ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers 4/19/2004 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 2)

Another big mistake of Van Gandy's is that he did not give much chance to Boki in the regular season for 3 pointers. I belive J Jackson and Boki are the 2 good shooters for 3's. One at the left wing and the other at the right wing would be the weapons for the Rockets. The problem of Van Gandy is that he only trusts the ex-knicks'

I soemtimes wanted to trade SF. After those 2 PO games, I say keep him. SF and yao will be the 2 core players for the Rockets. Keep J Jackson and Boki too. Trade all the others in the off season. SF and Yao will be offense organizers and Jackson and Boki will be good shooters.

 

I hate JVG's reaction after Cat made the mistake. Cat was almost begging JVG for forgiving and encourage but JVG was just showing disdainful to the mistake. That was not right at all.

And after that he benched Mobly and team lost their chemistry. You have to allow mistake on the court, no one can play perfect.

JVG just love himself too much, show his love to the players!

I want JVG go after this season.

 

I am not too happy with JVG's decisions. It was great to go to Yao, and got Shaq in trouble. But somehow they stopped doing that, or at least not doing that decisively. I mean, what's the point to swing the ball around, if you have the biggest mismatch inside. I am very pleased with SF3 all-around game tonight, probably his best. He was so determined to drive to the hold every single time. We caused Lakers really in foul trouble early, we should just quit jump shots, even if you can make it, just keep driving and pounding inside. They are a great team, if you don't beat them to death while they are down, they will come back at you. Yes, their role players killed us on the end. But just imagine, if we kept pounding inside, gave two fouls to Karla as well, with Svala already got 2 fouls, what would be the difference? Yao's shots are still off, but only took 4 shots in the second half before he started to make shots when the game is already gone. I just don't understand why JVG put him in those picks. What are the purpose? He doesn't have foul trouble like game 1, what to protect? Why didn't JVG put Yao parking in the lane? It's just ridiculous to see damn Fisher post up and pickup his own rebound and put back in. Lots of the posts accuse Yao's lacking of guts to circling around the top of the key, and set useless picks. I would argue that, Yao is not a rebelling kid, if JVG asks him to post up, he would not leave that area. If he's setting picks all the time, that must be JVG's order, but I really fail to see his purpose. What a waste to SF's great effort. I am very very disappointed in Cat tonight. He played aweful, and awefully stupid.

 

So true... at least to an extent.

On more than a few occasions now, Steve has brought his game when we really needed him to, and Yao has... gotten "tired".

I don't want to see either of them go, but they need to play well at the same time for this team to win, and right now, Francis is the only one delivering. We have some other weapons, but the likelihood of enough of them being on on the same night to make up for Yao is low.

(BTW: This is now the 4th of his last 6 games where francis has gotten over 10 assists, cutting down his FG attempts at the same time...)

 

umm r u kidding me...talking about ppl who jack up shots... mcgrady and allen r the worst and they dont make their teammates better...yao and others would never get the ball if those two guys r here....


i dont post but i couldnt resist not saying something after that...

 

I don't think Cat is begging for forgiveness. That's your interpretation. From what I could read from JVG's lips and the commtators' comments, he was claiming that he heard or assuming there was a foul to give. But they were in penalties long before that foul. Cat just made a terrible mistake. In my opinion, he's mind is not realy in the game iteself. Otherwise, he would not trying to seek excuses, rather just admit the mistake and focus on the next play. Well, that's my assumption again. But there are players who said that JVG is a coach stands behind his players, not many of them said that he loves himself too much. I mean those players who have real experience play for him.

 

See ! i got the lakers score right!!!!!

 

Dude, Yao was tired because of Shaq. It's almost impossible
to cancel Shaq out, and even harder to outplay him and limit
him to playoff career low.

 

It's not that hard when Shaq has virtually no mobility left thanks to age and injuries. Yao did a decent job on defense (ONLY on Shaq), but he wasn't alone down there. Also, for reasons that I didn't quite see, Shaq didn't get the ball a great deal of the time. Plus, Shaq got minimal playing time due to his fouls.

That would be a start. And if it happened, and we DID still lose as you predicted, then no one would have any words for Yao. He would carry very little of the blame for the loss. And then you would be happy, wouldn't you?

Anyways, any defense of Yao I see like this I have to take with a grain of salt... People who still have no criticism for him and only for Steve are just plainly blind.

 

The thing I hate JVG the most is that he immediately takes the player off the court after committing a mistake, no matter it is Yao, Steve, or others you just name it. How can this encourage the players and build their confidence??

