What hurt Yao today was that he was not good as wrestling. Seriously, he played more of a wrestling than bb game. He needs to learn how to use his elbows, his knees in these situations. If he played Grant last night, he would have broken Grant's legs. Unfortunately, Yao is running flat tonight.
That defense is very similar to how Shaq is guarded by Jeff Van Gundy. I think the brothers share defensive strategies. This is used to force weaker players into jump shooting situations. This works on the Rockets. I'd risk an open jumper from Steve if I were an opposing coach.
A family "gift" or whatever u name it, it's at the cost of Rockets' growing... what a shameful giving up
Steve had a bad game, and deserves a lot of blame tonight...however, this is the perfect example of just piling on to him for the hell of it. It wasn't Steve that took open jumper after open jumper, and it wasn't Steve who was given open shot . http://www.sportsline.com/nba/gamecenter/shotchart/NBA_20040126_HOU@MIA Steve took 9 shots, he took 6 jumpers, 2 of which were desperation, at the buzzer heaves from half court. He missed four jumpers -- 2 of which were from just inside the top of the key and 2 of which were from long range. They gave the open shots to Jim Jackson --- who missed them. He was 2-12 on jumpers, including 1-9 from three point range. What made you think that the Heat were giving open shots to Francis in hopes that he would miss them? Steve Francis wears number 3, not number 21. Otherwise, the lack of a consistent spot up shooter at the 2-3 spot is still hurting the Rockets. It makes you wonder if kicking Glen Rice's old ass out of town was such a good move given the bust of Piatkowski. I mean, I know JVG didn't like Rice, and he was useless on D, but he could still hit high 30's, low 40's from beyond the arc when healthy. If he is healthy I would bring him back for a 10 day.
I was there today for the game. I think Rox wasn't fully prepared. When Heat's three-point shooters made scores, Rox lose its cool and didn't know how to deal with it. Rox's offense was always better when game tempo was slow, like yesterday's game with Migic. If the other team plays fast, Rox's offense was at its worse. Why Rox has to let the other team control the tempo for its offense? One sussessful example of slow offense was Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. They were always cool and not in a harry but look for chance while keeping the offense at low tempo.
I sure hope that JVG wanted to help out his bro tonight. Otherwise he really had an uninspiring coaching performance.
One thing that Yao needs to do better is to maintain his intensity on the board and the defensive end even when his offensive game is not going. There are too many games when Yao's offense is gone, his rebounding and defense are gone as well. Teams will go out and double team Yao because most NBA coaches are not as stupid as Johnny Davis. If Yao can rebound and play defense, he'll still be the biggest factor in these games, even without taking that many shots.
I missed the first half after a mad dash of 330 miles. I had understood that CD had complained about the non calls on Yao defenders and that the Refs had responded by giving Yao Ming consideration. To-night I observed no consideration as Grant of Miami committed SEVEN FOULS during one play in which he guarded Yao, of course the Refs didnt call anything. Yes Yao was wrestled by Grant at every opportunity and the Refs watched it and did nothing.
I am okay with this loss. It's a winning road trip after all. And if we can win the SAC game, then it's the same result as we win over MIA and lose to SAC, which most of us expected. So, boyz, just beat the **** out of kings on wednesday in front of the sellout crowd and we'll be just fine. btw, I blame tonight's loss on ZRB ...
Nope. He did play for Milwauke and Toronto though. It was Toronto that really gave him the chance (mins) though.
Rockets need Jim Jackson and the rest of the guys to shoot well in order to win. Ming is going to do well, don't worry about him.
I blame this lost on the strip clubs on sunset blvd -> Stevie, JJ, and Mobs too much beaver hunting last night. Zero energy for this game!
Well, I'm glad the Rockets are keeping pace with the mighty Memphis Grizzlies. I just hate the fact that this team can stroll into LA and wipe out the Lakers, and still get b****-slapped by the pathetic Miami Heat.
It's just one of those games, every team has them. We had a horrible shooting night, and we let that turn against our defense. Atleast we didn't lose by turnovers, we have really been taking care of the ball lately. Don't worry, it wasn't a good night for Mid-West teams: 3 of 4 teams lost tonight. Nugs lose to Wolves, Spurs blow another to Bucks.
