ClutchFans Game Thread: Nuggets @ Rockets 4/16/2005

Lose the last game by giving up defence scheme w/ all bench players.

 

No kidding!

What a great game. The Bugz get their azz handed to them by the Rocks, and suffer their biggest loss of the season. Sweet!

 

Pardon me while I say.

WE ROCK!

 

The only way they get 6th is if they lose their last two games, IMO.

I think Sacremento will go 1-2 (including a loss tonight), and Denver will finish 1-1, leaving Houston to have to lose the last two games to tie Denver, thus getting the tie-breaker and 6th overall.

 

Bender's site has his contract expiring in the Summer of 05


She is normally spot on when it comes to stuff like that.

 

And I think we own the tiebreaker due to 2-2 head to head, but a better conference record than SAC.

 

Wow. We kicked their asses. And not just, "oh, we hit their shots and they didn't hit theirs." The Nuggets were missing shots because Yao and Dikembe didn't let them have anything in the paint...and our perimeter guys were tenacious.

A couple of observations:

(1) Caremelo Anthony is not a superstar. I'm not sure he will ever be. He's not as athletic as a Vince Carter, doesn't shoot as well as a Michael Redd, lacks a good post game, and isn't that explosive. To me, he defines the word "good scorer." He's not a superstar, and I doubt he ever will be.

(2) Yao needs to get the ball more in the post. He's definitely flashing open a lot - and guys are unable to get him the ball. It's really frustrating, even in the wins.

(3) When McGrady's on, there's nobody in the league except maybe Nowitski that's his equal as a scorer.

(4) Scott Padget maybe the worst rebounder at the 4 in the history of the NBA (except that one time when we started Bullard there). Yao is often criticized for just being a "positional rebounder." Poor Padget can be an 80/20 favorite for a board, and get beat easily. It's almost amazing.

(5) How does Kenyon Martin manage all the alley oops? I mean, the guy's athletic - but not in the ultra-elite-freak-of-nature class. Yet, somehow, he always seems to manage to get highlight dunks. Maybe he just has dunk intuition, or something...

 

Sac could lose all games, then we move up to the fifth, I think.

 

i don't know, for a 4 he is a freak of nature. unbelievably quick and and he's unbelievably quick off the floor. combine that with the fact you're not gonna outphysical him in a more open court situation (i.e. not banging in the post) to keep him from going where he wants b/c he's so strong and the fact if he catches it you won't block him because he might rip your hand off and you've got an alley-oop machine. not the greatest stuff for being a great post up guy but in terms of getting away from people to get open for alleys he's perfect at the 4 spot, and those are the guys who have to keep him from getting them.

 

I am confused right now. I just want to get the sixth seed, but I do not think we can make a plan to lose the Monday game, we can do for the last game because the picture is more clear by then.

 

Time Warner DVR + ATI TV Wonder Pro.

 

Yeah, that is definitely an area the Rox need to work on. They are slow to pass to Yao, the defense would have time to adjust to deny the entry pass.

Dirk is streaky too. And he often disappears in crunch time.

Padget has 9.4 rebs per 48mins, that is not too bad. I always thought rebounding isn't a weakness for our PFs. It is offense and defense.

 

i say rest BOTH t-mac and yao this last two game or at least the last game....or rest one of them the next game against teh CLIPS..come on...it's the CLIPS without maggette..

 

Rest both Tmac and Yao for the clip game. Depends on Monday result, play our game on Wednesday.

 

And now I just read this stat:

Wow...it's hard to believe...I keep on forgetting how AMAZING Hakeem was, but damn, this McGrady kid is going to be special for quite some time.

 

damn...the QUEENS just lost...so we are tie with them record wise..but we're as of now in 5th place...DEFINTELY rest both T-MAC and YAO the next 2 games

 

Only one season in Houston, and already joining an elite list of Rockets.

The guy is absolutely breathtaking, and he is nowhere near 100% healthy and he is doing these things

rediculous!

 

Yeah now see MY sig, He only seems to come around when they are winning... I dont think he will be back till next year when they start to win a few games again...

 

What an awesome game. It was great watching T-mac, Deke, and Yao block Carmello time after time. Now if we can just find a way to play the Sonics in round 1.

 

BTW, GREAT defense by T-Mac today, he had 3 blocks, and neutralized Melo. I think T-Mac is probably the most underrated defensive player in the league today. The way he has been able to dominate his all-star opponents has been nothing short of rediculous. A First All-NBA Team nod should DEFINITELY be given to him. Lebron is great but is not a good defender; T-Mac flat-out gets it done on both ends.

Yao's defense has been nothing short of DOMINATING in the past 5 games or so. Again, I can't stress this enough: Deke's biggest contribution this year has beenin Yao's noticeable improvement on defense. Yao is becoming a defensive monster right in front of our eyes, and it seems like no thanks to Ewing, but also it shows that for some reason, Deke is getting through to Yao like no one else has been able to. For that, and ONLY for that reason, I think it should be an absolute priority for the Rockets to keep Deke around Yao for another 2 years, just so Yao can continue to pick up all of Deke's knowledge and teaching ability (nothing is like leading-by-example on the court) on defense/rebounding.

GREAT defense by our whole roster. The only player I was pretty disappointed with was Sura. But it's ok, that is why the acquisition of MJ was HUGE, because with our 4-guard rotation, we can mix-and-match the players based on game-by-game performance.