ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Celtics @ Rockets 1/13/2003

You're missing the point. If he was really hogging the ball that much, how would he rack up that many assists? Plus, the number of attempts he has per game is way down. Probably at least partially because of this, he's been deliverying with a fairly consistently high percentage as of late. And his rebounding numbers are way up, solidifying the Rockets status as a gang-rebounding team. Everybody on this team can board!

Wow... a lot of my theories have been wrong. Mobley and Francis just played a great game, and I'm still having trouble finding very many of their supporters. Do people here really hate them that much? Guys, they're not going anywhere, but trust me, we won't go far without them.

 

A true Rockets fan who doesnt say these words like you said so!!!we ,as many Rockets fans ,like SF,Mobley,Posey,EG,Norries,Taylor,Rice and others of the Rocket.
you speaked unkindly.

 

Read the whole game thread from the beginning before you bash me. Mobley was bashed after he made one two mistakes.

You have to see the game in a whole, and I think the Boston game in the whole was fine. Of course there is always some mistakes here and there, cause if it's perfect, Rockets would have a record better than the Mavericks.

Now seriously I don't see too many bashing against Yao if he performs poorly (not this game of course). Say if Yao missed 1 or 2 passes, committed 3 turnovers. Nobody bash him. I wonder why

 

Are you serious???

This can only create jealousy and destroy the team chemistry. Wonder if Mark Cuban is behind all of this

 

We will bash him when he is not a rookie anymore

Seriously, Cat is fine. He is a good player. He certainly still needs to improve his game. I won't mind him shooting more if he is hot. But when he is cold, he should start to pass around and do other things like defending and creating easy shots for his teammates. He is starting to do this though.

Cat is actually a smart player. If he was a second-round pick and worked himself into a star, he should be pretty smart. I think he will continue adjusting, but his adjustment will depend on the development of Yao and EG. Right now, none of Yao and EG are consistent, there is a reason why Cat and Steve take so many shots. They want to take the game on their hands. If Yao or EG can be consistent low-post threats, I expect Cat defer to Yao or EG if he wants to stay as a Rox.

 

The officating was horrible through out tonight's game, but I did see some very nice individual peformances from our starting five on both sides of the ball tonight. I also liked the shooting and desire that the bench displayed out there. Gutsy win! Nice win.

Go Rockets!!

 

duno if this has been posted, but it is late and I am going to bed, so no time to check. but the boston's commentator said something like "did you see Yao was wide open after that pick and roll? how can you miss a wide open 7-5 guy and not pass him the ball, it is a dumb team if you do not ultize him" something like that

 

NOTE:

Sometimes it helps to see through your opponents eyes. While folks may be disappointed by Yao's low scoring. His influence on the game is not reflected by the stats alone. IMHO, the 4 blocks he put up in the 1st qtr must be terrifying to the poor Celts




ROCKETS 101, CELTICS 92

It's a bad trifecta for the Celtics

They lose 3d in row in Texas

By Peter May, Globe Staff, 1/14/2003

HOUSTON - Paul Pierce said it simply, but accurately.



''Last year, these are the games we would have won,'' he said after yet another tough road loss, a 101-92 decision to the Rockets last night. ''We would have found a way to win the game and get over the top. We're not doing that this year and it's been tough.''

Not now they're not. Last night's loss represented the team's third straight setback, as the Celtics went 0-for-Texas. They were bludgeoned in Dallas Friday night and lost a heartbreaker Sunday night in San Antonio. Last night, they were right there for the final 16 minutes, but never had the lead. They took 33 3-pointers and nine free throws.

The loss was Boston's eighth in its last 10 games as the Celtics limp home a mere three games over. 500. Still, coach Jim O'Brien saw another promising performance from rookie J.R. Bremer (22 points, 6 assists) and some decent defensive work from Kedrick Brown and decided that a 1-3 trip (they opened with a victory in New Orleans) was not all that bad.

