ClutchFans Game Thread: Nuggets @ Rockets 10/30/2003

Boki = couldn't defend a paper sack

 

Team Statistics
Nuggets

Field Goal % 35.6
Three-Point % 30.8
Turnovers 23

Just lucky this time facing a team like Nuggets, we could play better. Go Rockets, keep winning!

 

what part of philly u live in ?

 

Who is the player of the game?

Steve, Cat, Cato or Yao?

 

Maybe our defence had something to do with it?

 

The other way of looking at it -

If the Rockets can play a sloppy game, and still score 100 and win by 20, what happens when we play better?

Rockets could have played A LOT better, and their defense just may have played a factor in the stats you just mentioned.

Denver will be good evnetually, but they're not that great now.

 

I pick Steve and Cato.

 

Damn, Camby really tore us up this game, what did he think this was still preseason?


Yao needs more shots and the Cat took too many, if Cat was smart that should be an easy fix.

I more thing, Cato=Otis Thorpe, perfect fit for him.

 

Yao 19pts in just 20 mins
But why he got only 3 rebs?
His blocks were cooooooooooooooooooool!
Mobely did a good job,Rocket now seems like a solid team!

 

Great win tonight!!

Steve had a marvelous game. I think that he's really starting to understand his role on the team. And I've never seen Steve play defense like that...if he can do that every night, WOW!

Yao got into foul trouble on some BS calls, but he still got 19 points in 20 minutes...talking about efficiency. Now if he can only learn to hold onto those rebounds...

Cat took a few ill-advised shots, but for the most part he was within the flow of the game. And we needed his offense with Yao in foul trouble.

Cato is just a wow! I really like his hustle and intensity. He could be our Ben Wallace out there if he can continue to play like that. Looks like JVG is the best thing that ever happened to Cato.

I'm really excited about this team. Let's keep winning. Go ROX!!

 

I loved how J.Jackson played tonight.

He was in Carmelo's grill the 1st half and really took Caremelo out of his game.

I was really shocked that the Nugs didn't give it to Carmelo every trip down when Boki was "defending" him.


I loved the ball movement from the Rockets as well. 21 of the 41 made shots had assists...

 

That so called "just a body out there" just put up a double / double while shooting 50% from the floor and playing great defense.

That is absolutely the type of production I would love to have from the 4 spot this year. If he continues to produce like this at the 4 / 5 spots then he is indeed a very good 4...as well as a back up center.

 

How good will the Rox be when they have had the better part of a season to get used to JVG's system? How much better when all of them are healthy...including Pike who is going to be great shooting from the outside this year.

 

yeah, they did well on defence. "If the Rockets can play a sloppy game, and still score 100 and win by 20, what happens when we play better?", well, you are going to witness an unforgettable season for us, win win win... ...

 

Boki shot well, but I think he only got 2 shots. He was ignored...boo!
His 3 pointer towards the end was criticized as a rushed shot by one of the commentators, and I'd agree, but he wasn't getting any touches on the court, so I can't say I blame him.

Good game tough. Mobley was a smidge wild at times, as was Moochie, but it could have been worse.

 

Mobley ended up with 16 shot attempts, Francis with 11 and Ming with 8. Now before ya'll go and criticize Mobley for shooting too much look at the minutes played.

Mobley had 42 minutes (and 8 rebounds ), Ming had TWENTY MINUTES. Mobley played MORE THAN TWICE THE MINUTES Ming played, thus many of the shots went to Mobley and Francis because they then become the main scorers. When Ming was in he got the ball much of the time. All of the Rox (except Moochie this game.. he didn't do so well) played pretty well this game, it seemed ugly at times, but hey we came out with a win and scored over 100. Plus Cato is a hoss and Braggs is a great addition to the team. The Rox shot close to 50% and won by a margin of 17 pts. This was a very nice season opener and it seems the team is flowing together pretty well.

 

Cuttino finished strong, but I still think he took far too many shots. I liked how in one instance Cat tried to force a fastbreak going 1 on 3 losing the ball in the paint, recovered it and passed it to Francis expecting him to drive and force a bad play. Francis stopped the fastbreak settled down for a moment, watched the Nuggest D fall asleep and threw a beautiful baseline alley oop to Cato. Francis really showed some patience tonight and slowed down the pace of the game at all the right moments. Now if he could just get back to being an 80% FT shooter

Yao got in foul trouble or else I think he could of gotten atleast 25 to 30 points. One thing that concerned me about him was how he didn't grab many boards tonight. I think he had a lot of oppurtunities to average a double double, but for some reason the ball kept slipping out of his hands. I hope his hands aren't hurt. I don't think they are though, or else his shooting would be off as well. I noticed the ball slipped out of his hands a lot though on turnovers as well. Who knows, but I sure hope they remedy it.

Moochie dribbled a lot as usual, and frustrated me a lot.

JVG experimented with different rotations a lot tonight, going small, at one point having 4 bench players and Cato out on the floor. Other time it'd be 4 bench players and Cat out on the floor. Those times were when the Nuggets cut the 17 point lead down to 9, and it was only in garbage minutes that any of the starters from the Nugs scored. Carmelo and Nene especially.

Our defense broke down some in the first quarter and it left me a little worried but we really played solid D, forcing a lot of turnovers, playing our positions well. Yao got atleast 3 blocks by my count, and Cato got atleast 2. Taylor even got 1. JJ was like Carmelo's shadow with his D, and we really played tremendous defense. I think the reason for all the fouls was the fact that our D was swarming so much. We slapped a lot of their players, pushed them around, and had the upperhand. I expect to see a lot of games like that under JVG, that is until the refs accept that this is the way the Rox play D.

The only guy that I think burned us was Jon Barry, and for the most part his shots were tough runners off the glass. The only open look he got was a questionable no call that could of been a charge against him on Francis.

Some plays we rushed or didn't run quickly enough. The rushed ones were usually at the hands of Cat, and the ones not run quickly enough were by Mooch.

Cat was a love and hate story for me tonight. Some rushed force shots and plays that got under my skin, while at other times he really played and flowed well within the offense. And while we did have a few plays that we didn't use productively, for the most part on almost every possession we had, we managed the clock wisely, took advantage of mismatches and moved the ball around very well. Francis took over the game when Yao out, and when Yao was in the game, Francis deferred to Yao who was outright dominant tonight. There were some plays where I would of liked to of seen Yao just jam it down their throats, but as long as he's not getting bullied around the basket like he was last year, a good shot is a good shot. And almost every shot Yao took tonight was a good look. All in all, I like the shape of this team, and can still see room for improvement, which is good because it means we're only going to gel and improve as the season progresses. I think we're definitely a 50 win caliber team this year.

 

A guy I thought played a nice game tonight that no one has talked about his Mo. 10 points and 4 boards in 19 minutes in his first game of the season. The 4 spot is actually starting to look pretty good with Cato, Mo and Braggs.

 

Rockets looked great. Defense and Offense were really working. Everyone contributed. Amaechi is where he belongs, on the bench. He did a great job sitting. GO ROCKETS

 

You're right. Taylor didn't have a spectacular game, but then again he did play only 19 minutes. He did well considering this is his first game back from injury. Great backup pf and offense off the bench. I really like the starting lineup JVG used, I think this should be the set starting lineup for the season.