ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Lakers @ Rockets 1/17/2003

Yao's big frame makes it hard for any defender to get throught that screen. Fisher just flopped when Francis got by him.

Next time, they should put two guys on Francis and leave one of the forward open to shoot the 3 pointer.

 

That's effect of Yao's defense presence, which does not show up in the box score. Why Kobe shot so poorly? Cuz he is afraid to go to the hole and settled for jumpers.

 

Now I'm convinced that our defense is winning games for us. Kobe didn't just have an off night. Our defense played him well. Another team shot below their average against us. Rudy said on radio that even he was surprised how fast the team got it.

On the officiating, let's just say the out-of-bound call should have given us the ball but we didn't get it. And the flagrant foul call should have been a regular foul and given the ball to them after the two fts, but they didn't get it. So the two calls evened out. The difference was the T on Jackson for arguing the call. That gave us one more point and kept the distance of 4 points the rest of the way.

So, Phil, you blew it. Don't blame the refs. Your zen thing couldn't help you keep you poise at the end, and it cost your team the game, haha.

Rudy on the other hand did lose it on that bad out-of-bound call and gave the Rockets a chance to tie at the end.

 

I meant Rudy didn't lose it, of course. (no editing)

 

Not only the flagrant call the Fakers b**** over.
Fakers said that the pass from Steve to Yao at OT is not valid. Steve committed double dribble before passing to Yao for the dunk. Jackson said he didn't even know Yao dunked the ball since he got up from the chair and shouted at the ref for double dribble.

 

Postgame quotes:

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/quotes030117

ROCKETS COACH RUDY TOMJANOVICH

On the game:
"This was a really big week for us. We’ve had good teams coming here; teams that have been playing well and the defending world champions have been playing really, very well. I thought we came out and played a really solid defensive game. They’re hard to guard. They all shoot the ball so well, you know, that’s why they’ve won championships. You make a decision and they always sort of have an answer, with the perimeter shooters. We had to try to change defenses.

I thought we did a very solid job on Kobe; he’s going to get points. We made him work for them. Steve was all-universe. He made the big shot to get into overtime and then delivered the goods on getting attention and dropping it off to Yao for a big play. Cuttino was fantastic. I thought all guys have really been very attentive on our game plans. We don’t make a bunch of mistakes and for a young team that’s really unheard of. That’s the biggest selling job that a coach has to get his team to be a winning team."

On Yao Ming’s play against Shaq:
"I thought he did a great job of reading defenses and finding ways to get to the free throw line and make some shots. But the great thing about this kid, he was talking about other players on our team, ‘Well that guy hasn’t got a shot yet. Gotta get him involved.’ The maturity of this kid has grown leaps and bounds this year. I thought he did a great job. No one can stop Shaq, you just can’t. But we've got to play our game too. I thought he had a very good beginning of the game. Then he got a little tentative offensively, just tried to get his shot over with too quick. But it was a great learning experience. Then blocked a couple of shots. One-on-one situations."

On the game’s atmosphere:
"You couldn’t have set the scene better. We had a full house. We’ve had full houses, but this was up to the brim and the excitement was in the air. And every possession was, to be honest with you, it was even more focused because everybody was looking at those two guys more than a playoff game. Just the first possession, when we made a stop. It’s great. I’m so happy for the guys that went through the stuff last year. I kept telling them that. They played like champions. We battled people and had like a record number of close games, but didn’t get the wins that we’re going to have our payoff someday. We’re on our way right now. The town is buzzing, the league is buzzing and I’m just really happy where we’re at."

On Steve Francis’ assist to Yao Ming for a dunk in overtime:
"You don’t know what is going to happen. You have to read the defense and they’re smart. Robert Horry, we were sending with the five man and he was running up and he was playing, because he can play out on the floor. Robert’s so long, but Steve still found holes. We sort of have to change our offense a little bit, move a guy over, then our pet play we kept him on the baseline and it just opened up the floor for Steve."


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CUTTINO MOBLEY

On the Rockets’ fourth quarter run:
"We just tried to attack them. We got to the bonus early. Kobe got into foul trouble, which helped us out a little bit. Just like it’s hard for us to guard them, it’s definitely hard for them to guard us."

On Yao Ming’s first game facing Shaquille O’Neal:
"I really don’t know what to tell you. Yao Ming did well for his first time seeing Shaq. Shaq is the most dominant player in the NBA and he (Yao) did OK."

On the Rockets’ defensive strategy:
"We just wanted to help out as much as possible. They started making their shots, so we had to resurface and do something different."

