ClutchFans Game Thread: Hornets @ Rockets 1/13/2008

We missed McGrady today...................defensively.

McGrady would have been our best defender against David West. He's the only player we have with the length and quickness combination to give a guy like West a difficult time. Other than possibly Landry, whom we did not see enough today.

 

I have waited all day to settle my mind down after this terrible afternoon.
The first thing that came into my mind when I saw the non calls, is that it smelt of gambling and bets on games.
Thee Refs all at the same game couldn't all not see at the same time what was plainly visible. If one did actually see then he must have no guts to make the call
This game was stolen from us by the NBA Refs- David Stern what are you going to do about it? Do I need to come to your office!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

ALSO!!
Rafer Alston needs to sit down with Coach A and be healed, especially his head. Rafer has had a couple of decent games and the roar turned from hate to love over night. Unfortunately Rafer took this to be a signal that he can go back to all his old habbits ( Which we hate so much, as it get him and our team into trouble)
FOR THE 45th TIME----- Rafer must not set himself up to make plays. -------It is his job to set others up to make plays. -----Rafer should only shoot if he has the shot after the ball has been passed to him!!

MOst of to-days poor shots were from Rafer setting himself up and not passing the ball. Naughty Rafer!!

 

I don't think there are so many keys to read this game. Houston vs decent team = loss. Mathematical.

And I think it is pretty stupid to blame Yao for his FT and, why not, even the refs (who certanly made big mistakes). If you really want to blame someone, blame the rest of the team for their shooting performance and for letterally refusing to shot in the final mins looking for Yao anywhere on the court. Blame Mr. Battier for not making an istant foul on Peterson (?) after the hook shot missed by Yao, losing seconds and allowing an easy pass to Paul who got fouled by Head.

Too easy to enjoy games against NY or Twolves and say "We are better". We are at the same level as before and if we canìt win with Western teams say goodbye to the playoffs. Sad truth. We need a miracle, hope it can have a name in Tracy McGrady.

 

I really don't think we can pin this on Rafer...he did not have a very good game today but he did ok. This loss is due to missed layups and missed free throws. The two non calls at the end didn't help either.

 

^Classic! Yetti is a perfect example of a Rafer Hater.

Rafer plays excellent for 4 weeks, today, he kept the offense running with 7 assists, got us 2 steals, and hit 40% on threes. He misses a few shots against one of the league's best interior and exterior defensive teams so he needs to be "healed."

I didn't see the game, but it was a double loss. We need to beat WC playoff teams, especially teams like NOH, Utah, and the Blazers.

The officials chose an interesting game to screw us over.

 

This game was a test. While the Rockets didn't totally fail it, they didn't pass it either. This team is an average NBA team, not upper level, not lower level. A bit marginal to be honest. Maybe they will make the playoffs, maybe they won't. They just aren't at the level of the better teams. It will be interesting to see what difference TMac makes. I like the young talent I am seeing, but, unfortunately, that is the only real encouragement. At present, four, yes four of our starters probably don't start for any other team in the West. I truly believe our bench is better than our starting lineup. Way too many offensive liabilities on the floor with Yao to start the games.

 

damn true but so sad about that.

 

Try what ever you can to bring in jason kidd. He is old but physically fit to play the games. Most importantly he is hunger for the championship ring. Bring him in.

 

I have said this before. Against a good team, sloppy mistakes made by us will
have serious consequences and good team will exploit to the max. We are not going to do well against good team with sloppy play and turnovers that should
not occurred. Some of our players are just prone to mistakes and sloppiness.

 

Was at the game today couple of observations. Just overall disappointed with the last 5 minutes of the game. I can't understand in the last 5 minutes of a close game why the Rockets seem to bog down on offense instead of running their normal sets. They just constantly go to Yao, which is fine, but everyone else stands around and watches Yao. It allows the defense to set and they know what to prepare for every trip down the court. Run the normal offense.

You can't always blame the ref's for everything that is going on in close games with this team. They are not executing and the offense continues to bog down.

