ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Heat @ Rockets 2/14/2003

Nobody has a good game tonight. There are many blames to go around, including Yao, but examples you depicted above are not accurate at all. That was a lousy lob pass to Yao by SF. It was way over and away from Yao. The fact that the TV camera was shooting from above the court, it might not seem that obvious to you. Please watch the replay again. Even SF shook his head in disgust on the bad pass.
On the slam dunk by Grant. It was a good move by him anyway. And the reason why it happened is because we got burnt a number of times earlier in the game, when they scored at will with a high post pick. Yao got faked out on that play. If you watch the replay you will see that he thought their guard was gonna use Grant's pick like before, but he moved too soon and allowed Grant a clear path to the basket.
As far as Yao's post move, I agree with you only up to some extents. But I think much of the fault lies in Rudy. As I posted before, Yao just doesnt have a consistent fadeaway jumpers because of his limited leaping ability. Whenever he tried to bang against his man and then followed with those fadeaways, I can guarantee you that he will miss them, he just doesnt have the upper body strength that is required for this type of shots. Yet Rudy keeps designing this sort of play for Yao, it is really frustating to watch. And the rest of the team is just standing around to watch him doing ISO. When SF or Cat did cut to the basket, it often turned out to be a very difficult pass because both of them are just too short to receive the pass, especially when the rest of the opposing team was already converging into the paint. It is really painful to watch Yao to fight for position down low all by himself without any design plays to have his teammates to set up a pick or something to help him out. Didn't Stockten do that all the times for Marlone. Even Shaq got some sort of screen plays from his teammates. So much of the fault lies with the coaching, not Yao.
One last point. When playing against a shorter but athletic defender, my suggestion for Yao is to either pump fake or bang INTO the other guy to draw a foul and make a closer shot to the basket. It is very hard for a shorter, albeit with leaping ability, defender to contest a much taller player's shots in those situations. Yao is a much better face up shooter. It is RUDY's FAULT that he never sets up plays to utilize these aspects of Yao's strength.

 

Hey ... we don't need parker. And your forgot to add Steve, Griffin, Nachbar, Collier, Maddox, Mo-T, T-Mo. We trade all of them for Spurs' dancers.

Yao himself against 5 opponents. Yes.. this is the surest way to get him consistent ball touches. Or call his previous Shanghai Sharks team and let them play with Yao. Yao'll be happy.

 

Trade Yao? People are saying trade Yao now? Are people crazy on this board? Yao has exceeded everyone's initial expectations. No one expected to be nearly as good as he is so quickly. All of sudden it's lets trade him. Granted he didn't dominate, but he had more assists than Francis.

 

This happened after the Lakers game also...

-G'day-

 

I didn't see the game, but the impression I got from Clutch's recap (a fellow big Ming supporter) was that everybody took part in this all-out display of craptacularness. Please, please, PLEASE stop putting the blame on EVERYONE except Ming after every damn loss.

 

When the Rockets lose to teams like the Heat (w/o Jones, at Compaq), I can't help but hope they get a good lottery pick. Although, I think they may have traded their first round pick away this year. Okafur would be nice at the PF spot (blocks, rebounds, and originally from Houston).

 

Of all the posts I have EVER read on this board in the past couple years or so, nothing has pissed me off more than that **** right there... You hate every Rocket except Yao Ming??? Please tell me you were exaggerating, joking, or it was a knee-jerk reaction from a pissed fan after a terrible game, cuz that right there's just not exceptable.

You can't just be a fan of the name "Rockets", or of one player amidst 11 others you want gone (and apparently don't want to be replaced, but I'm sure you were joking on that much at least). you have to like some of the players, too, or you shouldn't be here. You, sir, are the definition of the most hated kind of Yao-only fan.

 

A sensible poster, at last

 

Too bad the rest of the Rockets are playing like complete garbage.
And you CAN be a Rockets fan without liking the current players. The Rockets organization was around and the Rockets won two championships long before any of these players joined the team. Right now, the team just sucks.

