The Rocket D had everything to do with the shooting percentage, save for Kirk. And Gordon pulled some stuff out of his ass that had no right to go in, so the percentage should have been even worse. But Kirk, 1st quarter to 4th, missed heaps of open shots. Killed the team.
I second that and JVG makes an in game adjustment for the 1st time in his coaching career. He put Shane on Gordon and Shane shut him down in crunch time. Great win by the Rockets tonight give the team including the coach credit for this one. Go Rockets!
Against All Odds: Rockets Pull Out The Win Some interesting tidbits I observed from the game, -We had 5 FTAs until like the final 2 minutes in 4th -Like 0/15 3pfg in 1st half -We scored 30 pts in the first half...and in the 4th quarter -T-Mac: 31pts, 8asst, 6reb, 2stl, 1blk, 1to, all clutch Great win for the Rockets, we deserved it IMO, especially after losing to the Wolves in OT last night. Let's hope we can carry the momentum to Wednesday against Lakers!
Battier had a good game, just not a good shooting game. His defense was excellent and was the key to winning the game in the last minute. Coming from behind and blocking that last shot by Gordon definitely averted a foul being called on hayes, as Gordon had he not been block would have made contact with Hayes outstretched arm, while still shooting the ball. And despite only shooting 30% I like the fact that Battier was assertive enough to take 15 shots. I wish he does it more. With someone as fundamentally sound and solid as Battier I wouldnt mind him trying to force the issue more. Other important (though not as obvious) contributions were, first Heads 8 rebounds (2offensive) which were a big part in helping the ROckets and Deke win the boards 51-45. Howards 16-9 supported and Hayes 9 rbs (4off). Lastly and in this case least was Alston. Though he shot a horrid 2-14 he did contribute 7 assists and 3 steals. Jvg gets credit for putting Battier on Gordon on the last 4 possessions and for making whatever adjustments/motivations at halftime that resulted in a 54 second half outburst. And of course he gets credit for instilled on the players the great defense which was today matched and mirrored by that of Chicago's.
i wasn't ready to say it before, but im ready now rafer sucks balls. (at least tonight) God, how can he not finish ANY trip into the lane? he gets there with such ease too, because everyone is waiting for him to launch a three or pass to tmac. rafer please please please step it up. and stop disrespecting tmac
Chuck's line: Min FG 3Pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts 20 2-2 0-0 2-2 4 9 0 1 0 0 3 6 Juwan's Line: 34 7-14 0-0 2-3 2 9 1 1 0 0 4 16 These are exactly the types of games that the Rockets need from these two. Extremely efficient. Only 7 fouls between them, and only 2 turnovers. They didn't get any steals and blocks, but playing against a team that stresses defense, it was important to have that offensive output and efficiency plus high rebound totals. These two were the unsung heroes of the game. Keep it up!
DD, all that matters is a W. Nothing else matters. Like TMac says, "It takes 5." Rafer's top priority is to not turn the ball over and he does that adroitly.
Battier was money down the stretch, pgabriel. Try to watch the last minutes of the game and you will know why. He didn't have a great game statistically speaking, but the true mark of a great role player is making plays when it counts. It's something the Rockets lacked for years ever since the championship teams, we never had role players that can step up and make plays (big shots, big defensive stops, etc). Now, we at least know we have one great role player...three more to go.
Yeah, it was a good win for us. It was a real defensive struggle and our best d in league prevailed in the end. Another great game from t-mac also.
Yes for once I had a reason to cheer the Fakers they beat the one team I hate more than L.A. the Mavs. We owe the Lakers for the BS they pulled on us the last time we played. Rockets go get some pay back against the Fakers.
ya it was a great win, can't wait to see kobe vs. t-mac, especially with the way tracy has been playing lately
If Mutombo keeps this up, there is no team that can stop us. He pwned Big Ben. Oh yeah, blahblehblah, WTF possessed that man to say something like that in your quote. He should be slapped for that.
Agreed completely that the switch of Shane on Gordon is the key for D in crunch time. Wondering why didn't JVG put him on earlier since Gordon has been killing Rafer almost all 4th quarter? But Shane played beautiful D at the end, especially the key block on Gordon! Go Rockets!
stupid stream player, but i caught most of the game, does anyone else think for how much Ben Wallace got payed, that his not giving much of a return? I haven't watched that many games but i think today was the first time i saw battier dunk does he dunk often??!?!?!?! stats truly dont reflect how great battier he is, i love him! juan is hitting his shots unlike rafer and overall struggling from perimeter but still mcgrady+battier+juan carried us over, i like our offensive rebounding also! hayes + mutombo! yay lets keep above .500 before we get back all our injured players and really start shaking up the nba
yeah, not much of a pg battle eh? rafer and kirk stunk up the joint. great game for the rox fans... comebacks are always appreciated
I don't have the privilege of watching FSN Houston. I was watching the Bulls broadcast on NBATV. Quick question. Did Tmac block Sweetney with a couple of minutes to go in the game, or did he just miss it? They didn't show any replays and they didn't comment on it
