First, I really liked how Bostjan Nachbar responded to his opportunity to play: Chronicle: [/I] "But with the Rockets clearly needing one more solid possession, Yao was double-teamed inside, and found Nachbar at the 3-point arc for the triple that gave the Rockets a five-point lead with 30.9 seconds left. "Boki having the courage to take the last shot -- Yao made a great play and Boki having the courage to take it -- that was very good," Van Gundy said." [/I] I hope we don't trade him right before he is ready to blossum. As for Mark Jackson, the Seattle announcers (thanks, Blatz, for the audio link) said it best (not an exact quote but close): All the point guards out there who are considered too slow should watch tapes of Mark Jackson. He is slow as a glacier, but man can he play. He uses those little stop and start dribbles to freeze his man and then he can either pass or shoot. He proves you don't need to be athletic to run a team but you have to be smart.
We'd be up the Fecal Creek without the Jacksons. Face it. Without MJ lurking, Francis would have been COMPLETELY out of control. JJ was the only level head on FAR TOO MANY high-turnover, low shooting percentage nights. They're the low profile contributors to what success the Rox have achieved so far.
Nachbar looks great when he is hitting 3ptrs. He shot 3-4 in 3ptrs last night including a key one late. He has been given chances on this team but more often than not has NOT taken advantage of them. If he would hit those 3ptrs more often he would play more. I know it is a chicken and egg thing...if he would play more he would get in a rhythm and hit more 3ptrs but it has to start somewhere and that is him coming on strong in a short amount of time to build confidence. I root for Nachbar and WANT him to succeed here. I would like to see him get more minutes. But he HAS to step up and produce. He CANT be an offensive libability! Clearly JVG was pleased with his effort last night. That's twice now lately that Nachbar has made plays (offensively and defensively) late in the game to help the team win. JVG notices this and this will go a long way in building confidence in JVG for Nachbar to play.
What is bewildering is the perception was that, when Nachbar was drafted by the Rockets, he was considered a defensive liability and an offensive weapon. Now the opposite seems to be true. The fact is that, IMO, he will be the starting forward next year because he has size, shot, defense, hustle, courage, athleticism and intelligence. (Just don't tell Kayman he's white.)
This quote should be chiseled in stone above the Rocket's facilities. No greater truth has be spoken over the Rockets in the last five years. And I hope it guides their off season decisions.
i really like JJ at the two last night, and our in and out burger offense was simply brilliant, we hit over 50% from three point!!! and we also have to admit the refs gave us some puppy love last night, as we went to the line more times that 2 or three nights combined. padge boki and JJ really seem to be a stonger three point threat than JJ, steve and cuttino. of course that was last night, but i want to see that type of fluid offense more. That was an offense i didnt think capable on a JVG team until last night, and now im hungry for more.
Listening to the Sonics announcers was informative. Just as in life, if you listen to only one voice -- one side -- you will never be able understand the whole truth. Although they kept calling Boki "Christian Nachbar," they were very complimentary of his game and were definitely complimentary of both Marc and Jim Jackson. They kept talking about the dour faces SF3 was making as Mark Jackson rolled up points and assists despite playing in "slow motion" (their words, not mine). In fairness, I only had audio so SF3 may have been reacting to things NOT going right for the Rocks. The Seattle announcers did make it clear that Seattle was more prepared for Steve and Cat's game and not for someone who could exploit their weaknesses.
I hope Boki gets traded. The Rox for whatever reason do not want to play this guy at all. He gives you more than Pike, but Pike gets alot more playing time than Boki. Boki plays defense!!! When is the last time Pike has made a defensive play? I hope he gets traded to a team where he can get some PT under his belt. If not, I hope Boki is not stuck at the end of the bench next season. He deserves to play. Bill was gushing all over him last night. Seems he is a good guy off the court as well. I am not saying Boki should start, but he should be a reserve that gets some good minutes every night.
This is not insider information -- just my gut hunch -- but I believe JVG has been investing time in Boki teaching him defense and where JVG wants him to be in the system. Boki's play obviously is much improved, and I think he will be the SF next year. IF SF3 is traded, I can see Jim Jackson moving to SG or even PG at least part of the time. Cat can be our Ginobili off the bench, absolutely devasting second string guards. No, dskillz, the Rocks definitely need to keep Boki (IMO).
As I said, "In fairness, I only had audio so SF3 may have been reacting to things NOT going right for the Rocks."
I wouldn't say SAT scores there Kayman but they should at leat have a high basketball IQ and a team first mentality....
with a new team coming into the league, there will be plenty of trades. First, from teams not wanting to protect a certain player that another team might want, so they trade him away and get something out of him before the expansion draft...second, from the new team, who will pick a few players just to trade... and third, from teams who lost players and need replacements... That said, I don't believe that hardly any player will be safe this year on any team. As players are picked in expansion, the cap numbers go down on the team the player came from, which is going to allow some teams to have freedom that they didn't have before. suddenly they have a few $$ and trading is a whole lot easier!
