Freak, You think Francis didn't deserve to be in the all star game. Yao shouldn't have started but I think the coaches would have took him. You say team is where it should be. I said if they didn't make the playoffs we should make a change. Four years in a row in the lottery is where we should be. Not a lot of teams could say that. Our talent is comparable to teams we are chasing. Ostertag vs Yao No contest Yao Stocton vs Francis I'll take Francis now anytime Malone vs Griffin I'll give Utah this one Griffin stays on 3pt line. Cheaney vs Mobley What do you think I'll call it a draw. Harping vs Posey I personally would pick Posey but call it a draw Advantage Rockets Disadvantage Rockets coaching or chemistry but not talent level We are not where we should be.
If a coach's job is so easy, I could be a better coach. At least, I could send my best defense boys on to the court to "foul".
Uh, verse, Even if what you *think* is true, how did it make Rudy a liar? Malone wasn't in the act of shooting. They should have fouled him immediately. That's exactly what Rudy said in the quote. How did he lie? BTW, you really think Rudy is so stupid as to lied to the media to blame his players and save himself? What would the players do when they heard this? C'mon, if you want to bash, at least bash with some sense.
Rudy didnt have to forsee this. he had his play to do. That is, FOUL FOUL FOUL...but a bunch of rookies dont know the game, and do not know how to listen to their coach lost this one for us. HE did not put in his best defenders, because anyone can commit a foul...HOW HARD IS IT!?!?!?! Anyone from here (CC.net) would have wasted no time at jumping on Malone, Perhaps, we might even attack him too early. But...yeah. This really sucked...the coach had it all right...players just didnt listen..."I dont know if i could foul him" What kind of BUllSh!t is that? Rudy...for once, is not praising the team. He finally, for once seems mad, and this I hope will show that He is indeed a coach, and not a best friend to the players. They better see him as a boss, and He has to critize them like he did tonight, and stand up and be tough to the team when they dont give him what he wants.
I'm not sure why fouling on that play is the simplest of things. If you don't execute properly in any direction on that play, you can potentially lose the game. It's not as straightforward as just tackling the guy with the ball. You have to keep up with him; you have to be sure he can't take a shot; you have to be sure it's not flagrant; you have to be sure he doesn't pass it to the man you've abandoned for the open 3 because you've overcommitted on the foul. There are a lot of variables there for the defenders to cover. From watching the replay it looks to me like Yao was physically unable to foul Malone in time; he was too far and didn't have his feet set right. I think Morris could have fouled him but didn't, for whatever reason. All in all though, despite blowing the foul, the defense on that play was good. I think you just don't want to accept the fact Harpring hit a fantastic shot. If tonight's game comes down to Harpring taking a long 3 for the tie over Yao's outstretched arm with the clock running out, I'll be happy to take that. It isn't a shot he has a very good chance of hitting.
We could foul malone and harpring, either one of them. Who was supposed to guard Malone? Was E.G. on the court that time? TMo was supposed to mark Harpring. Ming shouldnt've put this one on himself, because he was at least 8 feet away from Marlone and Harping on that play.
Some random thoughts on this. I did see the game BTW 1) I think Yao's comment was meant to say that he was not in the best position to foul. He was a few feet away from Malone when he got the bal and really did not have a chance to do it. Morris was closer and also he was the one that was guarding Harpring(poorly I might add). 2) If you saw the game, after the Jazz hit the shot they showed Rudy who looked bewildered and kept saying as they walked to the bench for a TO "Why didn't we foul" That should show that he obviously told them to foul. I am not a proponent of the let Rudy coach until he is 300, but it pains me to see some sensible people laying blame on him for everything that happens. Should they have used some different personel in the situation? Probably, but ultimately the players are the ones playing the game and they are the ones that have to perform. If they won't do that then the Rockets should get rid of them but it isn't as easy as saying "You did not do your job you're gone". I think Rudy's one underlying fault is that he may sometimes be too loyal. Sometimes you just gotta cut a guy loose or bench them if they aren't getting the job done.
Why did you leave out Jeff's other options? You know, like "Maybe he's secretly a terrorist trying to bring down the United States one NBA franchise at a time". The fact that you think those are the two obvious problems shows your warped view of looking at the situation. You obviously have an anti-Rudy bias. The fact that you even mention #1 as a possibility with absolutely no evidence to support it proves this. I guess #2 couldn't be that the players can't LEARN the simplest of things. Or that players, especially inexperienced ones, will make mistakes. No, it's got to be all on Rudy. Great analysis.
"Most do" huh? So that's it? That's your evidence? I have an example for you. Kevin Garnett, a much better player than Francis ever will be, made the playoffs in his second season. Oh but guess what....his team's record was 40-42. Oh, but Garnett made the playoffs right? Nothing else matters. Why are personnel moves necessary? Are you not allowed to have a player on your team that's not a superstar? I don't get it. Doesn't matter that all the good teams are in the West, does it? Nah, probably not. Doesn't matter that the team just wasn't good enough, does it? Nah, has to be someone's fault. Let's make it the coach's.
Francis is a hell of an athlete. He had a great game last night. He had 0 ...YES...0 Turn overs in Regulation time. He overcame his bad side last night. he also had 5 assists. Which is not a hell of a lot. But 5 assists to 0 TO, with 28 points to boot with a good shooting night. I would take that any day/night.
Did something get lost in the translation from English to Mandarin (or Mandarin to Shanghaiese)? Did Yao's lack of experience with NBA rules confuse him at the end of the game? Regardless, Yao should NOT have been out on the perimeter defending Karl Malone. TMo should not have been out there defending Matt Harpring. The coaching mistake wasn't that Yao and TMo didn't foul Malone. It was putting those guys in that position to potentially fail. I would have thrown Eddie Griffin out there on Karl Malone (he did a great job all game of denying Malone the ball and deflecting post passes). I'd have stuck Yao and Cato under the basket for a rebound. I'd have put Posey on Harpring. But still, I don't know if I'd have fouled in that situation. Did anybody watch that shot by Harpring? It was more incredible than the end of regulation 3s that Francis has been hitting off screens from Yao. The real lesson from this game, though, as several others have noted, is that the Rockets need to learn how to close out games. This is unacceptable.
I was thinking the same thing last night, he gave up on EG so early, even after he had a good start, but I must also say, that wasn't the reason the game ended up going in to overtime. Taylor actually had a decent game.
feishen, you cannot foul harpring. show some basketball knowledge and tell us why you shouldn't foul harpring.
darn no edit, The other thing to add to Juan's list of reasons the foul is not the easist thing to do (although, I was yelling for it with the rest of you) is that Malone passed almost instantly. If Terence hesistates for whatever reason that Juan outlined, it's too late to foul him. You will not get an off-ball foul call on this, no way.