 

I think this game debunks the myth that the Rockets have an excuse because "the team is young." I can't stand excuses especially this one. And after the Heat playing well, with intensity, as a team on defense and offense with the team they had on the floor, the Rockets can not use this as an excuse!

 

A team that is focused around a 6'3" point guard who can't pass, can't play defense, can't stop playing stupid and can average only 23 points on a GOOD year is going to be very mediocre.
Building the team around Steve Francis was a huge mistake. Changes need to be made. Rudy needs to be replaced and Steve needs to be the 2nd or 3rd option or maybe traded. The team should be built around Yao and smart players. We have the best big man since Shaq and we are blowing the opportunity to be great.

Not in a good mood here!

 

The late 80's/early 90's Rockets had the same exact problem as this team. They'd play great against the better teams and stink it up against the bad teams. It took time for them to get it. That you have to play hard EVERY night just like you did in Utah. You have to bring that "There's no way in HELL that they're going to beat us" attitude every night. I remeber the fans were saying the same things about Dream back then too. That he was a ball hog. He couldn't pass. That he didn't make his team better. It's a stage all teams go through.

Of more concern to me is the makeup of this team. The Rockets need some experienced players to come in and lead by example. To do the dirty work, to hustle, to take the open 18 footer instead of trying to crossover your man and dive into the teeth of the defense.

And, in defense of Steve, say what you want, but no one wants to win as badly has he does. When the Rockets are going bad, he gives his flat out all. He may not make all the right plays, but then again, he's never been on a winning team and there's no one on that team that knows how to win. For all the wishes that we had the prototypical point guard to get his seven assists, don't forget all of the tough inside points and rebounds that Mr Protoypical PG would not get - especially on a team who's big men tend to play soft some times. All I'm saying is look at the big picture. Steve is one of the top ten players in the NBA and 13th in the league in assists. So it's not like he doesn't pass. If all of the players on this team played with the heart and determination of Steve, their record would be a lot better.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Steve Francis plays 41 minutes and gets only ONE assist. This has got to be a record for a point guard. Jesus Christ, are you kidding me? Man, I just know Yao is already counting the days until his contract runs out. In four years, Shaq will be gone and he'll sign with the Lakers. As much as Kobe Bryant shoots (he had 41 FGA tonight), he still managed to ge four assists - 400% more than Francis. I'm not saying that Yao is completely faultless. He makes mistakes like fumbling passes and missing shots, but he rarely makes mental mistakes like some of his teammates. As crazy as it sounds, Yao on any other team in the league would be averaging 25 points a game. But he never gets shots on the Rockets. 8 shots? 2 shots a quarter? What a joke! I would rather have Yao shooting 3's than Eddie Griffin.

Here's the start of the solution. Fire Rudy. The problems have been evident all season but nothing has changed. He's had his chance but he's too concerned about defending his players. Just because the Rockets are young, doesn't mean they shouldn't make the playoffs. Hire a hardass in the mold of Coach K., Bobby Knight or P.J. Carlissmo. If the players act like children, treat them like children. Make them run sprints. Show them the end of the bench if they complain. If necessary, threaten to publicly humiliate them and ruin their careers if they don't shape up. If anyone complains, trade their asses to Siberia. Their are plenty of players in the NBDL who will be more than willing to subscribe to the system. I remember the Lakers before they won any championships. They had amazing talent: Shaq, Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones, Kobe Bryant and Nick Van Exel, but they couldn't win. Talent doesn't guarantee wins. Team basketball wins. The reason the Rockets have terrible attendence is obvious, despite the addition of Yao. Houston fans have already figured out that it is excruciating to watch them play. Disgusting.

