ClutchFans Game Thread: Grizzlies @ Rockets 3/13/2004

i think Padgett could become the next Air Bullard if given the chance.

 

Would you like some barbacue sause with those words ZRB?

 

No, no, the 6th is for you to take. We like to stay on the 7th flooe, better view here.

 

No we want the Wolves...6,7 or 8th

 

Grizz were playing 2nd game of a back-to-back, that probably had something to do with their energy. But still, in the 4th quarter, they were really scrambling to make it a game, got their hands in the passing lanes and created a bunch of turnovers--I recall a stretch of 3 or 4 possessions in a row where we really took poor care of the ball and never even got shots at the basket--but Memphis couldn't make up much ground in that stretch simply because they were missing all their shots. With about 3 or 4 minutes left in the game the Rockets were something like 4 for 9 in the 4th quarter while Grizzlies were 5 for 18! We dodged one.

Also, I think Hubie didn't play Tsakalidis as much late in the game because they were facing a double-digit deficit, so he had the quicker, more athletic players out there, running and scrambling; the plodding style of big Jake is unsuited for that. JVG sometimes does the same with Yao; that is, he sits him when we're trailing by a significant margin, get the smaller, quicker unit in there to try to mount a furious comeback.

(P.S. Sage: Roar Lions Roar)

 

Great Game and a great win.
Our Guards should get the ball into the hands of Yao Ming more often.
Our Guards should not freeze Yao Ming out for long periods when he is calling for the ball. [Just look at the replay and count the times he was refused or ignored] .

 

Anyone get JJ's dunk on video?

Jacques

 

That there is a sweet little reference. I'm sure it's over the heads of most posters here but that's OK. Inside joke among us baby blue lions.

You're probably right about the energy thing. Nevertheless, I felt very good about our D tonite. I saw shots being altered, jumpers being challenged, bodies falling to the ground, lots of hustle, all good stuff you know must bring some semblence of a smile to JVG's face (speaking of which, I think JVG is the modern day Mona Lisa - you just can't read the man's face sometimes!). Even the final score is just your classic Rocket's score. It was nice to the see Rox go on their 100+ point offensive tear in recent weeks, but tonite's game had a good pacing and efficiency to it. Even though the Rox fell behind a bit in Q2, I never felt like they were out of control or that the game was getting out of control. Even the last two minutes were well executed.

As to the Jake thing, I question whether it was wise for Hubit to take him out. Sure, Hubie may gain some footspeed and offense, but he also loses some on the defensive end on Yao. It's interesting in terms of coaching style b/c on one hand you have coaches like Jackson who go minute for mintue with Shaq vs. Yao (i.e. the moment Yao comes in, Shaq comes in) vs. say a Hubie Brown who seems to go to some set gameplan like a stage opera. Did he make the right call? Who can say. But I think this is where it's harder to play a ten man rotation than a shorter seven. Playoff games have a way of slowing down, and if the right people aren't getting their minutes, then it's easy to give away the game. The Rocket rotation looks very sharp IMO. The only missing body today was Spoon.



lowlibrarySAGE

 

Darn, only one point difference. What a miss.

 

burn memphis.........burn memphis and memphis x


ROCKETS are the champions! WE HAVE COME AWAY victorious!

 

I'm glad we won this one. Didn't expect it to happen - part of the problem with the Rockets defense, is that it collapses so much. The Grizzlies are sort of Dallas-lite in that they've got so many players who can shoot the ball well. With that protect-the-paint-at-all-cost defense, I was worried they'd kill us deep.

Obviously, that didn't happen. Good thing they were so rotten from the 3 point line.

Quality win. Lots of players has good games.

 

It's on espn motion

 

Props to you, MemphisX, for not taking the bait and getting into a pi$$ing contest. Classy.

Still, I feel compelled to point out what an ABSOLUTE PU$$Y Gasol is.

 

Last Post from Me

Check this out from MoT on JJ's Nasty Dunk.

"I didn't know he could dunk," Taylor said. "I have never seen him dunk, and I used to watch the Ohio State-Michigan games. I just thought he was vertically challenged. He represented for all the old heads. All the guys with 10 years or more (in the NBA) can look at Jim Jackson and see they can still do it. They can still play this game. Jim Jackson is out there to represent them."

Said Mobley, "He wanted to show he could still dunk at 92-years-old."



theSAGE

 

where are these quotes?

