ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Suns @ Rockets 1/15/2003

My hornor to annouce LOSER of tonight is ... your Phoneix half moons. lalalala
BTW, you were lucky last time....

 

Cat actually has improved his defense quite a bit. It's still inconsistent, but he's definitely defending.

 

Ignore my @ss post Charles. Didnt see you are actually a Rox fan who happen to live in Pho. Million applogies. Cant edit nor delete the stinker. Sorrrrrrrrrry.

 

Cat HAS improved his man-to-man defense;
steals and blocks (imagine that).

Francis HAS improved his ability to get through
picks! His man-to-man needs work, though.

But he used to get picked ALL THE TIME.
Especially when playing against Stockton and
Marburry.

 

Our players really seemed to have more class than theirs.

And look at the last line, stop asking him to take 3 pointer!

 

Posey = Our defending, slashing, rebounding
havoc making Small Forward.

Hawkings = Our defending, slashing, rebounding
havoc making Shooting Guard.

They complement each other.

 

Excellent analysis regarding defending Amare.

 

Nice job Rudy.

 

how bout because all those guys shoot jumpers...its easy to have a high percentage when all you do is dunk..

That being said, what an impressive game this guy plays, if he ever develops a consistent jumper or a hook..he will be a lot more dangerous than he already is.

ROY?? I could care less...Yao doesnt care, the team probably doesn't care...we as fans should quit agonizing over it..ROY doesn't put wins on the board, or championship rings on the hand..
Yao is having an off stretch, and he will pick it back up..have faith.
If you are disappointed, then all you care about are his stats or how he looks to the media...He is still helping us win, and he is providing an inside presence that changes how teams attack the basket...that alone should justify his playing time, but even better, teams have to account for YM and by paying so much attention to him, they leave the rest of the team open for some nice drives or shots...These things are what is important...they contribute to the most important thing of all.....WINS!!

 

He did miss some easy shots, but he's getting hammered also. No calls.

 

Nice posts Jeff. The refs made some horrible calls. Especially the "charge" on Mobley (after he blocked Amare) when the defender was clearly moving.

Francis played great tonight. He limited is one on one game versus a notorious trash talker like Marbury "the all-star". That took a lot of restraint.

The defense was pretty good by the whole team tonight, limiting Phoenix to 37.1% and an 8pt 2nd quarter. The team only had 8 TO's, that is amazing.

Barring the funk in the second half of the first quarter, the Rockets played great. Very exciting.

 

While Yao's performance last night wasn't flattering I saw many positives. I can't remember the last time the Rockets, more specifically Steve and Mobley, played under this amount of collective control and patience. I thought Steve last night was amazing. He opens up so many possibilities for this team when he executes to the par we all know he can play. The last few games Steve has surprised me. Another positive would be the amount of times Yao had the ball in his hand. Obviously he didn't bring his A-game but given how many times he seems to had spoiled us with his dominating performances against Dallas and San Antonio he still is a rookie trying to adjust to a more physical game. But I noticed, as well as the rest of us, he tried to make this up on the defensive end. Other players would had just given up on both sides but Yao preserved his poise. I would had liked to see more of EG and Amare but clearly Amare was prepared for this matchup. And what has Tmo been eating lately? Morris has really produced of late. If I had to critique anything about the Rockets it would be their reluctance to put teams away early. Even teams they are supposed to defeat are being allowed to hang around too long. I noticed Pheonix was hot the first half but they looked tired in the second. But Houston began to play down to them and allowed them to get back into their game.

 

My goodness, Stoudemire is a b**** to guard!

And as for those Kemp comparisons, save them. This dude is a younger, slightly taller and thinner Karl Malone. Consider:

1. No real post game, i.e. turnarounds or myriad back-to-the-basket moves. Granted, Amare's still young so he could develop these moves in time, but why bother because he has...

2. ... A great first step. My girlfriend even said, "Why is Eddie letting #32 get by him? And can (Amare) do anything but dunk, that's all he's trying to do out there." Well, when you can beat your man off the dribble and get to the rim like Amare can, why not dunk it every time.

3. Extremely aggressive game. Its fascinating to see someone so young who likes, correction, LOVES contact and physical play as much as Amare does. Like Artest and KMart, it's actually quite refreshing, the NBA could use more "Warriors." And he's fearless as Hell!

