ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 5/7/2005 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 7)

You're picking this game to make this point?

It's pretty obvious that not a single one of our role players would start for anybody other than the Rockets.

Bob Sura is a career bench player.

Mike James is a nice 6th man off the bench.

Padgett, Bowen might not even play at all for most teams.

David Wesley is a mediocre streaky player whose defensive prowess is way overrated.

Barry is a nice guy off the bench for 10-12 minutes.

None of our guards are adept at passing the ball inside other than TMac.

You can say he should be an anchor but the player is shooting 70% from the field.

The key mistake of this series is not going inside every possession when Dirk was covering him. If we wouldve done a little more of that other than just tonight, perhaps it wouldve been over..

 

I love how YAO is gunning right now.....don't pass the ball

 

We are just out-quicked by Dallas. Imagine how we would lose to the Suns. We are just not ready this year. JVG's signing of Ward is questionable.

 

Well I avoid TV and Radio for a week or so after the Rox are done .. I'm done with the NBA playoffs for a while ... Who knows if I'll even give a crap about watching the finals ... Hurts too much to be watching

 

Yao has still alot to learn in order to get better. He is frustrating to watch at times BUT he is the least of our problems. His strengths far outweigh his weaknesses (which are correctable).

This is a no duh...but we need to get younger and more athletic. The top 8 teams in the West are built that way and we must match that in order to keep up with the Joneses.

 

Mr Will.
Yes, Tmac is our leader but how you can blame yao in this game, the really bad performance he had was in game six which we won. they front yao in todays game but they still could pass him the ball if they really tried. If you really think yao is less important than a role player, the team is nothing but a maigic team with a soild defence coach.. remember who took over the games after all star game last season. Do you remeber who the first center kept attacking Shaq and score on the him 33 pts and 29 pts and foule him out, after Dream age. Its Yao. I know Yao has a lot weakness but the word you used on yao is just unaccepetable.

 

I want kidd in the team. (he is a real pg)

 

31 point deficit. What a joke. This is ugly.

 

I'm going to be pissed if the Mavs lay down and die and get demolished by the Suns after playing so well against us. I'm hoping the Mavs beat the Suns, because it'll make it a little easier to swallow the loss.

 

Well, with the way the Rockets are ending this game, it's like their disrespecting Houston. They really want to get blown out of the AAC.

 

I think some people need to accept the reality that this team was built ON THE FLY, and that this is by NO MEANS the team meant to be built to win it all.

Yao an McGrady are great combo, the best in the playoffs in fact (yes, better than Shaq/Wade).

We have the foundation, but we have NONE solid positions for the future besides those two. Even if we sign Deke or Barry, they are old dogs who are not going to be around likely following the next season or two.

So to reiterate, we have NONE of the positions beyond Yao and McGrady set for the future.

THAT should tell you how much work in the next couple of seasons CD and Les will have on their hands. It ALL comes down to our management to make this team a real contender.

Man, has the western Conf EVER been this difficult in recent memory? I am telling you, Dallas plays anywhere near this good in the against the Spurs in the WCFinals (Yes, Dallas will easily beat the Suns), they will beat the Spurs as well. They are a scary team offensively, and are decent enough defensively to beat the Suns, although the Spurs series will be a VERY, VERY difficult one.

 

I'm really proud of this years Rockets team. We started with a whole new team then traded for players the first half of the season, lost our starting PF, and played great down the stretch, all while learning a tough new defensive philosophy. Our franchise players are young and playing team ball without a whole helluva lot of time to gel. I think the next couple of years are gonna be fun, especially when Yao overcomes some problems with his mental toughness and dominates the best center in the West (Amare Stoudamire). Remember, it takes time for big men to grow and Yao will grow into a force that will help this team win a championship. We get a little youth, an O.T. like presence on the boards, and a summer to get everyone on the same page and we will be fine.

Great year Rocks!!

 

Oh yes. Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are very pleased. But this is just the opening act. Tracy McGrady is 27 years old. Yao Ming is 25. The future is very, very bright.

I just hope we get to keep our coach. Will Les Alexander refuse to fire JVG? I bet Stern is bluffing.

 

To all the bandwagoners: screw you.

I am proud to be a fan of a team that had heart all season, had heart in this series, but that unfortunately ran up against a team that is just better top to bottom. The fact that this team had the balls to not go for a lower ranking to play a weaker opponent in Seattle is enough to make me proud. But like Barkley once said, in a 7-game series the better team will win.

I haven't been this proud of a Rocket team since 1997.

Also, I have a hunch the Mavs are going to be the next Trailblazers. They might have better players, but they don't have the right ones. A team like San Antonio, Detroit, or Miami should be able to steamroll them.

 

A PG would not even have helped us win tonight ... They way they rebounded and played D on the inside, we would have had no chance. Priority #1 is getting a PF that can help Yao out on the inside.

 

We don't give the ball to Yao unless we are down 15. It's been the same pattern all season.

 

At least everyone can start their off season rest and surgery to get ready for next year.. and start looking for some young players to draft and sign in the off season

 

Now im going to say: Go Phoenix, beat the Mavs!,

Good series: Nash vs his old team

 

I believe you got it backwards. Yao has his good games only when other Rockets couldn't make their shots, so they started pounding inside. Rockets offense don't go through Yao often when other players are making their shots, especially when Tmac is hot.

 

Yao can't carry the team without the ball.

This game is a classic instance that Yao isn't involved enough.

1. They only started going to Yao when they were down 10+ points.

2. They can make that lob pass to Yao the whole season, it's the only way to beat fronting. but they chose to do so only when their season is on the line in this game. The rest of time they pass the ball around so they can run their guards play.

3. They can work that pick and roll with Yao and T-Mac in the regular season, but they chose to do it in the later round of the playoffs, when the Rockets were down to the Mavs.

4. They have ignored an open Yao in the post numerous times this season.

5. They ignore Yao's shooting and passing on non post up possessions like he's Deke or Ryan Bowen.

6. On defense they work Yao like a slave. Making him run around the court, guarding smaller players, and let their man blow right past him numerous times.

JVG and the guards don't deserve Yao, and some fans too.