On the win:
"It’s not really a statement (game). Actually it is and it isn’t. We’re supposed to win at home, simple as that. We have an improved team and there’s no excuse for us losing, especially at home. This is like a stepping stone to get where you start racking up some ‘W’s and you go to the playoffs every year."


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MAURICE TAYLOR

On the game:
"We knew it was going to be like a playoff atmosphere, but we didn’t know it was going to be like an NBA Finals atmosphere. There were a lot of people and the fans were great. It was a tough game and they (the Lakers) came to play. There’s not too much you can say about it. Just seeing the big guys down there, being in the middle of it… it was a great game. It was probably the most exciting game we’ve played all year. It was a lot of fun."


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YAO MING

On the game:
"We beat the Lakers today. Shaq is still Shaq. On the court, Shaq is a lot bigger and stronger than me. I had to respect him (O’Neal) every second. If I didn’t, he would get under the basket and we would be in a lot of trouble. It wore me out."


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STEVE FRANCIS

On the win:
"I think it was better for Yao and also good for us that we were able to get the win. But I think Yao was really, really excited about this game. That’s probably why he missed a lot of those little chip shots that he normally makes. I thought it was a good job for us to kind hold Shaq there early in the in the first half, and I thought he (Yao) did a good job."

On how the Rockets prepared for Shaq:
"Yesterday in practice, we worked on a lot of things to change Shaquille. We knew that he would try to be dominant early. We knew that they would probably try to go to him early in the game, and I thought we did a good job of really not giving up easy shots. A lot of the plays that he scored, he really, really had to work hard for it."

On getting Yao involved early:
"With a guy like Shaq and a guy like Yao, early in the game we definitely wanted to go to him. There was no hiding it. There was no secret what our game plan was. It’s always to go inside first. Whatever we can get on a kickout, I think is a blessing. Early in the game, Yao hit some shots. We were able to get him the ball in great scoring position, and we were glad he was able to think some shots."

On the playoff-type atmosphere:
"I’ve seen it enough on TV for more than 20 years to know that it was a Finals-type atmosphere. When I used to watch the Rockets and the Jazz, and even Houston and New York, this was how the Compaq Center was. It was my first experience with something so large. I’m really, really looking forward to the arena to be like that this season, and even when we go to our new arena. It felt great. It was intense. People were yelling all types of stuff at me like it was New York City. I thought it was good."

On his game:
"I don’t think that I took over. I just felt that I was in the flow of the game. I thought the shots were there when I hit them, and I was able to play with the flow of the game. It was one of the top performances (of my career). Being that it was Yao vs. Shaq, I didn’t want to come out and make it look like I was trying to forcefully trying to overshadow the Yao Ming-Shaquille O’Neal thing, but things were going our way in the flow of the game. I thought Cuttino stepped up late, and I was able to get in the groove and hit some shots."

On the importance of this win:
"It’s going to continue to get better, as long as we stay on the same page. As long as guys believe in the pass and the system when a guy is open, we’re going to continue to get better. There are going to be a lot of tests for us, for Yao, for everybody on this team there will be a lot of tests individually in the next couple of weeks, so we just have to continue to play hard."


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LAKERS COACH PHIL JACKSON

On the key to the game:
"We made some critical mistakes in regulation, but what really bothered me was the flagrant foul against Shaq. That was just a ridiculous call. It wasn’t offensive, but it did change the game around. It’s unfortunate that the referees took the game away from with us that call."

On Steve Francis:
"We know all about Steve Francis. He’s had good games against us before. He really got on a roll in the second half and continued it through into overtime."

On Yao Ming:
"Yao had some real nice opportunites and he was able to get in under Shaq. I thought he did a good job, but he got tired early. Yao earned some credibility out there tonight."


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SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

On the game:
“I think it’s unfortunate on how the game was decided. Everybody played very hard."

On Yao Ming:
“He’s a nice guy and I have nothing against him, I have no enemies, the Asians, the blacks, the whites, they are all my brothers. This was a good game for Yao. I was maybe trying a little too hard. Yao Ming is my brother. I’m disappointed in the media making a big deal about what I said."


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KOBE BRYANT

On the flagrant foul call:
"I’m not happy with it. The flagrant foul call turned into a five-point play and turned the game around. We still had an opportunity to win the game."

On Shaq:
"Shaq is Shaq. Yao is an upcoming player and he responded to the challenge. The game was fun. Shaq was really up for it and it took him a little while to adjust and then he played his game. Shaq can be whatever he wants to be."


