ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Celtics 1/14/2004

Well he redeemed himself by stealing the ball and making a layup to pull the 76ers within 2 during the 2nd ot.

 

He's lucky the refs didn't call a foul for getting all of Nash's arm

Anyway, 76ers fall in 2OT.

 

ARRRRGH! Stupid Sixers! Can't make their freethrows. They had 2 opportunities to tie it with a freethrow and they missed both of them! Damn.
Oh well, at least the Nuggets are losing.
Not a bad day.

 

Can Celtics move THE GREAT WALL?
Yao's answer: 21 points, 15 boards, 4 blocks.
Yao declared 'Don't treat me with disdain just because of average 8.3 point in last 3 games with Celtics. If I want to attact,give you 19 points at Half-time.If I decide to defensive,present you two blocks in 10 seconds,OK? LOL.

 

Postgames quote from NBA.com:
"Yao did a great job," Van Gundy said. "I thought he passed the ball better. He was more active and assertive but also, particularly in the first half, we passed the ball much better. I think we passed the ball better as a team (and) Yao hit a couple of jump shots. He seems to play better when he is not locked into that low post all the time."
Seems like Van Gundy is finally getting it. I hope he realizes that Yao's offense shouldn't be limited to the low post. While it's all very well to develop Yao's inside game, it would also be a waste not to take advantage of his range and shooting touch from the outside.

 

it took jvg, a guy we're paying 5 million a year to figure things out, 37 games to figure out yao ming can hit a jump shot? i've been saying this since the middle of last year, let the man shoot some jump shots. he shoots them well, is rarely guarded that far out, and is tall enough to get his shot off even when challenged. it shouldn't be reserved for special defenses like the celtics, it should be an integral part of the game plan. he hit a few early jumpers, played better in the post, cut better. stop planting yao down low dammit.


that is all.

 

Good game from most everyone.

Yao brought his shooting touch and positioned a little better. A big credit has to go to his teammates for looking for him and giving him the rock at all the right places. If my math is right, 1st half, Mobley 4 assists to Yao, MoT 2, Steve 1. Who said you can't get assists passing to a big man?

Cat and MoT played a super game, they shot well, assisted and played good defense.

JJ had an average game in the box score but he was awesome on defense. He played the main part in Pierce's 1 for 10 night.

Padgett, Boki, Wilks did a decent job.

I questioned Jeff's coaching in the last game against the Celtics. Look like he solved most of the problems.

1) The double on Yao before he gets the ball is solved with MoT and Padgett cutting hard to the FT line. From there they can knock down the J or feed the ball into the post. We also swing the ball quicker and look for other passing angle or to explore other possibilities.

2) We paid close attention to Welsh, and Mc Carty in addition to Pierce. We left James and Banks open but I guess it's the price you have to pay.

 

Close but no cigar.

 

I think I heard the players call out on the court " block that shot Yao, block that shot Yao" on several occasions even though Yao was several feet from the play. I think that scared Blount into missing 2, 3 open layups. That and the real blocks he had.

 

scaring people miss layups is a great asset a shot blocker gives you...yao doesn't get enough credit for this...blount is a seven footer...they dont miss point blank shots unless they scared

 

I agree.
We ran a lot of diff plays last night.
1) The old double hi-post screen that we had not run much lately.

2) Against double-team of Yao in the lo post before he gets the ball, MoT or Padgett cut hard to the FT circle to get the ball for the J or the feed from there. We did this on occasions before but never so sure, so determined like last night.

3) There is also a brand new play I haven't seen before. MoT receives ball near top of FT circle with back to the basket. Screens are set on either side of the paint. Steve starts outside, runs off MoT's screen and one side toward the basket. Cat starts from the base line runs of the other screen toward the wing. Steve got a nice wide open dunk from MoT's feed. We also had some other decent looks if I recall correctly.

The combination of the those and some other stuffs we usually ran (screen on the wing, single screen up top ... ) made it hard for the Celtics to anticipate our moves. Hence some of the good looks.

 

Yetti, you are being to hard on the guards (while being right to a certain extent).

Things changed in the 2nd half.

1) Yao was more tired. He did not fight for position as much.

2) The Celtics determined to stick to Yao and left MoT, Padgett, Cat. They had open looks for the most part so they took them.

3) In the 4th quarter, the Celtics changed up their defense. They switched to double Yao with a guard sagging into the lane from the weak side. Since their PF stayed with MoT (or Padgett), they could not get the ball either to feed the post. The Celtics left a man open on the opposite corner but we have yet learned to swing the ball to him

I think Yao went 1-4 in the second half while others knocked down some shots so I think it worked out OK.

 

Some quotes from boston media.

http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/celtics.bg?articleid=292

Indeed, according to Celtics coach Jim O'Brien [news], the fact that normal starter Kelvin Cato missed the game with a sprained left foot actually worked against the Celtics.

``It opened the floor for them,'' said O'Brien. ``(Backup power forwards) Scott Padgett and Mo Taylor have to be honored from the top of the circle. When we heard that Cato was not going to be in there, I said, `Darn.' ''



http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/celtics.bg?articleid=293

http://www.boston.com/sports/basket.../yao_is_beginning_to_put_the_wow_in_his_game/

Wow, from the articles above Calvin Murphy really likes Yao, very YOF..LOL


I find that media is no different from fans: over-react. One game he's bust, next game he's potential superstar. LOL....

 

great game although i didn't get to watch it.
from the stats one thing stick out - whoever guard p pierce did a great job. he was 1-10 and 0-4 for three sweet.

 

some quotes from Calvin Murphy of dragon167's links:

``Superstar,'' said Murphy, who played 13 seasons for Houston from 1970-83. ``Franchise. Franchise player. There can be no doubt. And I'm not talking 10 years from now, either. In basketball if you don't win they make changes. Eventually, if the players don't know how to play with Yao, they'll find some players who can.''

``He has such good skills and such great footwork,'' Murphy said. ``His skills are really on another level. His problem is his team has not learned to play with him yet. The Rockets have always been a guard-oriented team and when they realize there's a new sheriff in town, of course his individual skills are going to go higher. So far he has gone to another level already.''

``First of all, he has to be the primary target,'' Murphy said of Yao. ``Everything has to flow through him and it doesn't yet. He has to be the main focus in order to make everyone else better. And Yao Ming is smart enough to realize to not try to shoot his way to stardom but to make everybody better so they can win and that's what he does.

``He's a tremendous passer. He sees the floor extremely well and he did that last year. I'd like to see him become a little more aggressive. He's a nice guy. Once he sees there are no nice guys in the NBA around the basket he'll get there even quicker.''

 

Calvin Murphy really loves Yao...almost an obsession...

 

Are you saying Calvin is really YoYao?

 

GIVE YAO THE DAMN BALL...

 

i know Calvin Murphy is a strong Yao supporter, but i'm still a bit shock by what he said... imagine how SF & Cat felt if they read this

 

Yao really did play last nite how we've wanted him to all season. He was VERY active the entire first half, and it was clear that he WANTED the ball. Cato's hindrance of the offense was exposed pretty clearly last nite with Padgett and MoT's top-of-the-key intermediate play. If Cato can somehow learn to hit that shot in the offseason, he'd be just what the Rockets need at the PF position.

Yao slowed down a bit in the second as he tired, and the Celtics really focused harder on him on D, but his first half really opened up the perimeter. Yao was only 1 for 4 in the 2nd half, but his presence is what made those big Rocket leads possible. When defenses sag on him like Boston did, we get open shots.