ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Blazers @ Rockets 11/12/2002

Dude, that was funny play. Griffen dribbled the ball, stopped with 2 guys all over him and forgot that he dribbled already and started dribbling again. You could tell on his face that he felt like a dumb*ss.

 

I believe Stevie can fly!!!

or, he's taking the invisible staircase to the basket!!!

YEAH!!

 

Here is the Oregon's papers recap of the game. They pretty much think Stevie is a stud also.

link


Francis delivers knockout after hard fall

11/13/02

JIM BESEDA

HOUSTON -- Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich summed up Steve Francis' play down the stretch Tuesday night in one word: "Fantastic."

That was putting it mildly.

Picking himself up after being on the receiving end of a flagrant foul by Rasheed Wallace midway through the third quarter, Francis scored 22 of his game-high 30 points, including 14 in the closing 6:28, to lift the Rockets to an 86-83 victory over the Trail Blazers at the Compaq Center.

The Rockets guard delivered the biggest blow when he drove past Scottie Pippen and floated a layup over Dale Davis' outstretched arm, breaking an 83-83 tie with 20 seconds to play.

"Late in the game, he took over," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said of Francis, who made 11 of 22 shots from the field, including seven of 10 in the fourth quarter.

The Rockets held their breath with 4:43 to play in the third quarter when Wallace sent Francis crashing to the floor on a drive to the basket. Wallace drew a flagrant foul I, giving Francis two free throws and the Rockets the ball.

"I couldn't even tell what happened," said Francis, who landed hard on his right hip and lay face down on the court for two to three minutes before getting up. "Rasheed is not a dirty player who would try to hurt me. I know it was a fluke accident. He was going for the ball and I just came down awkward. I'm grateful that I was able to get up from something like that."

Up to that point, Francis had scored eight points. But he made both free throws to cut the Blazers' lead to 58-54, then scored the Rockets' final four points of the quarter as Houston closed to 64-63.

"We know the guy is a warrior. There was no doubt in my mind that if he could walk, he was going to play," Tomjanovich said. "I don't know how the guy does that after taking a fall like that. I was just afraid to take him out and let it stiffen up. He just kept on making big plays."

Francis said he didn't do anything special.

"I was feeling pretty loose and the defense gave it to me," Francis said. "I probably forced one shot, and that was at the end of the first half. The rest was just in the flow, and I just took what the defense gave me."

Where was the Blazers' go-to guy down the stretch? If that's Wallace, he scored a season-low nine points after making two of 14 shots. He missed six of seven shots in the fourth quarter and was seething along with everybody on the Portland bench when Kenny Thomas was credited with a blocked shot and not called for goaltending with the Blazers nursing a 76-74 lead with 5:47 to play.

"Obviously, we're going to feel it was goaltending," Cheeks said. "Whether it was or not . . . that's a judgment call. We felt we got a couple guys who got fouled late down the stretch and didn't get the call. But again, those are judgment calls. We either get them or we don't, and we didn't get them." Jim Beseda: 503-221-8380; jimbeseda@news.oregonian.com

 

Quote:
Originally posted by Chuck04
"BTW, what the hell is an "Official Timeout" (or "Officials Timeout")?? Isaw it on the game log on ESPN and just wanted to know what it is.


Haven't seen anybody answer this yet. The officials call one or two time outs per quarter (can't remember exactly) to ensure that TV stations get enough commercial time in. I know the first one comes at the first dead ball after the 6:00 mark of the first quarter. If you watch the game, Bill will usually say, "There's a time out on the floor" for an official time out "


There are ten official timeouts in every game. Two in the first and third quarters (first dead ball under six and three minutes) and three in the second and fourth (first dead ball under nine, six and three minutes). Coaches usually don't call timeouts on their own anymore, they usually wait for the official timeouts unless the other team is making a huge run.

 

Nice first post skin, your knowledge of the game of basketball is a welcome sight. Keep on keepin' on!

 

One thing to note about Eddie versus Rasheed...one reason that could happen was because Kenny was guarding Davis and Sabonis a lot, and doing a good job. Most of Sabonis' points came against Yao. And note...at the end, they put Griffin on Sabonis to get Kenny's defense on Rasheed. We closed out the game with Kenny on Rasheed. One play Sabonis muscled Eddie for an easy score. The next play was the shared block by Eddie and Kenny.

Eddie is a great weakside defender. But at this point, I still consider Kenny the better positional defender at denying the ball, and denying position. It is a good complement.

