Yes, Mike James! Seriously, MJ is the ONLY other player on the Rockets who can create his own shot besides T-Mac, THAT is why it should be standard procedure for JVG to put MJ in at the end of the game. He is also a bit of a clutch shooter, how many times has he made shots that were at the buzzer/out of nowhere and you went, "whoa, that was big!" I honestly think that in close games towards the end, JVG MUST put MJ in, he has a pretty good handle and can drive inside with his quickness OR make a big shot over someone with that high-arching shot of his. IMHO...
The key to our defense tonight was a large amount of switching on the perimeter. Every single Sun can beat our guys off the dribble, especially with a pick. So we switched alot in order to cut down on open shots. The spurs have also been successful with this strategy. I've seen them switch parker onto amare and duncan onto nash on the pick and roll, and it worked pretty well. It forced Nash to shoot a fadeaway jumper against Duncan in a crucial situation.
Yeah it was good to see Yao come out and double team Nash..and then other guys rotate on Amare. Mike James and Jon Barry can create. Wesley..shooter. Sura sometimes..but definitely can't rely on it. Padgett shooter. Bowen spot up shooter. We need to run through Yao and Tmac. It's a must!! And James should be allowed to do STeve Nash impersonation once in a while..
You mean after he made like 3 straight shots in a row to bring the Suns back into the game? I don't think they were tired. And EVEN if they were, they were not nearly as fatigued/injured as the Rockets were. Let's stop finding excuses for the Suns, because we beat them fair and square. Consider this: Sura doesn't choke at the FT line, Refs don't make the crappy calls they made, it wouldn't be a 1 point game. We DID give the Suns more chances to come back than we should have, but despite all these chances we gave them, they still couldn't win the game. Simply put, the refs gave them EVERY single chance they needed to win the game (try to view that last position where Hunter missed the offensive goaltending dunk, which the refs weren't going to call if he made it). In that last position, there were CLEAR offensive fouls committed by Suns players, but the refs let it go, again. So despite ALL that, we still won. It was a heck of a win, an unexpected one, and I am delighted that we won this game, and we DESERVED to win it. We played with more guts/heart and pure toughness out there. THAT is what wins you games. Just because it was a close game doesn't mean it wasn't a hard-earned win, which makes me only enjoy it that much more. The Suns are a darn good team, so it is a bit ignorant to think that the highest scoring team (by faaaaaaar) can't come back on an old, tired, injured team like the Rockets, let alone a healthy team. The Suns are VERY good, so enjoy this HUGE win.
Doesn't matter if it was back to back for the Suns, wouldn't it be fair to say that the Rockets flat out beat them 2night with awesome defense and great offense?
amare is moving quickly to replace pau gasol as my least favorite player in the league. does he ever STFU and stop b****ing? not one play does he think he doesnt get fouled.
^ That's probably why the refs ejected his sorry ass. He got away with some questionable calls, but he felt he was entitled to them....
I really enjoyed watching this great win over the suns at the bar. I only catch the 4th quarter though. What happened to Yao? did ref screwed him again tonight? I was so mad when Sura missed these freethrows, clearly Suns are a better team most of the time we played them. Tmac was absolutely great. I don't have a good feeling when I saw Yao sitting on the bench because Yao's presence is too great to be missed, Hunter would not have that chance to dunk it in if Yao was there to contest it. Deke was great but just doesn't have the presence Yao has. It seems the suns are willing to drive inside and at least take a chance to challenge Mutumbo, with Yao inside, most suns would just shoot outside except the stubborn Amare.
Yao's foul trouble...how much is REALLY ref's problem and how much is his problem? What's really disgusting is how he pick up two fouls in less than a minute...
All the fouls on Yao were legitimate. He just gets in precarious positions sometimes. So were Stoudemire's. The only difference is he keeps b****ing like Francis does.
I am glad someone brought this up. The onus was on Sura on those missed FTs, no quesiton. But to just throw it all on Sura for those 2 24-second shot clock violations when he got the ball so late, isnt right. Tmac has got to take the shot. But the problem was Tmac was gassed. He played the entire 2nd half. You could see this on a few plays earlier when Mike James made that shot behind the Yao screen. Tmac was bent over and winded watching the play. The problem was that they did the Yao/Tmac high PNR but the Suns doubled Tmac everytime (smart) and the Rockets didnt have a 2nd option. So Tmac just threw it to Sura with the clock going down. Personally I think you have to lay the blame with JVG for not providing a better 2nd option. Sura didnt really have a bad game. He hit some nice timely outside shots. But I think "as a team" they all got winded by the end and are just lucky they were able to hold onto the game.
What a great way to clinch a playoff birth.....T Mac really needs some rest..those knees are killing him....Jon B and Bobbie S are just like two dynamos that refuse to quit..Dk is acting out..I think he should get a hot red convertable corvette sting ray and cruise up and down main street waving at the chicks, he's such a stud....yao is yao, what yao see is what yao get....JVG is a crazy little knucklehead of a coach..imagine him yelling at you all night long..greez...you'd do what he asks just to shut him up....i luv em.... btw...just where is that jerk who kept saying.." lets go Mets?......lol...what a jerk....hey there go yer mets..right down the toilet !!!!! IT"S THE CURSE OF THE BELTRONO !! thats what you get for worshipping money buddie..... go rockets.....
