I think this game is a perfect example of what we should hope to get out of Juwon. 11 pts & 12 boards. Get the easy baskets, knock down the occasional jumper and do the dirty work on the boards.
Preseason looks good. Team is learning to play together and the role players are filling in nicely. Someone will emerge as the PG but with T-Mac and Yao that's a secondary concern. I am excited about Motumbo --- instead of Yao sitting down and us hoping we can hold them off long enough for him to rest we actually have someone coming in who can make an impact!!!
Given the jet lag, we actually looked pretty good...the cheap fouls on Yao was terrible, but overall, he looked ok in the first half...the next game is I believe 11 p.m. Saturday night... go rox!!!
why come when ever the rcokets win a pre-season game, the astros lose? just a coincidence. and id rather watch hawkins drive to the basket for easy lay-ups rather than seeing boki miss open jumpers.
SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Yao Ming was the star in the NBA's first China game, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets past the Sacramento Kings 88-86 Thursday. There was a capacity crowd on hand at Shanghai's city gymnasium to cheer the 7-foot-6 center, whose return has dominated headlines in his hometown. His first points came on a dunk seven minutes into the game, and he brought the fans to their feet when he scored on an alley-oop pass from Tracy McGrady in the second quarter. Brad Miller led the Kings with 19 points, but the game was clearly a showcase for Yao. He was even tough on Liu Wei, his teammate on the Chinese Olympic team who was invited to Kings camp in July. Liu made his Sacramento debut early in the second quarter, making a jumper moments after. But Yao fouled Liu with about two minutes left in the half, sending his former teammate to the floor. When Liu looked for some help in getting up, Yao stood still, his hands on his hips. Chris Webber scored 14 points for Sacramento, including a half-court buzzer beater that gave the Kings a 72-67 lead heading into the fourth quarter. McGrady had 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Houston. Sacramento led by as many as nine points in the final quarter before the Rockets came back. With the crowd chanting "Yao Ming! Yao Ming!" Houston clinched the win with two free throws by Tyronn Lue. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/basketball/nba/10/14/kings.rockets.ap/index.html
Did Yao knew he needed help getting up? Thats his best friend laying on the floor. Hard to imagine Yao not helping him up.
Doesn't Boki have a guaranteed contract? Sure if he doesn't pan out we'd like to have someone in his place, but as long as we're paying him we might as well try to use him, unless we want him to be the next Matt Maloney, just a few years shorter. Pugs
What in the hell is a poor man's Artest if someone has no defense? Isn't an essential piece to being *comparable* to Artest palying good, or even very good, defense?
Thanks for posting that, I keep looking at Bibby wondering what he's doing behind Yao while he's dunking. You'd think he's trying to block him from behind, but it doesn't even look like that. Pugs
He's got this year guaranteed at about a 1 million plus some change and a team option for next year which has not been exercised. He'd be off the cap by next season. It's not exactly a Maurice Taylor style deal - or even Matt Maloney. If it comes down to cutting him or Gaines and the decision were purely financial, they would cut him since their contracts are near identical but Gaines is a year behind him so has two more guaranteed years.
