ClutchFans Game Thread: Knicks @ Rockets 1/21/2004

your observation probably right (i didn't see the game). anyone would be a little reserved after so many times you worked hard to move to get position and when you open you don't see the ball... that happened a lot. now yao sees a trun pg in mark and knows what he should be doing.

 

I know we are all excited about Yao's performance and the debut of Mark Jackson, but let's give a little love to Mo Taylor. He started the run in the second quarter with his solid play in the post and then through the second half. Mo was just about as big as Yao was today with this shooting and post up play. Good job Mo!

I think it is clear that this team runs much more smoothly offensively when we start the offense in the post with either Taylor or Yao. They are the hub of the wheel. If we dont start there our offense goes into helter skelter mode.


As an aside, how about Mark Jackson today? I think I actually saw a legitamte pass on a fast break! Amazing! And I liked seeing the Mark Jackson/Francis backcourt, that looking interesting. I would love to see more of that.

 

How many ill-advised, off balance, low % shots did Francis (& Mobley) jack up last night?

Thank goodness Yao and MoT bailed us out.


........and just when I thought they were sarting to "getting it" they revert to dumb and dumber.

D R

 

Wouldnt it be ironic if MJ finally win a championship ring with Yao , not with Ewing instead.

 

Isnt it also ironic to see MJ to do the two things many of us, the so called YOF, have been saying for a long time. Pass the damn ball to an open Yao during a PnR, and a timely pass to a slashing Yao across the paint. And it didnt TAKE LONG for MJ to accomplish them indeed. YOF=MJOF

 

Two of the sweetest plays of the year thus far, both in the second half:

- Yao and Steve execute a perfect pick and roll with Yao freeing himself for an 18-footer that he swishes cleanly. That actually made MSG's Play of the Game.

- In the 4th quarter, another pick and roll as M.Jax drives and hits a trailing Yao, who dishes to J.Jax at the three point line. As Penny scurries over, J.Jax immediately (no-look!) touch passes back to an open Yao, who nails a jumper from the wing. Beautiful.

 

We have waited soooooo looooong to see what a real playmaker can do with this team. Wow! The few minutes MJ played made such a difference. The timing of passes makes such a difference! The speed of passes makes such a difference! The precision of passes makes such a difference! In a very short time Jackson made such a difference! Now we need a twenty-something playmaker, pass- first point guard like Mark Jackson and the future suddenly brightens up. Wow, I was right! I have been right all along! The missing piece.

The other missing piece is a sharp-shooting, muscle-in, power forward. And guess what, Mo Taylor was that and more last night. I am excited again. May it continue.

 

I thought Mobley was often ill advised last night, but Stevie was getting the ball BACK with 5-7 seconds left on the clock and having to force issues. I thought he played a pretty good game.

 

I don't think I usually agree with Haven, but, this was one of the first games that Francis and Cat’s play bothered me. Especially after a win. I don’t think SF and Cat are purposefully freezing other players out. And I don’t think they are being purposefully selfish. I just think they make offensive play more difficult than it needs to be. It seems to me both of them have a few things they learned well enough to do by instinct in a game. If those are working the do great. But, if those pet moves/skills are defended they still try to do them more times than not. They may still score, but many time at the cost of bypassing and easier shot. In Cat’s case, I have less of a problem. He’s a SG. He’s supposed to take the shot if he feels he’s open. Problem is he often feels he’s open even when he’s not. I wish he would just look down low a little more, I mean he passed up on Yao a few times when he was open and hot, and dribble a little less. That said I’d rather have a SG do something aggressively stupid than passively stupid.
In Steve’s case he is a PG. His job is to make scoring easier, whatever that may mean, be it assists, scoring, or just moving the ball. In many of the games the points seemed to come to hard. Not all his fault, but in this particular game, it bothered me.
Before you think I’m bashing him after a win, I’m not. I think he is doing the best he can. There is just something missing in his game at PG. IMO it’s coaching. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think the NBA is really set up to teach a guy how to play his position. If he doesn’t learn it in college, then he had to do it by OJT. And the way OJT works best is to have a mentor pair up with the newbie. SF’s never had that. In fact I doubt SF ever had two consecutive years at the same position, in the same offense, with the same core personel. My hope is that JVG brought MJ in partially to be a player coach for Steve, a mentor Or at the very least Steve will use the opportunity of MJ being here to learn some things he’s never been taught.
Just so I don’t end on a negative. I think it’s pretty cool that we have a team that can win the way it has and still have the potential to improve even more. Despite, the problems I had with the guard play, which is weird because they’ve definitely had worse games that didn’t bother me as much, we still blew out the other team. I like this team. Especially with the edition of MJ, and Yao’s more aggressive play.