 

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with an emphatic SHUT-THE-HELL-UP and YOU'RE WRONG in response to that one. All parts of it, just wrong. Terrible game, yes, Steve and the Rox have many things to work on, and as for Steve, most players do in only their 4th year in the league. And I'm going to have to play the "this team is young" card in this argument too.... cuz they are, and much of even the core of this team hasn't been playing together more than a season or so. I'm sure you've heard that before, so don't tell me you're getting sick of it. It's true, and it should be rammed into your head by now.

And by the way, this is not a "good" year for Steve, it's the best year so far in his very young career that has seen improvements almost all across the board in most statistical categories in all 4 years he's been here. That's almost unheard of. He's still the best and most important player on this team, and Yao will only make him better, but he is not the Rocket-God. He certainly didn't play like it today either... I strongly suggest you get used to those two playing together for a while, and just shut your hole if all you have to say is pointless, meaningless, b****y crap like that after the devastating losses that are sure to come every step of the way to the greatness we WILL acheive.

No one should expect massive amounts of success from the Rockets this season, but yeah, I'm getting a little anxious for the playoffs too, even if it comes with a quick 1st round elimination. You can keep being a b**** if that's what makes you happy, but don't you or anyone like you even think about visiting this board with something positive to say about these players when we start winning.

 

Ok. I'm not going to stick to one subject here.

Pass the fu**ing ball. As much as I sit around and say "Fire Rudy's Ass! I know that he has to be trying to get these guys to pass the freaking ball. Right? Maybe not, they turn the ball over almost as often as they get an assist. Maybe he realizes they don't know how to pass the ball. Hence, Tony Parker rather than steve francis was in the skills event at the all-star game. (Maybe there's a reason I'm not aware of, but I just figured the NBA realized that steve isn't a good passer and might not do very well in the format.) By the way, I still think Steve is the best Rocket.

I would like to see the rockets try a different coach, but I'm not sure how much good it would do. I can tell you that NO veteran free agent would ever sign with a team that had Bobby Knight as their coach. Are you guys on crack? If the Rockets do go after another coach, I just hope that it's someone who wasn't a shoot first player (a la Calvin Murphy). As long as Rudy's the coach, why not try a little more of the inside out game. We all know he knows that offense. I know Yao's no Akeem yet, but hey, we're not going deep into the playoffs this year anyway, might as well try it. Never mind, I just realized this would require someone passing the ball.

Is anyone else tired of all white and asian players being characterized as smart? The Rockets have zero african american players on their team that they drafted in the first round. I read THE PUNCH, so I know a bit about Rudy's history, so I don't think the guy's a racist, but it's interesting. How about hiring Kermit Washington to help teach Yao Rebounding and build his strength?

When the rockets pass, they get open shots, they win.

 

You must be kiddin' me, look at this board, some old asses here even defend Mobley pretty hard, i guess nothing will be changed , at least this season.

 

This has got to be one of the most asinine statements I've read on this BBS.

The title of Clutch's recap was Schizophrenia. Hell, that's pretty much describes what's happening around this board. If we beat the Fakers again half of you foaming at the mouth will be declaring this team on the verge of a dynasty (again).

I'm probably one of the more optimistic folks around here and we have had an unbelieveable number of games this season that have practically driven me into a catatonic fit. The fact that my TV is still in one piece is probably sheer luck... an empty plastic Diet Coke bottle instead of a glass beer bottle to throw at it. (yeah, I know... I should of had a whole row of empty Heineken's next to me... dumb luck) My optimism is suffering death by "Chinese Water Torture", one drip (game) at a time. And, for our Chinese friends, that wasn't a reference to Yao (unless it was subconscious).

I will try to persevere.

 

By the way, tsl99, as an old a$$ (at least in years) I just wanted to say that you can always take your young a$$ down the road to another site. The REAL old-timers are what make this board sing. Off-key quite often, but singing never the less. That doesn't include me... I haven't been around long enough. My incept date doesn't compute.

Here's a smilie for you.

 

im sorry but rudy has to go, im a huge rudy fan but its time for him to hang it up

 

good one