ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers 12/25/2003

Thats to all the haters who said that the Rockets had no chance!!!!!!!!

 

Yao needs to practice his hook shots. All miss in 2nd half. And rebounding control is bad too. But overall it's much better than what I thought. His offense is improved a lot. Last year he missed tons of fadeaways against Shaq.

 

Lets get Yao to shoot more 3's we will really be averaging 100 ppg.

 

Today's defensive scheme was great. Van Gundy gets props for bringing a gameplan to really deny the Lakers from absolutely busting the Rockets up on the offensive end. Kobe almost messed things up though.

 

Absolutely, can someone tell JVG and other Rockets about that? They have this great talent in Yao, but they only want to use them at low post.

 

Yao fault too much and ran out of gas too quick. But still a good first half for Yao and a Great win for the Rockets.

 

His rebounding could use some major work too. Tell him to do butterflies or something. He has to grab that ball with some strength. He missed like 3-4 rebounds because he didn't hold on to it tight enough.

 

2nd half is when Yao uses fades due to endurance. His rebounding did suffer a lot in the 2nd half. Going into the low post was a failure in the 2nd half. Yao was setting picks all over the place in the 1st half. He's got a knack for doing it well. Pick and roll.

 

That's true but it's hard when two people are holding onto your waist from both sides! He does need to get stronger and be more aggressive still. Maybe he is tired or just too slow..he needs to grab that ball..not tip it around.

Yao's hook shot...well Yao just needs to practice everything. He was playing against SHAQ! It's hard...usually his hook shot is pretty good.

Maybe Yao should just play 30 minutes a game and get his rest...and dominate when he's in. He plays well with Cato and Taylor...too bad Cato is limited on offense and Taylor is not helpful on defense. Cato could be good inside though..and get easy buckets..and Taylor's defense seems to be improving.

 

I disagree...this tactic should only be used when playing the Lakers and Shaq. Yao should be inside and dominating every other center in the league. Don't let him start getting all "Robert Horry" on us.

 

That steal off Horace Grant I think and of course the break away dunk to make the score 88-80 was great.

At that point (around four minutes left) I thought, maybe, just maybe the Rockets have a chance to win the game.

Hey they did.

Its rare to see Maurice Taylor pull down rebounds and score in the same game, but he did have at least eight rebounds and had a great offensive game.

I think the LA Lakers had an off-night.

But a win is a win.

 

Shaq was playing on average level tonight. Kobe only had a good 3rd quarter. Looks like Shaq is getting old and Malone is important to them.

 

Steve wasn't scoring at will tonight. He was running the team very efficiently and very effectively. Steve took the shots that came to him and didn't force anything. I have to give him credit. I really figured when Yao got that fifth foul that it was time for the Rockets to wilt. They had to come back in with Cato and MoT which I figured Shaq would eat those guys up and then we would start throwing up junk on the offensive end. Steve held us together tonight, playing for the open shot and then nailing the jumper or dishing to the open man.

Great team game by the Rockets tonight with Steve playing within the gameplan. Really, everybody played within the game plan. You could really tell the defense is starting to excel because of the steals and fast break points off the steals. The Rockets are getting confident enough in their defensive assignments to start jumping the passing lanes. That is great news.

Another huge key to this game was JJ hitting his shots. We don't win this game without JJ's shooting. I liked JJ bringing the ball up the floor too. That seemed to work well.

 

God...I love this team. I don't want to see any trades(Not that I have ever really supported a trade. Sure, Kurt Thomas would be nice, but still...), because I think this team just demonstrated what it is capable of. I loved Steve's soundclips. It hasn't been demonstrated at all times this season, but I really do believe that he knows that Yao is the key. This team goes nowhere without Yao going off every game. He was yelling at Yao to tell him to de-mand the ball. That, my friends, is leadership. Kobe was at the top of his game in the 3rd, and the team maintained its composure and finished the game strong.

Phil must have been caught completely off guard with the p-n-r, which is kind of surprising. I wouldn't expect a guy who employs the triangle offense to be too perplexed by a simple p-n-r offense. Regardless, it worked, and it turned my otherwise subpar Christmas day into a good one.

My allegiance to the team is blind, but games like these remind me why that is so.

 

HELL YEAH! That was an awesome game by the Rockets. I was a bit worried during that 3rd period, but he pulled it out by playing tough defense and efficient offense. Let's just hope they can keep it going in Denver tomorrow night.

GO ROX!

 

Yao will never get "Robert Horry" on us. He is too big and too smart for that. But we need him to use his outside game more to open up his inside game. If he starts canning the face up 15-18 footer, then it changes the defensive approach to him. The defense has to worry about his face up game, as well as his post game. I guarantee you it will lead to more easy post up baskets by Yao.

 

i want that clip of francis's buzzer beating dunk!!!

 

What a Christmas gift.

 

Right on money! Give Yao the green light to shoot outside jumper, no one can defend him on that.

 

man this is a great christmas. too bad in a week we'll go back to complaining about the rox after a loss.