ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets vs. Bulls 10/21/2004

what did curry?

 

the box score on nba.com says yao only got 1 block, but i coulda swore i saw him get at least 3. Still needs to rebound better though.

 

holy crap, i knew eddie curry has lost a lot of weight, but i didn't know he's that slim!

 

good d

 

Curry: Yao's armpit stinks... i cant stand it....

 

Bulls fan here, despite the outdated name

You guys are going to have a really good team... I was impressed with a lot of the things the Rockets did tonight. You can pretty much count 2 wins vs the Bulls. Not only are the Rockets a better team, but they match up very well against the bulls... The weakest 2 defensive positions on the Bulls have to guard McGrady and Yao. Eddy seems a little intimidated by Yao.

On our side, it was pretty much the same old story... Bad shooting and turnovers. Deng and Nocioni played well again, and could be competing with each other for ROY... But Ben Gordon has been absolutely terrible. This was actually his best game so far! Duhon, despite a poor showing tonight, has easily outplayed Gordon in the first 5 preseason games.

Anyway, I have a couple questions for Rocket Fans:
1. Why did tmac play so many minutes?
2. What was your general impression of the Bulls?

 

Looks like he is falling backward.

 

my guess is that he hasn't really got into a groove yet, so JVG may have wanted to leave him in to let him get used to the system and the players since he will be logging heavy minutes this year.


another reason might be to test his back since he was complaining about soreness.

 

When Curry is motivated, the guy is a powerful low post player. I think Hinrich and Curry are going to be a good duo since Hinrich is a solid 3 point shooter, and he passes into the post very well. I don't think Chandler has any offensive game. He's going to have to develop a jumper, or else the PF will double Curry all the time like they did Yao last year with Cato. Deng has got springs in his legs. He's got potential.

 

First and for most... the Bulls suck... its soo sad... they aren't in the west

As for the Rockets... here is my assessment:

Yao Ming: Still the same old Yao... scores when he puts his mind to it... poor rebounder in my opinion... still adjusting to the games in many ways... Personally I think he is a good player not great... not yet.

Maurice Taylor: Yuck... he was suppose to get a lot of playing time tonite and kept fouling. He is the perfect example of the Rockets of old. Always whining and yapping to the officials.

Jim Jackson: PLayed great at times and at times seemed to force it. I dont know... I'm a little concerned about Jim and Mcgrady guarding smaller players. They seem perhaps not to be fast enough. A couple of times it seemed like Chicago's guards out ran them.

Tracy McGrady: I believed Steve Francis was our best player last year... and for this year it is T mac. Tracy said that the Rockets are Yao's team. Thats all nice and dandy but the guy thats going to get the Rockets into the post season and beyond is McGrady. Its soo amazing to see b/c half of what Mcgrady does is soo effortless. He is soo good and the game comes soo naturally to him that I can't help but think in his mind...why do u guys suck soo much... he is very good. Passes VERY well. Shot an excellent clip (his shot is flat though) and has more range then Kobe. I always believed the Rockets would of been soo much better if Steve could just make those open 18 footers... well i think McGrady can and will very easily. Expect VERY big things from him this season

Ward: Derek Fisher but cheaper He got like three charges tonite. Still struggling a bit with his shot but he shot 40% for his career from the three point line so eventually his shot will start going in.

Tyronne Lue: This guy is perfect off the bench. Quick, high energy, the sort of player that gets other teams players annoyed.

Ryan Bowen: A nice pick up at such a late time during the off season. Pure hustle, pure energy...... basically a taller, very much less talented Lue.

Nachbar: Nachbar gets blown past soo easily... its sad.. the guy is such a giant defensive liabilities. If he can make his shots he's got a chance but this guy is most likely gonna be let go at the end of the season and is only gonna get to see playing time if the plague wipes out the Rockets.

Mutombo: The guy swats things all the time. Rebounds well and is basically Kelvin Cato with less athletism and better professionalism.

Howard: This guy can flat out play... the comparisons of Howard to Taylor is interesting. They have the same game but Howard is dedicated to the game and Taylor likes weed. Howard deserves to start but he would kill second string players with his offense... so maybe JVG will bench him to start and use him as a six man who plays more then Taylor but for the flow of the game starts off on the bench... something tells me JVG is considering this... then again Mo fouls out so fast.........

All and all i think we are going to have a great year. This team gets better and better. Our defense may of slipped a bit this year but our offense is a LOT better and sura isn't even around. The one concern however is rebounding... this team needs to figure out a way of rebounding better.

 

The guy who showed some game tonight was Charlie Ward. Ward knocked down two 3s off the CATCH and SHOOT. It wasn't dribblemania and then shoot an offbalance 3 pointer. Ward took a couple of charges. There weren't many times when Hinrich just totally schooled Ward. Ward and Lue are going to be solid at the point guard position. I think their abilities match the half-court offense to a tee.

TMac's low post game is a killer. I think he may actually be better posting up guards than trying to cross them over with a dribble. JVG is probably estatic with his low post ability. It meshes with the half-court offense perfectly.

The Rockets are slowly gelling. Considering the roster is almost entirely new, they are still producing on the court.

 

Bowen gets time on the floor this season. That one play tonight where he grabbed an offensive rebound and got fouled was just typical of what he does all the time. JVG likes that stuff. He's probably the backup SF.

Boki time is no longer at least as a Rocket. Matt Bullard and Worrell did say Boki is excellent at slashing to the basket. I agree. The guy looks like a cheetah going to the basket. This is the kind of game that flourishes with a great uptempo point guard. The guy is going to sign with the Suns after this season.

 

any torrent videos yet!! how exciting mcgradys first REAL game. Ive been waiting for this for awhile now! Oh yea YAO did ok too. LOL

 

LOL. An hour an a half after the game? Do you think they got Deep Blue working on these video rips?

 

first the Sox win against the Yanks and now Yao has bigger arms than Curry...

 

hey anything is possible! I want my torrent!! gimmie gimmie! lol j/k

 

heeee

 

dude.....for real.

I know how long it takes my machine to do the work....and mine aint exactly a wussy machine...

I think it would take someplace like ILM to put out almost 2 hours of video edited and encoded to web distribution size and resolution in a half hour.



overall...decent job by the Rockets tonight..Id like to echo the comments about how scary it is how TMac plays so effortlessly...people give him crap for seeming not to care on the floor....I thnk it is obvious that he does care....he is just so good that he can outplay everyone without seeming to have to work very hard.

works for me...

Ward, Mutombo, and Bowen are all going to be very solid players for us this year...

Cant wait to see this team once they get comfortable with each other and the system.