ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Nuggets 11/1/2002

Did you get to watch the game at all last night?

 

Speaking of the Nuggets...

http://207.44.140.146/php3/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=9

Friday, November 1

Man inside 'Rocky' costume faces charges

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Associated Press


CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- A man better known as Rocky, the Denver Nuggets mascot, was arrested Friday after allegedly confronting his former wife and their three children at a doctor's office.

Ken Solomon, 36, of Parker, was being held without bail on charges of first-degree trespass and harassment resulting in domestic violence.

Solomon plays the part of Rocky and wears a mountain lion costume at Nuggets home games. No substitute performed at Denver's home opener Friday, an 83-74 loss to the Houston Rockets.

A court hearings was scheduled for Monday.

Sheriff's deputies said Solomon arrived unexpectedly at the doctor's office and asked to be present while the doctor saw his children. He and the doctor argued, and Solomon's former wife left with the children, authorities said.

Solomon allegedly followed them to their home and entered the garage before his former wife could close the door, deputies said.

Arapahoe County Undersheriff Grayson Robinson said Solomon was arrested peacefully.

Nuggets team officials did not return phone calls Friday night.

 

That is one of the dumbest things I have heard here in a while, and I say some pretty dumb things. Don't hate on Mobley's defense first of all. Nobody on this team is a great defender, but Cuttino may be one of the better defenders. His effort never stops. Didn't he even have a few blocks tonight?
Secondly, Mobley can pass. I for one am gald that he doesn't pass the ball in some games. When Stevie is having an off night, where will the points come from? This will all hopefully change when our roster is healthy, but until then, just be grateful that the Cat is on your team.

 

The problem passing that I've seen so far is the high pick and roll. NONE of our guards are even looking to pass to the roller, who many times has been open, or open enough to go hard and get a foul.

 

All of Yao's plays last night are documented at http://www.YaoMingMania.com, along with commentary and photos. Pretty detailed stuff.

 

The roller doesn't roll. He just floats out to the three point line. Eddie is shooting 20 footers instead of rolling to the basket to get shots in the paint where he belongs.

 

No, I have seen Yao Ming and EG roll and get nothing. They do what you point out too, but look back and you will see instances of what I'm saying...

 

We have all of these franchise players and we can just barely beat the Nuggets.

 

<blockquote><hr>Originally posted by Moe
Okay, tell me why you think we lost last year when we ran the 3 guard so much. The 3 guards all played starter's minutes last year too, remember.<hr></blockquote>

Remind me again what our record was when either Francis or Mobley did not play? I don't recall Tierre Brown and Moochie on the court together in any 3 guard lineup. Weren't we nearly a 50% winning team with a lot of close games whenever Francis and Mobley played together. Considering the rest of the talent on that team last year, that is about how good we were.

Further, look up Moochie's minutes per game in games when Francis and Mobley both played. He did not get starter minutes. Moochie's mpg were skewed by the fact he indeed was a starter for like 20 games. Plus, Moochie actually spells 2 players, and that is how he gets extra minutes. When Mobley sits, Francis will slide over to SG. Your mpg argument is flawed in an attempt to say how much 3 guard there was.

I just don't agree with you. I think with a solid frontcourt tandem, a 3 guard lineup can cause major problems. It is worth practicing and perfecting for playoff series against certain teams. Dallas proves that 3 guards is effective, when you have a frontcourt to balance it.

 

Francis out was like 2-24!

 

ricerocket, I've seen the same thing you have - the guards not hitting the big guy rolling to the basket. That is what frustrated me the most in the first game.

That said, I did see more movement and passing in this game. It was ugly, but they stuck with it for the most part. Francis and Mobley got theirs, of course, and they took on the defense alone on occasion, but it all came more in the flow of the offense this time. That's what I want to see.

I'd rather watch them struggle with the movement and passing offense (and even lose some games that way) than to give up on it and fall back on the sheer athletic skill of the guards. Francis and Mobley are terrific basketball players and can get shots off against anybody, but that threat works best when the defense isn't sure if they're going to shoot or pass.

 

and we never won a game when Mobley was out. Something like 0-6. We can safely say that in about 25 losses, there was no opportunity for Mobley, Francis and Moochie to be playing a 3-guard lineup, so there really is no substance to the argument that that 3-guard lineup caused our bad season.

You can say you hate the lineup, and it is flawed because we can't match up on the other side, or it isn't as good as the Shandon Anderson 3 guard lineup, but don't say it caused our poor season last year.

