ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 11/16/2007

Yeah, and Chuck Hays was the only one of the Rockets that got four fouls. The Spurs had 18 total fouls, the Rockets only 15. The only reason the Spurs shot more free throws was because it was in the act of shooting, whereas the Rockets were getting on the floor fouls like charges, not in the act of shooting. How many flops did they call in our favor. Don't stinking say the refs were terrible when all you really want is prefrence for Yao, point being there were no-calls on both sides especially when Yao was guarding Duncan which was usually called in seasons past.

 

My take on the game: Interesting indeed!

Rafer: I actually thought that Rafer played pretty good. I liked seeing him attack the basket inside, drawing the contact and scoring. If anything, the Rockets need more of this from him and Mike James. He ran the offense well and looked like he was playing with much more control and purpose in this game.

Yao: The Spurs were fronting him viciously in order to take him out of the game and to a large extent it worked. Yao never looked comfortable out there and was visibly upset at his performance. The Spurs were able to do that with Tmac out of the game which is pretty much what we've seen for several years now. This is what I consider to be the core defensive strategy against Yao. Some team like the Spurs are just better able to pull it off because they have the personnel to do so. What was different last night is that they were actually able to get some real production out of the PF position. Think about it: last year you had Howard & Hayes as your PFs and teams like the Spurs, Jazz & Mavs were able to exploit their physical advantage over the Rox at the PF position almost at will. They were also able to play off the PF in order to double TMac & Yao because they knew the Rockets' PFs were no threat to hurt them offensively. Last night for the 1st time in a very long time, I saw a Rockets PF make the opposing team pay for their defense on Yao and I liked what I saw.

Scola: If he's not starting by the end of December, then something will have gone very wrong. Chuck Hayes is a fighter but I don't believe that you can win in the West with a starting PF averaging 1.x points a game. And as last night showed once again, he is simply overmatched against the better PFs in the league. Scola brings more size, scoring and toughness to the position. Hayes will be a good player coming off the bench with his scrappiness. If Scola can continue to score in the double digits then I believe we'll start to see the opposing teams abandon their fronting defense against Yao because they will finally have to account for Rockets' PF.

Mike James: What can I say? He was the Mike James that I've come to expect.

Bonzi: Not exactly my favorite guy on the team. Had what I consider to be a typical BW performance. He's sort of fading right now and I am waiting to see if he starts sulking. After all, he's playing here for basically nothing in the hope that next year somebody will throw the big contract his way.

Luther: Again, what can I say? He did some good things and a few bad things. Playing time looks to be his main problem as I don't think he'll be able to get enough minutes to get into a groove offensively once TMac comes back. For a guy taken in the late 2nd round, he's become a nice rotation player.

Battier: Finally started to show signs of a thaw from his offensive freeze. I happen to think that he defers a bit too much to TMac when he's playing which causes his offense to suffer. Overall, another solid game from Shane.

Why they lost: Unlike some folks here, I just can't blame the Rox players for this loss. The Spurs were the better team last night. The Spurs have returned their entire championship team intact from last season. They are so deep that they basically ditched Scola and Butler to the Rox and haven't missed a beat. I mean jeez, Horry hasn't even played yet and they are still rolling along. They are just so very well coached and seasoned from all of the big games they have played that in order to beat them, you have to relentlessly hit their weak spots as Dallas did earlier this week (and as the Rox did in the first SA game) or to get them into an up and down scoring fest. In a grind-it-out type of game, I just don't see the Rockets winning consistently until they can match the Spurs' tenacity and intensity and this team that was put together in the off season has a long way to go before they can be considered that type of team. It will be interesting to see what happens when McGrady comes back. If he can somehow blend his game into the team effort we saw last night, then the Rockets may have finally found the key to beating San Antonio. But if he dominates the ball as he was doing before his latest injury, then they will continue to look a lot like what they looked like last year and this year with TMac.

 

The Refs were dreadful last night they missed about 50 fouls which were taking place during the wrestling matches with Yao Ming!!
One can't get away from the fact that at times I thought I was watching the
WWF and basketball all at the same time. The new rules were supposed to clean all that stuff up!!

 

seconded

 

i see yao argue with the refs and im like YAY! but then i realize how he probably sounds, like a deaf person yelling with mashed potatoes in their mouth, and i know the refs are like, GTFO my face r****d you are sooo not getting a call from me, and i feel its hopeless unless adleman is really screaming. its tough.

 

the spurs won because Yao got NO free throws in 39min. That was the difference in the game. He was getting hacked all over. Everyone played hard and deserved a win.

 

Actually Hubie Brown acknowledged the physical nature of the game when he pointed out that the refs were letting the big guys make contact and play for a change. You forget that Duncan was also crying about the contact during the the game as well. In hindsight, I kinda enjoyed watching Yao & Duncan going mano-y-mano without the refs blowing a bunch of whistles. That was some good stuff seeing two big men drop their shoulders into each other and have at it - brought back a few memories from back in the day....

 

true, you would figure after a poor performance from our guards that the coach would switch it up...we have options here francis is a proven allstar, he should take heads minutes, what has head done for us....last year his 3 point % was so high because he would take set up 3s...as for rafer i can understand why coach has him in the game,strictly to run the offense but when that ball comes back to him with an open 3 i wouldnt want him to take it, if anything i would rather him drive to the basket break down the D and create a play cause that's what great point guards do.... i want to see what brooks can do it shows that give the rookies some playing time that they will be comfortable in the game, look at scola.....brooks aint no lebron but in shure he would suprise a lot of us he just needs more experience on the court, like sam cassell did back in the clutch city days

 

well.. I could have lived with 7 free throws.

