ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Hawks 1/10/2003

This wasn't a good game except from EG. There willl be games like this. We just have to bounce back against the nugs and the celtics.
WE NEED TO BEAT THE CELTS TO ERASE THE HAWKS LOSS!!!!

 

Postgame quotes:

Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich:
“I thought that at times we got into situations that we’re not used to doing. Coming down, doing stuff we feel very comfortable with, that happened three or four times. At times you have to get something going solid, and we miss the free throws, and you can’t give up that many points. I talked about (playing the level of your opponents) before the game. I said ‘don’t let anything stand in the way of what we have to do to get a win for here.’ Be it that Glenn Robinson is out, or what I say or what the referee says, we just have to find a way to win. With our shooting, we just found a way to lose somehow.”

Steve Francis:
“When one guy starts shooting bad, the whole team starts shooting bad. We’ve been losing to teams that we can beat. Somehow we have to find a way to get out of it, because it doesn’t look good at all. We did a lot of things today that we normally don’t do. Offensively, we didn’t run our sets. We also weren’t able to get the ball where we wanted to. There was a lot of physical play out there that I don’t think we stepped up to. You just have to try to execute your offense throughout whatever is going on.”

Yao Ming:
(On the technical foul): “I just screamed as I was dunking. Not a word, just a shout. We have to increase our mental toughness a lot. When we go into a game, we have to keep our edge and treat every team like they can beat us. Coach told us at halftime that we have to get stronger mentally on the court, and we have to take every opponent seriously. It’s kind of like when you’re in a traffic jam – you have to keep pushing forward, you can’t turn back.”

Hawks head coach Terry Stotts:
“I’m very proud of the team. We were very good defensively. A lot of players had good defensive games. Theo Ratliff, what he did in the middle, rebounding, Mike Wilks pushing the ball. JT got after it. I just thought from top to bottom it was a very sound defensive game. I had a lot to be proud of. (Was tonight’s win a turnaround game): A month from now we can look back on that and see if this is it. Right now, it was a solid win. And that’s how we have to play to win games. We had some good offense, but we have to play solid. The important of tomorrow is the same as going into today. There’s no game that’s more important than another. It was good to get a game at home in front of a good crowd, and beat a good team at home.

(On Wilks): “That was the best 1-for-10 game I’ve ever seen.”

(On Ratliff): “Theo was tremendous. The blocks and rebounds, and you know Yao Ming is a big man. And Theo held his ground. It wasn’t an easy thing to do and he did it.”

(On Yao Ming): “Every day he lives up to his reputation. He’s a tremendous player that’s only going to get better. He’s gotten better since he came here and he plays the game the right way. He’s team oriented, he passes and he looks to score when he’s supposed to score.”

Theo Ratliff:
(On Yao): “He is long, he’s got a lot of skills around the basket. Moreso, I just tried to play his strong side. I knew he was going to be turning back over his right shoulder and trying to shoot the ball. I just tried to stay on that side and make sure I challenged his shot. I knew I had to meet him early and I had to establish position and try to ride him out. I just tried to maintain my stability on him. We definitely played under control. I think our offense helped our defense. We were very focused on getting what it was we were trying to do.”

 

Have the Rockets won three straight in the season?

 

I don't understand this team and I am about to quit trying. BUT, on the bright side (didn't think there was one, did you?) Imagine this team with every player on their game. Tonight Rice and Griffin were playing like they meant it. (Who buzzed Griffin with a cattle prod, my word, he is on fire the last two games). Imagine Yao at the top of his game, Francis at the top of his, etc. And all playing as one. No one in the NBA could beat them. But will that day come?

 

hi

Can we beat denver tomorrow? They just beat portland. Do you think we would lose tomorrow's game and somehow win the suns and lakers next week?

 

The loss is just I predicted!!! Unfortunately they didn't read it. Yah, they couldn't find it... Most predicted they are going to blow this one.... up Wake up, rockets are spoiled! What is in Steve's mind? The CNN show??? So is in Yao's mind the commercial bucks??? The equation: two wins + sub team = loss.

