ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Hornets 12/6/2002

heypartner you have a lot of posts, what else do you do on your computer??

are you having a race to 100,000 posts with someone??

 

Just get down with the D. Rox'll be fine.

 

I wish the win over spurs boosts our player confidence so that we can continue to beat other winning teams. No matter how, we can to observe if there is any gimpse of new game plan/direction developing as indicated by Rudy.

P.S. the coming b-to-b games are really tough and I hope we will not bash the players too hard when we lose.

KH

 

Some people mentioned it, but is Cat not supposed to play at all tomorrow? I realize it's a back-to-back sequence, but I'd figure he'd at least come off the bench for a little while.

But this game scares me. New Orlean's is 10-0 at home, we're 4-6 on the road... I no like...

 

i know it slipped

 

We will win, and we must win.

 

If we must win, what will happen if we lose.

 

Outside of Sac-town and Dallas, it looks like the Rox enemies are themselves in the rest of the season. If they overcome their self-destruction, odds are they will compete for a win in a game. Hornets are one of the top teams in the East. The East is not as weak as I thought before the season. Hope Rox show their A game tomorrow for a win. Coming off a big win, they should be confident to fight to the wire.

 

The east is getting tough and the Hornets are a good team. It doesn't matter, the Rockets still own the east! We are 3-1 against eastern teams.

 

Just trying to help. Before I found cc.net (and even sometimes still), I very often get the time or date wrong, and I hate it when I do that. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

It's said in the game against Spurs, when there was this time out, Yao seemed exausted and walked past Mobley who was sitting on the bench. Then this exhausted-and out-of-his-breath Yao turned around and said to Cat something like--please, make your comeback soon. And Cat seemed very happy to hear this and would like to help the big fellow out.

Here is something for whoever is gonna guard Yao. In the All-Asian Game this year, China national Basketball Team, which has established itself as the No1 in Asia since pre-history, lost to South Korean Team. During the post-game interview, the Tv host asked Yao what's all this scratches and bruise over his arms and neck about, Yao said with a smile: I suppose we need to give them credit for playing great D. China almost bagged the gold medel but lost in the last second due to the physical and aggressive defense South Koreans used on Yao.

This, maybe some useful tip for Hornet players and AI as well

 

i hope that mobley comes off the bench and does not start so we can go to yao early and generate our offense around him. does any one know if baron is gonna play?

rox 98
hornets 94

 

Hornets will front Yao. Campbell and Brown will bump him. Taylor, Griffin or, (yes I'm typing this) KT must be ready to take the open interior pass and :

1) pass it back to Yao if he breaks
2) pass it to Steve or Cat and pick
3) pass it to a cutting Hawkins or Slo Mo Bro
4) jab jab jab spin clank. Just kidding. Quick jumper.

IN THAT ORDER.

Campbell and Brown make attacking the basket more difficult, but Wesley, a gimp Baron and Mash are no steller defenders. Inside out, please. Geez, I'm really typing that. I'm usually a pound it in guy.

Follow the gameplan and I predict :

Rockets 89
Hornets 83

Solid but unspectacular victory. pts

Steve 25
Cat 15
Hawk/ Slo Mo Bro 12
the 3 headed 4 thing : 17
Yao/Cato 20

Btw, Campbell and Brown can both be baited into fouls. Hope we use that to walk to the line a bit.

 

just hope the rox are gunna start a win streak, then they will get much needed respect... and publicity(and then they can be on espn) yaaay

 

Are you talking about the Hornets? Hornets? At home? Are you kidding me?

They have a tough frontline, much tougher than the Spurs. Robinson and Duncan are soft, but not the Hornets. It's going to be a very difficult game for Yao. I also forsee Yao get fouled hard a lot.

I believe we would win, but Yao would not be the major scoring factor. Yao's passing game and defense would still help us a lot though.

 

did u just say tht the hornets have a tougher frontline than the spurs. THE SPUrs. the same spurs that won the 99 title coz of their FRONTcourt.....

 

due to zone defenses, getting the ball to yao will be harder. Contrary to the olajuwon days, posting up isnt' the same anymore. I think the zone is taking away the art of posting up from the nba. for post up teams (ala lakers and spurs), the zone has not helped them at all. the only team the zone has helped are the mavs because their one on one D sucks ass.for houston, the zone really is screwing us over, imagine defenses having to guard yao one on one and dealing with our guards and shooters. TAKE AWAY THE ZONE!!!!!!! Rockets should win this game as long as we play some D.

 

I agree, the Hornets fronline is tougher. Robinson is showing his age BIG TIME and Duncan has never been known as Mr. Mean. In fact, some people say he's soft.

Jamaal Magloire, Elden Campbell, PJ Brown?

In terms of toughness, they're tougher.



Here are your injury questions answered:

No official report, but everything is pointing to Baron Davis playing against us. According to Hornets fans, if it was anyone else but Francis, he wouldn't play. But he's not going to let Francis have a field day.

According to the Chronicle, Cuttino Mobley will not play. He's not ALLOWED to play. He's healthy, and he CAN play, but he won't. It's not good to pound an injury as soon as you come back. Back to backs make injuries much worse. My personal suggestion would be for him to come off the bench in both games, playing 15 minutes one night, and 20 minutes the next. But he prefers to come full speed in the 2nd game. It may not be a bad idea, maybe his energy will help us through the back-to-back. He'll be a fresh player.

According to a Hornets website, Elden Campbell put on some pounds while he was out, and is still (this will be his 3rd game) trying to work them off. He is, apparently, noticeably bigger and slightly slower.


I'm very pessimistic. I predicted wins against Sonics and Spurs, and even though they're West and Hornets are East, I feel the Hornets are THE best team in the East. So it's going to be a very tough one.


Hornets are the one team in the East who would be a top 4 seed in the West. They just need to get healthy. They have size, speed, defense, they have it all. Once Courtney Alexander gets his shots to fall, look out:

Elden Campbell/Magloire
PJ Brown/Magloire
Mashburn/Augmon or Lynch
Alexander/Wesley
Baron Davis/Wesley

Excellent 8-man rotation. Very dangerous team.

But the Rockets are, in my eyes, on fire. They're going to pull a surprise. Steve will school Baron (mostly cause he's got a bad back).

 

More so, Cuttino *is* averaging 3 assists a game this year. He seemed to be in a bit of a shooting slump as he entered his injury period, but some of that might have been the injury itself.

 

I remember last year when Yao worked out in Chicago and ESPN ran this one clip repeatedly. I can still hear the announcer: "Yao working on his jump shot... but will he be better than Wang Zhi Zhi and Mengke Bateer?"

Does anyone else remember this and think it's as comical as I do?
I mean Wang has got to be one of the worst players in the NBA. Can anyone think of someone worse?

Also ironic is the fact that people criticized Yao for not being able to contribute right away whereas Jay Williams was the safe choice for immediate production. Although Williams is stuck on a horrible team...