ClutchFans Game Thread: Raptors @ Rockets 2/28/2007

But that was their best night. Oh my Goodness. They were making ubeliveble shoots. That was not our fault. We contested every shoots but they still made them

 

I was at this game for red rowdy night. i can't be mad at the rockets cause the raptors just had one of those incredible nights. they had a night where they could beat the likes of the mavs and suns. they were just shooting lights out. andrei barnani is going to be a great player in a few years maybe even better then dirk. he has SO much potential. If we can pull it off, we may need to trade some ppl to get him. haha

overall, it was great to get free tickets to a game where you're sitting right bheind the goal but just sucks we got our butts handed to us.

 

Our squad is very very good overall. Our bench can be extremely good and if given minutes I am sure that V-Span/Novak/Snyder could all contribute. One only has too look at the Preseason and realize that with enough minutes Novak would be drilling in around 17 ppg. It is our rotation that stinks. I think yes, you can go 8 players deep because that is what a lot of teams do. Look at Phoenix for instance. On the other hand, you got coaches like Don Nelson at the GSW's who'll play everyone. Give rookies a chance and play em long and hard as long as they are putting out maximum effort.

Rockets are a slow em down grind it out team. This team the way it is configured will not put up 100 pt games night after night. Van Gundy is correct about one thing though. This squad is slow. They aren't quick enough of athletic enough to compete with a lot of other NBA teams. Give us a quick pg like TJ Ford and you might have something there. Alston is that..if only he could finish. V-Span is quick and has a good first step. Yao/Juwan are really really slow. Hayes is undersized. John Lucas is undersized but then so is Tyronne Lue and look how he's doing in Atlanta. It's the team and how a player fits into the system. That being said, after watching JL play, I think he shouldn't be getting as many minutes as he's been getting. Bonzi is good and he's athletic. Mutumbo is still servicible but he's slow too. Plus his recovery times after games is not as quick as a younger player. Jake Tsladakis..hmm probably slow too. Head is still learning the NBA game but he's probably not going to be an All-Star. He's fast and mobile but he's streaky. Snyder is freakishly athletic and should get more minutes. Battier is smart and has high basketball IQ but I don't see him as being extremely quick or athletic either. Novak is slow but has an incredible outside shot. Would he be any worse than Kapono at the Miami Heat who's also a slow forward with a deadly shot? At least Novak would stop teams from collapsing the middle.

We need more athletic and bigger power forwards. We need quicker penetrating guards who can finish. The reason that the Rockets were so good 2 years ago is because both T-Mac and Sura were willing to take the ball to the hole. We are going to have slow centers..just have to deal with it. I would love to have a Chris Bosh or playing next to Yao. No opponents would ever be able to pull down a rebound lol.

 

My son and I went to the game last night as "honorary" red rowdies for a night. We go to a fair amount of the games, and this is one we didn't have tickets to, but wanted to experience the crazy Rowdy fever.

That part of the evening was a blast, we yelled and cheered for 45 minutes before we even got into the TC, but it was fun and doing the walk around was fun, and even getting the Raptors to miss thier first free throw over and over in the second half was cool.

Now on to the Rockets. My team really sucked last night. Yes, as said by others, the Raptors are a really good young team and there is no shame in losing to them, however, our defense was so slow and and pathetic in the first half that they were essentially hitting shootaround shots. I don't think we were even close enough to foul them at all in the first half (hence the lack of fouls called). So in the first, our defense was woeful.

Second, our ball movement wasn't very good and our energy was very low. No fouls drawn against the Raptors because no one was going to the rack. Deke looked slow and old, TMAC said he couldn't breathe with head cold and not sleeping last two nights, Bonzi wouldn't attack the rim choosing to pass or take jumpers, Rafer shot better statistically than it looked in the game. I thought he was enjoying another brick fest until I saw the stats this morning. Rafer is SO SLOW on the pick and roll, that when one of our guys (Chuck or Juwan) steps out to show, Rafer takes FOREVER to get back to his man. This just killed us. Luther is obviously in a shooting slump.

It just all went bad, and frankly, without energy, it will look the same in Denver. We can still play well and give teams a run for their money, but with a short rotation all season, these warriors look really beat down, slow and worn out. I will be back in our regular seats for the Spurs, with much respect for the rowdies, and still lots of love for my team, but we are really struggling right now, obviously.

 

I'm not going to get down on the Rockets, they played well and weren't bricking shots - they just ran into a team that was ridiculously on fire and a bad match up anyway.

For the most part, the Raptors made like the Suns Jr and wheeled out 2 PGs/combo guards and 3 7-ft combo forwards all night. We just don't match up well with that. Our centers aren't athletic enough and can't be used on the perimeter, our PFs are undersized, and we aren't strong at stopping quick penetrating guards. We didn't lay an egg, we got exposed. We struggle against Dallas and Phoenix for the exact same reasons.

We contested the shots from the outside, and they were still hitting them like they were tossing softballs into monster truck tires. They probably could have started taking only left handed underhand shots with the zone they were in. It happens. That team was going to torch anyone they played last night. Period.

Could we have played better? Yes. McGrady wasn't very aggressive after they double teamed him early. Bonzi wasn't able to get much going. Shane, Head, and Juwan all need to be set up to really get going, and McGrady and Rafer weren't able to that. We got out-hustled and could not impose our will.

But basically, we ran into a white hot team last night. It happens.

Evan

 

It's great to be here with my fellow rockets fans

yesterdays game was horrible

I did not want to watch the last 5 minutes, I was just to frustrated!

The euros killed us last night, Calderon is an awesome player, cot damn he has a big step, it looks like he 'glides' on the court!

ok now to our players and game.....

