ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Bulls 11/03/2003

anyone notice how yao and steve ALWAYS sit next to each other while they're both resting. the camera always shows them talking. i find it funny how despite the irrefutable evidence that these two are getting along great, that people still want to make it like steve dislikes him. hear that yetti.

 

I totally agree with you. It was great to win big but offensively we didn't play like we need to play. We had a hot hand so it looked good but if we play offense like that tomorrow night we're going to get killed. It just dawned on me that we have a few players in Cat, Moochie, and MoT who simply can't play offense without trying to play iso ball, simply incapable it seems. They just have to face up and isolate their man to do anything. When they're all on the floor together it looks like Rucker ball. I can't wait until Pike gets back. He's an auto starter over Mobley if I'm the coach. I wish we could package Cat, Moochie, and MoT for players that fit this team better. Yao still needs to get the ball more, luckily it worked out tonight.

 

Yao sit next to Steve because Yao is such a nice guy, he doesn't want Steve to feel left out. Plus it is easier to yell at Steve close up about learning to play basketball than it is at a slight distance. That way the media will not pick up on it and Yao's nice guy image will not be hurt.


Good game by The Rockets.

 

On a positive note, I haven't seen anyone mention the two beautiful lob passes over defenders fronting Yao Ming that resulted in ultra easy baskets.

 

Francis played great tonight. He didn't try to force too much, only once or twice maybe. You can tell Francis is buying into JVGs system, he slowed down the game many of times, he would usually force a fast break or quick shot, but decided to slow the play down and set it up. Great win for the Rox, tomorrow will be a true challenge.

 

Great team ball!

Boki was on fire!

 

Cause he's no longer garbage!

 

A win is nice anyway you slice it, but Rockets fans should avoid irrational exuberance. First, the Bulls are a horrible team they shot horribly. Secondly, the Rockets seemed to go away from the inside-out game since their shooting was very hot. Night to night, you never know if the outside shots are going to go down. We don't want to start bad habits by relying on 3 point shooting and outside scoring. You never know when the outside shooting is going to go cold. In this game, it didn't really matter since the Bulls didn't put up much of an effort. Though it might be boring, the Rockets need to stick to a methodical inside-out game like the Lakers, who play predictably, but still win despite the fact that the opposing team knows exactly what they're going to do before they do it.

 

Yep. Gotta say that this may be the most mature game I've ever seen Stevie play. There was one transition play where he got the ball in the corner with a decent, but not great, shot. I was stunned when Steve pulled up and called a play. That's some MANLY stuff, and it goes against what Steve's been doing his whole career. Man, I really hope this is a trend and not an aberration.

 

Don't worry. Why bother to go Inside-out if Outside is hot?

 

now hopefully stu jackson see's this and puts steve on the olympic team

 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha heee ha ho ha ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Heee heee ha ha ha ho ha ha ha ho ho hee hee ha ho !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Near clairvoyance! Excellent call.
Perhaps you knew something the rest didn't?

 

how could the bulls be that stupid, i just don't get it? memphis showed them how to do it. front and have a man waiting in the paint to come over and knock the pass away. so what do the bulls do? front and completely clear the paint area. i remember when jj got it in the first period and yao got fronted and all i could see was open court behind yao. i thought damn someone must've slipped up and is going to come over. but nope, no help, easy lob, easy bucket. i was glad they did it, just have no idea why they didn't follow the memphis blueprint, the one that worked.

 

Its just i recalled that the bulls really suck , while the other mistook them for the improved bulls.

 

Just to announce my new signature line.




Nautic
____________________________________________________
"They looked like a team with a lot of talent, but with five guys trying to do too much by themselves. They're not looking to get the ball to their teammates. When a guy gets a shot, it's like a desperation shot. There's no continuity...You're not going to win if guys are thinking about themselves more than the team."
---------Rocket Guard Steve Francis (Nov 3, 2003)

"They looked like a team with a lot of talent, but with five guys trying to do too much by themselves. They're not looking to get the ball to their teammates. When a guy gets a shot, it's like a desperation shot. There's no continuity...You're not going to win if guys are thinking about themselves more than the team."
--------TNT Analyst Jeff van Gundy (March 3, 2002)

 

yep, we just barely scraped by. 17 more shots made by the bulls and we lose.



of course we pretty much just had yao stand on the weakside for most of the 3rd quarter to rest him and let him chill while the offense kept clicking then we took him out for the 4th. now either that was the guards' idea and jvg has no control or it was jvg's idea and thus the offense was executed correctly during an asskicking. which do you think it was?

when we had him in the offense he got his shots. otherwise we just let him chill with another game coming in 24 hours. seems smart to me while you're kicking ass by 30.

 

I promise you all that if the Rockets win tomorrow, I will be happy for a few days.

 

I don't have time to read the whole thread tonight, here are a couple of things I noticed, just what to hear what you think, sorry if others have brought it up:

1) Yao sets a lot of picks, but never gets a roll. This is pretty much true for other Rox players too, although Yao is setting most of the picks. Isn't pick-n-roll in Rox play book?
2) Many times, Yao entered the paint area asking for ball, and not getting the pass, he got out the paint. The problem is Yao and the ball often go to different directions. Yao is not effective if he is on the weak side. It takes too long to get the ball to Yao's side and let him post up. Rox have to work on the offense strategy to utilize Yao when he is on the weak side.
3) Mo couldn't finish a post play. Only his midrange jumpers hit from time to time. Who knows where he is at in terms of his recovery from the shoulder injury?

A win is a win. However, if we want to keep winning, especially against a real team (not like Bulls), we'd better fix as many problems as possible.