And rim. And shooting. Ad nauseum. Gene Peterson, bless his heart, doesn't skip a beat, even when saying "Head from Langford". He's a real pro.
What a great start. Everyone looked great and a lot of suprises including Head and Baxter. The only downside was David Wesley. It looked like he just woke up from the 40 point doosy to the mavs. Hopefully he can get back into form.
Luther's agent should call CD tomorrow and ask for a 7 year, $42 million extension based upon his one good preseason game. It worked for Cato.
JH did have a solid game at both ends and Baxter looks like a solid addition as well. It won't be easy for SS to take the starters job if Juwan keeps playing like this, I think JVG is going to have a pleasant dilemma at the PF position this year.
Can't wait. I wish the Astros game was during the day so I could go to the Rox game, but good ol DVR will have to do
It seemed to me the second unit/deep bench players actually played more like a team than the starters. That could be at least partly because Luther and Baxter were both on the Minnesota Summer League Team that went 5-0. Of course, it's the preseason, so I suppose it's to be expected that the first tier players won't take it all that seriously. Even playing sloppily, Yao still makes 19 pts and T-Mac still makes 15. <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/photo?slug=pxc10510120120.rockets_76ers_pxc105&prov=ap"><img src="http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20051012/capt.pxc10510120120.rockets_76ers_pxc105.jpg"></a> "Eek, a mouse!" <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/photo?slug=pxc10410120024.rockets_76ers_pxc104&prov=ap"><img src="http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20051012/capt.pxc10410120024.rockets_76ers_pxc104.jpg"></a> "Whyyyyy-Em-See-Ayyy..."
any word on a torrent of the game or anything? good game though...I was really impressed with skip and head. Id like to see Head get some minutes against some of the Magic better players tomorrow night...see how he does. Everyone impressed me but the only down fall I can think of is late in the 2nd we turned the ball over little too much out there with Mooch at the helm.
Good game..I was impressed with the ball movement on offense and how Rafer ignited fast break opportunities with outlets...I like how Yao is starting to draw contact opposed to fading away all the time, and I loved the energy of the bench, particularly players such as Luther, Lonny, and Moochie...Moochie played under control and did a nice job running the offense...his shot looks a lot more fluid...they did have 20 TOs, but that will lessen with more experience...good game overall...I loved the effort... Cant wait to see Stro tomorrow!
[AP/CHRON] Rockets win preseason opener Rockets win preseason opener Associated Press http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/rssstory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3392417 PHILADELPHIA — Yao Ming scored 19 points and Tracy McGrady added 15 to lead the Houston Rockets to a 105-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night in the preseason opener for both teams. ADVERTISEMENT Derek Anderson scored 13 points and Juwan Howard had 10 for the Rockets. Allen Iverson led the Sixers with 23 points and Andre Iguodala scored 16. Kyle Korver had 10 points, six assists and six rebounds. The Sixers played without starters Chris Webber, who sat out as a precaution after he was kneed in the thigh during Monday's practice, and Samuel Dalembert, who was bothered by a strained quad that kept him out of nearly all of training camp. Steven Hunter started at center and Michael Bradley was at power forward for the Sixers. Houston pulled away midway through the fourth quarter, with Luther Head's 3-pointer capping an 18-8 run. Head later added a short jumper for a 99-89 lead and the rookie from Illinois finished with 13 points in his debut. Head was one of the many reserves who played almost the entire fourth quarter after the starters for both teams played the bulk of the third. Without their usual frontcourt presence, the Sixers were outrebounded 39-33 and grabbed only four offensive boards. The loss spoiled Maurice Cheeks' coaching debut, who returned to the organization where he was an All-Star point guard and his retired No. 10 jersey hangs from the rafters. Cheeks, who led Philadelphia to its last championship in 1983, was greeted warmly by the sparse crowd during pregame introductions. Cheeks was a popular choice to replace Jim O'Brien, who was fired after only one season. "It's been a long time coming, from back in March to now," Cheeks said. "I'm glad it's here. It feels familiar." That wasn't the only familiar part. Iguodala certainly picked up with his spectacular dunks where he left off last season. There was little need to pay attention to the highlight reel of last year's dunks, complete with Onyk's "Slam!" as the musical accompaniment, when Iguodala was wowing the crowd in person. There was a reverse alley-oop off a pass from Korver and another high-flying, out-of-nowhere slam near the end of the second quarter. On the next possession, he ended the half with — what's this? — a rare jumper at the buzzer for a 56-54 lead. Sixers rookie forward Shavlik Randolph will miss another two to four weeks with a stress fracture in his left foot. Randolph was hurt in the first practice on the first day of camp and was originally listed with a sprained left foot, including on Tuesday's injury report. Cheeks said before the game the injury was much more serious.
Before folks go dogging Moochie too much for turnovers -- or anything else, for that matter -- they might want to check <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2005101120">the box score</a>. Moochie turned it over twice. Derek Anderson and Lonny Baxter turned it over five times apiece.
Question: If a guy makes a pass and it hits off a players hand for a turnover, who gets the TO? While Mooch seems like he is in better shape and is playing with more confidence, the offense still stalls a little with him at PG. Alston gets the offense started much faster and guys seem like they know what they're doing, Mooch still dribbles a lot and guys don't seem to know where they're suppose to go. Solid game by Mooch, I actually think we might see more of Luther than we thought we would this season.
Something I was VERY disappointed in... At the beginning of the game, I turned down the volume and tuned the radio to Gene Peterson (the best game announcer of all time).. But I was surprised to discover a delay between the audio and the video... ... and I don't mean a "fraction-of-a-second" delay. I mean it was about two seconds. Unwatchable. I had to turn the radio off. I certainly hope that this was a technical glitch for tonight's game, wasn't intentional, and won't be occurring throughout the season. Chance?
I should have put it in the game thread... bah.. i tried to delete this but there's no option.. delete if needed mods....
Remember three things: 1. It was an AP article 2. It's preseason 3. Who cares? Now, if the Chronicle skimps on their Rockets season preview special section in a couple of weeks, that's worth complaining about. With the Texans in the sinkhole, they will have no excuse and should spare no resources.
