ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Pacers @ Rockets 12/18/2002

It's natural for the other players to have some difficulty in scoring when Yao is doing everything on the offensive end because they are not expecting the ball even though they know that Yao will pass the ball back to them.I do expect the scoring percentage to go up slowly with time. Yao Ming is simply amazing,today he played like the Dream with his spin moves. It makes such a big difference when they go through him as compared to the isolation game from our guards. I'm very happy with tonight's win.
I hope that our team will continue to get better as a unit on both offense and defense and with hard work and consistancy make it to the playoffs.

 

Bill Waton must be happy tonight just watching his Yao dominate
How lucky is Rocket for having Yao, and Yao play for the Rocket
Damn Brad Miller!

 

The Houston Chronicle Recap:

Yao Puts On Show In Win Over Pacers

My favorite line:

"The game, however, began to change fore the Rockets in second quarter when Dream Ming entered the game and Yao flashed a move on the baseline so spectacular it even had David Robinson's shorts back around his ankles."

And don't forget the sky hook he had today.

I've been a Rockets fan since '84 so don't be screaming I'm some Yao-fan. THat said, the Rockets do not win this game without him and now, they better realize, they are at their best when the offense goes through Yao!!

Now bring on Mr. Posey into the mix and let's see what he can do.

 

GOOD GAME!! Not a lot of assists, but Rudy now knows we need to give Yao more than 10 shots in order to win. We out rebounded them 60-37! Everyone who played (except Moochie) got 5+ rebounds.

 

Got it! You weren't a Yao fan before, but a Yao fan now

 

indeed, that baseline move(or moves )was simply FABULOUS!! no center in the league today can do that anymore, reminds me of the old days when larry bird and dream were there

 

I bet given the other team a choice that to play the Rocket now or by end of season, they all want to play now, think how scary Yao will be at end of season with the speed of his improvment...

 

Agreed! Other than part of the second qtr, the game had a good
flow within it. You just felt good about it even when the Pacers were catching up.

The poor shooting part can be over looked, it can happen to any team at any given night. Francis played a much controlled solid game, despite his 7 TOs. Cat had a horrible shooting night, but only one or two are forced ones. I just glad he finally came alive at the end. As a shooter, you have to believe in yourself, keep shooting, like Rice did(3 or 13?)

 

That must be the understatement of the year.

Walton was going ga-ga over Yao before the game even started and Yao certainly did not disappoint. This is almost like the Dream is back.

 

Actually he plays better in later minutes, as can be seen in past few games.

 

Ming put on so many highlight moves tonight even Sportscenter doesn't have enough time to show them all. Baselien spin, runner hook, drop-steps, scoop move (boy, how beautiful it is).

Now if only his teammate can actually anticipate his passing, and finish, he will have a big night in assisting also.

 

We Won. but the FG% and 3P% aren't that good.. lower than Pacers.

 

Yao has NERVES of STEEL

Even after getting raked in the face, the dude comes up big with turnarounds, hooks, free throws. WOW!!! What's scary is that had Houston even shot their season average FG%, this game would be a blowout. With all the intangibles that Yao brings when he's on the court, I don't see ANY team that we can't match up with.

Separately, despite a mediocre shooting nite for EG and Rice, I really liked EG's aggressiveness early. Even fouling out and giving hard fouls are indications to me that this kid is NOT AFRAID of contact. Isn't that what we've been clamoring for all along? A rough and tumble PF. I think youth and adaptability is what's gonna be so nice with EG and Yao and (BOKI in the future). The Chemistry can ONLY get better and that gives me big time goosebumps.



happySAGE

 

Anyone notice that Steve tries to pass a lot more tonight? He had a couple of TOs passing. I don't think he is used to play a passing game yet, except for alley-hoop pass. But I like his passing TOs a LOT better than his dribbling TOs. Rudy T must told him before the game to pass a lot more. It's only going to get better from here. Go Steve!

 

Was at the game tonight, one of the greatest games I have been to EVER! Was a playoff type game and its not easy saying that. Heard about he KT trade at school on the BBS (the thread barley had like 4 replys) and was kinda shocked. On the way to the laptop, listened to the pregame show and everybody thought it was a good trade.

When I got in, luckly, I still got the calenders even thought I got there 20mins before tipoff (Tim, great idea by the way). Throughout the game, its like a playoff atmosphere. Everybody was screaming and singing along to Chance's tune. At halftime, i shelled out part of Xmas bonus and bought a Yao home jersey and those balloon bangers (they are now selling them $1 a piece). After the game I was lucky enough to score 2 more calenders people left behind (hey they are great stocking stuffer Xmas gifts!)

Now to the game:
Everything was going right in the first half. The roof almost was blown off after Yao made the gorgeous spin move. I saw Walton holding his arms out like he was going to give Yao a bear hug. Just seeing Walton's reactions after Yao did something spectacular was a joy to see. The second half scare got most of us scared. Mobley was pissing me off where he was all jacking up shots, until he made the 2 trifectas and the layup with a great pass from Yao. The end was pretty dumb with Indy fouling with like 20sec left and the Rocks are up like 10 pts.

Overall, great game to be in attendence. This is by far the best game of the season I have been to (went to the Raptors, GS, Philly, and LAC games) and this will not be my last. Lets put it this way, 2 months into the season, I have been to as many games as I did the whole year last season. I am doing my part in going to games, the rest should follow, but not EVERYBODY, so I can skip to better seats.

 

Forgot to mention, the Rockets were just plain SICK on rebounds. The hustle board at the Compaq Center was amazing. At one time, the Rockets had as much Offensive rebounds as the Indy had TOTAL rebounds. Just amazing.

 

Are you mad or what. I call this win a perfect one.

 

Awesome win. Lots of highlights and lowlights.

The only bad thought I came away with is that if the Rockets win and still play somewhat stupidly for stretches they won't improve with Yao to erase their mistakes and just dominate as a team because they are all not all good, just Yao being awesome with a cast of silly willies, i.e. like that stretch where SF dribbled out of control for multiple TO's and bad shots in the third and fourth. It looked like Cat actually has gotten better for this game at least, when he got ice cold he had the opportunity to take some wild shots and instead backed off and passed until he got better looks late in the game. I was holding my breath when I saw him going into traffic a few times and then thinking wow, last year he would have shot anyways. Now if we could teach SF to have the patience and poise of Ming!

 

How could anyone leave behind a Power Dancer Xmas stocking stuffer? Say Dave2000, any chance I could get one of them extra calenders off you...

As Christopher Walken says playing "The Continental",

WOWWEE WOW WOW WOW



powerdancinSAGE