ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Clippers 11/24/2003

No .ball-movement.

 

Its called 4-0 run. Its totally LEGAL.

 

That's it, I'm never reading another game thread again....

 

I say that everytime I read this thread after a win and see all these inane comments, but for some reason I keep reading these things. I guess partly because I am not able to see the game and it is a way "sort of" of watching the game via these posts. Most of the time it is madening!

The Rockets had their best scoring output of the season. And a ton of assists. In fact Francis and Mobley combine for 15 assists?!?! Amazing. Yao had a dominant game and Mo came off the bench for 17 points! What more could you want? Sure there are things here and there that need fixing but it is a solid win and a nice win after the Blazer loss. Let's enjoy it!

 

Lol sam still hasn't answered your question.

 

Me neither...

See you after the Utah game

 

As usual, we are both thinking the same thoughts. Tonite's game was against the sad sack Clippers and yes, they blew them out. If they continue play this type of basketball against a good team they will keep getting beaten. So far, the major change from last year is that they are no longer losing to the bottom feeder teams. The next step is to be CONSISTENTLY competitive against the midrange teams. As far as this season goes, that still remains to be seen.

 

Here's the deal, YOF and AYOF (Anti-Yao-only-fan):

The YOFs are wrong in complaining after a good game for the Rockets. If you care about the stats, YOFs, the stats are great for everyone including Yao. The only thing you don't like is the low number of Yao's shot attempts. Big deal.

The YOFs are right in complaining about the 3rd Q play. It was a bad quarter for the Rockets. They didn't give the ball to Yao after a good first half. That's no excuse even in a win. But it's just one quarter. And it's partly the result of the Clippers adjusting their defense. However, I'm glad that the Rockets adjusted in the 4th Q and started giving the ball to Yao again. Yao took only one shot (and missed) in the 4th, but he got a lot of touches that resulted in open 3-pointers for his teammates. That's good. So the YOF's complaint about the 3rd is valid. They just are blind to the adjustment in the 4th.

Also, it is also a valid point that we are beating a weak Clippers team. We are good at beating weak teams this season, 6-1. We are only 3-3 against teams with .500 records or better. Last season, we beat good teams and lost to bad teams. This year, we are beating bad teams, but have yet proved if we can hang with the big boys consistently.

 

Can we please stop with saying that we haven't beaten one of the top teams so our record doesn't really count? Those wins are still wins when it comes down to seeing who is and isn't in the playoffs.

Last year we beat the Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Kings, etc. Did we make the playoffs? No Did those teams? Yes. But we lost to plenty of other teams last year that we should have beaten. It's a good positive step that we are beating the teams we are supposed to beat, and it's something for us to be happy about. It's not just about playing well enough to beat the top teams. Last night we played really well in spots, and not so well in spots. We got the win, and I like our record.

 

Lol yeah I did.

 

We should have a caption contest for this.

Can you imagine anyone else other than Yao in this League do this?

And look at Pike's reaction.

 

Read codell's play by play of the 3d period:

http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&postid=1134644#post1134644

 

Thank you... half of the posts on this thread seemed so one-sided.

The Rox played like they should be playing all the time in the first, second and fourth quarters. Feeding Yao when he's hot... and Yao throwing it out to the outside and letting the guards score easy 3's when he's double/triple teamed.

Mobley was lighting it up in the 4th for awhile (although granted after making 3-4 shots in a row he thought he was Kobe and tried to do a leeeeetle too much), so it was ok for him to go at it.

Except for the 3rd quarter, it was a good team effort overall and had SF not gotten into foul trouble, it would have been a bigger blowout.

 

wow did youg uys read the clipper's bbs? these fans are nice and civilized! and they said nice things about the rockets

from the clippers' bbs:
"We won't be expected to win.. but a win could make a big impact on the young season."
"The Rockets are more talented than us at the moment.."
"Yall are Stupid clipper fans. Cuttino is under rated for his Defense..."
"About the only thing you and I would agree upon, perhaps...
is that Cat is one terriffic player and the Jeff VG is a great coach...

Perhaps we can also agree that Stevie is a fine PG and that Jim Jackson was a brilliant pick up....I wanted him for the CLIPS....Kato is playing well but with him and FAT MO you are no better than average at that position.... PIKE will help you guys a lot and hit some key shot, play hard every minute...
Yao is still not dominating but when/if he does you guys move up to the elite level...


You have a fine team in Houston and a great coach...
Bad mouthing others does not make your case stronger..."

 

I it so obvious some of you didn't watch the game:

1. 2 FT attempt does not equal a shot. 4 of Yao's 6 FT attempts came from Kaman pushing him BEFORE he got the ball with the Clips in the penalty. So even if your arguments hold, Yao got no ore than 8 shot attempts.

2. Yao did not get shots because he was in foul trouble is not valid either. He got his 3rd and 4th foul late in the 3rd quarter, he got his 5th with like 6 mins left and did not play since. He played 15 minutes in the second half compared to 16 minutes in the first. I don't see too much of a diff.

3. No Yao was not doubled teamed every play.

4. If we were feeding the hottest hand, Yao had the hottest hand of them all, so that excuse doesn't hold water either.

5. I can't believe some people here are still impressed with blowing out the freakin' Clippers without Brand, Richardson and Jaric. It's beyond me.

Quite simple, Yao was not fed the ball in the 2nd half (despite doing well assist wise when he finally did get them). To put it simply, we built a good lead in the first by playing the right way, then made it closer than it was in the second. Any semi decent team in the league would have taken advantage of it.

 

Some positives i noticed:

1. Yao is doing a better job of keeping the ball above his head after a rebound.

2. He's also trying to give more quick outlet passes to the guards.

3. With Mo in the center of the floor, our zone offense should be improved considerably.

4. It was nice to see Yao get some veteran calls against a rookie center.

5. Steve was great at distributing the ball. He made a great lob pass to Yao that resulted in 2 points, and he found Yao at the end of the half for an easy jumper.

 

Actually the largest lead came in the second half of the game.

 

Yao: Piatkowski don't you think pink would be an exquisite color to compliment Cato's toes?

Piatkowski: Oh I think it would be just lovely!

Cato: Oh you guys are so sweet. O-o-o-h yeah Yao that's the spot! Rub that bunyan!