I like how they're forcing Yao to stay out there to build stamina even tho we're up by 20+ points. To expedite Yao's conditioning, Keith Jones should tie lead weights around Yao's ankles and then chase him around with a cattleprod during timeouts.
you guys think that play with Head doing the give and go with yao was a set play or just a smart play from head?
Actual score: Roxs 100 Sonics 77 Wow....(of course, I've only read this far, with my luck the next post is probably roxs 100 Sonis 77 Yao 24 points on 9-19 shooting...)
Yao has been impressive. I am glad he has come back better than I expected. He really worked his ass off to not be too much out of shape. He has been way ahead of what I expected of him. I thought it would take him about 8 games to get back to his 20pts 10 rebs averages. Tonight he had 24 pts. 14 rebs. 3 assists and 2 blocks. GO ROCKETS!!! I hope they can keep a good streak going before the Allstar Break..
Yao has been great, what's even more impressive is that I don't feel like he's playing all out or trying too hard, he's dominating inside with ease.
It's great to see T-Mac and Yao together but there were a number of concerns. 1-7 from Skip despite his 11 assists, 1-5 from Wesley, and 3-9 from J.Howard. Against a stronger team we probably would have been beaten.
Only 28 mins? Is it because he didn't play much in the 4th qtr due to the big lead? I didn't watch the game.
Hopefully Rafer can keep our offense in sync and Tracy & Yao will continue to roll. If/when DA & JB return, our outside shooting should improve. Without them, we are not a good outside shooting team. On JH's recent play, I think both he and Deke are gassed from the heavy minutes they played when everyone was injured. Maybe they will improve with a second wind. Hopefully Stro, Hayes and (maybe) Baxter can take up some slack and JH's minutes can be decreased for a while. Fatigue also may have been part of the problem with Luther. I fully expect him to improve his FG% eventually.
On another thought, if we have our guys backs, TMac and Yao + Rafer can mesh more, we are talented and deep! Go Rockets!
For some reason JVG pulled Yao 2 minutes into the 3rd quarter, which i didn't understand at all. Yao did have a travel called on him (looked bogus to me) on one end and then a 3 second violation on the other end, after which JVG sat him down and gave him a lecture. But Yao was totally busting his ass all game long, passing the ball very well, and crashing the boards on both ends. Sometimes JVG's short leash drives me nuts. Whatever.
A win is a win. Glad we dominated tonight. Let's not blow the win out of proportion though. This is a Supersonics team with a 19-27 win-loss record so let's keep it in perspective.
I noticed that too. His fouls and turnovers seem to be down and the game seems to come easier for him. I can't remember a better all around game than this one he passed, scored, rebounded, defended and stayed out of foul trouble all in 28 minutes. Don't attribute it to him playing against the 20 year old Swift either, that kid can ball and really looked good in the OT win against the Suns.