''I thought our team grew on this road trip,'' O'Brien said. ''We had a down game against Dallas. We played very well against New Orleans. We played very, very well against San Antonio and could have pulled out a win. And I thought we played a solid game of basketball [against the Rockets].

''I thought on this road trip, J.R. got a chance to prove himself and did. And Kedrick got more playing time and played well. The wins and losses don't show it, but I thought we played solid basketball in three of the four games.''

Solid, just not successful. This wasn't the gut-wrencher from the night before, when the Celtics went scoreless in the final 3:37 and watched San Antonio erase a 7-point deficit. This was more a cat-and-mouse game and the Celtics never caught up.

They got their first look at Yao Ming, the Rockets' soon-to-be franchise center. Yao was a dominating force in the first period, registering four of his five blocked shots. The Celtics basically stayed away from the basket for the rest of the night, resorting to their favorite shot - the 3-pointer. It helped them get back into the game, but they didn't have enough firepower to overcome the heroics of Steve Francis (26 points) and Cuttino Mobley (24), who combined for 16 of Houston's last 18 points.

''They were making tough, challenged shots when we were in their face and that's a compliment to them,'' saluted Antoine Walker, who had 23 points. Pierce led the Celtics with 24.

The biggest shot of all came from Mobley, the former Rhode Island Ram whose college team is best remembered for upsetting Pierce's heavily favored Kansas team in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. With the Celtics trailing, 91-88, Mobley launched a rainmaker over Pierce from the top of the key. It hit nothing but net.

''He's a tough player,'' Pierce said. ''I really like his game.''

There were still 83 seconds left. Bremer drove the lane and made the right pass to the wrong guy - Brown. His 3-pointer from the corner had no chance; Brown was 1 of 7 in the game, the sole hoop an athletic tip-in. He missed all four of his treys. Francis then drove in the final stake with a 15-foot jumper with 52.8 seconds left, making it a 7-point lead.

As for the much-hyped Yao, he had 10 points and 6 rebounds to go with his 5 blocked shots. He played 31 minutes. But he was a major factor in the Celtics' decision to bomb away from the perimeter because they had no luck inside when he was in the game.

''It's very difficult to get the ball inside with Yao Ming in there,'' O'Brien said.

Added Pierce: ''He definitely changes the game. He's altering shots. Guys are more hesitant to go to the basket. And when you did go to the basket, you'd have to pass it out and it's tough to do that. Plus, it keeps them out of foul trouble. He controls the paint. When you've got a big guy like that, it's hard to go in there and draw fouls.''

The Celtics tried early - and didn't like the results. The Rockets tore through them in the first quarter, shooting 70.6 percent from the field in taking a 27-19 lead. Houston got the lead to 15 early in the second, much the same way the Spurs did the night before. And, much the same way, the Celtics battled back, making it a 4-point game (50-46) at intermission and a 1-point game (69-68) after three.

But, as also was the case the night before, they didn't have quite enough to close the game. And, as Pierce noted, they did have that ability last year. The good news is that they've still got a lot of time to get it right.

This story ran on page F1 of the Boston Globe on 1/14/2003.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.

 

1) Yao improves on his weakness. People who bash him on his vulnerability usually find themselves eating a humble pie quickly

2) Yao is probably a better passer than most current league players

3) His TOs has come down quite a bit. People who used to criticize him on this are now all dead silent.

This is a quick chart I made comparing his TOs and RBs. Look at his last 10 games and the previous 10 games. His TOs halved.

 

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You know, I almost picked that name when I registered here...

 

Geez olliez....

You must be one freaking Yao Ming fans.

OK, let's continue Steve and Mobley bashing.

 

Good win, but watching Mobley play at times is just painful. Time and time again he would dribble down the clock, ignore Yao, take long jumpshots or drive into trafic. Don't get me wrong...Mobley is a good shooter, but he doesn't understand his role on this team.

He is no longer "the man" and shouldn't ignore the team's biggest advantage, Yao (who was playing well,) nor take 18 shots.

This isn't about hating a certain player or being a fan of only one player, it is about what is in the best interest of this TEAM. If the Rockets are going anywhere, Yao will take them there. Shooting difficult shots and taking on three defenders is just bad basketball.

