ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Wizards 2/27/2003

Mo Taylor deserve to start over Griffin

I can't think of a good reason not starting Mo T. I think it's best for Rudy T to let EG come off the bench and learn something from watching, he's no better than Boki.

What do you guys think?

 

Hey Everybody! it's theSAGE in D.C.

Caught the game last nite AT the MCI Center and boy was it fun. Though disappointed with the outcome, I'm still happy with the gutsy performance the Rox put on the road. First some observations about the game:

Yao got robbed on that goaltending call. Another key play, ruled by the official, that ultimately could have determined the game. LOUSY CALL REF &#*$!!!!. Meanwhile, there were many, and I repeat, MANY no-calls against Yao who was raped inside.

Props to Cuttino and MoT, and not necessarily in that order. Cat was just huge in the 4th, as was MoT. Both scored when called upon to do so and MoT showed that aggressiveness that was sorely missing with the Rox for most of the game. There were some time-outs where I'd see MoT take Yao aside and talk to him. No doubt, they were talking strategy and MoT sensing a big mismatch against the less agile Oakley AND Laettner. The fact that MoT scored at will against these two was a pleasure to watch. Objectively speaking, the way MoT's been playing of late, I want to say he deserves more playing time, perhaps even the starting spot. But I tip my hat off to Rudy who has, of late, gone with MoT into the 4th and less EG as the game goes on.

Juaquin Hawkins was a surprise, albeit an unpleasant one at that. He had some key baskets, but on the other end of the court, he was absolutely abused by MJ. I think on one play, MJ just blew past Juaquin (in OT) for a one handed dunk. I know MJ is great and all, but that kind of stuff just isn't acceptable. Meanwhile, I felt that Juaquin wasn't quite in the flow of the offense. Interestingly, on that last play of the game, I believe Juaquin was ahead, downcourt, and spotting up baseline. Yet SF didn't pass him the ball. Instead he went to Cat. Telling???

Cat was just phenomenal. His role on this team is becoming ever more apparent to me. Cat IS the offensive ballast to balance SF's bad days. It's kinda interesting how when SF has bad days shooting, they're REALLY BAD DAYS. Cat today did more than his share to pick up the slack. And like MoT, he exuded great confidence and leadership on the court.

Lastly, as to that last play in OT, I assumed that RudyT, in the previous huddle told his players to run it back and go for the easy score in the event the Wizards missed. I assumed wrong. I read this morning that RudyT expected them to call a timeout so they could write a set play. But what irks me most about the decision making is that SF could have EASILY WENT TO THE HOLE and most likely DRAW the FOUL or score the hoop with time to spare. But alas, I guess "game winner" was what preoccupied his head. And we know where that kind of thinking went.



Nevertheless, decision making (HOPEFULLY) can be improved upon. Talent-wise, the Rox look great. Hunger-wise, the Rox look great. We just have to get a little bit more smarter, a little bit more composed. We need real solutions or better decision-making down the stretch.

XO Anyone???



theSAGE

 

The good: Rockets played more as a team, score from many players, few turnovers. Good defense and Taylor down the stretch.
The bad: 1st half (non) defense & low energy. Some bad decisions thru out but actually not as bad as other games.
The worst though is not go 2 for 1 at end of regulation. Wiz lead 86-83. Rox's ball, 47 secs to go, Mobley burned the clock, dumped the ball for Yao to shoot with 26 secs to go, got blocked, reb and got fouled, shot 2 FT with 24 secs to go. Wiz lead 85-84. We were forced to foul. Wiz 87-84. Mobley were lucky to make a 3 to force OT. Making or missing this 3 is not important (it evens out in the long run). It's the decision making/ the BB IQ that we lack.
I don't mind Francis 1-13. He actually took better shot than other games.
I don't mind not calling TO at the end either. Could have gone either way. Sometimes it works if you push the ball hard and not allowing the defense to get set. Sometimes it's better to call TO.
Posey's numbers were not good either but he tried hard. He got some tough calls against him playing Jordan.
Well, another loss, 1 game out of the 8th spot. I can only hope we learn and bring our game from the start next time.

 

Sagehare 6,

Don't think there's enough XO to go around this season

D R

 

Well, according to Rudy, the reason is he doesn't want a Griffin, Cato, Moochie, Rice , Francis/Mobley lineup on the floor.

If Taylor starts, that means the second unit will only have one decent offensive player on the floor. I think Taylor should get more minutes than Griffin, but I like him coming off the bench.

 

Is this team even improving? 2 years ago, at least we were playing well at the end of the season so we had something to look forward to the following year. This year, it seems like we just get worse and worse. Name some positives, remind me of what there is to be excited about. As far as i can tell Yao is the only positive this year (and Cato too). Steve and Cat have not improved, Eddie still can't shoot, and Posey is even worse. Rice is absolutely horrible. I guess Tmo is doing better, but now he cant get time. this team just makes me sick. Sign some freakin shooters rudy! some shooters that can play defense!

 

If that's true about MoT not starting so he can come off the bench and score then what the hell?! Why don't we just sit YAO to so he can come off the bench and score? Normal teams start there best 5 nomatter what, and then some of those starters sub out and back in at different times, that why you don't play all your subs at once Rudy!!

 

I live in Beaumont and only have Time Warner Cable, so I've only seen a few televised and one live (sorry-ass effort loss to Golden State) game this year. Last night's comeback was frustrating and predictable: they decide they need to expend some energy on defense way too late (just like that Golden State loss, and I bet there are many other examples this season). Still, we probably would've won if SF had his legs under him. Most encouraging thing I saw: Yao shot a sky hook DOWN at the basket from 3-4 feet, off a quick first step.

