ClutchFans Game Thread: Grizzlies @ Rockets 11/01/2003

Where is MemphisX?

 

There were several times when Mobley in particular threw passes too late or just blew off a wide open Yao Ming to take his own shot. Even though Memphis was pressuring the guards, they did an awful job of trying to get good passes to Yao. Plus, Yao did a horrible job of creating space for the passes. When a 7'5" guy can get fronted by players 7/8 inches shorter than him, that's a freakin joke! A terrible display of execution on the offensive end tonight.

 

Yao played like a gril.
He never fought for the position.

He needs to put 50 lbs more..LOL

Possy was good though.

Trade the whole team!!!

What an ugly, ugly game!

 

Obviously it's a dissapointing loss, but I'm not really upset about the loss. We simply got outplayed. They made adjustments and we didn't. Overall our defense was solid for most of the game and that's something that I like to see.

Don't blame Steve/Cat for the loss (although you can blame Moochie for all you want because he does suck). They did try to pass the ball to Yao down the stretch but simply couldn't because Memphis played very effective defense and prevented Yao from catching the ball in most of the second half (in fact they almost prevented the rockets from getting the ball pass half court). They had a good game plan and made quick adjustments thoughout the game (especially in the 2nd half). That's why they won the game. I still think that the Rockets need a pure point guard and move Steve to two and Cat to the bench. At least we should have a better backup point who doesn't have an assist-turnover ratio of 1 to 2.

However, I'm sure that the coaching staff will make adjustments based on this game and the team will bounce back from it. It's only the second game of the season and the team is really still meshing. We'll beat Chicago on Monday.

 

When Larry Bird was Pacers' head coach, he used to remind his players not to dribble the ball too much and especially by the same person.

So here's to the Rockets' guards: Don't over dribble the ball. Gotta execute and attack.

 

I agree. You gotta give props to the defensive scheme drawn up by Hubie Brown, but, DAMN, what the hell does Mooch do in practice to earn so much playing time? It seems obvious that maybe Wilks might be able to help us out a little. At least he knows how to set up the offense and pass the ball in a timely fashion. Maybe preseason was an aberration but he sure did look good in the games he played. You can't get too much worse than Mooch right now, IMO.

 

Can't do that, sorry. This is along the lines what I expected. This team will struggle for the first month or so until they adjust to JVG's philosophy & system.

With their offensively challenged team, they will be defended like this until the forwards can put some points on the board. With the crowd of suspects playing that position, I don't hold out much hope for improvement. Just wait until someone like LA or Dallas gets ahold of them on a bad hair night like tonite...

 

There were several times that Yao was one on one with the good position on his defender but instead of going inside one of the guards chose to dribble the ball around until they dribbled it off of their feet. There were also a large number of times that Cat or someone else just ran the ball down the court and through up a shot before with 2 or 3 defenders and no help. You can not blame Yao Ming for this one.

 

Mobley.... 39 minutes and only 9 shot attempts. The guy's strength is his shooting. I want Cuttino taking 15 shots per game! In my opinion between Steve, Yao and Cuttino... they should have 45 shots per game at least, they took 36. This is where we lost, more plays for our stars and we win this game for sure! When everyone is comfortable with their role in the system we will avoid these loses, for sure!

 

A large number of times Cat "through"(threw) up a shot? The guy had 9 attempts and made 4? so 5 at the most... that was LARGE...

 

inability to convert on fast breaks. missed layups. high to count. too much dribbling the ball up the court...they best way to beat a press is to pass out of it, i saw us set up our offense at 14-10 seconds left on the clock for quite a few consecutive plays in the 3rd and 4th.

 

Unfortunately, you are right. "Guards" in this poor term are too selfish.

We just HOPE this team win, but that need those Gs to protect and get our most effective player the ball and help him to make it!

Before we see everyone especially those Gs get the true term spirit, we'd better don't hope too much ...

 

This game reminds me a similar one vs Bucks in previous season. We lost to Bucks due to Toni Kukoc (shorter but fast player) fronted Yao from getting ball in last minutes. We lost to Bucks.

A year later, we face the same strategy again, and we lost, too. It is not only Grizzlies did it very well, but it is that we still cannot learn how to deal with. From these 2 games, everyone can see that the "shorter-but-fast-fronted-yao" strategy works again Rockets perfactly

I can tell you that we will always face this kind of strategy till JVG and his staffs figure out a solution.

 

My thoughts. We should have Mo Taylor passing the ball into the post. A taller playin in taylor would probably have better success than having Francis or moochie because they are so short. Horry is one of the best entry post passers I know and we should take a note from his book of tricks. Another thing is even though the defender was fronting yao that should be a que for him to seal him off and pass over the top. Yao is 7'6". I didn't see them pass over the top as well. Hubie Brown just did a fantastic job of exploiting our weaknesses. Much credit to the grizzlies for a very strong performance. We will come back stronger in the next game I'm sure.

 

It's way too early to judge the team. Disappointed in the loss, but pleased with the hustle and intensity.

However, is it just me, or does anyone else cringe whenever the ball is passed to Cat or Moochie?

I can not wait until A. Griffin and Piatkowski are healthy. Hopefully, both of these guys can cut in to the playing time of Mooch and Cat.

 

boy am i glad i did not stay up for that one...

looks like rocks will be the same old team this year again...

 

i hope so too.

i can't believe that wilks hasn't gotten more minutes. the guy completely shut down steve last year the game in atlanta. you could see the fustration on steve's face. good defender, doesn't feel the need to prove himself as an offensive player, he's not moochie... what else can you ask for?

 

Cat is more and more like last year, taking bad shots and going one on one.

Mooch cannot control ball under pressure. There were 2 or 3 times, the shot clock went below 10 before he got the ball into position to start the offense.

Mo is so soft under the basket. Why doesn't he try to dunk everytime possible? He is not playing a lot of minutes and he is not fighting for positions really hard, so he should not be very tired at all.

Besides too many TOs, luck was not with Rox tonight. Balls went in and out, even Yao missed three FTs. Just not your night.

 

He did say "Cat or someone else", and Francis did shoot 6/16.

 

No, I don't think that Mo Taylor can do it.

The guy guarding Mo Taylor will be back to sandwitch Yao, because Mo has no long shot strength at all, nor driving jump. Mo's strength is his body and mid rang back-to-back jump shot.

We really need a P/G to pass ball successfully.