 

I agree ChrisP. There were clear stretches of a 5man game last night....and it was ugly. Bad 5-man passing games can look r e a l l y bad.

I'm stunned to come to the board and read JayZ and Doc Rocket (two guys whose scouting I respect a lot) saying that was all dribble dribble heave. Feigen disagrees with that take, and many posters in this thread did as well.

Even the 24-High play (high wing PnR), which is often confused with an isolation because the guards get trapped and they often dribble around it, even that play got the weakside involved in the 4th Quarter last night more than it did Wednesday. I'm confused with these threads talking about ISO last night.

There was most definitely a lot of it the first game, but I saw ugly 5-man offense last night more than I saw Wednesday's dose of iso.

Is this BBS going to blame all ugly ball on guard isolation this year? It's like people don't believe that other offenses can be ugly, too. They can, but we have to stick to them, like you say.

 

Awesome. Love it.

 

Yeah, partner, it was ugly but I'm glad they stuck with it. I hope they keep persisting with it. As you said, the one on five offense isn't necessarily iso - it's just the guard's option to keep the ball and dribble around the pick. That's the right option sometimes, just not all the time.

 

OK, I know both teams have had games since this one, but I thought I'd post some info that I have.

Was at the game and had great seats. I was only four rows up from the court. Got to talk to both Doug Moe and Bill Hanzlik (former Nugs coach and player for those that don't know).

First of all, Yao is huge. You hear 7'5", you hear all that stuff, but until you're close to him, you don't quite grasp it. I'm 6'6" and it was imposing to even me. My friend who's 5'8" just looked up and said, "Ah crap". Now, I'm biased. I'm not a big Yao fan (I think he'll be better than Shawn Bradley, but not a star, JMHO) and I'm not a Rockets fan, but I wasn't overly impressed by Yao. He'll definately get rebounds, but he didn't really jump to get them. If he would jump, he'd be a monster on the boards. I saw Yao and Cato working on post moves together before the game. Talk about the blind leading the blind. Cato was showing him how to work on a fade-away jumper. Ming was making 'em right and left, but he still seemed to shy away from contact. However, having seen him, I think he'll be better than I originally thought. Just not the superstar you guys think.

I can't stand Steve Francis. I don't like what he did to Vancouver and all that jazz, but holy crap can he take over a game. Good God. You could almost sense in the third quarter that SF thought, "Enough of this, let's finish it". You could feel it in the arena. Very, very impressive. I might not like him, but the man is definately one hell of a basketball player.

Mobley on the other hand didn't impress me as much. I know you guys are torn about him, but he doesn't do much. He talks a lot, and is weak on D. He does get points, but that usually is because the opposing team is focusing so much on SF. If Yao can develop, then Mobley could be a good third option. Will he accept that role though?

I know a lot of you guys asked about Nene, and if you didn't see the game, then let me tell you, THE MAN IS A STUD! Nene is already my new favorite player. He's a force inside, he's got a decent touch from the outside, he can drive, he's a defensive force, and he can even make the sweet pass! If Bzdelik gets him more PT (I'm really hoping he starts next game), he should be ROY. Wow! He could be another Hakeem Olajuwon (who I consider one of the top 3 centers of all time - see, I'm not all anti-Houston ).

Skita looked pretty good, but he still needs to work on consistency. Nice touch from outside, and I know you guys saw the behind the head pass to Nene.

Kenny Satterfield sucks. Ugh. You guys had to have noticed that. You want him? We'll trade him for a 3rd round pick. Yes, I said third.

All in all it was a good game. For those that thought it was going to be a blowout, I told you we're tougher than we look. Definately a fun one too. The Nugs are exciting to watch when the rooks are in. Now we just need to develop the rest of the roster.

 

Appreciate your comments, Nuggets4. I don't agree with some of them (what is the hangup so many people have on Francis and Vancouver? you don't hear much about Kobe giving NJ the raspberry as a 17 year-old punk in the draft; but he's getting the rings, so...) but you're nice about how you express your opinions.

Yao will get much better, though.

I liked Nené, too, and part of me was hoping we'd trade for him and a small forward so that I could apply as a Portuguese translator. Cool job that'd be. (But I'll take Yao.) I hear Denver's nice, too, if you can stand the altitude headaches.

By the way: I hope the Nugs don't do squat with their caproom next year. The West is already crowded! (Another )

 

It's not just the Vancouver thing. That is what got it started though. Him killing hte Nugs doesn't help any either.