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

Fouls are not related to being soft, it is not FIGHTING hard for position, or putting up the little 1 foot layup instead of throwing it down.

Yao and EG both settle too often for the soft shot, they need to go up hard with a HAMMER IT DOWN attitude.

How many little 1 foot shots has Yao had rejected or missed because he did not go up strong? TOO DARNED MANY !!!

Yao needs to get more aggressive, then he may earn ROY....Right now Stoudamire is a better and more productive player then Yao....and he brings more toughness.

Also, YAO, quit bringing the ball down on rebounds where the shorter players can steal it. Keep it up high big man....PLAY BIG !!

DD

 

I don't think Stoud is better than Yao at this point. Rox has different team strategy from Sun. Right now, Rox is playing Yao defensively most of the time while Sun is playing Stoud offensively. That is why Yao's stat is not as good as Stoud's.

 

Yao may not be dunking the ball much, but I think he has been playing pretty tough lately. He's pushing players around inside the paint. He hasn't been settling for those fadeaway jumpers anymore. He hasn't been posting up from 18 feet out anymore.

Instead, he's been trying to work his way into the paint and has been getting good position a lot more when the other team isn't doubling him. In that Atlanta game in paritcular, his shots weren't really falling but he was bullying his way into the paint the whole night. True, he missed a lot of 1 foot shots, but the fact that he was able to get so many in the first place is a good sign.

And as far as Eddie goes, the guy has been a monster on the boards lately and has been much more aggresive on the offensive end than in the past. He's been taking much less 3 pointers.

True, they both could be more aggresive, but I think both have been showing a lot of improvement.

 

You are kidding right?

Stoud does not get the offense run through him like Yao...he goes and GETS the ball on rebounds. He had 10 offensive rebounds last night against the Spurs....10 that is huge.

That is where he is excelling, getting rebounds and put backs.

Yao could learn a lot from Amare.

DD

 

You're kidding, right? Neither Tsakalidis (Greece) nor STAT (Florida) is from Houston. Plus, Tsakalidis is out at least six weeks following back surgery.

 

Yao is not fully devoted sometimes. His stamina is not good
and easy to get tired. Well, you know what he can do in his
best shape. It takes time. Remeber he can collect 32 pt,
20 rebs in China and make the all-WBC(world basketball
championship) first team. That say something about his
potential. Hope everything will go fine later.

 

Sane,

I definitely agree with your theory but that is not the case currently in the Rockets offense. There are NUMEROUS plays a game when Yao is single covered and his team mates to not get him the ball.

My opinion is that if we are in a half court set, Yao needs to TOUCH it every time. He doesnt have to shoot. But at least make it appear to the opponents that he will get the ball and this will free up other players as well as keep Yao in the flow of the game. What I have observed is that when Yao doesnt touch the ball for 3-4 straight trips, he tries to do more and gets over the back fouls etc.

 

This is not good. Our opponents fans are realizing our problems faster than our own guards and Rudy T!

 

The key to the game will be Posey-Marion. If Posey can stay within 10 points of him we will be fine. The only other thing that could be trouble is some Phx scrub (like Johnson) going off unexpectedly, but I really doubt that happening on the road. I seen no way Marbury does anything more that cancel Steve out tonight after the last game and expected Steve to win that match up, maybe decisively.

One thing consistently overlooked with Yao-Stoud comparisons is Yao has had a circus around him in the spot nearest to him (PF) while Stoud has one of the forwards playing the best offense and defense in the league as his forward compadre. What they are asked to do is completely different and the focus on them from other teams is completely different.

Especially 1) because of the long exhausting night for Phx key 3 players, 2) Phx difficulty against quality teams on the road, 3) Phs difficulty after back to backs, 4) motivation for Francis and the Rockets after Marbury and Phx stole the last game, the Rockets will win tonight. The Rockets should win easily and quickly, but my prediction is the Suns play good enough defense for 3 quarters to keep it within reach but then Rockets get a comfortable, game deciding, lead early in the 4th quarter when Phx is exhausted and really has to go to their weak bench, Rockets end up winning by 13, Rockets 96, Suns 83.

I am guessing he was thinking was thinking of Voskahl (sp?).

 

to say that we need to get the ball to yao more often is stating the obvious.


the point many of us seem to be overlooking is the void of good perimeter entry passers on the team. the best - potentially - entry passer is james posey. posey has the length to get a decent lob pass over his man into the post...much like robert horry does.

francis gets smothered by his man on the perimeter as soon as he picks up his dribble. since he usually is either shorter or the same height as his man, he doesn't have a good angle on the pass. plus, he just flat out looks like he's never thrown a good entry pass. wasn't it steve that admitted that he had never played with a post player like yao before?

mobley has the same problem as steve. glen rice could be a good entry passer. mooch, nevermind. throwing a post entry pass requires not looking at the ball as it's dribbled off the floor repeatedly.


eddie griffin could be a great - the best in fact - entry passer on the team...however, he shoots at such a low clip from the outside that i doubt teams will honor his shot over sagging on yao in the post.

hawkins and morris are in the same position as griff.

the answer, i believe, is to get posey on that court as much as possible. in fact, i predict by the end of the year you'll see posey starting at the 2 guard, mobes coming off of the bench and either glen (if healthy) or tmo at the 3.

 

Alton Ford (injured list) played for the University of Houston for a year and hails from Milby High (I think) and Jake Voskuhl played for Stratford High (I think) before going on to the U. of Connecticut (UConn).

