ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Sonics @ Rockets 11/5/2002

That 3rd quarter was terrible. I don't know what Rudy was thinking out there. The Rockets zone defense was getting killed, but for some unknown reason Rudy stuck with it.

On the other hand, the Rockets don't seem to have a clue how to beat a zone defense. To beat a zone you need good ball movement, not trying to go one on one off the dribble. I love the Rockets, and I like Rudy, but he really isn't a very good X's and O's coach.

 

You probably dont want my opinion but here goes. Houston needs a team leader 1st and foremost, talent alone doesnt win games. Seattle was the youngest team in NBA history to make the playoffs last year, they were also the best shooting team in the NBA, better than Sacramento even, without any inside scoring. Dont be surprised that Seattle shot that well, I guarantee they are the best shooting team in the NBA bar none, and what makes us even tougher is we are rebounding the ball better, and causing more turnovers than we did last year. Not to mention Mason(good huh?), Lewis, Radman, and Drobnjak(he shoots AMAZING, just the beginning) are all a year older, add to that Kenny Anderson and a Healthy Calvin Booth and an ever improved Jerome James(thought you could just walk in the lane huh? Sorry, not today) and you have a team that will challenge for the top 4 spots in the West. Houston is going to be a fine 7th or 8th seed, you need not worry too much about them. I have one other major concern reguarding the Rockets. Yoa is too slow and awkward to play in this league right now, he needs ALOT of pt, and with you guys aiming for the playoffs I doubt he will be seeing much come January.

 

Pictures:

<img src="http://home.austin.rr.com/badass2cep/josh's stuff/clutch.jpg" border="1">

<img src="http://home.austin.rr.com/badass2cep/josh's stuff/yaoza!.jpg" border="1">

<img src="http://home.austin.rr.com/badass2cep/josh's stuff/rockets.jpg" border="1">

<img src="http://home.austin.rr.com/badass2cep/josh's stuff/rox.jpg" border="1">

yao needs some 'tude.

 

The 3rd quarter was painful to watch. The guards were just dribbling and putting up bricks.

Yao Minh must've thought he was playing with the Shark's guard's tonight.

 

I'm pretty bummed out. Think I will try really hard not to follow the games until game 10 or so and hope to see some motion by then. Otherwise, I might not be able to function due to severe depression.

 

Rudy really got out coach tonight. What was he thinking with all the zones the Sonics kept throwing at us, and he still never changed his offensive approach. The Sonics coach on the other hand coached rings around our coach. Our team is hands down better than the Sonics team yet, they embarrassed us on our home floor.

 

freeflowin - nice pics and they must have been great seats

no in the second picture i hope the player with the ball (steve i think) passes to Yao for the wide open J cause he appears very open??? please tell me what happened next.

 

The Rockets are hands down better than the Sonics? I need me some of those rose colored glasses! Seattle hasnt finished under .500 in 15 years. What did you guys win last year? 28 wasnt it? And yet YOUR team is better? Seattle is actually YOUNGER than Houston, amazing!

 

Actually he spun into a double team and lost the ball. But the somewhere in the next couple of possessions he made a gorgeous layup.

 

One bright spot was Griffin.He shot 3-3 from 3 point range,but had a total of 23 points from 10-15 shooting.Could some tell me how did get the rest of his points? I'm assuming face up jumpers and tip-ins.

 

The only real complaint for this game should be on the defensive end and also some of the poor offensive performances by some players. Overall, I thought the Rockets played a good offensive game and Francis is f***ing amazing. Seattle was playing great tonight and they would've been tough to stop even with a better defensive performance. Nobody should worry, this team looks better than the one last year that was 3-1 at this point. BTW, MoT will make a difference when he returns.

 

you do know francis had 9 assist,wright?
why do alot of people still bash steve, what could he have done more? he passed(9 assists)he scored with a high FG%. and he rebounded.he played great, and still there are people that bash Steve
give him a break.

 

Too bad, a 9 assists night is an aberration, instead of a norm, to our franchise point guard.

 

Maybe next game. Hopefully we'll score from the inside game... or do we still not have an inside game?? C'mon... 0 pts for Cato and Ming. NOt GOOD! We need to play together. STeve Francis... Franchise... need it say more. Next game hopefully we can play as a team.

 

Last I checked we DIDN'T have one. Cato can't score - he hasn't got an offensive move better than the attempted put-back.
Ming is a liability on defense (spelt L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y) because the only way he knows how to body someone is to foul them, so he could go in the game to try and score some (something he hasn't shown he can do yet) and give up a score on the other end every posession - so he sits.
Griffin shoots from the outside, totally dependent on Steve/ Mooch to set up his shot.
KT has a couple of wild spin-move turnovers up his sleeve - what happened to last years KT?

Hey I'm not disappointed, we're still banged up, still very inexperienced in terms of minutes on court for a lot of players, and still at .500. Could be much worse, could be 0-4!!

Couple days off to get well, then the GS come knockin', and if we can't beat them... well....

But why slam Steve so much when he's the guy out there trying to win?

 

I'll shut up if Steve's a sg with that kind of stats(except the Tos part), but as long as he averages 4.7 apg and 5 tpg as a point we are simply going nowhere and everyone has the right to b**** about it.

 

Could you at least get your stats right dude? He's averaging 5.75 apg.

 

don't think it is too big a deal to lose to the sonics. they're on a tear right now (3-0), and have beaten phoenix and jazz, two playoff-caliber teams.

their team has also played together for longer than ours.

when the rockets get some games under their belts, our talent level far surpassed them.

i hope this game serves as a wake-up call to the rockets. they can only win playing ugly ball when the other team has terrible offensive. with dangerous teams like seattle, we need to play team ball and put in full effort, otherwise it'll be an ass-whooping every night.

 

Gary Payton is everything I wish Steve Francis would become.

 

Oh my mistake! One more assist makes for a world of difference. So I should rephrase my sentence:

"as long as he averages 5.8 apg and 5 Tos a game we are simply going nowhere."

Satisfied?