 

i agree but the one thing i did not like about yao is that one time when he was attacking duncan,and duncan just stood there and take the hit but yao was still able to make the basket ,then on the spurs possession after that,duncan was doing the same thing to yao and yao just flopped.even if it is one of the rockets i hate them to do that if the guy just took your hit at the other end and did not flop

 

Absolutely correct. Though it's disappointing to lose a game when were so tantalizingly close to pulling off the upset, we have to remember that it would have been considered just that: an upset. Nobody thought we could win that game without T-Mac, yet we came pretty damn close to doing it.

Consider this: The Spurs coaching staff and their core players have been together for years now and know each other's tendencies, quirks and strong points. This Rockets team is only a mere 20 or so games into a new coaching staff and a completely new system, with two major new pieces in James and Scola. And yet we scrapped and fought and almost took down the defending champs on their home court! Far from a bad game, this will likely be considered a major milestone in this season -- a game we look back on and comment about how this particular Rox team grew up a little that night.

The two brightest points:

Scola -- When he hit his first shot, I sensed that something had changed in his psyche. Luis stepped up big time, and I have no doubt it's because T-Mac was out. Luis is a bonafide championship-caliber player who has the warrior's mentality this team has long lacked. I can imagine him thinking, "Okay, I no longer have the luxury of making gradual progress. My team needs me and they need me NOW." Luis manned up last night and gave this team a shot in the arm. After he hit 2-3 shots, the entire squad started playing a bit meaner of a game and not taking **** from the Spurs. I was always happy with Morey pulling off this steal (especially since it involved the Spurs), but now I'm ecstatic about it because last night I got a glimpse of the future. He may not ever be much more than a career 15/8 guy, average-wise, but by the end of this year, Scola is going to be a true badass who will make everyone around him work harder and who plays his best in the most important situations. It can't be emphasized enough that this is exactly the kind of guy the Rockets needed most.

Rafer -- Scola's gamer mentality seemed to rub off on Rafer a bit last night, especially in the second half. Sure, he still missed some easy shots and made a couple of questionable decisions, but he wouldn't be Rafer Madness if he hadn't. But for the first time all season, Rafer was the floor leader every moment he was on the court, because there was no T-Mac to handle the point duties half the time. Rafer played a solid, aggressive game and I'd be thrilled if he could find a way to do this consistently.

 

this game can possibly catapult our season => we found our 3rd scorer and a guy who can make teams pay for d-ing yao up like that => LUIS SCOLA.

now u add in a more consistent bonzi/james/battier => OH MY GOD

 

Why doesn't Yao get any respect in this league? The refs don't respect him. The other teams just hack him without fear. Let's start the the Donaghy chant in the Toyota Center.

 

Hard fought winnable game, you have to give the Rockets credit. Finally, Scola makes an appearance, this could be big. Yao gets beat up, no calls. Shooting is coming around, BUT proved the difference in the closing minutes. Contending teams have clutch shooting to close out games: the Rockets, besides Yao, do not. And until they do, advancing in the playoffs will be difficult. Rafer did O.K. but still plays too many minutes. If I were the coach, Rafer would be nowhere near the floor in crunch time. With clutch shooting last night, the Rockets would have won.

 

I don't know if Scola can be a 3rd scorer YET. He's developing, so let's not just to conclusions too quickly. He will become a consistent scorer with time. Maybe even the 3rd option, I hope. But right now, let's take small little steps before we make the big leap. He's progressing well. Maybe Tmac injury is a blessing in disguise for this team. It allows for the development of other players.

 

My theory is this. Scola has been the "man" for so long on both the Argentine National Team as captain and the MVP of Euroleague, for him to make the quick adjustment he needs to have the ball in his hands and have plays made through him. I know it's difficult for a team with so many established stars to suddenly make plays for a "rookie". But it's the only way to get him warmed up. He's not the kind of guy who runs up and down the court, setting up picks and suddenly everything will come to him.

He's a got the skills, the experience, and maturity. Doing "intangibles" only hinders his NBA development. That's why the Spurs game was crucial for him. 1). It gave him confidence back in his game 2). He was offensively active again 3). With TMAC out, he's not afraid to take the shot.

These 3 points are keys to Scola's development in this league. Let's see how he plays ONCE Tmac recovers. If he can keep this up, then he's legit and can give us immediate help. If goes back to his passive ways, then we need to wait a little longer and see if Adelman is willing to draw up plays to get Scola more involved on the offense.

But I think one of the biggest keys to Scola's progression has to do with Mike James. It's no secret Mike is Tmac's boy. Mike either passes to Tmac or he passes to nobody. Scola will share a bulk of his time on the court with James (the 2nd unit) and it's crucial that James gives the ball to Scola at the right time when he gets open. Dribbling the ball too long and unable to pass out of double teams is what's killing our scoring opportunities when James is out there.

 

Will you please shut the hell up about steve.damn,get over man ****.he must be ur ****in boyfriend or something.

 

I totally agree with u.

 

Exactly. With 20/20, I just cannot see why Luther head has any value on the court.

 

James doesn't execute for the TEAM in crunch time, he looks for things by HIMSELF and Tracy needs to get scola involved more,try to make him a better player. The TEAM doesn't trust one another right now and you see this with poor execution down the stretch.



James-has tunnell vison he doesn't move the ball or make the extra pass
Head-lacks execution and basketball instincts in the clutch