ClutchFans Game Thread: Lakers @ Rockets 2/11/2004

Quick thoughts

• I really loved how Mobley took the ball to the basket and didn't just SETTLE for the perimeter jump shot. That got his game going. Also, long missed jumpers can start the opposing team's fast break. This kills that.

• Amazing how good an offense looks when we hit jumpers! Francis 9-11, Taylor 7-11. Are you kidding me? And many of those were JUMP SHOTS not post ups or layups! When the outside shot falls and Yao is clicking. Game over!

• Turnovers were controlled. We had 12 total, 9 in the first half and 3 in the second half. If we control our turnovers this helps tremendously!

• Passing. Everyone was looking to get everyone involved. Players got involved early and got confidence that carried with them throughout the game.

• FINALLY we ge a game where BOTH YAO and FRANCIS have big games. Plus we get a season best game from Cat to boot? Damn!

• Yao's Stamina & Aggressiveness. I think this game was CLEARLY Yao's best of his career. Interestingly, while his FG% was low early, I felt he was playing great. He was taking it AT SHAQ! He was not backing down. So what if the shot gets blocked? HE IS TAKING IT AT SHAQ! At NO POINT on TV did I see Yao bend over gasping for air. Dare I say...he got STRONGER AS THE 4TH PERIOD moved on!!?!? Yao was aggressive and his teammates didn't run away from him even though his scoring was low in the first half. They stuck with him, and it payed off.

As far as I am concerned this could be Yao's coming out party (including his post game interview on ESPNEWS which he did in ENGLISH!). Clearly we wont know the significance of this game without seeing what he can do in his next games to follow up this effort, but by FAR this was his BEST game of his career. He showed NO SIGNS of fatigue. He was ACTIVE and AGGRESSIVE and his teammates believed in him.

I have said this MANY, MANY times before....this team will only go as far as YAO takes us. It is ALL up to him. Tonight, he showed us a glimpse of what this team COULD BE in the future.

Now it is all about consistancy. That is what makes players great!

 

sorry YAO in know how is the MAN IN THE MIDDLE now

 

pd


i must be punished mercy on myselft

 

I love the nickname "Shaq's Daddy" for Yao Ming .

 

Yes! Who were those guys out there on the court last night? This was the smartest game EVER I've seen from SF. Maybe he'll finally begin to understand what JVG is trying to do with this team because last night everyone saw that it works and works big time. He played WITHIN the offense and still got his 21 points. The only question now is whether or not he can keep it going for the last 36 games.

Yao came to play and that's why you want to keep him on this team. He's reminding me more and more of Dirk Nowitzski whom it took 3 years to adjust to the physicality of the league. At this rate, IF SF and the rest fully buy into JVG's system, he's going to be a monster next year. I had tears in my eyes watching him play Shaq straight up. Shaq was stunned to see another guy his size playing him mano y mano - this is where the Rockets have the long term advantage over everyone. All that remains is for them to exploit it to the fullest. Let's see if they can keep it going...

 

awesome game!!! so many great performances, i don't know what to say.

we've seen this before from this team...we know what their potential is. the problem has been, they'll play this way when they know they're on national TV...but resort back to old habits when they're playing a lesser opponent with less attention. let's hope that means they'll play like this if they make the playoffs this year....but that inconsistency is exactly what I find most frustrating.

 

I was stunned! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Is this for real, a breakthrough game, or the ultimate TEASE?! I have never, never, never seen Francis and Mobley play that well. Ming looked less winded than I have ever seen him. He seemed energized. His performance was reminicient of his game against Dallas last year. I really don't know what to think, but I will tell you this, if I am JVG I make this a training film and show it every day for the rest of the season.

 

What was up with the shirt giveaway? I saw alot of fans wearing them on TV. It looked like it just had the big Toyota logo on the front with no mention of the Rockets.

For those who got the shirts. What do they look like? It would be really lame if they didn't even say Rockets anywhere on them.

 

I think Yao has trouble with shaq because he expends so much energy on the offensive end being aggressive, where Yao has trouble playing others players who are not good offensively. Those players expend there energy on defense and they dont focus on offense. So these are the type of players that yao has trouble with...the defensensive assains. But the coin has two sides...if the guys playing a lot of offense then its harder for him to expend energy on defense, also the other way around.

 

Theres a very simple way to beat the Lakers and thats take Shaq out of his game but as we all know no1 i mean no1 can take Shaq out of his game including Yao Ming. What he did do though was cancel Shaq out by putting up the same numbers and leting the rest of his team beat the rest of the lakers team, which they did.

 

1. I'm glad we have the All-Star break now because a game like this could only be followed by a huge letdown, knowing the Rockets. Hopefully, they'll forget by Tuesday and play with some determination.

2. Though I recognize that that wasn't nearly the best game we can expect from the Lakers, they are still the team I hope we match up with in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets are more focused and more determined when they play the Lakers than any other team. (Besides, the Mavs, Spurs and Kings seem to have our number.)

