ClutchFans Game Thread: Cavaliers @ Rockets 12/2/2006

I don't know about that, I recall him shooting from under the basket on several occassions and the dbl/trpl teams were hacking him so much you couldn't tell who's arms belonged to whom and they no-called.

It also seems like that on his jump shots that were farther out he was dbl-teamed and didn't have a lane. As for posting-up, they swarmed him and he would lose the ball. That's why he passed a slew of those back out quickly.

Seems to me like once TMac was gone, they focused their defense on Yao and challenged the rest of the team to shoot. And tonight they made them.

 

This probably wasn't the best game to start off an analysis thread on. Being that the only analysis needed was 'Cleveland stinks'.

 

Cleveland really sucked tonight

it looked like they came in to loose

no intensity, no power or passion

just tired

we looked like we always look, slow, not hitting the shots that we need the most

I call this a lucky win

 

But why 'Cleveland stinks'? This certainly need to be analyized.

 

yao needs to invest in a pair of cocs. several months of using cocs results in the ability to crush unopened coke cans with bare hands.

 

Yes, indeed. This kind of stat line is what Rockets need from a role player. He shoud play in place of Alston with Tmac.

 

that is just a ridiculous statement

 

i hope the cavs enjoy their post-game party...

 

bonzi is lonely now duh duh duh duh duduh

 

I wouldn't worry too much about Yao's rebound as long as he is getting his shots. We have Chuck to grab the rebounds. Once his number of shots goes up, scoring will go up. That will put more presure on opponents.
One thing I am happy about today's game is that role players were more disciplined and did not jack up a lot of shots.

 

Can you care to explain? I really feel that Tmac has better play making than Alston and Head has better 3 pt shooting and defense.

 

with all the knock on rafer's defense head is worse.

 

It seemed like Cleveland was just taking long jumpers. Barely anybody tried to post up or go into the lane. There were a lot of long rebounds, and Yao just isn't mobile enough to track those down.

When McGrady was in, he looked fantastic distributing the ball and playing defense. TMac had one great defensive possession against LeBron. Battier was great on LeBron too, stripping him a couple times.

Yao missed a lot of shots he usually makes. I'm not too worried about those, I'm sure he'll have a 16/23, 15 rebound game somewhere down the line to balance things out.

Bottom line: No McGrady, Yao didn't have a great game - and still, an 18 point win over a 10-6 team.

 

larry hughes could've made a huge difference tonight.

 

Tmac was out most of the game. I'd say tmac>larry hughes eh? And rockets still blew the cavs out.

 

This looks like a flier for a strip club.

I keep thinking 4 lap dances for $52

 

My biggest observation from the game:
Yao and Chuck got called for 3 seconds about 4 times in the 2nd half. This was due to indecisiveness and slow ball movement along the perimeter. I know some of it can be contributed to Tmac's absence, since he wouldn't hesitate to take the outside shot, but Battier has got to shoot that open shot at the top of the arc and on the wing. Granted it's not his corner shot, but an open jump shot is always better than a turnover.

 

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Game_Quotes_Rockets_81_Caval-198252-34.html

They Said It ...
Game Quotes: Rockets 81, Cavaliers 63

ROCKETS HEAD COACH JEFF VAN GUNDY

(on Shane Battier's play) "He always plays well defensively because he's very disciplined. With that being said, they missed some shots that they could easily make, too, so that's what happens when you have one of those nights. Usually it's pretty good defense and missing some shots that you can normally make."

(on how the Rockets defend LeBron James so well) "We get him on a back-to-back night a lot ... There's mitigating circumstances, certainly. That's not to diminish Shane's defense because he does well every night because he's got defensive discipline."

(on seeing a little bit of Chuck Hayes in Juwan Howard's play) "It wasn't just tonight if you guys were watching. He's really struggled shooting, but he's been on the offensive boards per minute better than anybody, so for both of those guys (Hayes and

Howard) to have 13 rebounds against a very great rebounding team, especially on a night when Yao (Ming) didn't rebound at all, then it's much needed."



RAFER ALSTON

(on the Rockets holding Cleveland to 28% field-goal shooting) "I think it's being ready (the key), understanding that we have to take away some of the easy baskets and some transitions. We tried not to put

(LeBron) James on the free-throw line a lot. We tried to key in on their sets and understand who they were trying to go to. We did a good job on the guys that we wanted to contain."

(on the Rockets' ability to get the win with McGrady forced to leave with an injury) "That's the way we're going to have to win (defensively). We're going to have to defend, and that's going to have to be the key for us anyway with guys like Tracy or Yao (Ming) out. We can get offense from our defense, and that would be a winning process."