It is amazing to me that everyone can see this but our own players. Who is running this team? I've been a longtime Rudy supporter, but when Cat becomes undisciplined, he should sit. I would really like to see Rudy consider starting Posey at the 2 and Nachbar at the 3. Let Cat come off the bench for a while. He's a talented player but he needs to learn how to play team basketball.

We escaped tonight but the game did not need to be as close as it was.

 

Actually people have bashed Yao Ming when he had high TOs.

See this thread.
http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48503

 

Jeez, I thought the Mobley and Francis bashing had toned down a bit, but for these arguments to be inflamed again after a W?????

Come on ppl! What more do you want from a W?? Everybody played well, everyone contributed and the assists were UP. The team shot 50%, with only Griff and Norris shooting under .5, the D was pretty good ('cept Bremer set season high... ), Posey seems to fit pretty well, and we WON.

Yao fits with this team, he's doing his part. Slowly Francis's and Mobley's shots will decrease for Yao to get more shots. But let me say this once again, this is still FRANCIS'S team. NOT YAO's. Not yet at least. Rookies in the NBA just about never get.. err.. "captaincy" of the team. Sooner or later they'll start relying even more on Yao, especially when the jumpers aren't falling, which is at least a third of the nights newayz. I like how the scoring is distributed btwn Yao, Francis and Mobley, any one of them could go off and carry most of the scoring load, but it's nice when it's distributed btwn them. Yao was a HUGE HUGE difference on D this time, and I love that. He's one of the reasons the rox D has been good this season (along with Posey, Hawkins, Mobley, and Griff.. sometimes).

As long as the team is winning I'm happy as can be. Every rox fan should be. Yes there are faults as with any team, and in this last game it would have been nice for Mobley to have cut down his to's, but he hardly gets that many to's anyways, and the night that he does he makes up for it by shooting well, getting three steals, and dishing out 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Tremendous game for him!

Props to all the players, they all played extremely well. Yao played extremely good defense, Posey came out and did very well (I expect Posey to start taking much more time away from Rice), TMo got some nice boards and shot pretty well too, props to Norris too for dishing out 3 dimes in 9 minutes of pt. Especially props to Mobley and Francis though, they were ON tonite.

 

I don't like this weak argument. Its like a programmer ignoring big bugs and all kinds of holes in his application but as long as your program works, its great, right? Sure it works fine now, but later on down the road, the application is going to act up and make the programmer look really really bad.

You've got to fix your damn problems before it shows up on big games in the future.

 

Chen Zhen.... you must be a programmer, ADMIT IT!! :d

Yes.... Trade Francis, Bench Mobley, Fire Rudy, Give the Damn Ball to Ming.

 

But a program with bugs and holes is UGLY, and the performance would probly be pretty bad. This win was a good one, a great game where everybody contributed and had a decent or good game. This wasn't an ugly win at all... and what major bugs are you talking about that showed up in this game?? The O was good the D was good, and we got the W. The thing with the Rox is that the program never stays the same... if it was constantly the same as this game we'd be second in the midwest right now... but doing simple things always makes them crash and burn and doing the complicated things they work beautifully (very odd, but it's better than the other way around).

 

Who says its ugly or pretty? You're totally missing my point (you're not making much sense btw).

My point is that you should not blindly ignore your serious problems after a victory that's all. If you do not see serious problems on our victory: <i>see Dreamshake's post</i>.

Stevie, our floor leader, also have that same problem too.

 

I agree with this. A lot of times last night when he'd jack up shots, I would be wondering, "What the Hell is Cuttino thinking?", but luckily a lot of the prayers he was throwing up were being answered.

Paul Pierce had this to say after the game:

''He's a tough player,'' Pierce said. ''I really like his game.''

If Cat keeps getting positive feedback like this from elite players for his iso style of play, then it's going to be that much harder for him to change, which will end up hurting us because his hail mary shots will miss more often than not in the long run.