ClutchFans Game Thread: Nuggets @ Rockets 3/2/2008

yepp i saw you on TV.

 

k so this is for ppl at the game tonight. was it just me, or was the atmosphere ALIVE in toy center. holy crap man...for the first time in my rocket-loving life (albeit it has only been since the turn of the millenium), I was not the only fan in my close vicinity jumping up and down and yelling and screaming at all the great plays...

made me so happy man. so happy.

crowd was bumpin tonight.

 

I didn't see you but that's a pretty clever sign!

 

I'm extremely amused at some of you guys who never learn from the history and always throws out some comments prematurely. Do you want to be Brooksball II? We're just three games after Yao is out. Do not assume we will keep winning without Yao.

 

Answer me this. Are we really better offensively when Yao's in than when he's out?

 

The crowd is still way subpar,imo, but it may have been a season best tonight.

 

Yes. Everyone except you can see it.

 

there were SLIGHTLY more people at the game ( in their seats) tonight than the past few games..but yes u are right..still SHAMEFULLLY empty. i have no idea where those lazy ass fockers are who buy these tickets near the floor. it angers me to see that our crowd is not supporting the team as it should...especially with a 15 game win streak on national TV...

 

Even though some the nuggets sucks, the rockets beat them lightly!!!

The win finally prove that the rockets has been a real best team in the league.

 

What have you been watching for the last 6 years? Yao averaged 22 ppg, 11 rpg, and 2.6 bpg on a stress fracture on his foot, with 320 lbs bearing down on that foot each time he runs!

Considering that, HOW are we better without Yao? Defensively, I will listen to that argument, especially with pick and roll. But look at last year in the playoffs, Deke couldn't guard Boozer any better than Yao could. He certainly couldn't guard the pick and roll with DWilliams better than Yao.

However, what Yao doesn't have on defense, he makes up for on offense. He draws a double team before he even gets the ball. Just ask Luis Scola and Carl Landry how much that helped their games and confidence.

He is a HUGE target for Tmac to pass to and can produce. He is the best post up player behind Tim Duncan today. He shoots over 50 % when healthy, and still shot 49% on a stress fracture. Plus, as much as Yao gets fouled, he shoots 85% from the free throw line, and shot a bulk of our free throws. He even shot our technical foul shots. Those aren't gimme's anymore...

What else do you want the guy to do? I'm glad we're playing well without Yao, but its making it that much harder for us. Wait til we face San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas, New Orleans. Those teams had NO answer for Yao. He causes all of those teams to double him, or he gets 25-30 points easily. That freed up everyone else. Now Tmac will have to create a lot more, instead of just dumping it in to Yao to draw double teams.

If you're just a hateful person, then fine, nobody will change that. Just appreciate what Yao brought us every game. Him missing the rest of the season wouldn't have been the biggest sports story world wide if it was going to make the Rockets better, I can tell you that for sure.

 

I feel we are a tad bit better offensively without him. Defensively we're better, but offensively T-Mac can get in the paint more, players can move around more, and we can put up faster shots. I have to give Adelman tons of credit for moving Yao out the post because we've become more balanced. Last year I was harping the entire playoffs how Mutumbo shouldve played against the Jazz, and last year i think we were unquestionably better without Yao because of Mt. mutumbo. Maybe i'm bitter because I know Mutumbo wouldve grabbed those loose balls/rebounds at the end of game 7 securing us the series against the Jazz. Whatever it is, I still think we're better without Yao, and the rest of this regular season will prove it just like it did last year when he was out.

 

are you serious?!?!?!?!?!

 

how the **** can anyone "prove" you wrong. the only actual way would be if martians with a time machine came down and replayed the same game over with Yao and with Deke in the rotation. I'm glad however that after 3 games you have the sample size to confidently make really stupid public assertions.

even if deke and yao were IDENTICAL on defense Deke plays on the order of 15 min less per game than Yao so that's at least a net of 15 minutes better D per game with Yao. but in truth Yao grabs more boards, alters more shots and shuts down the lane better than mutombo. at the end of the season, we'll see that yao was better in terms of rebounds for the team on D, and shooting percentage on defense. the only thing deke does better than yao is getting his hands on more blocks per than yao... although yao gets at least 3-4 clear shot alterations that doesn't show up on the stat line

on offense... yeah dekes 2-4 points a game sure is better than yao's 22 ppg

you're on some grade A crack. why didn't you go the full nine and claim deke is a better FT shooter than yao and speaks better mandarin than he does also

 

We are not better withoout yao.We need a post presence which we don't.Whats going to happen when our shots aren't falling?

 

We are definitely better without You.

 

to be fair melo is becoming a pretty good rebounder

 

It pisses me off we are gaining so much steam heading into the playoffs without Yao. Phoenix and Utah aren't as impressive as last year and San Antonio relies on big games from Parker and Ginobili to beat mediocre teams. This really could have been the year, Lakers vs Rockets in WCF.

 

Rofflesaurus: We are playing against the defenses of Memphis and Denver. We are infinitely worse without Yao against teams like LA, Dallas and San Antonio.

 

after hearing adelman's post game press conference, i truly now have full belief in him.

something he said really triggered me and it was that he KNOWS when we play the elite teams, those teams WILL take things away from us. he knows we're going to struggle sooner or later offensively and i think he's already preparing for that.

great coach with a great observation.

 

Sometimes life throws you a curveball. You have to play the hand you're dealt.

If we remain healthy next year, we will better off having gone through this. These guys are something. You can't buy chemistry like this. If the general is healthy next year, he will be holding the trophy and the broken foot will just be a footnote.