ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Hornets 3/25/2007

NothingButNet, I totally agree with your two points. Yao's performance tonight really disappointed me. When someone dunks on you, you have dunk back on him. Thus, the opponent will fear of you and lose his momentum. But he didn't. He looked too soft not only as player but also as a MAN. As JVG said, he lacks the killer mentality.

And where are Yao's moves now? He is too rigid, too many jump shots. Can he take the ball to the basket?

 

Don't get me wrong. He had a really bad night. But people are expecting him to be at 100% pre-injury status. He is not which means there's things he just cannot do yet. Yes he takes shots like he did tonight but the same could be said of him before his festering toe was fixed. After he came back from toe surgery last year that extra quickness and power was there. 2ndly IMO he hasn't backed folks down in the paint like he could do at times prior to the injury.

 

man wth, ya'll are getting ridiculous here. yao is NOT a power player. when will u guys understand that? don't expect him to be like shaq. he's a different type of beast. people will dunk on him. that was the case and that will be the case. can he have ONE bad game? my god.

and why are u criticizing the wrong part of his game tonight? his D was worse and yet should be a mainstay b/c of how big he is.

 

agreeed

 

Here we go again. What JVG said about being a killer or having a finishing mentality has nothing to do with slamming it right back into someone's face.

And yes Yao's moves aren't back yet.

 

wassup w/ tmac the past few games? he ain't speaking to reporters.

 

Yao was hacked under the basket over and over and the refs swallowed their whistles....how do you get back in a close game when you are not officiated fairly like that.

 

I agreed. I noticed yao has 2 or 3 blocks in a game but the official boxscore will have him 1 block only....

By the way, chandler made yao swallowed his mouthpiece.....

 

I just finished watching the game from my DVR and without going through the entire thread, I wonder how many Rafer Alston defenders are on the board tonight.

I made a post a couple of nights ago about the need to out-muscle teams like Utah, Phoenix (and clearly NOKI is one as well), and ANY team that has a PT Guard that's faster and stronger than Rafer (which is almost every single team) is going to give us a hard time.

In the second half of tonight's game, it was like watching Rafer give Chris Paul a personal escort to the basket. I can't think of a single time that Rafer bodied up against Paul for the ENTIRE freakin game!!!!

This is why Charles Barkley thinks we can't win against the better teams in the West, because we lack the balls to play physical against them.

How many times does Yao lay the ball up when he should be throwin it down?

How many times does TMAC settle for outside jumpers when everyone knows he's more effective going to the hoop?

How many times has Juwann Howard been outhustled for rebounds when he replaces Hayes in the lineup?

Our team is as soft as cotton freakin candy!!! And it begins and ends with the PG. Hell even JL III is tougher than Rafer and he's almost a foot shorter.

I'm afraid to say it, but this team loses focus, accuracy, poise, and toughness in the second halves of games, and especially once they lose the lead in the 2nd half.

I found myself saying, as the 3rd quarter was ending and Yao missed an 8 ft turnaround jumper that if Chris Paul had an open look, he would knock it down and that would be the game, because we seldom lose when we're ahead after 3, but we seldom win when we're behind...

Sure enough, Rafer gave him a good five feet of space giving Paul a straight ahead look at the basket, and the moment he lined up on the 3pt line, I knew he would take and make it. Oh, and I don't think Rafer took away his right hand dribble one single time all night....

Paul is CLEARLY better going to his right and yet Rafer gave him the drive to his right ALL NIGHT LONG!!! If we should falter far short of our hopes in the playoffs, I'll only have two places to look, PG and Head Coach!!!

 

Someone needs to undercut Chris Paul.

 

He's got the flu. I wouldn't want get near Tmac right now.

 

I am not saying dunks on him should not happen. I am saying, as a 7'6" superstar center, when someone dunks on you, you (if aggressive enough) should ask for the ball on the next play. I noticed that Shane Battier usually asked for the ball when an opponent scored on him. You don't need be like Shaq, but you need his tough mentality. That's the personality (of course with skills) winning the playoff.

Don't get me wrong. I am a Chinese living in California and became a Rockets fan because of Yao. I felt very disappointed for his softness in this game (at both offense and defense ends). Americans respect aggressiveness in sports, and NBA refs tend to favor aggressive players.

 

The Hornets have our number, not Utah.

 

yao WAS asking for the ball. but it was clear he can't score effectively so we went to tmac. mac was either scoring for himself or passing so he was controlling the game tonight. his shooters let him down tonight w/ the 3pt.

 

That's the NBA reality now. The rules favor perimeter offense players.

 

OK, that's nice and all but...What does it have to do with my point?

I never claimed Yao was all the way back or his former offensively-dominant self. What I DID say was that he hasn't developed his game to the point where when he has an off night shooting the ball/scoring, he instead focuses all his energy on doing other things to help the team win (i.e. defending better, rebounding more, dishing out more assists, etc).

Yao is not there yet as a player, but I am confident he will get there as his game is still maturing; he hasn't 'peaked' yet, IMO.

That's all I am saying...

 

VSpan is terrible and I understand why hes not on the floor. He is a rookie that doesnt fit in.

Bonzi is a proven veteran who can add something to this team. If hes not in shape, JVG needs to command him to get in shape soon, because I think we can really use his skills.

 

NO played good, we didn't, we lost. Just move on.

BTW: Happy birthday Bobby Sura