 

Where o where has Francis' offense gone? ...

 

Yes, once, and then they followed it by dropping 3 in a row.

 

I tell you a hint on how Rockets can win.

Quit that cocky attitude of saying Rockets gonna win games EASILY. It's been proven Rockets always LOSE if anyone says the evil word EASILY. You can still say Rockets gonna win, but just don't say the evil word EASILY

Another thing, whenever most of us are in doubt (like in the previous 2 games against Timberwolves and Magic) and most of us predict losses, and no one says the evil word EASILY, Rocket's actually winning.

Now looking for tomorrow's game, Rocket's gonna come back and win against NUGGETS with a HARD EFFORT

 

Although I agree that people should have learned by now that most of the wins they think should come easily never do, I'm not quite sure the Rockets are losing for superstitious reasons...

 

I have a funny feeling that we are going to get blown out by Denver tomorrow.

Denver 102
Rockettes 80

 

Clutch's recap is a real Eye Opener. Mobley going up to Yao and giving him a bearhug and telling him to get his shots down when nothing was going right for either him or Francis says it all. Utter PANIC occurs when things go wrong.I haven't seen either the Wolves or the Sonics react like this even when they are losing.The Rockets just lose all confidence when their shots aren't going down or when they are being roughed up on the inside. They go away from passing the ball around and immediately into Iso mode and start taking bad shots as soon as trouble occurs. Our guards don't have the mindset of playing as a team. I'm not saying we need to trade them. Francis is the most talented player on this team,and Mobley is still the 2nd or 3rd best scorer on every night,but the problems are not only persisting but in someways are getting worse.
There are no shortcuts to success but we have to stick to a gameplan and play defense in every game.
No team can be underestimated.The Nuggets come out hard in almost every game because they have nothing to lose and play as a team.It's going to be hard to beat them. They have a good frontcourt and can give a hard time on defense.
I think we might need to get another shooter at the 2 spot but Mobley needs to realize that he might need to get out of the game for short periods of time if management decides to make that move and Francis/Moochie will have to share the ball.Steve can't do it on his own.The lack of a physical player at the 4 also causes some problems but I'm encouraged by Griffin's progress over the last two games because he is no longer depending on his 3 point shooting to score even though neither he or Mo Taylor are physical players.
Everybody has to play as a team on both ends of the court if we are going to make it to the playoffs.

 

OK... let's prove the theory again.
If anyone does not say the evil word EASILY and most people predict losses, Rocket's gonna ...

 

After watching this game, I feel like a big chunk of sh*t stuck at my throat. SLOPPY BASKET BALL. Only EG played well. All other Rox players were horriable, utterly horriable. Man uglyness, this game is like a regional high school game. UGLY!!!

 

Worst management of the rotation ever. Don't you keep a player in if he is hot. You don't have to give everyone minutes. Mo's fat arse should only get 5-10 minutes a game!

 

Well, everybody expected the loss so I guess it was no surprise. But how sad it is that we have to even expect losses like this. Everything went wrong with this game. But like it was said earlier in this thread, this is just one game. Hopefully our Rox will bounce back tomorrow and show some resiliency. We really need this win at home against Denver to generate some positive momentum going into the tough 5 game stretch.

 

It's not just one game it's been happening repeatedly.No one expects the Rockets to win all games against below 500 teams but we have a lot of problems.

 

Thanks for the clarification Clutch.The frustration is understandable but it's hard for the guys to overcome it.

 

More classic post-loss b****iness... . I'm too lazy to look too deeply into it, but for the most part, it seems like there has got to be a good chunk of people that only post after losses and some that only do so after wins cuz the difference of opinions posted in the two situations is like night and day.

But, yeah, I'm really getting sick of this continuous losing-to-sub-par-teams deal. PRAYING we win tomorrow... It's funny though, cuz we had just the opposite problem very early in the season.