(on what it was like to see Tracy McGrady forced to
leave) "It was scary. You hate to see anyone go through that. The good thing is that he's ok, and hopefully we can get him back."



SHANE BATTIER

(on defending LeBron James) "You hope he misses.

That's probably your best defense. He's arguably the best player in the game today. At worst, a top-3 player in the game today. You just try to make him work. We tried to make him take tough shots, and we had some great help on the defensive side and he missed some shots. If he makes a lot of those shots, it's a different story."

(on the Rockets having to rely on their defense with Tracy McGrady out of the game) "We have confidence knowing that we're a great defensive team. It's difficult to replicate what Tracy brings and the way he creates shots for others. We had to make shots and it always helps having number 11 (Yao Ming) down there when Tracy's not there."

(on the team's great home defense) "We're striving to be that team. That has to be our calling card. We're not a fast team and we're not an athletic team. We're a young team, but I think that we can be a gritty team, a team that has great energy on the defensive end every single night. If we play with that consistency on the defensive end, we're going to give ourselves shots to win a lot of games."



YAO MING

(on getting a lot of touches to start the game) "We had said before the game that I needed to get some deep catches so that we could get an early score, or chances to pass the ball out and then make a 3-point shot. I think we did very well in doing that, and we trusted our plays to go into me and then also for Rafer (Alston) to hit some big shots. That was the game right there."

(on what the Rockets were concentrating on once Tracy McGrady left the game) "I said that I think I need to do more. I need to do more when Tracy is out, and hopefully that won't happen a lot. We had that experience last year. I think I can handle this better than earlier in the season last year."

(on being the leader on the team once Tracy McGrady was injured) "I need to do what I have to do at that moment. There's some pressures with being a leader and it just comes to me. You cannot let your teammates down, and you cannot let your coaches down."



CAVS HEAD COACH MIKE BROWN

(on the game) "You have to give Houston credit. They played very physical on both ends of the court and they are a very well coached team. For us to only score 63 points and shoot 25% from the field, you know that team's defense had a lot to do with it and I give them a lot of credit. We tried a lot of different things and none of them seemed to work. It had to do with how good of a defensive team they are. We didn't have even a decent chance to win this game because of how good their defense was. In the first half we had some good looks but our shots didn't go down. Houston does what they have to do to get in great defensive position. In the second half, we double-teamed Yao and their other guys stepped up and hit timely threes and we couldn't get back into the game."

(on the Rockets rebounding advantage) "The biggest thing was when a team misses a lot of shots like we did then the other team will get a lot of rebounds. A lot had to do with us missing shots because of Houston's outstanding defense all game."



LEBRON JAMES

(on the game and his shooting) "When you shoot 20% from the field then you have no chance to win. Most of my misses were short and some parts of the game I didn't have my legs."

(on Tracy McGrady's injury) "At first I didn't know what happened. I knew he wasn't coming back after I saw the replay and Mutombo's elbow hit him. I went by their bench and I just wanted to be sure he was alright."



DREW GOODEN

(on the game) "We shot the ball bad as a team. They did a great job on LeBron as that is the worst I have seen him shoot all year. The tale of the first half was trying to stop Yao, which we didn't do well. In the second half we stopped Yao but then their other guys stepped up and made big shots."

(has he seen a better defense this year?) "No, we haven't. That is the best defense we have seen against us all season. They took us out of everything we tried to run."



ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS

(on the game) "Houston was more aggressive and defensively they were more physical than we were. We knew they are a good defensive team and we seemed to settle for too many outside shots and they just weren't falling."

(on the Rockets defense) "That's the best defense we have seen this year. That's what Jeff's (Van Gundy's) teams are known for. When they hit their shots, they are very dangerous and they won't beat themselves."

(on playing against Yao) "He has gotten stronger and more confident with his game. They are going through him a lot more now. He is their go-to guy now.

He is very hard to defend. In the second half we did a better job against him."



DANIEL GIBSON

(on first NBA game in Houston -his hometown) "It was really cool. It's something you dream about as a kid. It felt good but the outcome of the game is not what I wanted. I'm going to keep working hard and contribute any way I can whenever I get the opportunity."

(on the game) "Houston was really good on defense and we missed a lot of shots that we normally make. It happened and now we have to come back."

 

gonna go ahead and put this here also just in case someon doesnt check the tmac injury thread

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and no, I dont plan on using youtube often, just for something small like this.