 

JVG didn't put Yao under the basket this game, which I didn't really understand. But lacking of rebound is not the problem of yao in this game, not rockets' problem. You can see that he watched and prepared when some rebounds going to his teammates. I wouldn't blame his rebounding in this game. The reason we lost this game is because the game plan is out of sync in the second half, I don't understand why all of a sudden, JVG wanted Yao to set picks and circling around. Again, I don't think Yao would ignore JVG's plan and leave the paints by himself.

 

One word "greedy". Shaq is still most dominant player.

 

I finally found the root of the problem.

we have the proven best players, or players with the most potentials, but we don't have the best Coach - it's the Owner's fault for hiring JVG.

He can do better and save money by spending 2 millions and hiring 10 experts on this board - saving clutch.

The experts will
1) make turnovers become assists
2) make Yao post more and rebound more
3) Make yao energetic all the time
4) Make Steve dribble less
5) Make Cat smarter ( such as getting a dog)
6) Make Cato happier by getting his shots to fall
7) Make Mo pass more
8) Make Boki start
9) Make Toyota center full
10) Make a run at eh Champinship

 

Francis has a great personal Game but Team Looses. His first half was him playing the way JVG wants him to play-Rockets lead at the Half. Second Half Steve plays the way he likes to play and Rockets go down the TUBE. First half Yao Ming involved a lot. Second half Yao Ming hardly involved?? Is it JVG? Is it Francis? Is it that Yao Ming is not demanding enough? Is it that Yao is too exhausted? When Shaq went out with foul trouble why didnt they get the ball to Yao Ming every time? Seems there is a lack of good Basketball IQ involved somewhere in this!

 

That's on the offensive end. What was Yao doing on the defensive end to keep him from rebounding there (defensive rebounds should be much easier to come by)?

 

I also do not understand why idiot JVG wanted Yao to set up picks. It is a big waste of Yao's strength in the low post. I do not see Shaq set up picks often for other Lakers.

 

Factors that will contribute to a Rockets win.

1. Yao outplayed Shaq and limited his score.
He made it by a 21-7 personal victory.

2. Francis handled the ball well and passed smartly.
He made it by a triple double.

3. JJ hit his shots.
He made it by 7/13 19 points.

Why is it still not a win, however?

We have to check out the reason.

Lakers' 3P% > FG% > 2P%!

 

Man, I've got to go to work tomorrow and take crap from the world's biggest Spurs fan, and a the new guy who just happens to root for the Lakers.

Given this situation, I've looked good and hard at this loss. The truth of the matter is, you've gotta shutdown two of the Lakers top three options to beat them. Saturday we got close because we shut down Kobe and Malone. The Glove really isn't getting enough minutes to be a major factor. Tonight, we shut down Shaq, but Kobe and Malone torched us.

Let's face it, the Lakers role players are gonna score on three's and jumpshots. That's what they're designed to do. Everbody on that team but Shaq and Malone have 3-pt range, and Malone is deadly out to 18 feet. Perimeter defense would have helped, but there's just too many options when three guys on the floor demand double teams.

So, we're in a tough spot. If the Lakers play up to there potential, we're really no threat to them. We have to play beyond our talent level, and hope for a little luck too, because the Lakers are as close to a ringer as happens in pro sports. I think the only team out west that can stop them is the Spurs, assuming the Lakers continue to play well.

On the bright side, this team has a serious future. I've decided after two games that Stevie is a keeper. He plays his heart out. We need a real power forward and a better option at the 2 than Cuttino. Cuttino would be a great Ginobli-type player, but we need a better spot shooter starting in his spot. I'd also be partial to moving JJ to the 2, but how many Peja-type players are out there to take the 3 spot? Boki ain't even close to being there yet.

 

I wouldn't blame the 2nd half letdown on Steve at all. He seems like the only one on the team that actually wants to win.

It was good to see Yao come out and be aggressive early, it really opened everything up for us. But JVG is the one that went away with it, not Steve. JVG took Yao out of the post when the Lakers switched Shaq to Malone. I don't understand it, Phil puts a smaller defender on Yao so Shaq won't pick up anymore fouls, and all JVG can do is take Yao out of the post?

I do agree with the lack of basketball IQ, I think it goes all the way from the starting PG to the head coach to the owner.

 

Because if you double Kobe or Shaq, someone has to be left open. Laker scrubs have hit countless key playoff shots like that since 2000.