ClutchFans Game Thread: Grizzlies @ Rockets 12/3/2005

Not true.. Hakeem could face up, spin by both defenders, and dunk it before you even blinked (and if you doubt him, just watch KG... the closest thing to him nowadays).

The quality of big man play has gone so far down in the NBA since Hakeem was at his prime, a lot of people have forgotten how dominant those guys were.

Ben Wallace would have looked like a grade-schooler, Jermain O'Neal would have looked like Carl Hererra, and guys like Lorenzen Wright would get so throughouly dominated, he would need therapy.

 

I was at the game and was evaluating far more than just watching.

McGrady: not even a shadow of himself. Back seems to be stiff, and he didn't seem to want to attempt to be a factor on offense. May as well still be on the IL.

Yao: Did what he could, and had half or over half of our point for most of the game. Griz fronted him to deny the ball, with someone cheating behind him as well. Anytime Yao could get the ball, he was triple, quadrupled, or (seriously) swarmed by all FIVE Memphis defenders. He's taken a load of crap from the media recently about not stepping up and becoming a franchise guy, but I'm not going to say anything but positives. Dream rarely had to face the defenses Yao has to work through, and it's a direct by-product of a pathetic supporting cast.

Head: Strong scrappy played tainted by some poor passes and a couple moments of bad decisions. However, he joins McGrady and Yao as the only guys (in my book) that are worth keeping on this roster long term.

Howard: Played his role, helping us by not hurting us. Unfortunately, we need more than that.

Mutombo: couldn't get much PT because Jeff knew he couldn't leave Yao on the bench for long. Too bad.

Anderson: All the summer posters that swore his minutes were down in Portland because of bad coaching/youth movement can start eating crow. His shot is MIA, he can't get past any defenders, he's not adept at feeding Yao, and he's offering little else. Was obviously scared to shoot and passing up open looks by the 4th quarter. At least he's not hurt.

Bowen: Fairly inspired play, one of two players for us that could get by a defender if need be (Head being the other). Lack of shooting and rebounding keeps him (like so many other teammates) from helping the cause much.

Moochie: Hopeless.

Wesley: we've gone from "shooting slump" to "liability." He's playing like a 10th man. This is his last year in the league if he doesn't get something going.

Swift: Laxidasical, constantly ending up guarding empty portions of the court on D, can't/won't set picks, going through the motions. McGrady, not JVG, needs to tear him a new one. Doesn't care, and I doubt he will anytime soon.

Baxter, Rafer, Barry: out. I still feel that Rafer could make a huge difference for us right now. With McGrady still not himself, we have no creaters on the floor to set up others. That's Alston's specialty. He's also the only player besides Tracey and Luther that has a prayer of getting his own shot.

Van Gundy: On one hand, I don't see us losing from poor strategy as much as I see us losing by putting inferior athletes on the court. We have rock-bottom athleticsm and ball-handling relative to the rest of the NBA, and look like a YMCA pick up team because of it. What coaching can overcome that? On the other hand, this is the team he wanted. Swift's uninspired play is on his hands, and there continues to be too much sloppiness.

I still think this team will be okay before March, but something has to give soon. It's one thing to lose, it's another to not even compete. The only good thing is that Yao, McGrady, and Head will be here for awhile, so there's still plenty of team to strip the rotting wood around them and put together a real cast.

Evan

 

On that play, Battier (probably one of the most underrated defensive players in NBA) came out of nowhere to double team Yao from the weak side when Yao just got loose from his defender and spun closer to the basket to make a bank shot. Yes you can always say Yao should've dunked the ball and be more aggressive on every possible offensive move, but I'd attribute the blocked shot more to the superb defense by Battier.

If you were to suggest this blocked shot of Yao during one stretch of the game contribute to Rockets failed comeback, you might also want to look at some other "opportunities" (if you will) that were missed by Rocket players not involving Yao. The missed dunk by T-Mac was one. Another was after the play in which Wesley stole the ball near the midcourt and scored his basket on layup. It wasn't shown on TV but Memphis somehow was forced a turnover immediately. On Rocket's possession, Yao, who was double teamed, threw a perfect pass to Head standing just outside the 3-point line at the corner, but he missed the wide open shot, which would otherwise cut the lead to about 15 or 16 with at least 7 or 8 minutes to play in the 4th quarter. I'd call that missed shot a momentum killer.

 

Hakkem had the dream shake( Back to the basket) and he had the quickness to kill you with great foot work(facing the basket)

 

backcourt is dragging down the frontcourt. forget about trading swift. rox need starting material at sg and player depth at pg.

 

I was at the game too. TMac just ain't right. If I had to name this game I would name it Turd Ferguson.

 

Hakeem is also a top 3 center and top 10 player of all game. But still,
I dont think the 93-94 Rockets could handle the zone well.

 

Realisticly, they should have. we had Kenny smith, Sam cassell, ellie and mad Max who were all outstanding shooters. Zone defense is when you clog up the middel and dare teams to beat you from the outside. We certianly had the markesman to fare well with it.

 

I think the era of big men is over, and I am talking about traditional big men that we were so used to watching during the 1990s. The future of big men in the league will be players like Amare, D.Howard, Gasol, Brad Millers, and others who are "crossover" players that can play the 4 or 5 position, and in some cases even the 3 (remember, KG and Nowitzki were 7 footers playing the SF position at one point of their careers).

I think the rule changes in the NBA have grown to adapt to a more swingman-friendly league that caters to the Lebron James, T-MAcs, and Kobes (along with the very athletic big men such as Amare and KG and even Duncan, all of whom can beat you off the dribble and have 'handles' as good as many guards in the league). In that sense, you either have to be a mobile and dominant big man (Shaq) or you'll suffer if your speed/strength is not so overwhelming that you will simply tear up interior defenses (in case of Yao).

This is just not a league that cares much for traditional centers anymore, and all teams are pretty much moving away from that; enter the Phoenix Suns, Grizzlies, Magic, Kings, and many others who're building their teams in a similar fashion without a traditional center, but still capable big men who mix things up on the inside and outside.

 

True but if I were to list all of the mishaps the Rockets made that defused any sort of comeback, the recap would have been 3 or 4 pages long...I do realize Battier is a great defender, but Yao is 7'6"...what frustrates me is that he was blocked on a LAY-UP attempt..if he was actually trying to dunk it, at least that would have shown some sort of aggression...

 

The days of brute force are over. the way the game is going, bigs like Amare and KG are the way. Quick versatile and mobile big men.

 

To make those lob passes effective, the receiver of the ball must be quick enough to react and move to catch the ball before any defenders do so. Yao is simply too slow for that.

 

They didn't have too.. our shooters were good enough to keep zones under control. We basically hung four players out behind the arc with hakeem doing his thing in the middle. Teams had the choice of doubling hakeem and risk the 3 or taking a chance going after him one-on-one.. either way.. they were screwed.

 

Poor defensive rotation and a lack of sustained offense are problems that have been bedevilling us for the past year. Unfortunately nothing new. JVG's vaunted D can't be done if the players aren't fast enough to rotate enough and we don't have the O to make it up..

 

not in 92-93 when we lost in 7 to the illegal defense Sonics. That was an amazing series.

 

Mussleman is as stubborn as JVG.

 

My blood still boils when I see replays of that game.

I HATED Detlef Schrempf with a passion...actually I hated that entire team. So sad...

 

I thought it was his personality alienated his players and management.

 

I hate the Way Schrempf used to chew his damn gum. he looked like a damn NAZI.

 

Rummors are just that, RUMMORS.i thought he was a descent coach.