ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 3/7/2004

if we protected the ball we would have blown this team out of the water..

less turnovers would have been a rout of the Mavs..

J

 

I think a few people on this board are getting too caught up in the excitement of beating Dallas. That was a pathetic showing by two teams today and one had to win. The performance by the Rockets today wasn't even in the same universe as their performance against Minnesota on Friday or their 3 showings against the Lakers. Keep it in perspective.

 

The commentators was right. many of the turn overs happened when they try to feed the ball to yao

 

Yeah, the guards were absolutely pathetic with their entry pass attempts to Yao today, but the turnovers were horrific across the board.

 

The problem being, of course, when they don't feed it to Yao, the players tend to run around like chicken with their heads cut off. THe inside-out game is the way to play in the NBA.

Wonderful things happen when we can get it inside. Even if there's a quick double, someone's open.

 

My post was not finished... what I tried to say is that Yao is one of the main reasons these turn over happened --- they tried very very hard to feed him the ball. He just was beaten by Najera at the post in the second half!

You can see the disgust from Mark Jackson when one of the passes stole by Najera and it counts toward MJ.

So while you can blame the guards, Yao bears as much blames on the guard's turn overs.

 

Actually, that made me angry. Mark Jackson can get pissed about someone else's turnover when he can hit at least half of his open jumpers. The man is smart and passes so well... but he makes it harder on his teammates sometimes when nobody covers him because it's not necessary.

 

I must say I'm impressed with the Rockets today. To win against Dallas despite 30 turnovers quite a feat.

Will they learn from this and win the next three games?

I think I know the answer, but maybe the Rockets have changed.

 

That's Mark Jax tho, our point was we belive MJ knows how to throw an entry pass and in that instance the blame was on Yao. He needs to present a better target at times, still great tho, GO YAO!!!

 

Yeah, agreed there. Yao did not seal of Najera. I think the blame is about 50/50 in that game. It would have helped both groups turnovers, though, if they'd been calling fouls.

 

Damn, look at those guns...

 

ups

 

I brought this up, since I think people are not fair to Francise and other guards, they definitely were trying to get inside, but sometimes, they just can't (because of Yao's positioning). Yet they were blamed for not passing...

 

no gloating but during the minny game thread i predicted two wins and no one believed me!

anyway, i wrote a recap -- it's in the suggestions forum so i won't waste space here.

 

Reality bites (hopefully it's out of teeth for a while).

 

Un-freaking-believable! I wish Yao could jump that high.

 

My biggest problem with this argument is that they don't hesitate to call their own #'s when they're not playing well.

At one point in the late 3rd (I think, maybe early 4th) they weren't really looking for Yao, because they'd had such limited success getting the ball inside. It wasn't working well. I understand the frustration.

But if you're going to stop trying to go inside when it's not working, why do they continue to shoot at times when they're playing very badly? Sort of a double standard.

I thought JVG actually dropped the ball in this one. Yao has great range. If he can't get the ball inside, why not pull him out more, opening up the lane for Francis's penetration... and potential kick-outs to an unstoppable jumpshot?

That would have made use of Yao's other skills and it would also have allowed the guards to use their penetration more effectively. JVG is not much of an offensive coach...

 

That's got desktop background potential

 

I could not have said it any better. Yes, our guards run zig zag on the court very much like headless chickens. Why not pass it to Yao at the first instant when he was in front of the defender. He also does not have to shoot right way. Do we expect him to shoot every single time, he would be exausted pretty soon. But he demands so much attention from the opponents, forcing the defense to collaps that should make it easy for our other shooters. Too bad, some of his teammates do not have clue how to take advantage of the situation. When the guards finally pass, it was often too late and becomes desperate attempt for Yao to catch it. I watched the 4th quarter closely today, Yao wasted so much energy to get himself in the front of the defender and our guards were running around aimless. What waste of opportunites and energy.

Well, it was a good win. No need to get carried away though. The team needs to play smarter in the 4th semester when the opponents tighten their defense. I saw too many waste of opportunities, too many turnovers. I don't think Yao should be responsible for that. The guy was doubled and tripled. I blame that on JVG. He has to devise a flexible strategy so that oppenents will have to pay for their husstling Yao.

 

there is no reason for him too, if he could he would be missing the rim, and dunking on top of the backboard.