[Clutchfans Game Thread] Kings @ Rockets 10/16 11:00pm (Central)

this is just pre-season you guys, geez,

 

Replay of the game coming on ESPN right now just to give you a heads up.

 

I do expect some improvement in the regular season but our weak points are being highlighted as well.
Yao's inability to keep the ball above his head annoyed me. Turnovers from double and triple teaming are understandable but he hasn't shown improvement in his weak areas.
Sura's absence will be felt.
I feel T-Mac will have to be our leader on the court. Yao probably will be about the same as last year.

 

the replay of last nights game is on ESPN right now.

 

YES

 

You can't be serious about this. The first half, especially the first quarter, saw more successful fast breaking then the entire year last year. Athleticism is not a problem with this team.

I can't imagine anyone taking any major take-aways from the preseason games so far.

If you had to isolate anything, the one item that is of note is that this team is totally different. I mean, it's hard to even analyze what's going on the offensive style seems so different from the last 4 years. Better, worse, more efficient, less efficient, more suited to Yao, less suited to Yao - who can tell. The styles are just so different.

 

I fell asleep halfway through the 4th quarter, so if Boki came in and did a 360 dunk, I missed it. I stayed awake long enough to catch some other things though:

*McGrady - This guy is an unbelievable passer. He's been setting guys up beautifully for open looks, especially Yao. They're using him like we used Clyde. As soon as Yao goes to the bench, it's all McGrady, all the time. Last year, when Yao went to the bench, we struggled because our next best player (Steve) also happened to be our point guard, so he had to juggle between initiating the offense and putting points on the board. T-Mac has the green light to hoist it up at will during these stretches. Again, amazing passer.

*Yao - I've come away thoroughly unimpressed by Yao in these first few games. He'll score 20 a game because our team passing is so improved, but I'm having doubts as to whether he'll ever be dominant. His rebounding is still piss-poor. There were many times when he'de be right under the basket and other guys would just take it away from him. He's going to score more this year though because T-Mac has been looking for him on every play. T-Mac can do for this guy what Stockton did for Malone.

*Howard - I've adopted Howard as my new favorite player. I'm just going to think of him as the same guy that Pat Riley thought was worth $100 million. It's not like his skills have declined or his body has broken down since that point, so I don't know why he's thought of so lowly around the league. What I see is a guy with solid post-up skills, a very capable rebounder, and a guy with a real mean-streak. He was going at it with Brad Miller at times and was responsible for dislocating Derek Anderson's shoulder a few years ago. He will mix it up. Look, this guy isn't going to lead the league in rebounds or block shots, but for now he's more than adequate and we can win with him as our starter.

*Taylor - The last remaining holdover from the "Dumb and Dumber - Francis/Mobley/Moochie/Cato/Taylor/Thomas/Anderson" days, this guy looked horrible last night. Turned the ball over, looked completely out of sync. He's a good player though and we need him to produce if we're going to win.

*Ward/Lue - The offense completely bogs down when Lue is running the point. He's a pesky defender though. Ward on the other hand is a real good general. He rebounds, plays tough defense, and gets us into our offense quickly.

*Bowen - Possibly the single worst offensive player I've ever seen. I love this guy though. Plays his ass off. I hope he gets minutes.

*Gaines - From the limited time I saw him, this guy is flat out horrible. Maybe one of the single worst basketball players I've ever seen.

Overall, the main key from last night again was that this is going to be a really good passing team, mainly because of McGrady. That first quarter was a thing of beauty.

 

Rockets' management needs to see game tape of Boki before they can decide to extend him for the 4th season. Dikembe is not in that situation. I think CD has already made up his mind. Boki is not going to be extended for a 4th season.

 

Backup SG/SF is going to be a problem this season. JJ and TMac might have to play minutes in the high 30s. Anyone besides JJ and TMac playing the SG/SF is getting zoned off bigtime. Bowens is a scrapper, but the Kings were zoning way off him. Boki's shot is nil. Gaines hasn't shot anything from long-range this preseason. Fortunately, JJ and TMac are workhorses.

However, this problem should be addressed in the offseason. I think the Rockets should offer Vladimir Radmanovic a full MLE offer. The guy is a killer beyond the arc, and he's tall and athletic. Sonics' fans are saying their management will match that offer. The Rockets should offer it anyway.

 

JVG said in the press conference, he likes Gaines even though he didn't do well last night. JVG also said he likes Bowen's energy, which comes with no surprise.

