ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Raptors @ Rockets 11/2/2002

Ok - enough about Steve, how about Cato - didn't get to watch the game but checked a little bit with chat line, it looks like Cato played an awesome game when he was in there.

Am I right?

 

Aaaaaaaawww man. You see? You see? Where's the love, baby? Where's the love in this BBS? Here's the love!

Now here is a man who can break down the game better than anybody here, can see the deficiencies better than anybody here, but still he's here for the love of it, baby!


Man, HP, I remember when you first came here after we traded #33. You were sooooo excited about Cato! Heh. "The Foaming One." The self-proclaimed Reformed Rudy Basher.

Game on, man. I'll be there for Christmas, I'll contact you.

 

Nolen, you're the s***, man. That's one of the best posts I've ever read on this board. I'm adding it to my sig.

And DavidS, I enjoy your posts, while fully concurring with Nolen.

Heypee, I really miss your play analysis. I know that other than Live and some others, there aren't that many people around to keep a discussion going, but I know there are plenty of lurkers who would love to see more of it, all the same. Any chance of bringing back the flash diagrams?

 

Monster post, Nolen. I was just thinking the other day "Do I really want to bother reading this board all season long when it's just going to be non-stop whining?" Hopefully people will read that post and get a bit more real discussion going. I'd be happy to talk more about the team myself but I'm stuck in a far away part of the country and barely get to see the games anymore (can't afford that League Pass).

 

The glass is half full!...

 

I was really happy with last nights game. This is the team we need to hope shows up most of the time. I was thrilled with how the crowd fed off of Yao. EG had a solid game and is hopefully coming out of his shooting slump. Francis really made a solid effort to get his teamates involved. Francis is starting to look like a top 5 or 6 legitimate scorer this year. Cato continues to amaze me. Who would have thunk it? Kenny Thomas struggled with his shot, but watching his footwork reminded me that great things are on the horizon for him.

Rudy's rotation is confusing me though. Bostjan starts the last game, shoots 1-3 and doesnt even get a sniff in this one? Collier plays big mins the first 2 games and we dont see him once? Also, apparently, Mobley just doesnt "get it". Im having a hard time understanding why he is forcing so many shots when his teamates are open (Granted he makes some of those). Also, if ya notice, the few times Mobley passes the ball, its to Francis or Norris (Hawkins on a hand full of occasions). Never to Yao. Never to Griff. Can someone please explain to me why Mobley is not adopting more of the team concept like Francis is?

 

I wonder if Boki (I'll revert back just for you) isn't hurt. Hawkins play is one thing, but just like Rice was available but didn't play, maybe they are holding him back. Collier just sucks. It was Yao Ming time and he responded well enough to staple Collier's ass where it belongs...

 

Obviously, I didnt mind not seeing Collier play.

I am concerned about Grega's brother. Does Rudy see him as that much of a liability offensively OR defensively that he starts one game and then is never heard from him again?

Im thinking he has to have a nagging injury or something. Maybe well hear something about it in the next few days.

 

He had that hernia problem. Maybe that got aggravated...

 

Amen on Collier's ass. we now need to see what will happen to Grega's brotha.

 

I'll start criticizing Yao's play when he does get more PT. If Steve is the leader of this team, maybe he should take more heats. It's also quite different to point out a player's lack of certain skills from that of PERSISTENT selfishness. We should always be more harsh on a player's altitude than skills. Bad altitude is contagious but not bad skills. Seem like you r one-sided, never criticize Steve a bit. As a matter of fact, you have always shown quite a bit of disrespect for Yao on your previous posts. I guess you call that a balanced view of the game. What a homer.

 

What's wrong with Steve? Nada...

He's shooting well. He's rebounding well. He's blocking shots. He's passing the ball.

They are winning and looking better each game. Players are starting to come back from injury and are playing better (EG, Yao Ming, Hawkins, Cato, Cat)

His scoring was down a little last night and probably will go down more as KT, Rice and MT get back and Yao Ming gets more comfortable...

 

That's it in a nutshell. They're just too chicken to come out and say it, and prefer to hide behind this stuff about not winning the way THEY want them too win.

 

Awesome posts by Nolen.

I've been up until 4am the past 2 nights following the games, and it really does start to grate on the nerves when THE ONLY THING some people can talk about after 2 wins is what we did wrong.

 

You don't develop 29 year old rookies........like Zelly Rebraca, Hawkins will never get better, just more consistent. I still love what he brings to the table, but there's no denying he's a short-term solution who has been forced into big minutes more by circumstance than merit.....he's earned his keep, but he's closer to Walt than Rick Fox in the grand scheme of things.