 

Winning streak stretches to five
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Maurice Taylor giggled until his ribs hurt about the sudden leaping ability of Jim Jackson. Cuttino Mobley sang stupid "I love the '80s" songs. (Apparently, Mobley really is a maniac.) Jeff Van Gundy was tempted to be pleased.
But it's not the Rockets' record or place in the standings. It's not even the season-best, five-game winning streak, extended with a solid 88-80 win over the Grizzlies at Toyota Center, that had the Rockets fighting rampant exuberance as if it had become their greatest threat.

It was something more than an amusing Saturday night or so-far-perfect homestand that made the Rockets seem a better team than they have been this season or in all those lottery-locked seasons.

"We're playing well," Taylor said. "We got a big win against a good team. I'm happy. This is my first five-game winning steak since I've been here. It's the longest winning streak I've ever been on."

Actually, though it is the longest active run in the Western Conference, it's not Taylor's longest winning streak with the Rockets. They had a five-game run last season, also.

It just seems longer because they have beaten Minnesota, Dallas and Memphis to move a game-and-a-half behind the Grizzlies for sixth and two games behind the Mavericks for fifth in the West, and 3 1/2 games behind the Lakers for homecourt advantage in the playoffs' first round. And since they insist on assuming nothing about the postseason, they also moved 5 1/2 games from the lottery.

"They deserve the credit," Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown said. "Great defense. You can see why they've been able to beat all these good teams, why they beat Minnesota at Minnesota. They are feeling confident about their style."

The Rockets snapped the Grizzlies' seven-game winning streak, leading by as much as 14. They then insisted that they would not allow themselves to be too giddy, as if they were playing so well that complacency had become a threat.

"Once you give in to those emotions, then it's like you're making a statement that you've arrived, and that's not it at all," Van Gundy said when asked if he were pleased. "I'm happy with the win, but I also know how quickly it can change in this league and you have to have an edge, and you have to have an urgency, and our team in particular has to compete at a high level.

"The hard part of being a coach is you're like in your forest, and it's hard to see what the reality is. I think certainly we have improved."

But while Van Gundy said he must keep his team driving to be better the next day, they were start-to-finish solid on Saturday. Mobley and Steve Francis combined to made 14 of 29 shots for 29 points. Scott Padgett filled in well for Clarence Weatherspoon. Yao Ming had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots and helped seal the win in the final minute with a tough, scrambling offensive rebound and a stunning blocked shot.

"Those are the plays that decide games," Van Gundy said. "The block on the out-of-bounds play, just generally making an impact even when you don't have the ball to shoot it. The great players play both ends. The great players play their best when their best is needed. That's what separates, along with consistency. And those two plays were great plays."

Jackson led the Rockets with 20 points, finishing off the Grizzlies when he made a driving, sideways jumper with 49.5 seconds left.

The Grizzlies had cut the Rockets' 14-point, fourth-quarter lead to six with 2:11 left. Francis missed a trey, but Yao grabbed the rebound and won a jump ball. Francis then passed to Jackson for his foul-line jumper, giving the Rockets an 84-76 lead and moving the game to a half-minute of free throws (he made all four).

But the play that teammates preferred to speak of was a vicious, flying spike of a dunk that had given the Rockets an 11-point lead in the third quarter.

"I didn't know he could dunk," Taylor said. "I have never seen him dunk, and I used to watch the Ohio State-Michigan games. I just thought he was vertically challenged. He represented for all the old heads. All the guys with 10 years or more (in the NBA) can look at Jim Jackson and see they can still do it. They can still play this game. Jim Jackson is out there to represent them."

Said Mobley, "He wanted to show he could still dunk at 92-years-old."

Jackson, at 33, smiled. A little. But he might have indicated more about how the Rockets played on Saturday and had accomplished in the winning streak, when he spoke about staying grounded not just to make the playoffs -- the company line from which he has never strayed -- but doing something when the Rockets get there.

"I think we are so focused on trying to continue to get better, again, our focus is not just trying to make the playoffs, because if that's the case, then once we get there, that'll be it," Jackson said. "We'll feel we made it. And that's not where we want to be."

If speaking of what happens when the Rockets get to the playoffs rather than merely getting there represented a breakthrough, so did Saturday's win. So Taylor laughed, and Mobley just kept singing.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rockets summary

Barone's been there

When Melvin Watkins stepped down as Texas A&M basketball coach last week, few knew better how he felt or what he had been through than Tony Barone, his predecessor at the Aggies' helm.

Now an assistant with the Grizzlies, Barone was coach at A&M from 1991 to 1998 and scouted for the Grizzlies before becoming an assistant coach in November 2002.

