ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 11/13/2003

At least 4.

 

I don't know about that. Teams have been trying to stop Shaq for years to no avail. Even in this zone era, Shaq daddy gets his because the Lakers know how to feed the post. Its about ball movement and angles. Our guards simply don't have a feel for post passing. They hesistate when the most obvious pass is covered and in the process miss the window of opportunity to get Yao the ball.

 

All great things take time... Just give the rockets some time

 

I also remember Hakeem needing his own oxygen tank everytime we played in Denver.

I don't understand why they don't let Yao face the basket. He has an excellent outside touch. If he can shoot the medium range jumpshot, teams would be less inclined to gear up for his back to the basket game.

He doesn't have the quickness to drive by people but if he nailed a few from 10 feet away opposing players will have to come out and respect that shot. Once they do that, Yao would have an easier time getting position deep in the paint.

 

Oops, too bad my televion is not 16:9 wide screen and my wife had me wash dishes tonight....

Concentration, that's concentration, man. If you can't let your fans focus their eyeballs on their televion, how can you let your players focus on defense?

 

Denver is/was unique. This is the same guy that played day games during Ramadan without drinking ANY water before or during the game and not again until after sunset.

If you remember, they never just gave the ball to Hakeem out on the wing like a guard and let him face up. He got it coming out of the post and then TURNED to face up. I'm not sure Yao is ready for that yet. He isn't quick enough for that yet.

His footwork will improve, but he's going to need time for that.

 

Yes, Yao is not athletic as those GREAT guys. But why not take advantage of Yao's strength and slow down the offence? We can't compete Mavs with the shooting. This only exposes Yao's weakness. Plain and simple.

 

4 fast break? Does that mean we should score at least 8 points more? so an 11 point loss could mean a 3 point loss?

 

Several times I saw the guards were jacking up the shots and missed when Yao just passed the middle of the court. Just give Yao a chance to get the offensive boards.

 

I agree that we should slow it down and set the tone offensively. HOWEVER, if the argument is that we HAVE to slow it down to make up for Yao's lack of speed and athleticism than it isn't the team that is at fault, it's Yao.

Playing to a strength is absolutely essential for the Rockets. Using Yao's lack of stamina as a reason to BLAME the guards for the loss because the teampo was too quick for Yao is just fishing for a reason to blame the guards and avoid the argument that Yao needs to get stronger.

 

Agreed! There is no way a shot blocker can avoid foul trouble if constantly be challenged by the small guys. You have to knock the guys out a couple of times to send a message. Shaq is the most atheletic 7ft in NBA, but he rarely led the league in blockers, the reason, whoever wants to challenge him has to buy life insurance before the game.

Another problem is the impression with the refs. The refs always make their calls based on the players, you have to establish your style to set those parameters for them.


--daoshi

 

i sure in the hell do.

though better yet...

... when hakeem chased down a strickland fast break dunk during a crucial period in the game in the playoff series against the blazers (93-94 i think... not sure). i remember someone describing hakeem as a gazelle. one of the most amazing things i ever saw. rick adleman was like "wtf?" lol!!!

 

Bah. That game was definitely winnable. We kept our turnovers down and we had pretty decent assist numbers. I think if we had kept our composure after the Mavs started getting all those calls, a few more shots would have fallen. This team needs some work on mental toughness.

 

Yao need to take 4 or 5 seconds to get back. So we still have 19 or 20 seconds to work. I think Duncan is also slow but spurs' guards will wait for him to come back.

 

The bottom line is the guards are used to playing this herky jerky, one on one, beat the man off the dribble type game.

That's fine if they can incorporate some easy transition baskets but they can't.

You cant have 2 shooting guards popping 15 foot jump shots all the time and expect to beat the really good teams. They'll be hot 1, maybe 2 games in a 7 game series. The rest we'll lose.

 

No way. Duncan is one of the best big men trailers in the league.

 

Yao is not a born sportsman. He is very smart though. His atheletic ability is about D or below in an A to F system.

People always argue Magic couldn't jump, Bird couldn't jump. But at least their athelesism is about average and Yao's is well below average in this league.

I have never seen a dominating center without outstanding atheletic abilities. If Yao becomes dominant, then he changes the game of basketball. But I doubt at this point.

 

I may be alone but I consider this outing a success. We did not win, but you can't say we were blown out. Considering the fact that we are missing four rotation players. FOUR (maybe three if A. Griffin doesn't make the rotation) key contributors, they played a hard fought game. You don't play with the big boys expecting to win a gun fight if your weapon is a sling shot.

Game 2: Phoenix is the one to watch and is a better test of our progress. We match up better with Phoenix and have a very comparable talent base.

Just think, this would have been short lived hype anyway (had we beaten Dallas tonight). We are not THE best team in the West, solid and perhaps a good bet to finish 6, outside shot at 5, but just the same to finish 7 or 8. Had we won, people (us) would consider the Rockets a top 3 in the West which which is really truly a stretch. It would have set us up for a bigger let down had we won tonight and lost tomorrow.

I'm proud of our Rockets for making the game respectable given our lack of playing at full strength.

 

I think everybody, except for JJ, did something to contribute to the loss.

But I would like to point out Yao's hesitancy.

A couple times, when he did get good position, and had ball in hand, he bent over and waited. And waited. Then he made his move only to get the ball stripped away.

Yao needs to be quicker. He needs to decide what he's going to do with the ball as the pass is coming. By waiting there, you're pretty much signalling that you're going to try to score, or inviting another player to come down and double-team.

I'm not too upset about the loss though. They still made some pretty typical mistakes, but these mistakes are also capable of being fixed. The better team simply won today. And the Mavericks are a better team, not so much because of their offensive fire power, but because they're a bit more mature. They have that big-brother edge over the Rockets as well.

 

well put, tannersearle78
compared to the 2 previous games, jj did an excellent job tonight.