ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 1/20/2003

i thought the hawk should replaced mobley in the 4th. Terrible shot selections by mobley when we had momemtum and had a chance to win.

 

thank you pued, perfect argument.

i hate losing, but i have no problems with tonites game. tim is a badass and players have bad nights. lets get focused on dallas, now.

 

With 24 min. of play each, Cato had 9 rebounds (all def) and Ming had 8 (4 off), monster is such an exageration. If our plan down the stretch was to feed the hot hand, which would have been Taylor and Morris, what does it matter if Steve couldn't hit ****. Mooch was hardly a better option then Steve, considering before the 3min mark, he was only 2 for 2. Also, we were in the penalty for nearly half of the final quarter, was jump shots really neccessary for Steve to be effective? Sorry if I don't agree with you, Rudy eared his bashing tonight.

 

Geez.. This game makes me sick. Worst coaching I've seen ever!!
I can understand when the game was tied with 4 minutes left and the bench players were hot. But with 1 minute left and down by 2 while the ball was not going in, you've got to put the starters back in the game!!!
Ugh!!! I don't even feel like watching the Dallas game tomorrow!!

 

Considering that we endured just about Francis' worst performance ever, and Mobley and Ming were also sub-par, I'm just fine with a 5 point road loss to a Western Powerhouse.

 

If Rockets want to be considered a playoffs team, they have to play fundamentally offensively. I thought Rockets' offense suck. They're not smooth and too static. Too much dribbling and too much bad shot selections. They're not fundamentally sound and Rudy had a lot to do with that. Rudy never say anything when they take bad shots and simply let the offense do whatever they want...that's to me is bad coaching. I would replace him with another coach if Rockets fail to make the playoffs. Tonight is another sign of bad coaching. He failed to see a switch in momemtum down the stretch when the bench got the team back into the game. When the bench couldn't score anymore points (a sign of dead-tired), he still failed to see a switch in momemtum by putting his best players in the game.

 

First let me say that I haven't been keeping up with all the game threads. But.....

I watched the game and somehow I feel pretty good. Don't get me wrong, I HATE LOSING, but consider this:

- we were playing a very good team with a 17-3 home court record and the reigning league MVP
- we got absolutely no calls from the officials (what a joke!)
- Duncan and Robinson shot lights out
- Francis had a career worst shooting night at something like one for Monday

And we still damn near stole the game@! What I liked was:

* I saw Posey asserting himself and the team figuring out how to use him.
* I saw flashes of the pre-injury MoT
* Moochie really played well when we needed him for onece, and
* Morris is beginning to be a real + off the bench
* And we are REALLY HARD TO BEAT
* I also saw no quit from the Rox

Somehow I felt better coming out of this loss than after some wins over weak teams. If we stay healthy we are playoff bound.

Dallas Rocket

 

I thought Rudy would put Ming and Steve back at about 6:00 left. But then Cato had a nice dunk and kept grabbing lots of rebounds. And Moochie hit a clutch shot. So I said to myself, "Well, what do I know?"

Rudy's reasoning is clear: (1) Keep the hot hands. (2) Rest the starters for tomorrow's game. That said. I do agree with the Rudy-bashers this time that he probably should have put Francis in after that timeout at around 3:00. Let Steve drive the lane and get fouls, especially the refs seemed to be making more calls to our favor in the 2nd half.

Rued, I agree with you that Rudy was in the no-win situation unless we won the game. If we did win, he would have looked like a genius for having the gut to bench the cold-shooting stars. . . No, wait, the Rudy bashers would still say: "Look how stupid Rudy is. We were LUCKY to get a win here!" And somebody would start a thread about our 5 games "not losing" streak.

 

That's right. Saving them for the payoff time. Oops, maybe we won't reach payoff the way RT coach.

 

Listening to the Spurs post-game commentary...even THEY are totally baffled by Francis sitting out the 4th quarter. They suspected a migraine flareup.

 

It's going to be tough beating the Mavs because they have lost three in a row and they are ready to get a win on their home court. Our best chance was tonite. Mavs will come out with a vegeance to not lose 4 in a row.


Rudy did not coach well at the end. He should have taken Mooch out and put Francis or Yao in at least. Especially on the same three pointer play they run with Yao and Francis. He should have put Yao in for that pick. And that play is over used. Rudy need to be more creative with his plays or something. Rudy just does not think sometimes. He let's the players do whatever. Oh well.

 

i think with at least 3 min left they should have put yao and steve in usualy when yao comes in on the 6 min mark but the bench was playing to good but they got tiered yao would have been fresh and could have done alot and cutiono cant make that 3 its for steve not for mobley and cato but i think we can beat the mavs tommorw

 

This is a tough one to swallow.

 

Although I'm not too concerned about this loss (like I said, not too dissapointing considering it was just 5 pts and a road loss to a great team with all of our big 3 sucking), what worries me is Yao's now consistently poor shooting from the field. He looks like he's really hit a wall lately and is just outa gas before even the halfway point of the season.

 

SARCASM ALERT

I’m mad too! We better improve our offense real quick if we want to be able to play with teams like Sacramento, San Antonio, Indiana, Boston, and the Lakers. I mean it’s not like the defense Rudy is teaching actually is helping us. Just think of all the games we’ve been blown out in. I mean we’re only 23 and 14 and it’s already January! We were so much better last year! It’s as if we’re expected to believe you can’t transition from a guard oriented ISO offense to a post up driven offense in only three months. Gosh, we have a great center. Sure he missed training camp, but it was so obvious to any real basketball mind by Yao’s first couple of games that he could handle the load. Give the ball to him already! It not like we can wear him out. He’s had so much time to rest in between seasons and the rookie wall is just a myth. Besides, if he does wear out we can always run our post offense through Cato. He’s such a passer and offensive threat. Or, we can depend on the durable Mo Taylor in the post. He never misses a game. Yeah, Rudy’s just stupid and doesn’t know anything. Just like this game. How dare he leave bench players in until the end of the game? They’ll get the false idea that he trusts them in the clutch. They might think he was rewarding them for closing the double digit gap that the starters allowed the Spurs to have. How crazy for a coach to show confidence in his non star players when they are doing the job. How stupid of coach showing his starters that effort and playing time might be connected! I mean there is just no other way to look at it. Mobley, Norris, they weren’t hustling and they didn’t score any points at all in Houston’s come back. Better to bring in Francis. His upside was so much higher. Why take chances on players you will need the rest of the season. Just ride your stars and let the others watch. And lastly, I know I’m rambling, but I am so mad, why not bring in Yao at the last? He was so clearly out playing Robinson. How many blocks did Yao have guarding him? Tim and Dave were just quaking in their boots when Yao was in the game. Yao was so aggressive, not like that pansy Maurice Taylor.

END ALERT

 

Things that make you say....Hmmm.....

 

Rudy is a joke as a coach. He got the whole league talking about him. I want to know where are all the plays they are suppose to have. I am tired of seeing that same play run all the time.

 

He has the whole league talking about him?

Tell me about it...

 

A good coach did have huge impact on the team. If you still can remember the Lakers team played before Phil Jackson came in, you got the that feeling. You got the players like O'Neal, the team still got swept. Same things happen here now, the coach got to be a S.M.A.R.T coach in the first place.