 

I see Alton Ford is on the Kings right now trying to make the team. Good Luck to Him

 

It is refreshing to see Ryan Bowen hustle. Last year none of our big guys seemed to run the court or get those tough rebounds.

 

I was impressed by the way Hawkins finished around the basket after Yao passed to him. JVG mentioned he has a chance to make the team.
He likes to drive but he needs to get better at it.
Unfortunately he has no outside shot but he did better than Gaines.

 

Well Hawkins is a Undersized PF who has a strong body i doubt he is going to do much from the outside. He is a bangger down low.

 

Anyone who thinks the offense is same-old same old is not paying attention. The number one improvement is how quickly the offense starts. In particular, Charlie Ward has the ball up court and in another player's hands usually within 5-6 seconds. The players have so much more time to run plays and the ball moves beautifully. The fast breaking is also an improvement - its nice to see the person running the break stay in the middle of the floor. Finally, players who cut to the basket are being rewarded by the PG -

Yao did not look great last night, but I think we have to keep in mind how nervous he is playing in front of China. For him, its the equivalent of another NBA player playing in the finals for the first time. However, his passing was great in the first quarter and he's showing how well he can run the offense out of the post. However, our team has to keep his deafness in one ear in mind. He will need some kind of visual cue when someone is coming behind him, or else you'll continue to see him turn the ball over frequently.

I had previously praised Gaines, and I do still see the same good things (passing, unselfishness). However, his weaknesses were also very apparent (lack of aggressiveness when given the shot). The last play was pretty abominable and he looked alot like Francis but without the one-on-one abiliity. I think the staff would do better to keep him as a SG (who just happens to pass well)

 

That's a very interesting comment, that I don't think has been brought up here before. It must be a bit more difficult to sense a player behind you if you can't hear him coming on the backside. Not sure how Yao can adjust to that other than getting into the habit of holding the ball high with his elbows sticking out.

 

Bowens is indeed a scrapper. I think the big difference between Bowens and Brad Miller is the ability to make a jumpshot. Bowens would be a solid player in the NBA if he could make a jumpshot. The fact that Yao had to play far out on the perimeter to keep a hand in Brad Miller's face negated some of his defensive presence in the paint which allowed guys like Peja and Webber to score points in the paint with cuts and post ups.

 

Same old offense? The difference in the offense with last year is like night and day. They bring the ball down the court quickly and get into their offense with plenty of time on the shot-clock. There's no more of that skipping down the court bullsh*t. They can actually run a fastbreak now and keep the ball in the middle of the court. I hope the notion that JVG doesn't want to run can now be put to rest. They were running every chance they got last night. The biggest difference however is the passing. They can almost effortlessly get the ball into Yao this time around and every player makes a concerted effort to feed him. The 3 main scoring options (Yao, TMac, Howard) can all strike quickly, with few dribbles - this is conducive to much more player movement and more fluid passing. When you can keep the ball hopping and strike quickly like T-Mac's pull-up jumper, everyone keeps moving instead of standing around and watching one man dribble out the clock for 10 seconds making his move.

 

??? people complained about our fastbreak all last year and we had francis and mobley, possibly the most athletic backcourt in the nba. i don't see how improving the fastbreak would indicate good athleticism since it certainly isn't higher than last year.

and this was mostly a reference to the defensive rebounding i saw. every rebound seemed to be an adventure with not many people being able to box out or go up and get a rebound.


ward
jackson
lue
taylor
howard
yao

stop me when i get to the athletic guys. and out of those, only jj is a pretty physical guy.
that's 4/5 of the starting lineup, with the obvious exception being tmac. i'd say we're fairly soft and unathletic and many seemed to say so when our team was shaping up this summer. maybe last night was not indicative of how the season will shape up but for now i would say those fears from the summer are coming to fruition.

 

tmac's ability is obvious and the fact he can just raise up at any given time (i.e. he doesn't have to create separation like someone like steve does because he's 6'9) is nice, it's still mostly an isolation to me.

there is little off the ball movement or anything substantially different to me from last year except tmac is there and not steve and obviously tmac is better. and tmac's passing definitely looked nice.

maybe i just saw different things but i saw little to tell me jvg had crafted a better offense than what i saw last year. the improvement will have to simply come from an increase in the talents of the players, not an improvement in the system, but maybe that's just me.