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RICK FOX

On the hype of the game:
"I would have expected even more. That flagrant foul really killed us. It was a five-point play. Francis had been driving into the basket out of control and then Shaq, who is three times his size, makes contact, but I just don’t understand the call."

On Shaq’s play:
"It took Shaq a quarter to figure it out and then after he got it going, he went to his power moves and strong finish. What we didn’t count on was Francis having such a great game and Kobe having such a bad shooting night."

 

Props for Everybody

For Starters, the Entire Rox Team Just Reached Another Level
Some people may say I'm jumping to conclusions, but looking back at the season, to date, in our big games and in our Win Loss record, you can see that this young Rocket team has discovered "winning" ways. How cool was it to see EVERY ROCKET player play with such energy? Despite EG's painful hit, MoT came in with energy and fire. Everyone played big. To see the Lakers bring out their A-game against the Rox bringing out their A-game is what's gonna help the Rox so much in the long-run. Playing better teams toughens up the Rox. And the pacing of yesterday's game was akin to a real playoff game. Patience, fortitude, smart decision making, clutch execution... every little bit counted and could make or break it for EITHER team. But to see the Rox do what they did is really something else.

I. Steve Francis Props
I used to think the Rox needed more "system" execution on the offensive end. But these days, and esp after our Laker win, I'm beginning to see that it's a blessing to have such a versatile offense. Though we can't always count on SF to pull out such MONSTER games, it's obviously great to have a legitimate Franchise player. Moreover, in one of the few things I actually agree with Barkley about, it's that come playoff time, it's your franchise player(s) who carry you to victory. The game slows down. Every minute is clutch. And you can totally see SF take his game to a new level this season. Steve Francis had an absolutely MONSTER game while playing w/in the inside/out philosophy. Super Props to SF for his leadership all throughout the game. SF and his overtime performance - driving and drawin' fouls - was textbook Jordan. Big plays in big minutes and that is why Steve Francis IS THE FRANCHISE

II.Cuttino Mobley Props
Meanwhile CAT was himself an awesome story. Clutch free throws, sweet layups, energetic play, and great D, Mobley was cool as a CAT . RudyT's confidence in his team shows in playing a man to man D. At first I was kinda concerned when Kobe started hittin' threes, but with big Yao in the middle, the Rox D can extend and Mobley has the quickest hands I have ever seen. There were even a couple of "would-be" steals that the refs took away CAT in the form of phantom fouls against him. The Rocket organizations commitment to patience and team chemistry is paying big time dividends and our Guards are so synergistic when playing alongside each other.

III. Yao Props
Defensive effort was huge, but even more outstanding was his mental fortitude. Yao could have easily turned invisible but contrary to how ESPN was portraying his "post-Q1 3 minutes" productivity, they failed in highlighting his blocks and contested shot count. Kobe's poor production is partially due to his unwillingness to drive the lane and go for layups. A few nights ago, we saw similar things with PHX and BOS. Does anyone else see a trend here? So many intangibles, esp on the defensive end, that doesn't register on the stat sheet.

One thing I DO wish Yao would rely less on is the turnaround fadeway. It's a low percentage shot. To create more space he needs to take that first "bump" against the defender. If he can't create space, he needs to he needs to use his width by exploiting more hooks. For reasons of his hurt left hand, I figured he may be limited to going "right hand" the entire game. Nevertheless, I was surprised he didn't use hooks more.

more later...



theSAGE

 

have u guys noticed that bill walton was praising yao the entire game...when asked about his 0 rebounds in the first half.....he defended yao that he's playing D on Shaq and yao's teammates should help him to get rebounds.....then i think tom tolbert was mocking him saying he recalled bill walton has been hashed on other players not getting rebounds when they were that big.

then for the post game analysis ... walton said yao sacrificed his points for winning the game and that's the greatest feeling and nature of basketball....tom tolbert made a face as he was saying that's buffing.

funny scene

 