Therein lies the problem, hp. They blew them out in the 3rd quarter. Stop tiring out your backcourt and a 29 year old rookie at home just because you feel like appeasing the egos of the former and lavishing some non-beneficial playing time on the latter.

If you don't at least give Nachbar a Hedo-like indoctrination into the league by giving him playing time in blowouts where he can be a focal point of the offense, how the hell is he going to improve as a player?

PS- The defense does rock......even Francis and Cato have become solid on and off the ball defenders.

 

I think Boki may be hurt or he aggravated the hernia again. They held Rice out like that too...

 

I was one of the people seriously questioning the offense after the first two games, but last night gave me hope. Yes, we still have room to improve, but last night was a BIG step in the right direction. As a fan, that's what I want to see.

For nearly 3 quarters, the Rockets showed good ball movement and spacing. At the beginning of the game, the Raptor announcers even commented on that fact. I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard them, but I was thinking the exact same thing.

This team is learning. They will have their ups and downs. For now, all I want to see is progress. A few additional thoughts...

The moves from Ming were awe inspiring. Interestingly, he seems much more comfortable on the block than getting the ball only a few feet from the hoop. He looks scared to get his shot blocked in those circumstances. The coaching staff is really going to have to work with him this year on protecting the ball, leading with his body, and attacking the hole when put in that setting.

The Rockets need to feed Ming on the post more when he's in the game. As good as his moves were, I was equally impressed with how he read the double team and moved the ball. Before it could even get to him, he sent the ball cross court to the open jump shooter. Impressive. Even on one of his turnovers, I could swear that he was trying to collect the ball to make a touch pass to a cutting teammate. He just took his eyes off of it too quickly.

Defense. If the first three games are any indication, this team has made big strides on the defensive end. The interior defense is light years ahead of last year's team. And Steve has really improved his defensive play too. Now, it's just about consistency. Can we convince our guards to buy into playing pressure defense for 48 minutes. If so, this team will rise quickly.

 

Our offense looked much better. Steve ran it well.

 

I went to the game and saw nothing that really angered me. I came back to the BBS and expected to see no Steve bashing. But they are still here. Steve, imo, played great. He passed it a LOT more than the Pacers game and he still put up points. As for the offense, it looked ok to me. The P&R seemed popular. I noticed that the team would milk a play if it worked, like Yao's couple of plays and some of KT's plays. Just about everyone played well: Steve crossovered everyone and passed, Mobley played ok, Hawkins is playing great D and gets some plays on O, Yao showed his skills, Griff is improving his shooting and is rebounding well, and Cato is....freakin amazing! Well, maybe not amazing, but he played very well, imo. I could probably go on and on, but I forgot some of the things at the moment.

Now for some "criticism." Moochie played kind of bad, imo. I was watching pretty far away, (darn seats.) but he didn't make too many open shots. Mobley, although he played well, DID put up a lot of bad shots and should pass a little more. I would say most of the shots he missed were just BAD shots and not just missed shots. Steve sometimes shot bad shots, but I don't know if I can call them bad when he shoots 49%. Yao seems a little too passive. I saw a picture perfect play where Steve moved a about to the FT line and jumped like he was going to shoot, but then he passed to Yao for a WIDE open shot. Yao wanted to pass it, but he probably heard the crowd say, "SHOOT!" He looked up and shot, but it was a bit too late and the defense recovered and Yao missed. Also, I wanted to see Boki play, but I guess Rudy chose to not play him. (he obviously knows more than us.)

Oh, and there was one play where I think it was a P&R with Steve and Yao. Both men went to Steve and Yao backed up to the basket, calling for the ball. I know the crowd didn't like it when Steve didn't get the ball to him, and at first I was too, but I think that had Steve tried to pass, the double team could have possibly had a fast break. JMO, though.

That's all for know. And btw, I think we played a great game and I am happy we won.

 

TPL,

I don't know why Nach didn't play. Maybe a back-to-back thing, and Rudy originally planning to not make him have to face Vince Carter. Whatever the reason, I certainly don't mind rewarding defense. I do, however, think Hawkins is a keeper, and not just a shortterm thing like Walt. Rudy used him to defend 3 different positions, last night.

Just to change the subject: So, how about that transition game? Not the prettiest (their spacing is random), but they are at least getting down there quick and using a secondary break to get off some early shots before the defense sets. Yao sure does get down the court quick, doesn't he.

3 things i wanted this year:
1. defense
2. transition
3. better PnR from Steve and more player movement

looks like we are going to get 1 and 2, now if we can just get Steve to religiously pass whenever his high PnR is trapped, we should see #3.