ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 4/5/2005

Another tough loss, but to put it in perspective, the Warriors have been playing great lately, winning 9 out of their last 10 including victories over Phoenix, Seattle, and twice over Sacramento. We played well but just lost to a really hot team on the road.

 

If wesley would break out of his shooting slump I think we could have won it. Wesley is just horrid right now.

I dont know why is it he just can't shoot AT ALL anymore....really puzzles me.

 

Yes, So I don't agree with you with the D. Good D means that you force the opponent's TO, tough shots and bad decision instead of Going to the line. Usually, when you can't guard or stay with your opponent, a foul come. Go back to the winning streak, when Rockets increase the defence intensity, they can shut down Seattle to 6 pts in one quarter. That's good D.

I think the defence strategy tonight is not well planned by JVG. He should focus mainly on perimeter D, since GSW's front lines can't challenge Yao and Deke anyhow. Just my 2 cents.

 

Though we lose this game, I am still optimistic as we now at least know how to put the ball in the baskets.

 

Both Davis and Richardson are younger, taller and probably quicker than Rockets two guards on court, and they both got hot hands tonight. So I think it is not the strategy, their back court simply outplayed Rockets', the match-up are definitely to Warriors' advantage.

 

Cheer up guys! At least we will have some pretty good offense hightlight (from both team).

R2K, thanks in advance!

 

For those of you say it was a good game on the rox part, We didnt watch the same game. 1st half, others just stood there watching Tmac or Yao operating, no fxxking movment. The offense was so predictable. 2nd half, our D was terrible, rotation was late. One instanc in point, 4th qtr, when Foyld drove, Scott P left his man open to close down the paint. Comeon, Scott, you gotta know better than this. You think Folyd is going to score on Yao??? We want Foyld to take that shot. Clueless, just horrible. And I dont know why didnt double team Daivs when JRich was cold.
The timing of post feed was also horrible. When it's time to pass Yao, often these's no pass. When Yao's in traffic, ball was sent in for TO. Clueless. Just frustrating.

BTW, Juwan is not going to fix Wesley shooting slump. I miss Jimmy.

 

"They played a great game ... and I'm surprised we put so little into the game defensively," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Whatever there was in defense (was not done well). Every part."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3121055

 

what a waist of a good night for both of our horses tonight. the rest of the team has to step it up period! one thing i would like to see is tracy driving in more instead of shooting jump shots. yes it looks pretty to see him shoot his jump shots but when he drives in, no one can hold him. he gets to the free throw line more that way too. i also notice when tracy does that the rest of the team plays better. also i always hear bill & vance and the rockets say yao needs to be more aggresive. he needs to shoot the ball more. well how come at the end of the games he only has 8 shots? and SOMETIMES the rockets feed him the ball at a good spot. they need to do it more consistently. some times i'm watching the game screaming give it to him now and they end up swingin it the other way. for him to be effective they must give him the ball in a good position. and as for the rest of the team STEP UP YOUR GAME!!!!! before we slip out of the playoffs.

 

That sums up the game.

I felt bad for David Wesley, he was really trying to guard Davis, but he can't do it one on one. I wonder if he was abused that badly in practice or if his teammates helped him out, unlike last night. As for his shooting, IT DOESN'T MATTER! The Rockets scored 117 points, they did not lose this game on the offensive end you can't expect to win games in which you give up 122 points.

DEFENSE FIRST!

They better remember that against the Lakers.

T-Mac had an excellent game statistically, however I think he tried to outplay Baron Davis and that cost the team, it was like he forgot that he has lost everytime he played like that against Davis' old team.

Yao played 35+ minutes and still didn't look all that involved in the offense even though he did have 24 points.

They have to get back to playing hard for 48 minutes, they have failed to do that on both sides of the court these past few games and it has cost them.

 

Our team is totally out of whack in my opinion. I love our team and I'm rooting for them but I don't feel good about where we are headed. We have a very tough remaining schedule and if we're only 2 games up from the 8th seed...we could very well fall out of playoff contention if this unfortunate play continues. We can talk about injuries and all that crap until we're red in the face but it comes down to executing on offense and defense. I think this Jekyll and Hyde show we put on where some games we come to play and some games we don't is finally doing us in.

I can't believe we are now actually only 2 games from falling out of the playoff race. A few weeks ago...I thought we were a lock. This is a serious situation. If we do get in, then how far do we expect to get with this Jekyll and Hyde style of play? I think a first round exit is highly likely if not a given.

I'm bummed out about it.

 

Don't take it so lightly. We have lost three games in a row starting with the NO debacle. This is the wrong time of the year to go cold and back into the playoffs, if we keep playing like this there is a chance that we won't make the playoffs, last nights game was indicative of whats wrong with the Rox. The 2 stars had good nights both offensively and defensively but the other guards did not pull their weight. I can't get down or point fingers at Wesley, James and Sura because when the Rox were on a roll they were the reason we were so hot.

Now we will see if being a veteran makes a difference, all of them have been around the league for a while. They need to use that veteran saavy and turn this thing around right now.

 

I am sick of having no production from the PF position. Can JVG give Braggs or Baker a shot?? I am tired of seeing Spoon, enough is enough.

 

Baker, are you kidding, if he has anything left it will take at least till next season to bring it out of him. Braggs, Spoon has forgotten more than Braggs ever remembered, he has been a career NBDL player.

 

Now that he is missing you want to trade him haha JJ turned the ball over and didnt play defense so we gave up height that does not play D or Dwes who is in a slump right now but can play bad a.. D HMMM... dud the JJ Dwes trade was a good one look at our record just because we are losing you make some BS up if you knew anything about basketball you would know Dwes is a better ballplayer than JJ because it is a Team game.

 

I recall that the guy name ... Jones in the NBA game in ABC said JVG's team depended on shooters. When they are on, it is not stoppable, but if it off, it is not looking good.

 

Well they are all bench players, what do you expect? All of them have been playing hard. Spoon has some solid performance as a starter recently. If you call that no production and are sick of that, well, I wish you the best because you will continue to be sick at least until the end of this regular season.

 

Granted Baker and Braggs are bench players but I believe they can do more than Spoon. It is time to at least try something else because our PF are not cutting it. I just want the Rockets to do well. I am just frustrated.

 

Here is how the Rockets system (JVG system) is built:

1) Our Stars (T-Mac and Yao) are supposed to pace the team, take over the game in spurts when the team needs it, and they are supposed to take pressure off our shooters so they can get the open shots and make them. But they really earn their star-status when the game is close, and they are called upon to make the shots/passes that win games. So they are the core of this team, the basic element if you will.

2) Our Role Players: They ARE the key to the team winning or not. If they play well, the system works perfectly, and therefore the team rarely loses. If they play poorly, the entire system collapses, it kills/weakens the effectiveness of our stars, it clogs the lanes and kills penetration, and the team struggles mightly to win games. It makes life much more difficult than it has to be.

I hope this makes sense. Last night was just another proof that although our star players had a tremendous game collectively and individually, they still lost the game, and WILL lose more games unless our role players step up.

Again, basketball is a TEAM sport, the team collectively wins/loses. The system IS built on the involvement and contribution of every single player who gets minutes on the court. It is built with the assumption that everyone will step up and play their role. It works flawlessly when everyone is performing, and it looks like crap when players are not bringing it every night. It is the nature of things, so I suggest everyone gets used to it