ClutchFans Game Thread: Grizzlies @ Rockets 12/31/2006

thanks for the heads up. i missed it live.

 

Now, we can do something in the playoff with Yao and Tmac.

Go Rockets.

 

As much as I love Yao, if this game had been with just him and not Tmac, i doubt we would have won. This fast pace would have tired him out, ala the Golden State game in Oakland. As long as Tmac is this aggressive and not weary of the back, we are in great hands

 

Another great win...This is very nice...

 

And we'd have better interior defense and post scoring. That's why we need both of them. Either one of them having a bad night, we'd still beat a decent team. If they are playing great together, we are not worse than Mavs or Spurs.

 

good win, and man oh man i cant w8 till yao comes back and bonzi too

 

These wins are proving that even without:

Yao - our main guy
Snyder - our potential starting SG
Bonzi - our sixth man

we are still a decent mid-tier team. Add those missing pieces and a bit of health and luck, we are going to be downright scary. I love it.

 

Happy New Year!!! to all my fellow Rocket Fans..Lets make a great 2007.

 

I have to agree with myself.

 

I think the Bulls, Lakers, and Timberwolves games we have coming up soon in the schedule is going to give us a better idea of where we stand without Yao.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to how many of the 3 we'll win?

 

I'd be ecstatic if we won two out of those three games, but I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed with 1-3 either.
But at this point, I think it's just as important that they remain competitive in all the games even if they don't win.

 

Actually, we have a chance to win all three. With Yao, we narrowly lost to the Lakers, and the Rockets are better when LED by T-Mac.

Remember, he's a perimeter player, and thus can control the ball much better than Yao, moving the ball to the appropriate place for team mates to score. Yao can't do that, since he's always facing one side, when T-Mac sees the entire court, plus his height advantage. T-Mac can lead this team because of hte point guard mentality he currently has, and Yao will always be relegated to the paint. I'm not saying that Yao should be second option of course, I'm saying that the Rockets are better with T-Mac simply of the position he plays.

You don't notice the Timberwolves doing so hot, since Garnett can't set up plays for his team mates around the perimeter. He could, but if he did the Wolves won't have an inside presence, so he has to trust his team mates to get the ball to him. Same here. We are lucky to have Tracy healthy and his back healed by Dr. Patterson (hopefully). With T-Mac controlling the Rockets offense, I'm not so worried about the Bulls, since Kirk Hinirich has gone down with groin injury so their offense might be shaky to start the game.

Lakers, much more worried, although Luke Walton is in a bit of a slump lately, and Kobe seems to be more of a I-Team rather than Us-Team. If JVG defense comes to play, then Kobe should be shut down by Battier and he will be turned into a ballhog, trying to score but failing. I se a 50-50 chance of winning this game.

Timberwolves, should pull this out nicely. The Wolves have four game per week for the next six weeks except for one, so hopefully they will be rather tired out. Hmm, just checked their schedule, they will be playing every other day beginning today, so some rest between games. Garnett should be guarded like Yao was at the beginning of the Clippers (first one), double team on him before the ball gets to him, and make sure that the second player was guarding a player who can't shoot the three well (Foye? Ricky Davis?) Containing Garnett and James is key in this game.

 

SHould I stay up for the highlights to be posted, or will it be tomorrow morning?

 

A win is a win! I hope TMac could keep it up to win around 50% of the games until Yao comes back. Then, you know, the Rockets will be really scary for other teams.

 

We'll win all 3 games in dominating fashion.

 

All we need to do is float around a .500 record until the Yaoza! is back in form. If we can do that (we're currently 7 games over .500), then we're in decent shape heading into the playoffs.

Of course, this is all pending McGrady's health status, if he's injured or playing less than a 100% -- like he was much of the season -- then forget everything I said. Hopefully with treatments his back issues are a thing of the past...that would be truly remembered as one of the most significant developments in Rockets history.

 

That's the key right there. It's not necessarily a detriment to Yao's ability that the Rockets are better without Yao than they are without T-Mac. Every big man needs at least one solid perimeter player who can set up the offense and create shots. Yao can't create shots for his teammates like T-Mac can. He can carry the scoring burden, but the best he can do as a low-post player is kickouts to shooters hoping they can make shots. T-Mac is much more versatile as a perimeter player -- he can penetrate and create EASY shots for both himself and others. No look flicks to Hayes in the paint for layups, pick-and-rolls with perimeter shooters, penetrate and dish to Juwan etc. We don't really have a player who is capable of creating good offense outside of T-Mac, hence the falloff when he's out. I'm not a regular Rafer-basher, but imagine how much better we could have been in the past few weeks if Rafer could run a simple decent pick & roll with Yao.

Yao does what he does best -- put the ball in the hoop. And I'm fine with that. It's really good to see T-Mac back in form, and once Yao returns, it's going to be many happy returns for this team.

 

Rafer made the Rockets win when he entered the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter, assist, speed and hassle defense is what Rafer does for the team, his shooting was off, but he was the reason why Rockets win.

 

Good Post!! Finally somebody on here knows what they're talking about.

 

Lol are you kidding me? did you not see 3 missed ft?