The offense looked best when some combination of Brooks, Scola and Wells were on the floor. Seemed to run smoothly. I'm not of the belief, that you can continue to play Hayes and Battier at the same time. You are getting zero offense out of your forwards. Battier in particular I thought played very poorly today. Hayes wasn't much better. I'd love too see Landry, Scola and Brooks get extended minutes.

Finally I thought Adelman didn't do a great job of distributing the minutes among the players. Very disappointed in this loss, as these close game losses are becoming customary for the Rockets. The last 3 or so minutes of a close game seems to be when the other team takes over, the Rockets haven't figured out late game situations and until they do these type of losses too good teams will continue.

 

Frustrating lose. I purchased 1G data block after running out my internet quotas just to watch the game. Plus crawling out of bed 6 in the morning with only 4 hours sleep, not mention taking the risk of failing the quiz in the afternoon... The bad officiating took away the win. YAO had a monster night but he others hadn't given him enough help during the crunch period.

 

As I said before, role players are role players because they are inconsistent. Otherwise, they would be stars.

 

Yeah, ha-ha. you bet.

It's just unbelievable that Detroit was routed so badly. That is very brutal for Detroit funs. I havent been able to watch that game and have no idea what went wrong. But Knicks definitely has done a terrific job to tear Detroit apart. How is that possible for Detroit's funs to swallow this big fat loss?

So. we are lucky that we didnt lose by 24 points. Fairly to say we played OK. And Yao played great. We might need a bit more respect for Refs, better performance for other four startings, and a much better execution in the final two minutes.

The rockets will prevail and get to the second round!!!

 

What if Hinrich and Gordon instead of ... ?

You know, I don't mean to trade Alston and Head

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2008011310

The Hornets trailed most of the second half -- outscored 18-2 during a Houston run -- until Tyson Chandler stripped the ball twice from Yao late in the fourth quarter, triggering fast breaks. Rasual Butler finished the second one with a dunk with 1:35 left, got fouled and hit the free throw to put New Orleans up 81-78.

Yao and Adelman both said Chandler slapped Yao's hand on the second steal.

"A superstar is supposed to get calls and he doesn't get the calls," Adelman said. "Simple as that." [\B]

*******************************************

Sorry Rick, Yao is not a superstar in the NBA, most fans(even a lot of Rockets fans), Journalists, analysts, ESPN's eyes. He is just a big stiff from China to them. Hell, even Kwame Brown get some love from nba refs!

But the problem we lost this game was not because of the referees or whether the fact T-mac is playing or not, the rockets lost the game because they cannot hold the lead! This was not the first time this team lost the lead in the final quarter. Like some posters have said, this team with or without t-mac, at best is only a medicore team. I tried to believe the team is serious contender but games after games they disappointed me!

 

This loss really hurt. I can't sleep tonight. I hope we make playoffs. T-Mac please come back with vengeance

 

yep even Stevie Wonder can see that.

 

Your last statement is correct but your first is completly incorrect!
I do not hate anyone on our teamPlease get this straight!
Rafer has had a few good games and I would like to see him continue at a high level. It is just that he seems to make the same mistakes season in and season out, sometimes playing out of control. My impression of Rafer Alston is a constant one, without change! Rafer is a decent back up Point Guard on a good team.One thing that is missing in his game is that he is not a playmaker, mostly looking for his own shot.He has difficulty in passing into Yao Ming when Yao is in scoring position. I would like to see Rafer play otherwise, for the teams sake.

 

Actually the Rockets played a pretty crappy game for all four quarters and still managed to keep it close. The offense never flowed--80 odd points is a low scoring game for Adelman. If they had converted on a bunch of those missed layups they probably would have won easily.

Here's hoping T-Mac gets back in time for the Philly game. The Rockets can use it as a warm up game to ease him back into the offense before playing San Antonio. They should have the opportunity to hold a lot of practices before the game with the Spurs and it looks like they need it.