One thing that needs work is getting TMac more involved each possesion on offense. Plus TMac looked good defensively. I thought that both point guards played very well, but they still dribbled too much. They need to get that entry pass into the post sooner. And again they were botching the pick and rolls (that includes JJ). But over all they showed pretty good for the 1st preseason game. I really liked Gaines passing and Hawkins showed some scoring skills. I wasn't impressed with Boki or Bowen. Bowen seems slow and looked lucky on his shots (terrible form) and Boki needs to take it to the hoop and be more aggressive. He looks like a player trying not to make a mistake. Overall- TMac and Yao will carry this team- JJ and Howard are solid, the PG will be fine and getting Sura back will help alot. We are going past the first round of the playoffs.
About the turnovers: We had 16 TOs including 4 by Boki in 14 mins. So overall, the team didn't do too bad. We didn't have any TOs dribbing the ball off the foot or throwing a low percentage pass when a simple one would get you 2 pts either.
Boki's gona have to show he can hit that outside shot in the next couple preseason games if he wants a nice amount of min. in the regular season.
I captured the entire game and burned it to a DVD. It's a thing of beauty. Had a couple of problems, though: 1) reception was pretty aweful because my neighbors screwed with their cable setup. I'm having Time Warner come out today to fix it. 2) I missed the first 1.5 minutes of the 3rd quarter. I had paused the capture during half time and was putting my kid to bed. 3) I did not get the second audio feed from Gene Peterson, as I had originally intended. Need to work on this. One of the coolest things I liked about the game, which we will probably see a lot this year, is Yao and Shaq sit down, and out comes Mutombo - and... who's going to cover him? He's gotta be, by far, the best reserve center in the NBA. I bet Dikembe gets good numbers this year. -- droxford
Whatever. You have a history of inferring things that do not exist. Last night's 85-point offensive outburst was typical of games from JVG-coached teams, preseason, regular season, and postseason. I would've expected a bit more than ten points in nearly 20 minutes from either YM or T-Mac.
Someone please help this man out. Didn't get to see the game in Austin, but I like what I'm hearing. Sounds like we're moving the ball a lot better.
About Last Night (Van Gundy, Ward, Lue, Jackson, 1 and 11) Observation from last night: Our roster gives Van Gundy a lot of talent and flexibility. JVG has to prove his worth and ability as a coach. In my mind, one of the things to watch this year is whether Van Gundy will adjust his coaching to maximize this talent. Ward, Jax and Tmac: I question his ability to handle serious ball pressure from top defensive teams. But JJax and Tmac can take off the burden, depending on matchups. Lue: my only comment is that he is a change of pace that will help us win games. Tmac: he is quick, quick to the basket. There will be times when JVG will just have to let Tmac go to work. In my mind, that is the key to the season. Yao: feeding him the ball in the post is no longer a perimeter issue. Tmac does it so, so easily. JJax is good at it also. IT'S NOW ON YAO. He has to get position. He will get the ball. He has to score and impose his will on the game. I like our chances. Jeff Van Gundy has a job to do. He needs to really distinguish himself this year.
This should be repeated. It's nice having a 6'8" SG that has long arms, great scorer, and can actually make a clean pass w/out turning the ball over! And he's not even a PG!
One thing I noticed last night was the team was doing what they had to do to get Shaq in foul trouble. I even saw T Lou slashing towards him right after a foul was called on Shaq. Put the opponents best big man on the bench and it will turn into a free for all. I don't think many teams have the luxury of having a descent shot blocker like Motumbo off the bench. We have one of the best back ups out there. I see good things happening this year. Hell, they didn't even have to deal with Mo Taylor.
Question for those of you that saw the game... A few articles said that Yao was quicker than last year. Is this true? Can you notice any quickness/improvement? You can tell from his pictures that his bicepts ARE bigger; i.e. stronger. But what about his speed?
I did not perceive a difference. but the entire game last night was very mechanical. any difference would not have surfaced.
Yao looked bigger and stronger, but I didn't see much difference in his play. He didn't have much playing time, though, and other players on the Rockets were trying to show their stuff. It seemed to me like the court was crowded. As if the players are all bigger or the court is smaller. Just didn't seem like there was much space for people to move around and set plays. (Maybe that's just a magnet of my fignation). -- droxford
One of the things that the NBA writer talked about was how Yao looked quicker, but had to rest when TMac started running the court in the 1st half. I was like, "uh oh..." I thought Yao had a great training camp. Guess, he'll always "huff and puff." Maybe it's just something we need to get used to.
