I can't remember being this irritated by a basketball game since Drexler was ejected from that playoff game for no reason. Kudos for all the Rockets. They really maintained their composure under what I thought were extreme circumstances. Francis received a technical from the bench, but I thought he showed incredible restraint and maturity since he managed to bite his tongue the rest of the night. How does this look: Free Throws - Lakers 42, Rockets 16 Personal Fouls - Lakers 15, Rockets 27 The Rockets won that game as far as I'm concerned. And they did it when Yao was having a terrible game (no credit to Shaq - he just didn't have his touch).
Right I mean how does a finese center that shoots turnaround fadeaways and hook shots gonna ever school shaq, there's no way a center like that can make shaq his B%%@# for 4 straight game and make him wanna cry as fans hits the tour bus with brooms.
Well, if Yao only played at par this game, we would have a chance to win it against a very hot Lakers team. Here, that's your positive spin. Nice game by Cat. For a moment I thought he outplayed Kobe out there.
I don't really blame the refs too much for this one. Yao didn't really deserve that many freethrows because he didnt attack Shaq. There might have been one play where Yao was pushed pretty hard while shooting a hook, but i cant think of any other calls he should have gotten, considering the game was so physical on both ends. However, the phantom fouls on Yao really pissed me off. In the first few minutes, Malone has the ball under the basket and Yao is behind him with his arm up. Malone jumps back into him and throws up a crap shot, doesnt even try to make it. Foul number one. Then, Yao actually plays decent defense on Shaq for once, and Shaq loses his balance and falls down. They somehow call Yao for his third. It's just incredible how they let the teams play for the most part, but when Yao is even close to someone who falls down, he gets whistled. They also called a BS foul on Francis and Taylor in the 1st, so when they actually commited real fouls, they were in foul trouble.
This game showed that the Rox need Cato in order to have another big body on the glass and defensively. How frustrating is it watching the other team grab something like 18 offensive rebounds, damn!
MANNNNNN #$Q#@$#@$# Games like this are why I hate the Lakers, and the POS refs. Lakers shot 42 free throws to our 16!!! What the hell is that??!?!? Granted we had turnovers and yao was off tonight, but that free throw discrepancy is outrageous. Those 3 refs should be fired. Also no free throws for Yao again, something must be done!!!
Yea, but you remembered them from their bigger roles for their previosu teams. I m just saying that Payton did nothing memorable even in all those years with the Sonics... I mean, before this year, can you name a game where you just remembered that Payton flat-out won for his team? I can for all those players before you mentioned... not for Gary.
Yao stunk tonight... This team really is all about Yao now....when he has an off night like tonight, they really struggle. It was not so much Shaq as it was Yao rushing his shots. Seemed out of sync.....maybe he will rebound tomorrow against the Nugs. DD
Are you kidding me? Payton has won tons of games all by himself. There were several years that I thought Payton should have won the MVP award. I have more respect for Payton than any other player on the Lakers.
Piatkowski sure has been playing some productive minutes!!! Ignore the fact that he gets in once every handful of games lately, lets give him 11 minutes against the Lakers.
We'll never know. Yao has proven he can play well against Shaq, but tonight he didn't have an opportunity to turn his game around and play hard because he was taken out so early.
after he leaves fakers, he will have no game left. he is getting used to be refed favorably this year.
I'm sure he had, I just can't remember them. Most HOF's have that game 7, that championship series, that great playoff series, that last second shot, that mano-e-mano duel... something we all remember.
foul with 10:00 minutes left in the first, yao just standing there under the basket, malone gets the offensive rebound, yao just stands there and then gets whistled for the foul. i just knew it was going to be one of those games. kinda like when yao was called for a foul on divac on the first possesion of the kings game, except that yao did foul divac on that one. where the hell was the foul this time?
Nick, I dont remember a game that John Stockton has won all by himself, Just because we dont follow a team closely doesnt negate the stardom of the player...
Who ever played Shaq type game? Just give me one name. Or you are saying there is only one way to play center? Or there was, is, will be only one centre in NBA? He had an off night, but his defensive game was ok tonight. And the Rockets were pretty much in the game all the time, I would say the turning point was that stupid Shaq fell over travelling turned out to a Yao's foul. Yao Ming is not a finished product. Sure he has lots of room to improve, but isn't that what amazes us? We know he can get better, but to be a great player, you have to be yourself. None of the great players are alike, they all somehow managed to extend their strong points to the maximum and limit their weak points to the minimum. That's not about whether we like it or not, it's human nature, and it's the nature of the game.
