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

I didn't think the officiating was all that horrible, yeah there was a lot of contact from Najera that they could have called, but when you're a big man playing against a small man, it's the Shaq syndrome. They could have called it though, you are right.

Where did I "attack"Yao. I didn't . All I did was point out, (and I'm sure Yao will acknowledge this either on his BBS or in interviews) that he had an extremely difficult time in single coverage today against Najera. This sentifment was echoed by the announcers, in the chat room, and probably by most people, and has been historically been true dating back to last season.

How the hell does this mean I don't want him to do well? I want him to do great. I picked him for my fantasy team ahead of Steve Francis for god's sake. And for the Record, Yao was much better than Francis today, and has been much better since th e All star break, and is the best player on the team right now, and is currently playing better ball than Shaq, which makes him the best Center in the league.

But if you want my opinion, Francis played like straight ass at timies today too. Several dumb passes, and some breakdowns vs. Nash.

You really must have me confused with somebody else. I don't recall posting that much about Yao at all recently, and aside from a few of the "Rockets making the playoffs" threads, have generally stayed out of this forum when it comes to Steve-Yao comments aside from commenting on somebody's uncalled for whining in the Minnesota game thread.

 

Z man, we all would like for you to stay on the dark side to have some balance. So your answer is as good as mine.

 

Yes that last pass to Yao is very good. One of the methods to beat Najera's play is to have the ball coming in fast (straight trajectory) and high enough so that only Yao can catch it --- but is Yao's hand quick enough to catch the ball? also, isn't it amazing Williams wrestled Yao for 5 minutes in Q3 and didn't get a call?

 

Agreed, there... though it's more fair w/Shaq. Shaq commits a lot of offensive calls that don't get whistled. Yao commits far fewer. And it was something of a travesty that Yao was whistled for oen against Najera.

That sentiment was echoed by me. The problem is that your criticism is almost always focused on Yao. You don't mention mitigating circumstances, you don't mention how other players failed him. You defend the other players and place the blame on Yao.

Do you give biting critiques as do Farhan or Juugie? No. But it's bias through omission and exclusivity.

I never said you didn't want him to do well, did I? : confused: I believe your comments, here. But one would never know it from your typical post game comments. When you criticize one player almost exclusively and defend others, then it's hard to believe in someone's objectivity.

I don't really want your opinion necessarily just about Francis. I just wish you'd stop so exclusively criticizing Yao and defending Francis in your post game comments.

 

it is the same old problem: fronting Yao.

We have to utilize Yao's height. throw the ball higher when pass to him, and do a couple of lob passes so they don't dare to front him.

The worst part right now is they can use single coverage fronting Yao. That is why lob passes are important. If they want to front Yao, force them to put a body behind Yao. For some minutes in the 2nd half, mavs got away with Nijera fronting Yao with little help. That is unacceptable.

 

It was Nelson's strategy trying to tire out Yao in the first half with Williams, then let Najera to singlely fronting Yao by utilizing his quickness. I dont think Najera would have an easier time to front Yao in the first half. Unfortunately for the Mavs, Yao has already torched them with such dominance and was able to give us a head start to keep us in the game. Wait til Yao improves his stamina, this kind of bullshxt would not work in the future.

 

Yao needs to learn how to seal people off. He can't like midgets like Najera going around him that easily. Najera was not just fronting; he was circling around Yao. Yao has to learn how to seal Najera on his back once the ball is moved to the other side and when the entry pass is made.

 

What took you so long to find out?

 

Oh you remind me of Juugie. Where is he these days?

 

Finally, you too begin to kiss Yao's ass?!

 

Sweet hug!

Yeah. Don't take them apart, CD.

 

You are being rediculous, Dirk is a nice guy. Probablly nicer than Francis in person...

 

Both the passer and Yao are responsible for those bad passes as Sean Elly pointed out. Our guards were hesitant passing the ball to Yao (as they always do). A quick pass right to Yao's chest would simply do it. Rockets need to work on the pass and turn overs if they want to go any further..

 

Great win!!! Winning with the 30 turnovers was actually a positive to me. A mark of a great team is finding a way to win despite off shooting nights, your goto guy putting up a goose egg, injuries to key players etc. Key lessons from this game are giving more playing time to Spoon, more practice for the entry pass into Yao with a small quick power forward guarding Yao. I would also like to see Cat's and SF minutes cut down and work Eric P into the game to get some fresh legs and shooting in. Cat and SF are in great shape but 40 minutes a game is too much. Eric P is one of those players that is a great shooter but he needs the minutes to be productive.

 

True Yao needs to seal but then again there is nothing to seal when the defender isn't letting you make body contact. I think what the Rox should do is....do some fake passes in that situation to get a feel of what Yao's defender is trying to do. I think that works best. Fake passes ..and read the defender, it's not entirely up to Yao do his sealing...it's up to the passer to read Yao's defender too.

 

Ill send something back atcha that you just said..

You used to be fun to read becuase you were somewhat fair and well spoken...

but these days...you fall into the trap that you mention above.

You crucify one player exclusively...irregardless of how he has played. When he does something good in a game...you blow it off as nothing and focus on the negatives.

Take a good look at your own posts before accusing Sam of doing that.

I just found it funny you would call him out like that when you are one of the most fervent Francis bashers here.

oh...and Im sure you will accuse me of being a FOF(when did we star calling Francis fans that?)...but if you have ever actually read mine, you would know I dont pick favorites......well sometimes...right now my boy is Spoon..but that varies depending on who is kicking butt...

 

Yao was trying to back down Najera just like he did to Williams in the first half. But Najera was just too quick and able to dance around Yao, who by the way was already somewhat tired out. The best thing for Yao to do in that situation was to just hold his position as some of the announcers had pointed out during the game. Our guards should try to get closer and make passes when Najera was on the wrong side. The direction of the pass, whether right, left, a bounce or a lob is even more critical than ever.

 

MJ is best at doing this. Many times you could see him pretending moving away in one direction and then quickly moving back to make an easy entry pass to Yao in the post. Its really a very simply thing to do. How come nobody else does it is really frustating to see.

 

The front page had these words: "Mark Cuban is no doubt eating his words about Yao Ming "

Can someone tell me what did Mark Cuban say of Yao Ming? He is not consistent or something?

Thanks,