ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 11/4/2006

I have so many female friends named Amina..

 

This was what I expected in Utah, only better. Outstanding defensive effort. Outstanding intensity and hustle, from start to finish. No fourth quarter collapse, if fact, they poured it on and built the lead.

Ming on fire. Wells abused Howard for a few minutes. Alston (I am still not a fan) had, IMO, his best "all-around" game as a Rocket and if he does this consistently, I "may" become a fan. Battier finally looked like, Battier. I was impressed with Synder. Head looked good. Hayes did more than the boxscore shows. There was even a VSpan sighting. So sweet to humiliate the Mavs.

Now the bad news, TMac doesn't just look bad, he looks HORRIBLE. What is going on? Somebody needs to tell the truth. Is his back still an issue? Does he have some other injury? What?

 

Stuff that I noticed about the game:

1. Yao is unstoppable. Period. I am fully convinced that there is no more consistent offense in this LEAGUE than Yao Ming. There was some J's he was making in Dampier/Diop's face that were downright nasty. How did Yao do so great? Leads us to...

2. Rafer is our ticket. My friend and I talked about this a lot over the offseason, and he would tell me that when Rafer has great games, we win. And this was a prime example. If Yao was the soul, then Rafer was the heart of this team tonight. He was finding everyone, making his shots, and playing TERRIFIC defense on Terry. Judging from tonight, one could make the argument that our success relies more on Rafer than it does on T-Mac.

3. T-Mac is a question mark now. He still looked hesitant to drive. Even worse...we looked worse out there when T-Mac and Yao were out there together. It's obvious T-Mac wants the ball, but even more obvious is the fact that I prefer the ball to be in Yao's hands rather than Tracy's. So what to make of T-Mac now? It is fairly evident that this is no longer his team, and no longer his world. I dont know what the answer is for him. He seems to make Yao worse when he is on the court

4. The crowd was awesome. We harassed the Mavericks every chance we got. We started chanting defense in Greek. There was a lot of energy in the air and it really made a difference. Hope it becomes tradition.

Great game, and the sweetest part was that it was the Mavs.

 

Surprise.

 

I think it's just his genuine display of dissatisfaction with his own performace rather than his physical health. Not to worry at this point.

 

Let's hold back judgement on Tmac a little bit. He's obviously in a slump right now, which is understandable. We need him to be great to win. The encouraging sign we can win now without him, but we need his leadership and ability to take over the game when it comes to a dog fight or come back from a hole typical in playoffs.

 

Make no mistake, Tmac's leadership is still what keeps all the Rockets going. A weird analogy is that Tmac is a parent and all the other Rockets are still children that seek his approval. You can kinda tell that's how it is when they're in the huddle and when they're at the bench congratulating one another. Tmac will still be in the thick of things but maybe he doesn't need the ball in his hands as much for good things to happen.

 

http://www.nba.com/mavericks/matchup/postgame_quotes_110406_ROCKETS.html

Postgame Quotes Nov 4, 2006 - vs. Rockets

DALLAS MAVERICKS HEAD COACH AVERY JOHNSON

(on the game)
"We got off to a bad start and could never recover. We got the game back to ten and then Yao (Ming) got a dunk on us and that's the way the game went."

(on the Rockets)
"They came out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and you have to give them a lot of credit for how they played. We got back on our heels from the start of the game and we just didn't have it. We didn't look like a team that was hungry for a win."

(on the Rockets going to Yao Ming early in the game)
"We knew that's what they were going to do and when we double teamed, tripled team and single covered him, he made his shots. He was playing like we were not on the court."

ERICK DAMPIER

(on the loss)
"This was only our second game of the season and we still have eighty to go and it's a long season. We know what we have to do and work our system and we will be alright."

(on Yao's play)
"Yao (Ming) did what he needed to do for his team to win the game."

JOSH HOWARD

(on the Rockets)
"They got hot at the beginning and that was about the way the whole game went. Yao (Ming) was knocking down his shots and their entire team played well. Yao (Ming) never surprises me."

(on Dallas' early season play)
"We need to just go out and play our system. We know we have a big target on our back and we have to come out focused and play hard every game."

JERRY STACKHOUSE

(on the game)
"We were out of sync early and could never get a good rhythm. Our best offense was when we just pushed the ball and had them back on their heels in the transition game."

(on Dallas' play)
"We are still learning each other and that's what it is and coach will find a way to get it right. We need to work harder and focus because there is a sense of urgency for us to stop this trend."

(on the Rockets) "Yao (Ming) did some good things but it is about us right now. On their opening night at home, they kicked our ass. They did a lot things right and we didn't."

ROCKETS HEAD COACH JEFF VAN GUNDY

(on the Rockets' play tonight)
"I thought we tried a helluva lot harder tonight so that's always where it starts. To have a chance in this league, you need to have energy and execution, both of them consistently, and you need great players playing great. And Yao (MIng) obviously played great."

(on the play of Rafer Alston)
"He pursued the long rebounds tremendously, he played nearly 40 minutes without a turnover and he made his 3s. You're not going to get any better than that. He played a great, great game."

(on whether the Rockets' turnovers will increase should the opposition play harder and faster)
"Yeah, that ball was all over the place tonight. Yao (Ming) was on a traveling travesty for a bit. Shooting makes up for a lot. We shot well tonight, Yao (Ming) was great, so even the mistakes that we made, I'm not going to overlook them, but they will be overlooked and you just hope they're not overlooked by your team. If you have the right decision-makers like Rafer (Alston) and (Tracy) McGrady, if they handle the ball the majority of the time, our turnovers will be pretty good. We have some other decision-makers that we just have to harness their aggression."