 

I though for a NBA players who play basketball all their life must at least know how to pass the ball beside shooting. I mean, isn't it the fundamental of basketball to pass and shoot. After last night game, I realize that is not always the case, and it is beyond me! How difficult to pass the ball to the tallest guy on the floor. I just glad that MJ has proven he is worth for the rocket. And hopefully, the rest of the team can follow.
On another note, Yao shooting is better than our shooting guard. I though it is a joke! Is there a position call shooting center?

 

7 words

That-half-court-bounce-pass-to-YAO

Steve couldn't make that pass in his sleep......

To me MJAX looks just like he did years ago...no different....

I thought he would look different...but no same old Mark

Stevie Wonder could see the diffence a True PG made to our offense last night....

Those days of the second unit comin in a leads evaporatin are long gone my friends.......

Dare I say..We may have finally reached a turnin the corn........No I better not say it

 

Certain members of this board are way to hard on Francis and tend to occupy time on his offense play and ignore his defense - same for Mobley.

Defense is key for Rockets this year and Francis is a key reason the Rockets are one of the best defensive teams at this point - his athleticism is almost unequaled at his position.

Francis was instrumental in making Marbury a non-factor last night.

On the offensive side you can see that Francis and Mobley have not developed as quickly the ability to get the ball to Yao - and they often don't see him - but I don't think that's on purpose - I think it's more that they are still developing a feel for where Yao is and how to get him the ball - as Yao is also developing his play and his positioning, footwork etc. - making it all the more difficult for them.

The Rockets brought in Patrick Ewing - to among other things help Yao - now I think they realize [belatedly] that they need to do the same with Francis - that is where M.Jackson fit's in. M.Jackson will help Francis to learn to get the maximum from Yao on the offensive side.

Recall that the Chicago Bulls championship teams never had a true point guard and they did just fine.

 

Err... ok.

Here's the problem.

What do Mo T (great game, btw), Jim Jackson, Mark Jackson, Nachbar, and Scott Padgett all have in common?

The answer: they all throw better entry passes to Yao than Steve or Cat do.

Could it be a coincidence? Sure, I guess. But it's also more than a little suspicious. I don't think teams decide to defend the entry pass solely when it's Steve or Cat lobbying it in.

heighth is going to be a factor, of course... but it wasn't for Mark Jackson, yesterday.

 

I agree with montevideo. I understand that everyone is excited about a true PG in our team but please remember SF3's defense! SF3 last night shut off Murbury, who scored average 20s last week. MJ has never been a good defender.

 

Great game...I thought we were done in the 1st 5 minutes, but we came back...I didn't like the SM hit and I'm glad we schooled them...

Like I've always said...

GIVE YAO THE DAMN BALL!!!

GO ROX!!!

 

Bad bad comparison right there. When you have Michael Jordan and Pippen in his prime you don't need a true PG, or a dominant low post threat. For that matter, Jordan and Pippen claimed the ball distributing skills that typically a PG would make. Even Pippen in his older days now in his career plays a point forward role. He's not nearly as athletic or as much of a scoring threat as he used to be but he's still a smart passer.

 

A few thing I Like:

1. Francis did not force over 20 shots last night, even had a few ill shorts,that's acceptable at this tiem, But for compete to another level, that will cost a game.
2. Finally Yao shows his shot range, It opens a lot, NOt necessary to go to post everytime, He can get some rest, also more variety at attack for Rockets.
3. Taylor has been super at attack, With him and Yao, Our guards really do not need those ill shorts, Only shot natually when it's coming and open.

A few things I dont like:
1.IN the first quarter, Yao was going over Knick small gaurds all over the half court, that's rediculous, He got one foul from that. Yao should not do it, just defend post. If Yao did it by himself, Should tell him stop doing it. If it's coach advice, Coach needs some lesson from me.
2. Francis was trying his own shot on a 3 on 1 quick attack, I rarily saw a good pass and finish on a 2 on 1 situation on whole rocket'sgame. That's unacceptable, should have more practice on it.
3. Looks to me, Does matter how terrible Guards shot night in and out , They always shot about 15 shots a game. Its' no brain,
They should ahve some lessons about team game,find a hot hand. That's why often lose close games.

 

Liked Mark Jackson's game; it was a very good start to his short Rocket career. But, please be reasonable. He made some nice passes, including 2 really nifty ones (one of which Van Gundy called a terrible pass), collected 3 assists, but it is just 1 game. I don't think you can declare him a starter on the strength of 1 game. Can he play that well every game? Can he play that well over longer minutes? Can he play even better than that -- because posters here will become dissatisfied with him over time if he gets no better, even if he gets no worse. It's a promising start, but the other MJ has quite a way still to go.

 

they just always want to have their shots

 

Hey don't assume all WNBA fans think that way..so back off!!

BTW--WNBA games are a whole 8 minutes shorter than NBA games and still score right with alot of these teams, minus the Kings and Mavs!!