched by Rudy in the most important quarter of the game. Rudy did make up for his questionable decision to stunning remove Moochie Norris from the game in the fourth. RUDY TOOK MOOCHIE OUT IN THE FOURTH? WOW! Brilliant game. I'll be back in the chat during game 81. I'll be in Portland for the season finale.
good summary, rudy finally taking out the small ball lineup might be why we were able to sustain the comeback. mobley can't really be faulted carter is just good. like bill said i think mobley played hard defense on carter in the second half, but there are somethings you can't stop and carter is just too big. by the way how many times did the dude get away with traveling and charging.
OK, I got the outcome wrong but I got Hakeem's stats about right. Woohoo! Too bad the victory is killing our chances at Toronto's pick and our own lotto pick. Glad to hear Moochie and small ball didn't predominate.
I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I have to agree with ZRB. This was a great game because everyone buckled down and executed when they needed to. I particularly liked watching Steve take over the game, he shot the ball more which I've been begging for him to do like so many other posters. Calvin said it best that the cream rises to the top. And no knock on Cat, but I feel he is more effective when he plays off of Steve. Eddie Griffin played great, and I particularly enjoyed hearing that Eddie talked to Dream before the game. I found myself cheering and wanting the Rockets to win; despite the fact that I knew they were hurting their lottery chances and the chances to get Toronto's pick. Tonight was a great game, hopefully we can finish the season strong and take it into next season with a healthy roster.
i think rudy did an excellent job putting KT on clark after he was abusing EG. and it was nice to see defence, oh how i missed it.
Only thing I did not like was the way Eddie was treated. Not by the other team, but by his own teammates in the 4th quarter. One could easily argue that those (3) three's were the turnaround point for this win. So how was he rewarded for clutch shooting? simple, HE WAS NOT!!!! He had to watch everybody else try to win (or loose) on the offensive end. You would think that Rudy (or his teammates) would of gotten him involved again with the ball. Lucikily, defense won this game down the stretch. ZRB, I disagree that trying to win every game will help us next year. Like Clutch stated, that is probably the worse thing that can happen. WE DEFINATELY DO NOT NEED TO TANK, but #1 priority should be developing our young players and seeing who fits in the NBA (or CBA ----aka Collier & Langhi). Look at the 1999 season, that run at the end cost us about 4-5 places down the lottery. You might be surprised, we might win more games by getting everybody involved in a regular rotation (with plays), and getting Rudy out of one-dimensional coaching (1 on 5 via ISO).
Very encouraging win; however consistency is the key. Welcome back Eddie, and K.Thomas continues to put together one solid performance after another. What has happened to Cato? He seemed to go back on vacation after the passing of the trade deadline. Interesting. Up until the deadline, he put together a series of huge performances. After it passed, he seemed to disappear.
whoa, i never thought about that with cato, but he really has disappeared since the trade deadline. i hope he wasn't playing just to stay. if so why can't he keep it up since we've shown we want him? will we ever understand cato anyway?
Well if Cato has truly reverted back to his vacationing form, then next year right before the trade deadline occurs (when he'll be playing his best), hopefully we can find a team with a bad memory to unload him onto.
Our first half defense was a JOKE!! No effort, no hustle, no nothing. Chornicle article confirms that RT reamed them a new one at halftime. He needs to do more of that 'cause this group appears to be slow learners! And the results speak for themselves. They came out a differnet team after halftime. But, again the key to the turnaround was more in-the-face defense, grabbing loose balls, and offensive rebounding. Also it looked like a light bulb went off and Stevie is starting to understand when he simply needs to assert himself and take over a game. The team needs that from him every nite. A fabulous comeback after we had earned a well-deserved 17 point deficit. Also glad to see EG get back on track; and also glad to see him getting the ball down low for a change instead of always 25 ft. from the basket. No question in my mind he can develop a strong interior game if allowed to. Yes, Keon Clark took him to school, but it's just a matter of time, maturity and strength until he can turn that around too. Great game to watch...great win. Dallas Rocket