Yep, Amare has that same "Guard trapped in a Center's body" game that Malone and Webber have, which just drives opposing big men crazy.

 

Amen. QUESTION: In one of the articles, they said that Amare rejected Yao. I missed the first few minutes of the game, so i did not see this. However, in the box scores, it does not credit Amare with any blocks.

 

I did not watch the game. Just from the game statistics:

(1) they both shot poorly. Stoudemire was 8-21 and Yao was 4- 13.

(2) Stoudemire:
13 rebounds, 0 block shots, 0 assists, 2 steals, 3 TOs, 3 PFs.

Yao:
7 rebounds, 4 block shots, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 TOs, 0 PFs.

(3) Stoudemire's team lost
Yao's team won.

Everyone is talking like Stoudemire had 'killed' Yao. But just from the statistics, Stoudemire was not a lot better than Yao. Stoudemire dunked on Yao twice but I heard Yao had also stuffed Stoudemire a couple of times.

Again, I have to admit that I did NOT watch the game. So has Stoudemire done some other things great in the game which is not shown in the statistics?

 

I saw that play on ESPN. I guess the reason that wasn't counted as a block is they thought Ming wasn't shooting.


Shrimpie

 

A correction to my last post. Stoudemire had 4 PFs and Yao had 2.

The edit is not working.

 

No, the reason it wasn't counted as a block was because it was Marion who blocked Yao, not Stoudemire.

 

I CAN'T BELIEVE ALL THIS AMARE OUTPLAYED YAO TALK

Since when did points and offense become the end-all be-all of saying X outplays Y? Seeing as there's no thread on this, I figure I might as well make the post here. Objectively speaking, "Yao did not have ANYWHERE near as productive an offensive nite as Amare - while TRUE, does not address the nuances on how Yao is a bigger IMPACT PLAYER than Amare at this point in time.

Don't get me wrong. I like Amare's play. HOWEVER, he doesn't quite do it on BOTH ENDS OF THE COURT like Yao does. Wait until playoff-time if you disagree with me now. Defense wins ballgames, esp in the Playoffs when the game SLOWS DOWN. Amare is fortunate that he's on a team that is starved for offensive productivity. w/o Penny, who else is gonna score for them? Marbury, Marion, Penny, and Amare. Those are the only real double-digit scorers on that team. How does that compare to potential double-digit scorers on the Rockets? I think yesterday's stat line answers this question rather well.

As for Amare, I don't mean to belittle his performance. Intangibles that I DO like about Amare include his hustle, atheleticism, and spirit. But will he be able to carry a game like Yao can? Can he TRULY dominate on both ends as Yao can? Personally, I think Marbury will remain their "Dynasty/Franchise" equivalent player for the Suns far into the foreseeable future. Maybe Amare becomes an even more potent player. Who knows?


Bottom Line: Offensive scoring is OVERRATED in this league
How many games have we seen Francis go point for point with the opposing guard only to see us lose? The more impt stat, if ever there was one, is the "offensive/defensive differential"... call it a pts for vs. a pt. against differential, as adj for blocks, assists, contested shots, altered shots, etc. In a league filled with offensively minded players, it is simply NOT enough to simply be a scorer. Moreover, just b/c a team gets a prolific scorer does NOT mean that the player bestows an immediate competitive advantage to the team. Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury (in his Nets days), Mitch Richmond... the list goes on and on. With good defense, you can always nullify a bad shooting nite b/c you're making a contribution on the "other" end of the floor. Yao's contribution on defense allows the entire Rocket D to take more gambles and EXTEND. This is why I'm rather disgusted by all the criticism leveled at Yao for his offensive off-nite. Meanwhile comparisons abound btw Amare and Yao are biased at best given the overemphasis of points. Yao's HUMAN. So what if he had an off-nite? Who's guarding Amare all nite long? Could it be EG? and TMo? Tomorrow against Shaq will be a different story with Center vs. Center. But the press really should give it a rest with trying to drum up invisible rivalries btw Amare and Yao.

Hands Down. Yao for ROY.



JHMO

theSAGE

 

I mean, you do have to take into account Yao took 13 shots (probably because he was missing did he not take more) and Stud-emire took more than 20. So of course there will be a disparity in the stat line.