 

I think the most telling stats from the last two games have been the absence of defensive intensity in key moments of the game. Any team that runs a PNR with Yao's man will probably kill this team. Yao has not learned to jump out and help his teammates on those PNRs by trapping the man using the pick. This leads to wide open shots for the offense. The Knicks, hit 9 of their last 10 shots to clinch the game. OK, we can call that lucky. Washington comes and hits 9 of their first 11 shots to start the next game. Jump shooting big man just seem to find wide open shots against our defense. In OT last night, the Wiz hit their first 6 shots, I believe.
The Rockets have to turn up the defensive intensity. Bring it from the opening tip to the final buzzer. It's no good to play three quarters or even a half of good basketball with good defense if you waste that effort with a bad quarter or a bad half. That's the killer instinct missing in this team. The will to dominate the game on the defensive end while getting your shots at the other end. We've come a long way from the team that was third in the league in opponents FG% earlier in the year. Now it seems that other teams have made adjustments to attack the weaker areas in the Rockets defensive. It's up to the coaching staff to make their adjustment now. Otherwise, kiss this year's play-off chances goodbye.

 

Just to make you guys aware, that this is the 429th post of this thread.

Go Clutchcity!

 

Sage, Good post, thanks.
Funny thing is I played NBA2003Live after last night's game, use Rockets play Wiszards. SF couldnt shoot nothing in the game, same as the real game. He even blew up a 2 handed slam dunk on a 2 on 1 fast break. Man, yesterday was bad for him.

 

Francis seems to be more inconsistent this year than ever before. He's scoring more than he ever has before, but at the same time he's having a lotta really high scoring games, he's coupling them with uncharacteristically low-scoring ones. He used to stay pretty much right around his scoring average, which is why he had such a low career high. Hopefully it's just his injury... cuz as I've said before, considering the way Francis ALWAYS played well last year when he wasn't hurting and the way he started this year, I expected him to be an unstoppable offensive monster. Maybe soon... ?

 

on tv...it sounded like the MCI center had a serious case of Mad Yao Disease....which seemed to also encompass all of the rockets down the strech....it made it seem like the rockets were playing a home game....

another reason to love yao..he makes road games like home games...

 

This loss really hurts.Rudy has been talking about how critical every game is but there was no reason to fall behind 20 points against the Wizards.I think Rudy made a big mistake of taking Cuttino out for too long in the 2nd quarter and leaving Rice.The Wizards just kept on increasing their lead and we couldn't counterattack with Steve and Yao struggling.Mo did a fine job but it was going to be difficult to play catchup ball.The Rockets again played down to the opposition and this is a big reason for not being in the top 8 right now.
Don't give up heart,regroup and fight back.There still is a chance of making it.

 

Hey Everybody, Check this little Blurb Out

Jordan made his first five shots of the extra session. But with the Wizards clinging to a two-point lead, he missed a 15-footer from the right side that was rebounded by Rockets rookie Yao Ming with about five seconds to go.

Instead of calling timeout, Yao threw an outlet pass to Steve Francis, who dribbled upcourt as he eyed the clock. He pulled up for a potential game-winning three-pointer but did not shoot and appeared to commit a traveling violation before dropping a pass for Cuttino Mobley.

"We could have called a timeout, but you never know what can happen," Francis said. "I've been in that situation a million times before, and nine times out of 10 it goes the other way and we get the bucket. Sometimes you have to take those. I'm a high-risk player."

Mobley, whose three-pointer at the end of regulation forced overtime, fired this one long as the horn sounded, dropping the Rockets to 3-5 in overtime games. Houston fell one game behind Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"We've got to get a timeout on the last play," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "Just got to give yourself a chance. Who knows? That might've wound up being a better shot than we got, but the percentages say you've just got to do it (call timeout) because nobody knows exactly how much time is on the clock.



theSAGE

 

There's more than a chance. Yeah, Phoenix is sleeping too (hopefully they'll stay that way), and Utah is finally coming back down to earth, where they should be, and even... dare I say... Portland? LA just took a beating, but they're probably a lock by this point.

Just remember, anything can happen. I doubt anybody expected us to have that massive cold streak, and it seems like we're slooowly turning around.

Remember in 2001 when we were terrible half-way through the season, and it looked like the lottery was inevitable? Then we completed a 16-4 run, capped with an incredible win against the Spurs? We were I think 1/2 a game behind the Wolves, and the remaining schedules heavily favored us. So many fans were sure we were practically a lock. Then, I don't know what happened, but we tanked and missed the playoffs by a game... Right now we're not hot...

Maybe we can finish the season on one of those 16-4 runs...

 

Rox should on the league regarding the non-call on the fouling Yao. Otherwise, Yao could end his career early. Look at the way other teams were hacking Yao every nigght, you wonder whether the non-call has a serious incentive for that. After all, how could we ask Yao to be more aggressive going inside when he is fouled all the time without getting a call. No wonder, his shooting percentage is getting lower and lower.

Look at Shaq, he is getting calls the other way round. Does this league encourage foul and rough play? It has always been. Too bad; but it is the time to change.

 

how many calls do you think shaq got his rookie year???? any???

you have to remember yao is a rookie, and rookies dont get calls...

and if you are in the league as long as say jordan, then you get most of the calls your way... remember jordan did have one foul that game

 

That was a great post Sage.

I agree with you.

The stupid refs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways.......TNT sucked.

ESPN is much better at broadcasting games.....