"I felt badly for Melvin," Barone said. "He has family; his son plays there, too (as Barone's son, Brian, did when Barone was fired at A&M.) That is part of the job situation that makes it a trying situation. I really do feel badly for him.

"They have to make a decision there based on being honest about what they have going there. They really have to look inside the culture of basketball and make a good decision about what they want the program to accomplish. They have to change the culture. So many people that were part of that culture are still making decisions. It's difficult to change."

Be prepared

Rockets forward Clarence Weatherspoon missed Saturday's game with a strained left calf and is considered day-to-day.

With Weatherspoon out, Scott Padgett moved up in the rotation and, as he did in Memphis, knocked down his first three shots -- a pair of 3-pointers and an 18-footer. He had not attempted a shot since Feb. 24 and had played only one minute in the previous five games.

"Guys who stay ready, most likely will have a better chance to play well quickly than guys who try to wait for their opportunity to get ready," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I'm not looking at him as a shooter. If he makes shots, that's great. I'm looking at him as a player who can help execute the offense, the game plan and rebound the ball. He's an underrated rebounder. And that's what Clarence did so well for us."

Padgett said he has learned to expect to shoot well, as if he had been playing, when he does play.

"It's hard to just say, you got to be ready," Padgett said. "But the coaches in this league look at it as you're being paid to be a professional athlete. `I might not call on you three, four games in a row. When I do call on you, I expect you to respond.' That's how it was in Utah under Jerry (Sloan), and I think that's how it is with Jeff (Van Gundy.)

"Being a player who doesn't get much time, you never know when that opportunity is going to come, but you have to be ready when it does. Maybe catch a coach's eye and get back in the rotation."

Quitting time

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, 42, has a long way to go to coach until he is 70 as Memphis coach Hubie Brown has done.

Van Gundy is not planning on it.

"I think it's hard to even (answer)," Van Gundy said. "Maybe if I was out a long time like Dick Vermeil or Hubie. I can't say today I would plan to coach for long."

Rotating philosophy

Hubie Brown has always had one of the deepest rotations in the league, and he has taken it to extremes with the Grizzlies.

Nine minutes into Saturday's game, he had used 10 players, and that is with two starters -- Mike Miller and Lorenzen Wright -- hurt.

But Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said he would not adjust his substitution pattern to match Brown's. Although it is not necessarily his philosophy to try to keep his rotation to eight players, Van Gundy said he likes not having to shorten his rotation in the postseason as many coaches do.

"They're accustomed to what we do, and we're accustomed to what we do," Van Gundy said. "We play between seven and nine. All those things are dictated by what gives you the best chance to win. I don't have a philosophy other than doing what I think gives our team the best chance to win. Eight, nine (players) would probably be the best for me.

"The one thing I like about it is, you don't have to change (for the playoffs). Whether we're fortunate enough to make it or not, I really think you start the year and play however you think gives you the best chance to win."

Press row view

The Rockets shot well and had their second consecutive game of improved defense. But teams like the Grizzlies -- or almost every team in the postseason -- are usually beaten with a few big plays that often have nothing to do with either team's shooting. Kelvin Cato, ineffective in most of the Rockets' winning streak, was no factor offensively. But he was lively again, defended Pau Gasol well and grabbed nine rebounds in 21 minutes. Scott Padgett was similarly tough. And Yao Ming, though limited to 12 shots, came up with as tough an offensive rebound as there can be for a 7-6 center to set up the game winning jumper. Plays such as those, as much as Jim Jackson's flying dunk or Cuttino Mobley's 3-point shooting, won Saturday's games and are keys to winning in April or May.

Inside the numbers

After holding just one opponent to less than 40 percent shooting, the Rockets held a second consecutive opponent below 40 percent. The Grizzlies made 32 of 82 shots (39 percent). ... Memphis blocked only one shot, the fewest against the Rockets this season. ... Memphis' one 3-pointer on 1-of-15 3-point shooting was its worst this season. ... The Rockets made 15 of 16 free throws, their second-best free-throw shooting night of the season. ... The Rockets are 13 games above .500 for the first time since they were 27-14 in the 1998-99 season. ... Yao Ming blocked three shots. The Rockets are 12-2 when he blocks three or more shots in a game.

Did you know?

The Rockets made 47.2 percent of their shots and have made at least 45 percent in five of their six games this month. They are 26-3 this season when making at least 45 percent of their shots.

 

Miss the game?

Want some highlights?

Go to ESPN and watch the Rox Grizz highlights on ESPN motion.

 

Oh my god... I'm speechless. Did yetti actually just say that!?!?!?

 

yeeerrrrrrrsssssss,thats my team