TRACY McGRADY

(on the play of Rafer Alston)
"Rafer (Alston) feels comfortable in our offense now. He knows his teammates, he knows what we like to do, where we like the ball, where we're going to be and, also, we know where he is going to be. A good indication was tonight I was penetrating and guys were collapsing on me in the 1st quarter. Rafer (Alston) was out there by himself, he's worked so hard on knocking down his jumper. He knows how much attention myself and Yao (Ming) receive on offense. He knows there are going to be nights where he is going to have to knock down open jumpers. Tonight was one of those nights where he shot the ball with confidence. In transition, he did a heck of a job pushing the ball and trying to find guys."

(on the Rockets' defense)
"The defense was okay. It could have been better, especially on my part."

(on the importance of playing with a true center like Yao Ming)
"It's a real honor (to have Yao Ming). That's what I always wanted when I was in Orlando. At the time, you had Tim Duncan, Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) and Yao (Ming) was pretty much a young fellow at the time. Now he's coming into his own."

YAO MING

(on his 36 points)
"The 1st couple of times I was scoring, I had my back to the basket. I was trying to figure out how they (Dallas) were defending me. After I made the 1st couple of shots, they were coming to my side. The team had a good start and I had a good start. The whole team played a great game."

(on his and Rafer Alston's chemistry)
"He (Rafer Alston) showed up the entire game. When I give him a target, he always passes the ball right on target. I think there's good chemistry there."

(on the Rockets' improvement since their 1st game in Utah)
"I think the key was our starting differently. The 1st game we started very slow. In the 1st couple of minutes tonight, we had a 10-0 run that brought us energy and we were able to sustain that throughout the game."

(on whether the Rockets can be the type of team that can defeat teams like the Mavericks on a regular basis)
"This team always defends well. The reason why we play well is because we defend well. When we see success on the defensive side, we do better on offense."

RAFER ALSTON

(on the Rockets' defensive focus tonight)
"I was concentrating (on defense). Coach (Van Gundy) was stressing today that we had to. If there was one guy that we needed to limit, it was (Jason) Terry. It's always tough to guard Dirk Nowitzki. (Dirk) Nowitzki is just a match-up problem and Josh Howard is a talented guy who is consistent and efficient out there. He's another guy who is tough to guard. If there's one guy that we need to key on, it's (Jason) Terry's jump shot, (Jason) Terry's pick and roll and (Jason) Terry's spot-up 3-pointer."

(on the key to the Rockets' win tonight)
"Tonight we just got out there defensively. I think we ran the floor well. We rebounded and we ran the floor. We put pressure on them with our running game as well as our low post game. We had a few things working. We had Yao (Ming) in the paint, we had the transition game and we also had the 3-point game going."

(on his team-leading 8 rebounds)
"If I can help in that area, I may not get 8 or 9 every night, but if I can contribute 4 to 6 a night, then that would help us with our rebounding. In Utah, there were balls that were bouncing and I wasn't there to get them. Tonight I made a conscious effort to get those rebounds."

 

Just got back. Great game!

Rockets played great amina, and I like the glow sticks they handed out. I took pictures of it, and i'll post em later. I like the videos they showed there. They had one where Clutch has a party at T-Mac's house, and all the Houston mascots come over along with superheroes, and even Santa. Good stuff.

 

That's not what the courtside people heard!

He has been lecturing the young rookies on how to steal some sunglasses and make a getaway!

 

It gives me a woody when I see people here get infatuated with me!

Where do you live? I am better in RL than on the internet.

 

"infutility" isn't really a word.

 

Enough said.

 

The only Downer for you right now should be Tmac's current play. As important as I may seem to you, I am not a factor in Rockets winning a championship.

Looks like there is more to Tmac's injury than what the Rockets and Tmac have been letting on.

I see a different shooting mechanic and form this season and he doesnt seem to be getting the same lift.

 

Yeah.. TMac's game is really bothering me at the moment. Great that we won and all but I'd really like to see TMac back to at least 80-90% of his old self. During the pre-season he was playing well and much better/efficient than he is now..

Worries me.

 

I see the same thing, and I agree.

It's no secret that McGrady depends heavily on his elevation to launch that 'line-drive' jumper of his. Ever since last season, I just haven't seen much consistency in that aspect, he seems to 'labor' hard trying to to get the requisite elevation before launching his shot. I am no rocket scientist, but I could clearly see how 'different' McGrady's mechanics look; he might be literally trying to re-learn shooting or adopting a new technique.

I still think he will be fine, but it would be foolish to argue that he's the same guy from a couple of years ago or from his Orlando days. I think at this point, he's struggling to deal with new physical limitations he never had to deal with in the past.

Regardless, time will tell. Meanwhile, he can be Yao's 'sidekick' alas Clyde Drexler, which would still make us a very dangerous team.

 

Nice to see you show up. You *are* one of the most negative posters on this board so it's fun calling you out after a win like this. That said, try not to get too high on yourself there, mister.

 

I may be tempted to trade Yao Ming for LeBron James if an offer comes.

 

before the ganme:



during the game:



after the game:

???

 

I dont need to *show up*. Win or lose I am always here. You could have caught me anytime during the game.

Wow! It must have been really building up for you! Did it really get *that* frustrating?

LOL! Right after you show how infactuated you are with me.