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

Well we do have articles from the Chronicle, from ESPN, and just about anyone who has spent any time with them that they do genuinely get along. That along with Steve going out of his way to drive Ming around when he arrived, and making it a point to show Ming support by stretching next to him every time, as well as quotes by Steve saying they get along is a pretty strong indication.

If action + self admission + others observation isn't an indication to you, then those guys will just have to accept the fact that you are skeptical of their ability to get along well.

 

Well, Shaq and Kobe seem get along well in past two years, from ESPN, TV, you always see them sit together smiling and talking. Shaq even called himself "the big brother" of Kobe. Looks good?

Turn out they are not brothers.

 

I hope Boki catches fire against the nets like he did last night.

And Yao gets a triple double.

Eddie who?

Thanks 'Jersey

 

What gave you that idea? They didn't appear to get along. There were numerous stories about them not getting along, and it occasionally leaked out into the media. There were public reconcilliations, but Shaq never drove Kobe around, made an effort to stretch with him, or any of that other stuff. The only speculation that they don't get along is from people who want Yao to handle the ball, score every basket, grab every rebound, and get every assist.

 

I have to agree with you on this one. I'll give her to the end of the season to settle down though. In her first year on the job I'm sure she's pretty nervous up there. Instead of just going with the flow she seems to be thinking about saying the right thing all the time.

 

Great, now we're back to "Steve and Yao won't get along"...

 

correction...

Yetti is back on the Steve and Yao dont get along.

he seems to think Yao is some two-faced guy that says one thing and means another.

 

I am sorry for the misunderstanding.

I just gave an example saying what you see might not be what the truth is. I dont mean to hint anything like Yao and SF dont get along story.

 

So, we are now tied with with Denver, Utah, and Memphis.

 

ROCKETS COACH JEFF VAN GUNDY

On the Rockets play:
"When the percentage is as low tonight for the Bulls, you know your defense had something to do with it. I liked the way we got back on defense and gave them little in transition. That is where good defense starts. Every game you try to own the lane and limit layups as much as you can. We're not a good perimeter shooting team, but we were tonight. That's because we passed the ball well tonight. That movement makes us better from out there. Our team has some real good capabilities defensively. We just need to bring it out of us each game. We played a great first half tonight.¡±

On Yao's play:
"He has been playing well for us. He didn't have as many minutes tonight because of the score. He's doing fine, but has some work to do. He needs to learn to rebound the ball. He'll score each night and have a high shooting percentage, we know.¡±

On Curry's play:
"We have a lot of respect for Eddy Curry. They look to go down there a lot. They go to him early to set up the game. We just had a lot of length out there tonight. That was probably the biggest difference.¡±


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YAO MING

On the Rockets controlling the game:
"The pace of the game was in our hands. I think we played pretty well. Personally, I was satisfied with my performance."

On what he was most satisfied with:
"I think on the offensive boards we were very active. We had a lot of assists and not a lot of turnovers. It was completely the opposite of the last game."

On whether it was easier playing against Curry or Chandler:
"You think I didn't have success against Chandler? I think Chandler had more success than Eddy Curry did. They play two different styles of play, that's the only difference."


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STEVE FRANCIS

On the game:
"One of my best friends is on their team, Lonny Baxter. I keep up watching the Bulls, I've seen them play good but you're not going to win if guys think about themselves more than the team. That's what it looked like they were doing."

On the Rockets play:
"We played decent coming off a loss. We played the way we wanted to. We got the ball to the open guy."


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BULLS COACH BILL CARTWRIGHT

On the game:
"Some things are not easy to explain. This is a tough situation, when you are not confident to make a move. We're looking for defense and right now our offense is dictating who you are. We do not want that, we want our defense to dictate who we are. Right now we are not shooting the ball with any confidence, we are not attacking with any confidence, and we not playing with any confidence. We had some guys who gave us a great effort. Tyson Chandler gave us a great effort, Corie Blount, Kendall Gill and Eddie Robinson. It is tough right now. We will look at film tomorrow and see if these are shots that we should make. Are they appropriate shots? I thought a lot of them were.¡±

On Eddy Curry:
"He could not get himself going. The other side of that is that it is OK to miss shots, but you can still go out and get 10 boards. There are a lot of things you can do on the basketball court. It is something he's going to have to learn.¡±

On the Bulls play:
"What we would like to do is play inside-out. We would like to get some production from our guys in the post to loosen up our outside shooters. Now our guys on the outside are just not making shots. That does not mean we cannot go get an offensive rebound. We have to re-gather our focus. We got is down in that second quarter. We were fine. Because of the fact that we could not score, it really hurt our confidence. It was really disappointing. In a normal game you find someone who has it going. Last year it was Jamal, Marcus, Eddy and Jalen. Usually one of the four had something going. It is not happening. We are going to have find someone that can get us some production.¡±


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JAMAL CRAWFORD

On what's wrong with the Bulls:
"It's not just one thing. We have to play each play. We have to bring more effort because we are not playing with effort. We just have to keep playing as a team. The next game can't come fast enough, it's like a nightmare."


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JALEN ROSE

On the Bulls getting blown out:
"It's very demoralizing when you don't play well, we are out of adjectives to describe how we play. When you are losing the way we are losing, nothing is going right. You can't point to one thing.¡±


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TYSON CHANDLER

On the last three losses:
"It's tough. I guess I'll go home and lose some more sleep. But tomorrow is another day. We have to stay together as a team, come into tomorrow as a team and play together and not get down on one another.¡±

On whether or not the Bulls are playing with enough energy:
"I'm not going to point a finger. All I can do is come in and contrubute and play hard.¡±

 

Good win for the Rockets but let's face it, the Bulls have gotten very comfortable with losing. I'm curious to see what the Nets throw at them tonight. I expect them to follow the Memphis blue print. This will be a good test to see if they can maintain their focus and consistency for more than a single game - that's been a major problem for them the past 4 years.

It will also be a chance for CD to see what a TRUE 1st round pick looks like when he watches Jefferson actually show up and (gasp!) play on the court (what an amazing concept! A 1st round player who actually PLAYS! Will wonders ever cease...). I certainly hope that Jefferson doesn't go off on them tonite because that would be rubbing salt in the wound. I don't blame Rod Thorn because it is MORALLY wrong not to take advantage of a sucker and let's face facts, CD is a big all-day SUCKER!

 

I think they got JVG's message...Althougth the Bulls suck, but a win is a win...BTW, the Grizzlies beat the Spurs, but who isn't these days...

 

Boki was LIGHTS OUT !!! HELL YES !!!!!!!

 

What's with all the Yao-ONly fans?!!! WTF! All the Yao-Only fans are upset as if we lost the game just because Yao didn't play a lot of minutes score a lot of points. That pisses me off. We WON the FREAKING game! And it was a blow out!!!! ANd in the arena where the Greatest Player Ever once played! Who cares which individual player scored the most when we get a win. And when we're winning by that much, we don't even need to play our best players till the end--that's why Yao didn't play much in the second half. When you're leading by 30 points, why tire out your best players (when they have a game tomorrow)?

I'm happy with the win. I'm always happy with the win. I don't care if Yao were to score 70 points--if we lose when he does so, then it means nothing.

Yao Only fans sure know how to ruin a victory celebration.

 

calm down....as you say, they are yao-only fans. What else can they root for besides yao? They are short-sighted because they don't understand resting yao is doing yao good for long term. I am just glad everybody get to play and contribute, this is what basketball game is. everyone involves.