 

When I saw Steve landing hard on the court off the flagrant, I knew he would stand back up. Steve is a tough player and plays through almost anything

 

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/RocketsBlazers_Postgame_Quote-58304-34.html
-Blazers vs. Rockets-
POSTGAME QUOTES
NOVEMBER 12, 2002



CUTTINO MOBLEY

On the key to the game:
"Our defense in the second half was great. The second half was great."

On Steve Francis’ fall:
"It was a hard fall. It was one of those falls where it won’t hurt him now, but it will be sore like a thigh bruise. It wasn’t deliberate by Rasheed. Steve opened up his body, and when you open your body like that, you leave yourself vulnerable. I’m glad he’s OK."

On Francis’ toughness:
"Steve’s amazing, man. To take a fall like that, a lot of people would be done for the night; he knew how big that game was. That’s a true champ right there. He’s a heavyweight. He’s definitely a heavyweight. It’s unbelievable."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STEVE FRANCIS

On On his fall to the floor:
"Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you (what happened). I just remember I went up and though Rasheed Wallace is known for getting technical fouls, he’s not a dirty kind of player that’s trying to hurt me, so I know it was something that was a fluke accident and that he was going for the ball. I just came down awkwardly."

On the game:
"I’m glad the guys kept their composure after that (the fall). I felt like we played good down the stretch to where we kind of controlled what we wanted to do on the offensive end. We didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half, and I thought the defense helped us in the second half. Once we decided in our minds that we wanted to play defense, the game changed."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLAZERS COACH MAURICE CHEEKS

On the key to the game:
"Francis took over the game late and I thought we had a good defense on him. When he’s making his jump shot he’s tough to stop. We didn’t win the game because of the third quarter. We did some good things, but not quite enough of them."

On Portland’s early season play:
"We’ve led every game on this trip at halftime, and we’ve had to scratch and claw to try and win games."

On Rasheed Wallace’s play:
"Rasheed had a rough shooting game, but he did get us some rebounds. We have to try and find a way to get him on track."

On Yao Ming's play:
"I think he’ll be pretty good. He has some good skills for his size and an excellent touch for a shooter."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BONZI WELLS

On the key to the game:
“We just lost. Houston played well and pulled it out in the end. Give Steve Francis credit. He took over the game and just went off on us in the second half."

On Portland’s early season play:
“It’s early in the season and we have to focus on the future. We have to get better and learn from our mistakes."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAMON STOUDAMIRE

On Portland’s 3-6 record:
"Our margin of error is very small. WE are in a predicament where our margin of error is very little. The season is early and there is a lot of time, but we’re off to a rough start."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ARVYDAS SABONIS

On Yao Ming:
"He needs to change his style and get more physical and add more muscle. He will get better and better. He needs to learn every day and if he has no injuries, he’ll be OK."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCOTTIE PIPPEN

On the key to the game:
"We lost our momentum in the second half and Francis got it going and Houston ran away with the game. We lost our rhythm and they got effective shooting the ball and they limited us to just one shot."

On playing in Houston:
"Houston has a real nice package. The fans still love me here, don’t they?"

On the booing:
"It doesn’t bother me at all. The booing doesn’t distract me, as I’ve played in some pretty hostile places."

 

Did anyone else at the game notice the Banner a guy posted? It said:

33 (with an X through it) NO PIP HOORAY!!! 33 (with an X through it). He also had a Pippen Rockets Jersey next to that with an X through the 33, and was also wearing one. I thought that was pretty funny and was thinking it might have been shown on TV.

Pugsly8422

 

two things..

1)if he calls the end of that game "running away with the game" then I would hate to see what he considers a close game..

2)What da hell is he doin checking out our *package*?

 

...just seeing if ours measured up to michael's...

 

dude, my heart sunk, my jaw dropped and I was already envisioning our PG situation... Steve hit the floor so hard and bounced when he hit it, I thought it was going to be bad, bad news... I am so glad he's fine. I wonder how big the bruise is? Damn that Rasheed Wallace!

 

HP, do you HAVE TO drag Kenny Thomas in for every raving post?

 

he's my favorite player.

but even at that, the answer to every question about "How did Griffin do against X" should include that Kenny is being moved around to guard a lot of different people to allow Griffin to focus on one thing...and Kenny continues draw PFs on offense.

Griffin's growth can be planned and protected, because Kenny is the Raging Bull that allows Griffin to roam free and play finesse ball until he gets stronger.

