ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 1/29/2003

EGG-FRIGGIN-ZACTLY!!! Those 3's were almost all wide open. Half the time, yes, literally wide open, there was no one within 10 feet of the shooter, and their defender had no excuse to be away (weren't helping out someone else on D, just lost). The rest, they just gave way too much space, and even then didn't even raise their hands or converge on the player when they were pulling up.

The All-Star break can't get here fast enough...

 

I don't think Rockets have the fire power to play Mavericks style at the moment. Lafrentz, Finely, Nowitzki, and Nash can all shoot threes. That's just too much. Include that fact that two of those four are SEVEN FOOTERS you can see a lot of threes coming out. Then they can put in Van Exel and Walt... they got a lot more.
My advice is still that they got those rebounds in the 3rd quarter that led to the open threes and that in the end is what cost us. Rockets kept up, but 3 points will beat 2 points if they can keep it up, which they did.
Give Rockets time and they'll learn to take those hits and keep playing smart.
Anyway, I for one want to see less of Griffin's threes (one which was an air-ball in the game)

 

David S hit the nail on the head,if you take away the 3's from the Mavs they are beatable.The problem is that they are very tall and are hard to defend. If Steve Nash's penetration can be stopped it's harder for them to move the ball.Francis did try to slow him down but maybe we should try to put Hawkins on him for some stretches next time.

 

Yeah, we don't have the firepower to outshoot them, but we used to have something much more effective: defense.

 

tell that to rudy t. he is the one forcing the rox players to stand outside while his guards play one-on-one.

 

Yah during that 3rd we needed to do something about those 3s. It's hard though to get back when you miss those defensive rebound, and that's what killed us the 3rd quarter and led to our collapse.
One two plays they drove in and shot, but somehow came with the offensive rebound. We played good defense, just couldn't get the rebound. Those led to Rockets being inside looking for their men again, which left Mavericks open for the 3. Two straight were off of LaFrentz which may have had shaken Ming because he was needed for rebounds but his man made two 3-pointers in a row.
I'm not saying we couldn't do anything about it, but I say we just lost our poise. Heck the third three in a row for the Mavs was a going out of bounds being guarded by Griffin or Posey (forgot who) shot by Nowiztki that was a perfect swish. That's was confidence rattling.

 

A lot of those threes were open shots. We need better and
tighter defense. In addition when they were leading,
somehow they gained some confidence in their shots.

 

It won't be...

 

Rudy's terrible at in-game adjustment. When Mavs started to make those 3s, he made ZERO adjustment to defend them. When Mavs started to play zone against Yao, again he made ZERO adjustment with the way we got Yao the ball. What's he doing in the game?

 

What I cannot understand is why Finley was left so open. He always lights up Houston from downtown.

Mobley should of been pulled from the game, for some defensive presence in the 3rd quarter. Everytime Finley caught the ball, Mobley was under the basket looking for rebounds (or something?).

 

Well against the zone at the beginning of the 3rd Yao handled it well. He passed it off for two easy lay-ups. The third though was a missed lay-up by Posey. There wasn't really a need for adjustment just some cutting which we did do. It's just that if the other team makes as may 3 pointers as you make 2 pointers, 3s will win.
That is why I hate 3 pointers so much...

 

Mobely and all the Rockets were looking for the rebound. What I wanted from the Rockets was some hustle to get those rebounds because it seemed that since all of them were down low, they each expected the other to get it. This led any Maverick to sneak in there to get the rebound when 5 Rockets were there! With 5 Rockets inside the paint, well someone is open on the three point line...

 

Thx for the mention, cmellon.

If anyone has the courage to call into the RudyT show this week, I beseech you to ask Rudy "1.why aren't we playing more zone D? and 2.why are we having such difficulty setting the tempo? and 3.why did we fail to adequately protect the 3 point line last Weds". Anyone who's seen even a handful of Dallas games KNOWS that the 3-pt parade is always a threat, throughout the game. Anyone who saw Dallas' monumental collapse against the Lakers KNOWS how exposed Dallas is to a strong half-court game that plays off a guard and a center.

By halftime we had both LaFrentz AND Bradley in foul trouble. Where was the continued aggressiveness??? Those two twiggies should have been insignificant factors come Q3.

The two man game btw Van Excel and Nowitski... those were doing their dance at the expense of our man-to-man defenders. Bring in the zone D. Bring in CATO. There's nothing worse watching mismatches happen right before your very eyes. All told, I'd much rather have either Nowitski OR Van Excel driving toward Yao than either Nowitski or Van Excel shooting open threes. Those mutual pick and rolls were just killer. It's the oldest play in the book and the Rox need to figure some way to counter it.

MORE TRAPPING
Lastly, as to our D. I think the Rox can be better served if we did more TRAPPING. Not double teaming mind you (even though superficially they look the same), but TRAPPING. On the sidelines, off the baseline, anytime one of those big lumbering forwards find themselves with their back to the Rox hoop.... we need to TRAP. Anything on the D to reassert Rox dominance and slow the tempo will be plus on both ends of the court.



seethingSAGE

 

Zone won't kill Yao. Mobley and Francis killed Yao. You still don't get it.

 

Yuck........

Did anyone notice that Yao didn't attempt a single jumpshot, or fadeaway? Inside all the way. He should have had a few more foul calls go his way though, Finley definately had his arm on one of his possessions. Good game for Yao.

The rest was just..........yuck...........

 

I hope our boys learned a lesson from this defeat. Run-and-gun is not our strength. Perimeter shooting is not our strength. We beat Mavs in the first two quarters by taking it inside. We are physically stronger than them. Use our strength.

Rudy looked really lost in the third quarter. It was a pathetic display of his inability to make adjustment on the fly.

 

no time out needed, cuz he can't think of any..

 

I didn't mean that zone killed Yao. But Mobley and Francis usually couldn't get the ball to Yao against zone. And Rudy still didn't teach them. When they couldn't get the ball inside, they had no counter methods other than went one-on-one.

 

Well, just got home from the game, and what can I say we got spanked. Mavs just couldnt miss in the third. What pissed me off is when the Mavs made that one play where Finely shot the 3 off a Nowitzki pass and they just kept running the same play and Mobley just left him WIDE open. Even Rudy called a 20sec timeout cuz he was pissed off. Just lack of aggressiveness from the Rockets, except from Posey, looked like he wanted to whip some ass!

Also, I was sitting at section 222 Row T, the last row atop of the section and all I heard was Mavs fans cheering, it just made me sick. I told them straight up, "Yall have the best team right now, but it doesnt count if yall dont have one of those (pointed at the championship banners), and with that said, yall are still going to get yalls asses whipped by the Kings"

 

I don't think SF and Cat "killed" Yao's game in the second half. I think it was the combination of a sagging zone and Bradley playing like a 7'6" giant.