THat game was definetly worth the wait. I waited a month to watch another rockets game, and that one was amazing, one of the best games i have seen in a while....long .....long while. It seemed like a playoff game to me...it was sooo EXCITING...
I feel bad for the fans who missed it....poor guys.


~~~~~GO ROCKS!!!~~~~

 

Actually it turned out to be only a three point possession. It could have been a five point play but after the three freethrows were made, the Rockets turned the ball over.

 

The whiners are complaining about the flagrant foul, well they stole the ball on the possession after the free throws so it wouldn't have mattered anyways. What hurt them there was butt pirate Jackson losing his head. He needs to be blaming himself, but of course he isn't man enough to do that. Rockets should have won in regulation had it not been for the bad calls that went for the Lakers (out of bounds, ball in the cyliner, foul on Mobley, etc)

Bottom line, Lakers are a bunch of pansies but we already knew that.

 

Too many call went to the Lakers favor earlier on. I counted 4 fouls screwed up, 2 not called (by Shaq) and 2 called (for Kobe), that were just horrible.

The ref impact summed to zero.

 

Officiating was really bad, IMHO

With the above quotes, I figured it was a good segue into this related topic about the game. The question of officiating came up in the post-game chat room, but it's worth revisiting here too.

Personally, I have some issues with Dick Bavetta. I won't go so far as calling him a "Laker" stooge, but prior to that controversial flagrant foul call (which I actually think was the wrong call, but don't hate me for it), Bavetta made another poor call where the Ball went out of bounds, Bavetta awarded it to the Lakers, and could have cost us the game. The camera angle was pretty good for us TV viewers and I thought that posession should have clearly went to the Rox.

Other little things that bothered me were the phantom fouls against Mobley and other Rox defending Kobe. I know Kobe is a superstar and all, but some of those fouls were terribly questionable. The weird thing is that in some games, you at least get some consistency in the refs calling "ticky tack" fouls throughout the game. But in yesterday's game, the calls were so inconsistent.

Jump balls are another issue. Why do I get this feeling that the refs are throwing the ball too slow and too low for Yao to reach? True you need to jump for it. But if the ball isn't going high enogh for you to even STRETCH for it, isn't there something wrong with the picture? This may be a Yao specific problem b/c he's so damn tall, but come Rox vs. Dallas, I'd be curious to see how well the official orchestrates the jump ball. Come OT, every possession counts, and I would like to see Yao win more jump balls.

Instant Replay DoES have a place in the NBA
On the aforementioned out of bounds, change of possession ball, Instant Replay would have been very useful. Similarly, instant reply could've helped on that flagrant foul call. Bottom line is that SF deserved to get the foul called against Shaq. But was it flagrant? I'm not so sure. Speculation aside, this flagrant call kinda evened things out with the out of bounds call. In the end, I just feel like officials should NOT be the ones ultimately responsible for determining the game. They have a responsibility to make the RIGHT call even if that call comes late in the game. But to make openly WRONG calls late in the game is to rob not only the loser but also the winner as well.

IMHO, the league SHOULD use instant replay.



theSAGE

 

hey, not only Kobe, after see your big fellow got blocked 3 times, who dare to take it to the hole?

 

LAKERS vs. ROCKETS Report Card

Players
Steve Francis: A+
Cuttino Mobley: A
Yao Ming: B+
EG: A for hittin' the deck
MoT: B+
Posey: B+

Music/Entertainment
Chance: A+ "Yao Ming Song" Rocks!

Officiating/Commentators
Walton: A+
GAnthony: A
Ahmad Rashad: C

Tolbert: F
Bavetta: D the man's done a great service to the NBA... but he NEEDS SOME GLASSES

Best Commercials
MillerLite "GirlFight": A+ How great is this commercial?
Apple Powerbook "Yao and MiniMe": A+ How can you not like MiniMe?
Hyundai "Parents Kissing in Backseat": A This was totally unexpected

Best Dressed
Hakeem: A Absolutely Stylin'
Rice: C he needs more color in his wardrobe

 

Tolbert was a disgusting idiot. Period.
Bill Walton's comments made sense. But this Tolbert guy must be so jealous of Yao, he bashed him whenever there's a chance.

 

why can't the Lakers take a lost like a man...a lost is a lost..you move on...on all the game interviews ..all they talk about is how the "game have to be decided by the ref" they had a chance to win with Kobe shooting the free-throws (do the ref decide if kobe will missed the free-throw or not?...is it the ref decision that CAT will make all of his free-throws?..i don't think so...) ..too bad Kobe missed one..so it's just destine that the Rockets will win..move on..geesh

 

Kobe is used to getting calls (thinks he's Jordan).
Same with Shaq (thinks he's Wilt).

Thus, when a opposing player (with clout)
plays at the same level as Kobe and Shaq,
they don't get the same "special treatment."

They are not used to that.

Back in 1995, Shaq got calls in his favor all the
time against other teams. But when he played
against Hakeem, Shaq didn't get those easy
touch fouls. The tables were even. No special
treatment.

 

How could you leave out Calvin Murphy in that category???