 

Great freakin' game...Finally, everone played as a team...Even with Yao taking 20 plus shots, Stevie & Mobley scored 21 a piece...

Great win, lets just hope everyone gets it for the rest of the season...I also liked how Yao said in his halftime interview that he is our guy and that JVG said that is was great players do...

Freakin' Awesome!!!

 

Totally agree. I think we have the best chance against the Lakers than the others of the big 5, Kings, Wolves, Spurs, or the Mavs. The problem is, that scenario is not highly likely.

Realistically, the highest we can get is #6. And I don't think the Lakers can overtake the Kings. So they'll have to beat out two of the three Midwest teams (Wolves, Spurs, Mavs) to get to #3. That might happen when all of their stars are healthy. But all of those 3 teams are going very strong now. It's hard to imagine two of them will drop off significantly barring injuries. Besides, the Rockets have to make sure that they secure the #6 spot.

On the other hand, if we can't match up aganist the Lakers, the next best chance is the Timberwolves. I'd rather play them than the Kings, Spurs or Mavs. Maybe we can keep Garnett's 1st round elimination streak going.

 

\

Rox can't beat the Kings and Mavs because we do not or can not control the tempo of the game.

Rox can beat the Spurs and Timberwolves for sure. Timberwolves has no center. The game with Spurs is always a defensive struggle, totally depends on last 5 minute execuation. We do have a chance.

 

True. But it at least debunks that myth of Shaq going to split Yao in half everytime they met.

Come to think of it, it was Steve who was almost split twice by Shaq. Poor guy.

 

Oh CWard... what might have been! Instead of sitting on the bench with the Spurs you could be running the show in Houston with Stevie at the 2, Cat at the 3 and JJ off the bench at the 2 and 3. What a great 4 guard rotation you could have given us. As a defensive minded point guard who thinks "pass first" you could have made sure that everyone got their touches... from Yao down.

 

I think that we have a chance of beating the Lakers, Timbervolves, Spurs, Kings. We already beat lakers twice, spit the games vs. Timbevolves this season. And among the 5 losses against Kings and Spurs, we have a chance in 3 of those 5 meetings. We just need to execute better down the stretch, and gets Ming more involved in the game.


When Ming shoots 13 or more times in a game, we are 15:4 so far this season. This is mind boggling stats. Yao improved a lot this season. Shaq is the gold standard to judge the center of opposing teams. Last year, yao averaged 8.5 ppg against Shaq's 31 ppg. And please take a look at this year's stats between Yao and Shaq:

Yao 23.5 ppg 9.5 prg 51.4% from the field
Shaq 23 ppg 9.5 rpg 41% from the field

I felt that Yao more than held his own in their first meeting at Staples center, and clearly outplayed Shaq last night.


Now take a look at our record against the best teams in the league: Lakers, Spurs, Timberwolves, Pacers, Sac, and Pistons. We are 5:8 against them so far, and 4 of those 8 losses were winnable. Yao averaged 21.4 ppg and 13 rpg in those 5 wins. And when Yao had a great game against the Spurs (Monday night), we nearlly pulled out a win on a night when our perimeter shooting was an awful 3-19. What does all this tell you? Yao has to be the man to carry this team if we are to be successful, and we need a vocal leader which I hope that is the role that SF3 can happily accept.

The only way that we can beat Dallas is that we can control the tempo of the game. We need a mature SF3 or a tradional PG for that task.

BTW, I am really really impressed by Yao last night. After going 4-12 from the field in the 1st half, and got his first shot blocked in the 2rd half, he went on to make 6 of his next 8 shots. I was stunned at the fact that he demanded the ball against Shaq in the 4th quarter and took it directly to the MDP in the league. That really tells you something. Yao has always said that Shaq is another mountain that he needs to climb over, or maybe that he can never climb over. I kind of agree with Bill Walton that it was possible that history was made last night. If Yao believes that he can take Shaq when his outside game is off, the sky is the limit when both his low and high post games are on.

Finally we need to do whatever to resign Ming in 2 years. I have heard from too many sources that the Lakers are gonna get him no matter what in two years when Shaq's contract is up.

 

gee... where to start? :~D

 

For me, the most exhilerating moment of the game was when Shaq fouled out. That moment was epic. At the time:

Both players had 5 fouls
Both had 24 or 25 points
They had been taking it to each other the entire second half.
Given the Rockets' penchant for late-game collapses, the outcome was still in doubt.

Looking at the arc of Yao Ming's career, so far this stands as the crowning moment.

 

If the defender challenge a player and the player dunks, it is called the defender get "dunked on"? Shaq slammed his hand hard on Yao's head (must hurt a lot) and Yao still went on and dunked the ball. It's good definition of "dunked on" for me.

The other two dunks from Yao, Shaq simply walked away from even contesting it? Can you spell the word "CHICKEN"???