 

I know this won't please many but looking at the matchups the one clear advantage the Rockets have on paper is Cat and Joe Johnson. The last time these two teams met Hardaway had his way with Mobley. With 14 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds it is clear Hardaway kept that game close. If Mobley has a good shooting night then I say bombs away and get the ball to Cat. Johnson last night missed all five of his shots against San Antonio. It won't get easier with Cat on him. Marion is going to get his (Dropping 27 in the last meeting.) but tonight with Posey starting and Hawkins coming off it should be interesting. Given Posey's last few games of stellar defense and more recently displaying his offensive ability these two should have a dog fight. The point tonight will be another defining position from both teams. Tonight the point will play the more crucial role for both teams. The man who distributes the ball more effectively from the 1 guard will win. Theres no buts about. Albeit Houston is encountering a team that is a little more banged up than it were earlier in the season they have guys who can FINISH. Not that they didn't before but take Stoudemire for example. The last meeting this guy was placed on Ming and Ming dropped 10 points making 5 of 6 shots in 14 minutes. Stoudemire barely made the stat sheet. But now he has come into his own as well as Johnson who is now turning into a productive talent who can finish. Speaking of players coming into their own Griffin matches up with the ManChild. While Stoudemire has proven he can be a force to be dealt with Eddie certainly in the last few games has played passionate ball. This matchup will be one of the more enjoyable to watch. Hopefully EG stays out of foul trouble and we get to see more of him in the 4th quarter. On paper Yao definately seems to have the upperhand on the 5 but again like the guys here have already stated as well as the Suns board if they begin to double and triple team Ming and the offense, specifically Francis and Mobley, become too impatient we are in trouble. Now if Mobley and Francis have another good shooting night it will remain a close game but if the shots don't fall Houston is going to have to force some post play and get some sort of production from Ming and Griffin if they expect to pull this one out. Whether you agree or not Houston's front line can be a more potent one than Phoenix's. Like DaDakota mentioned Ming is just going to have to throw it down. I'm sure Ming is very aware of the last time these two teams met and of Amare's recent rise as a prospective ROY.

While Phoenix has played like a playoff contender they have some guys hurt that helped that team defeat Houston 88-87 the last meeting. Rice is out for Houston but this won't hurt Houston. Taylor's status seems to be day to day. I hope he gets to play tonight because I believe he did have a good game against Phoenix the previous meeting.

Bottomline - If Dan Langhi comes in and begins dropping stuff on Houston again then panic. Otherwise with Gugliotta, Tsakalidis, and Hardaway out Houston should pull this one out. Again we need the big men to soften up Phoenix's front line since theirs has already been bitten by the injury bug. Griffin and/or Ming should attack the paint hard. And for some reason Houston seems more prepared against playoff teams.

92-84 Houston

 

Yao is gonna bring his A game tonite.....he's well aware of all the Amare hype...

 

That's all it is - hype.

Houston will take this game and it will propel us to a 5 game win streak. Move up to 4th in the West.

 

A good game for the rockets to win. An opponent that we are tried with in the loss column and back one because of the tie break.

Basic Breakdown.

Star vs. Fran.

Pretty much equal. Either is a particularly good defender. Star is a better passer and scorer but fran is the better defender and rebounder. Wash both will account for about the same amount of points. +0

Cat VS. Phoenix SG.

Whomever JJ or CJ... this one goes to the CAT. Quicker...smarter....craftier. No Penny and CAT can have a monster game. Hou +10

Posey VS. The Matrix

Closer then you would think the two games that Phoenix played Denver they had similar stats. Now I am not quite sure if JP was guarding the matrix or penny but I don't think this will be as onesided as people think. Marion will score more....he will take more shots but I think JP will rebound and play good defense Pho +6

EG VS. STOUD.

Sigh as good as EG has played recently I think Amare will have a good night. However, if EG can....I can't believe I am going to say this..... stand outside and draw amare out things will be better for stevie, cat and YAO. Just make the open ones EG. PHO +8

Yao VS. Scott williams.

Right..... The only question is the amount of touches that Yao gets. Period. I hope Yao doesn't, and I don't think he will, get into the him vs me game with amare. Hou +8

Bench.

Ummm... Phonix has a bench? Randy brown, Casey Jacobsen, Jake Voskull? Houston's biggest advantage. Hawk, TMO, norris CATO our own monster on the glass. The reason is not the quality of players but that the SUNS starters need to play big minuts again and will be more tired in the 4th. hou +6

Verdict Houston by 10

And for the record... IMHO Amare is the best rookie for the last few weeks. Yao is second to tied with Caron. I hope Houston gets the win. Stats are secondary.


Founder of MARH

Members Againist Rockets Hating.

 

I think Jake Voskuhl went to Strake Jesuit.


Houston Native

 

Bob Finn* Tsakalidis isnt even from America, but Voskul is from Strake Jesuit.

Rockets will win, they are going to be very focused this week and play like men, heck we are going to play good through next week...and then like poop as soon as we play a scrub team.

 

The Suns had a hard fought loss against the Spurs last night drawing into overtime. The Rockets have been resting since Monday night's win and will enjoy home court advantage. These factors alone give Houston an advantage despite all the matchup comparisons. It looks good for the Rockets to pull a win tonight.

 

Near the end of that Atlanta game I thought he had finaly given into that instinct to just be aggressive around the basket. After that nasty dunk he made on Ratliff, he just kept abusing him around the basket. Only problem was that he wasn't making any of his shots he got after pushing Ratliff around.

Maybe once he learns how to shoot while being aggressive he'll start putting together more 20pt 15reb games.

 

if sombody send video clip when ym fell down before Marbury and behaviors of phoenix bench and let him watch again and again, that may evoke his aggresive attidude.