ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Timberwolves 12/6/2006

Guys, take it easy.
First of all, we all know Rox is NOT the best team in the West. Rox is a contender, but not exactly the best. For their record to be as good as it is right now is a bit of a surprise. So what if they have a letdown game? So, relax, it will get better. It is the journey that's fun!

 

1. I think Howard over Hayes was a MAJOR mistake, too. With Howard having neither a good shooting night nor a good shooting season, I really don't see what he brings that Hayes does not.

I'd like to take a look at the game flow of this game and see which lineups are doing the most damage to the Rockets.

2. Interesting observation about TOs. BTW, was the ranking for TO per 100 possession or total TO. Given the relative fewer possession Van Gundy's teams have, the TO ranking may actually look worse if it's just raw number of TOs.

One thing I might want to look at is the personnell with each roster... Both Knicks and Rockets had a fair amount of roster turnover during these years. I wonder if the poor TO ranking have to do with having players who are TO prone with any coach and/or having a bunch of guys who haven't played with each other much.

I hope the problem gets addressed... these TOs not only kill your own offensive flow, they also tend to give easy opportunities to the opposition.

 

I understand, but come on DaDa, look at our bench...you're not going to win many games playing these guys. Now if you had Wells and Snyder coming off the bench, then that's different. But V-Span, Padgett, Novak, and Howard aren't exactly what I call 'quality' depth.

We're thin -- an understatement, I know -- at the PG position and we're down right deficient at the PF position (Hayes if a decent backup at best, but he's too short to guard most PFs in the West AND can't make a shot to save his life).

So as I said, while we have added some depth this year, without Bonzi playing we lack any quality depth to speak of, which would help pace us through the regular season, and that puts us at a distinct disadvantage.

 

Yes. Rockets scored fewest points in the paint among all NBA teams despite Yao is dominating.

 

It's based on turnovers per possession.

 

actually, in hindsight, Battier should have started at PF and T-Mac at SF. start Head at SG and have him guard Hassell. Battier wouldn't do that much worse than Hayes or Juwan in guarding KG, but would have help free up Yao. if Gundy thought Hayes underachieved against the Warriors, he must have played like whale dung against the Pups.

 

Weird loss. I saw the rockets missed at least a dozen layups and tipins which they ususally made. Even they made half of them, it would be a win. Anyway, I am a little frustrated with Tmac's performance. He still has no will to drive to the basket. Taking 20 jumps when he is apparent off = A Lost. Pretty sure Yao will make those layups, turnaround js or hook shoots next game. But for Tmac, this could be a much bigger problem haunting him night in and night out.

 

I won't argue that our bench is thin, but they are capable of playing at least SOME minutes to rest our starters.

None of the starters should be playing more than 38 minutes on the 2nd night of back to backs.

Give them some rest and let them come back strong for the final 8 or 9 minutes.

Just poor minutes management, IMHO....

And again, this is just picking nits, if Yao or Tmac play a normal...or heck...just a slightly BELOW average game, the Rockets win, but both Yao and Tmac stunk....and it will be pretty hard to win on nights when that happens.

DD

 

I think Spanoulis and Snyder can be very good penetrators for us. Hopefully, by the end of the season, they will have a nice role on the team. With Rafer, Luther, and McGrady there probably wouldn't be enough room for both of them in the rotation. If only Luther and Spanoulis could develop better PG skills ...

 

Meaningless per possession TOs again. JVG's Knicks team was doing just fine during its consecutive playoff-bound seasons in the late '90s, and exceptionally well in '99 when it made all the way to the Finals despite being ranked the 3rd to the last in *per possession TO* category.

*snicker*

 

For some time I have operated under the apparently false assumption that using Ming was the most respectful way to refer to him. I stand corrected. Thanks for noting. I like Yao Ming very much as both a player and a person.

 

I just saw that Yao had 7 turnovers and Tmac 5 tonight...wow that is sloppy.

DD

 

I am a little worried about Rafer being the primary point guard for this team late in games. Although he has hit some cruical 3 pointers late in games, most of those shots were set-up by a driving TMAC. When he is not set-up for a open 3, he makes a lot of poor decisions towards the end of games. The last shot in tonight's game was a perfect example. With 8 seconds left on the shot clock, he takes a fading 3 in the corner with a man in his face.

I'm not sure if it is fatigue or what, but in the 4th quarter his play deteriorates rapidly.

 

Yao's relying on jumpers is a bigger problem IMO. He had several bad games where he shot too many jumpers even he was shooting like 1/9. A 7'6" jump shooting wuss= A loss in any game.

 

The paint points come from two ways. Low post big men or a fast penetrating guard/wingman driving to the basket. Obviously the latter one is a big hole in Roctets lineup.

Every elite team should have at least one quick guard/wingman who can penetrate to score or draw fouls. Moreover, the league rulls are in huge favor of this kind of quick cutters these days.

 

I think he averages the most minutes or 2nd most per game of any Rocket, I think his legs get tired in the 4th....JVG needs to get him a little more blow during the games.

DD

 

Problem is, every player is well scouted in playoffs.

In playoffs, Snyder and Vspan will be forced to shoot from outside. I shudder just thinking about it.

 

I truly feel glad for you, solid. I have to confess I thought about on many occasions to bring this up to your attention but for one reason or another I didn't. The key reason for me to let it go is that I regard you as a very open-minded and reasonable poster from reading many posts of your, and I just couldn't imagine you would do that (i.e, calling him "Ming") with any ill-intention.

 

I read something on the board just the other day talking about how the media was "ignorant" for doing this. I felt terrible, because I had not heard this before. Maybe you wrote that post, I don't remember who did. Thanks.

 

I did write quite a few posts with regard to Yao's name in the past, but I grew "tired" of doing it because I felt it became a losing cause. It was somebody else this time and I didn't even make a fuss.