 

Heres the stats that alot of you guys requested I post for the Portland game along with the stats from the preceeding game. Enjoy.

-------------------------------------------------

vs. Golden State

A = Assists - We all know what this is, but I adjusted it slightly to include assists that were made to a player who was fouled in the act of shooting and went to the line.

AO = Assist opportunities – This stat is total assists plus assists that would have been credited if it weren’t for the shooter missing the shot (a good shot), having the shot blocked or having the ball stolen on the way up.

OOS = One on One Successes – This is where the player going one on one either scored or was fouled in the act of shooting.

OOT = One on One Touches – Not defining this as an ISO. I defined this stat as any time a player received a pass and attempted to score one on one (not an assist opportunity for the passer).

OOSR = One on One Success Rate – The rate at which the player going one on one was successful when compared to total one on one touches.

TO = Turnovers - No definition necessary.

TT = Total Touches – Total number of times a player touched the ball in a half court set.

A
Griffin 2
Tomas 6
Cato 1
Francis 5
Mobley 4
Ming 0
Rice 1
Hawkins 1
Norris 2

AO
Griffin 5
Thomas 13
Cato 1
Francis 9
Mobley 7
Ming 1
Rice 1
Hawkins 1
Norris 3

OOS
Griffin 0
Thomas 7
Cato 1
Francis 11
Mobley 5
Ming 0
Rice 1
Hawkins 0
Norris 3

OOT
Griffin 0
Thomas 10
Cato 1
Francis 19
Mobley 12
Ming 0
Rice 2
Hawkins 1
Norris 4

OOSR
Griffin ------
Thomas 70%
Cato 100%
Francis 58%
Mobley 43%
Ming ------
Rice 50%
Hawkins 0%
Norris 75%

TO
Griffin 1
Thomas 0
Cato 1
Francis 1
Mobley 4
Ming 1
Rice 0
Hawkins 0
Norris 1

TT
Griffin 36
Thomas 35
Cato 15
Francis 83
Mobley 44
Ming 6
Rice 15
Hawkins 6
Norris 18

Total Player Touches 258
Total Team Possessions 116
Avg. touches per possession 2.2

Total Team Assists (adjusted) 22
Total Team Assist Opportunites 41
Team Assist % 53.7%

Total Team One on One Successful Opportunites 28
Total Team One on One Opportunities 49
Team One on One Success % 57.1%

vs. Portland

A
Francis 6
Mobley 4
Griffin 0
Thomas 2
Collier 0
Hawkins 2
Rice 2
Ming 2
Norris 2
Taylor 0

AO
Francis 14
Mobley 8
Griffin 1
Thomas 5
Collier 0
Hawkins 2
Rice 4
Ming 3
Norris 4
Taylor 0

OOS
Francis 11
Mobley 2
Griffin 2
Thomas 3
Collier 0
Hawkins 0
Rice 0
Ming 1
Norris 0
Taylor 0

OOT
Francis 20
Mobley 9
Griffin 4
Thomas 6
Collier 0
Hawkins 1
Rice 2
Ming 1
Norris 1
Taylor 2

OOSR
Francis 55%
Mobley 22%
Griffin 50%
Thomas 50%
Collier ----
Hawkins 0%
Rice 0%
Ming 100%
Norris 0%
Taylor 0%

TO
Francis 5
Mobley 4
Griffin 0
Thomas 2
Collier 0
Hawkins 2
Rice 1
Ming 2
Norris 2
Taylor 0

TT
Francis 89
Mobley 40
Griffin 28
Thomas 28
Collier 2
Hawkins 16
Rice 10
Ming 9
Norris 22
Taylor 11

Total Player Touches 265
Total Team Possessions 101
Avg. touches per possession 2.6

Total Team Assists (adjusted) 20
Total Team Assist Opportunites 41
Team Assist % 58.8%

Total Team One on One Successful Opportunites 19
Total Team One on One Opportunities 46
Team One on One Success % 41.3%

 

LOL the instant reply looked pretty scary
it looked like he landed on his butt-bone. I remembered Grant Hill messing up his butt-bone and he couldnt "explode" like he said lol

good thing Francis is ok

 

Someone pls share the load from SF! What if SF seriously hurt from that fall, our season may probably end right now. I wish that fall can further glue our team and SF can save some sweat each night.

KH

 

i havent heard much about moochie from media...is he still playing? he's not hurt.
scrap minutes?