ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 5/2/2005 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 5)

i am left to wonder one thing, what would shaquille o'neal think of this whole debacle that has unfolded? he has been the center of some arguments in the past, but certainly none this big. he also has a strong word, so him commenting on this might have some positive connotations for the rockets.

 

i have to add this to my post: i understand that this would have no impact on the results on the previous games, it was purely speculative

 

I know one thing:

He'd love to see Yao in the Finals. For him it'd be a chance to prove just how much better he is than the second best player at his position. Hopefully it wouldn't turn out that way, but that's how he would see it.

 

Kills me to see us lose the last 3 games, but I am heartened by Yao's comments after the game:

It's time for this team to make magic. Believe it again!

 

It's been a heck of series thus far! Tracy, Yao, and Dirk are starring. Who guards Yao? Can Yao stay on the floor? Avery, a rookie coach, in over his head? Cuban working the refs. $100,000 fine. Van Gundy facing a lifetime ban. Stern making an appearance. The subplots, the matchup problems, small ball, blown calls. What a movie!

 

Dirk is not starring for anyone. He has been exposed and has been terrible this series. If anyone, its the refs that have been starring for the Mavs.

 

i think he is pretty confident in how much better he is than yao. he would like to face the rockets because of the matchups and marketing, shaq loves to be in the center of big things. a rockets heat finals in whatever 3-4 good years shaq has left would be a marketing gold mine (provided that jvg doesnt get banned from the nba)

 

You know after game 2 I had a bad feeling about this series. Honestly, we really should of lost game 2 with the way we played. We beat them b/c we suprised them. The last play Dallas was not ready for. There are two points I wish to make concerning these comments.

1.) Houston should of won tonights game... They were cheated by poor officiating and bad free throw shooting.

2.) Houston must do something at some point in the next game (hopefully two) that shocks Dallas. We need to see Houston stun Dallas with some sort of play Dallas is not prepared to handle. Personally I think the Rockets needs to exploit Dirk defensively. When Dirk is guarding a guard let the guard penetrate on him, and when he is guarding Yao let Yao posterize him. By doing so, Dirk gets in foul trouble and tires down quickly.

It is very difficult to sweep any good team and the Rockets are a very good good team, so houston has a good chance at winning game six, but what occurs in game six will show whether Houston wins this series. If they dominate game six they have a very good shot at winning this series, but if they barely win the advantage is to Dallas.

YAO AND T MAC MUST BOTH DOMINATE THURSDAY!

GO ROCKETS

 

yao angry.
dal fans laugh

tmac's hand```

 

This says it best:

Game 6 in Clutch City. Bring it on!

 

Just got back from the game! This game was fiercely contested by both teams - just a super effort by both teams. This was NBA playoff basketball in living color! I realize that the tone on this board is going to be to scream about the officiating and there is no doubt about it: the officiating was absolutely abysmal for both sides. I don't know if this shows up on TV but a lot of the calls were anticipatory calls by the refs. Or they were calls simply made in haste because the game is simply too fast for these guys to officiate properly. Things got so bad, Mavericks fans were even screaming at the bad calls on the Rockets!

That said, this was a game that the Rockets could have and should have won. They didn't because of 3 reasons:

1) They continued to make unforced ball handling errors. I counted 6 in the game that ended up as 12 points for Dallas. The Mavs bench has simply outclassed their Rockets counterparts. Tonite for example, it was the Mavericks bench players hitting the 3 point shots. It was the Mav guards penetrating, getting open shots and hitting them. On the other side, it was the Rockets guards who once again disappeared at key points in the game.

2) The Mavericks are simply too fast for the Rockets. The Rockets have no answer for this and it shows especially when the Mavs go to their small lineup. Dallas gets back into defense so quickly, they are able to carry out their strategy of forcing Tmac to work hard and expend energy. It has worked the past 2 games in Houston and it worked again tonight. Putting McGrady on Dirk for 3 quarters of the game has backfired on JVG because he has no legs at the end of the game for offense. TMac was completely gassed at the end of the game yet there he was bringing the ball up court and having to create a shot with guys coming at him from all angles. He's being asked to do it all and tonite he disappeared in the 4th period again. In 3 games now, JVG has not been able to negate the small ball of Dallas because his roster is stocked with older slower players. Tonight it was the so-called veteran Rockets who cracked under the pressure. The Mavs hit their big shots, the Rockets didn't.

3) In spite of all their mistakes, the Rockets still had a legitimate shot at winning but could not hit their FTs in the 4th period. Both Yao & TMac missed crucial FTs down the stretch that would have tied the game and put the pressure back on Dallas. Instead, the team missed its clutch shots AND its FTs and winds up losing by 3. The bottom line is this: to win, you must find a way to execute offensively down the stretch. The Mavericks have shown that they can while the Rockets haven't. This loss was the proverbial stake through the heart kind of loss and I don't anticipate the Rockets coming back from a loss such as this one.

I truly felt bad for both Yao and TMac tonight but perhaps they both will come out of this series with a MUCH better understanding of just what it takes to excel and to be a contender in this league. I also hope the lessons of this playoff series registers with the Rockets organization when they set out to retool the roster in the (soon to come) off season. Finally, I hope this lays to rest once and for all, the carping about JVG. The guy is a phenominal coach who has done an outstanding job given the players he's been dealt. With him calling the shots, the Rockets are one good point guard and power forward away from being serious contenders.

 

Anyone watch the Postgame coverage? Any interesting comments by JVG or any of the Rocket players?

 

Off-season soon to come?

I hope that by that you mean mid June.

 

Sura falls in a faint.

 

CD made one trade too much during the season. MoT for Moochie and Baker. MoT would help a lot offensively. But the move is understandably because Rox never believed that this would be the year for Rox.

 

Carroll Dawson didn't make any mistakes this season.

Juwan Howard got hurt and that is all.

 

I really thought we had a shot to tie up the game with the last few seconds left. We were catching up and you can see the pressure that was put on the Mavericks. Bummer ! Poor FT cost us dearly.

And the bad officiating. Too bad the game had to be decided by a bad call.

We've won close game and lost close game in this series. Next time we will come out the winner.

Go Rockets !

 

The Rockets have only one option and I think they will go down with guns blazing. I think they respond better to being underdogs. We shall see...

I'll say this, though: there is no team I want to beat more than the p***y assed Mavericks. I hate their flopping, headband wearing players, snobby fans and rogaine and attention-starved owner. Screw them.

 

ah, a post 3 years in the making.