I want to thank first Deke, wow, dude is incredible, he does not deserve to be lynched for 40 minutes, JVG is making a mistake by letting him play for so long, I want him for another season, hopefully he does not loose his will to come back in 2008!

I want to thank Howard, who has been a great support for the past two months, but he also needs help, he is best when having someone create open mid court shots for him...

My frustrations with...

...Head, man this guy is a good guy, but how can you give him a job at the barbershop when he always worked as a balerina, you now what I'm sayin.... Head is only good as a spot up shooter and cutter, at least for right now....JVG is making a big mistake buy playing him as a PG and not letting him improve more in what he does best....threes and cutting to the basket!

...Alston, please, you are def a decent pg, but do not listen to JVG, create shots for others, cut more to the basket, improve your layups, but do not shot threes or mid range jumpers, you were never good at it, you are 30, do I think you will improve in 3 point shots, I dont think so! JVG is abusing you son

...Tracy, I know you can do **** alone, but man, speak the f up! don't let others sit there and wait until JVG says something...Speak up man, you are the leader!

....Lucas, please take some Hydrocodone dude, you are way to hyper dude, you loose your self by thinking 100323 things at once...please slow down, and pass the damn ball...

and finaly

...JVG....lol, what? you going to play Deke for another 40 minutes, you gone let Luther run the point! how about rafer for three? dude, your stats are a joke! get some feeling into the game. I think you had some good chemistry with Howard, Deke, Alston, Mac and Battier, but everyone now can feel the pain these players go thru, you are not using them right....

I can't believe you will let Battier shot 10 threes a game, use him right, he is a defensive specialist...

Head, a three point specialist

all I'm saying is use them right, do not let them play something that they obviously can't

and play my man Span a bit more, you'll like him

I also want to say hello to smoe good guys, DaDakota, Luffy, OldManRock and Sam Fisher, hehe

 

Holy frickety Fock...

 

that was an ugly loss...at the same time, people seem to be selling the Raps short by comparing them to the hawks or celtics. The Raptors are good. As a matter of fact, the raptors will win the east next year (my prediction is in...) They've got a pair of mobile, shooting bigs (bargnani and bosh), one of whom is an all star (and still only 22...) and one of whom has a dirk-like ceiling. Their gaurds are just as great and young--TJ ford is lightning quick (rafer couldn't start to spell him) and can pass, and the spaniards (calderon and garbajosa) can flat out play. Jerry Coangelo is a genius--he built the suns, and now the raptors...which could very well be the NBA final next year...

 

I call it...The Raps are going to be the Beast of the East...I think Calderon should be a starting guard on that team...
the way they played last night...they will beat the Rockets again in 2 weeks.

 

the role players have hit a wall (esp. deke). the interior defense is not as good. he's not rebounding anymore. head and battier have been HUGELY inconsistent the last 2 weeks. rafer, though has shot better, continues to jack up ill advised shots at time. i still remember that 3 that he clanked changed momentum when we cut it to 9. it wasn't even close.

so the solution - tmac NEEDS TO DO MORE right now. he needs to really carry this team the next 2 weeks until yao returns. just do more. shoot more. rebound more. defend more. do something.

toronto couldn't defend him yesterday and he passed too much i believe. the way he started, he should jack up 30+ shots.

AND PLEASE JVG, change your substitution patterns. don't stick to one way. adjust to different teams. he keeps putting midgets out there when toronto had tall shooters. and don't OVERREST tmac. when the deficit goes from 6 to 15, put him in and not wait until it balloons to 20. put him when it gets to 10 points.

 

t-mac coming back from the flu was one factor,the other factor was that when he went to the bench the 1st time they took a 15 points lead.yes t-mac did not have the energy to attack as usual but he'll be back next game.i hope his teamates also cplays with more energy and shoot better so that they can help him.but t-mac wants to lead them in some way.

"I think we just have to re-commit ourselves for the remainder of the season," McGrady said. "I think we kind of got away from doing what makes us good. We're not rebounding, we're not defending and we're not doing the little things that make us a good team. I've got to find some way myself to reunite the team and inspire my team. Tonight, I didn't do that."

and for those people out there who lost there faith man .doesn't take you long to show your true colors.the next games are tough but i have faith.do you?

 

I have hope, it is different than faith, I always have faith, but I am more inclined to hope !

Faith and hope, hope and faith.....

And, hey....Hope is actually closer to HOOP.....so maybe that is better, anyways.

DD

 

From this weeks power rankings, Rockets only dropped a spot.

"Rockets fans absolutely killed my inbox last week after I dropped their team a spot. It's nothing but crickets on the mail server this week after losses to the Hawks, Cs and Raps."

 

we're gonna have yao in two wks so he can shove bargnanis ass into the basket and make him scream for help in italian or w/e.

 

Evan, Good post, I agree with almost everything except that we contested shots in the first half. From where I was sitting (and I haven't it watched it on DVR yet to confirm), it looked like we were slow on rotating to the wide open shooters. That's what frustrated me last night, not that Toronto was unconscious, but that we weren't doing anything about it....

 

only one troll. not bad

 

I got the chance to experience the night as a red rowdy, and that absolutely exciting and fun!

The game on the other hand was horrible. JVG needs to stop being to stubborn and close-minded about the player rotation. It just seemed like our players did not have much energy or enthusiasm about the game. That may be due to the amount of minutes our starters are playing each game. They are drained and tired.

 

Indeed they looked that way, Rockets settled for a lot of jump shots, you can't beat them in jump shooting contest, they should have played more aggressively.

 

I saw you at the game punk,....I know who you are...