yessirrrrrr.. it's music to a broke college student's earsssss GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!!! ONE GAME WINNING STREAK BABY!!!!!!!
Everyone played great except Wesley and Swift!...Ticky-tac fouls just annoy me so bad. There were at least five whistles this game for fouls that had absolutely no consequence on they play. Ugh! Somebody help the NBA before they come up with the no-touching rule. I sure wish 610 would synch up with tv all the time. Sometimes they do, and then they'll go off and run 3-sec ahead, like today. Drexler is so full of crap. He always makes the nice and clean comment. So little criticism or insight. I feel my basketball knowledge regress if I listen. Rox are back!
We won by 9 points even though our two PFs shot 0-9 and 2-6. The good news is I don't think Howard will shoot 0-9 again in the remaining games of this season. This team has enough fire power to overcome the lack of production in one position. I say it's the sign of a great team.
Seemed like we can mix and match 3 or 4 different squads now each with their own look. Rafer and DA are so much more attack oriented than JB and Wesley. JB and Wesley really need Yao and TMac to initiate everything while DA and Wesley seem like they can attack on their own. The flip side of that is when its time for TMac and Yao to take over JB and Wesley seem to give them more room to do so. And yes, Stro looks more than a little lost, but boy does he attack the rim and get up to block shots. We could have used someone like him coming off the bench last year. Loved it when he and Deke were guarding the rim together - they were downright violent way high in the air, arms flailing. I think when they were both in, I think thats the time the game started to turn in our favor. Can anyone back me up on that?
I am just glad that we haven't seen a string of trade player x threads started. It seems like win or lose people immediately hold up one game as an indicator of the whole season or a player's whole career. There were some bumps in our road tonight, but that road lead to sweet victory. It seemed like our team really stepped up when it was time to seal the deal. That is a good characteristic for a team to have.
The bad news is I don't think Jon Barry will shoot 8-10 FG and 6-7 FT again in the remaining games of this season.
ha ha ha, the best thing about this is we have 2 FULL days of rest, that is GOOD for T-MAC to ice that knee
Solid 2nd half. Yao played the way he should, Barry was unbelievable, both DA and Alston had decent showings, Deke was Deke. Howard couldn't buy a bucket, but rebounded the ball well, Swift looked completely lost out there on D. Wesley better find his shot. But TMac's knees are a serious concern to me right now, they looked very wobbly to me.
Barry profits to the degree attention goes to Yao. I say 15 of Barry's 20 end up in Yao's coffer if the opposition stays back on Barry. Barry is the perfect compliment to Yao. And methinks all of DA and Rafer's slashing and attacking (even Stro was attacking the rim, 2-6) sets the stage for Barry to come in and hit those jumpers. We have a much better balanced attack this year. Lots of rollplayers... love it.
i'm not worried about les, im just glad he spends some money to get a competitive team.... though (as much as i dislike cuban's crying ways) i wish he were more like cuban in regards to fans... marky mark will forever be cherished up here for keeping tickets cheap and not selling out the fans by bringing an all star game to town.
It was a nice victory and I'm glad we were able to win even with Yao and Stro being in foul trouble much of the game...however, I did have some concerns: * defensive rebounding: The Kings got 14 offensive rebounds which meant plenty of second chances...against legit contenders that wont cut it...Howard and Yao were our only rebounding threats tonight, and Mutombo shouldve played a lot sooner with JVG knowing that we were struggling defensively... * FT shooting: 17-25...this will likely be solved with practice so I'm not too concerned...could just be due to anxiety... * Foul trouble: Yao and Stro need to learn to play D with their feet, not the body...they react too slowly and seem unprepared with opponents...which means they need to spend more time in the film room... * I still dont like the idea of Wesley sitting and DA starting...its not that I feel Wes is better than DA, its just that I feel he's the best player for that particular starting lineup... I know its only the first game, so I wont overanalyze or whine too loud...but it concerned me that a lot of our problems were on the defensive side of the ball, when I expected most of our issues to come on the offensive end...
Some thoughts... The most pleasant surprise of the game, IMO, is Yao's domination of the paint. This is what we truly want out of the guy: Pure ownership of inferior wannabe opposing centers. Sure, he got 5 fouls, but they're not the ticky-tack defensive fouls we normally see. Hopefully, Yao will start get more respect from refs with regards to those charges in the future. I like the minutes T-Mac played in the game. he should hover around the 35 minute mark throughout the season. Some extra minutes in really tight situations down the stretch, while more rest in blowout scenarios. Swift's play was definitely disappointing. I kind of expected something like this when JVG said he still needs to learn the system. But I didn't think he was this bad. Obviously the guy doesn't pick up new things quickly. But the important thing is that he gets it eventually... as in before the playoffs.
I disagree. Yao moved his feet better than I think I've ever seen him, especially when defending the PnR. Two of his fouls were offensive (both borderline calls imo), and another one was a loose ball foul (a stupid one I'll admit). He did get one call trying to draw a charge, but he did get there in time, he was just in the circle. Granted, that's one I'd rather he not take (plays where someone charges into him almost never go in his favor), but you can't pin that foul on him not moving his feet. That was just a busted play with Miller running free on a drive. Stro on the other hand was a disaster on defense. He's got to get better, plain and simple.
Rafer, DA, Wesley, Juwon and Stro were a combined 8 for 34; under 25% Yao and Barry were 18 for 26, almost 70% TMac did his normal thing - 9 for 21, just under 50%.
