Well, for me it wasn't that bad game. Rox fought well but lost the game. They were stronger than us. What can I say more? Yao played very well and Francis did good job during second half before the last minute. I don't know about the Cat who always made stupid decisions. JJ was kind cool off and Mo wan't that good. Rox got almost nothing from the bench. For the last shot, Francis had a time to pass the ball to set a offense. Of course, he just kept dribbling by himself. I don't know if it was JVG's idea to make him shot or his another clumsy play. Anyways Spurs' strong defense overwhelmed SF not to think anything but shooting himself or getting only one pass. That was it!
Maybe cause they had an actual play called. I'm not saying Francis's decision was smart, it was dumb. But you said he has done it everytime this year, which isn't true.
Dude, did you see how Ginobli was shooting? If Ginobli can hit shots at that angle, then nobody's going to be able to block it. Sort of like McHale - that shot is tough to hit - but it you can - it negates the inside presence. And took a ton of shots, just to make sure... Involved? Yes. Woo ****ing hoo. Bruce Bowen was involved, too. The thing is this: Yao was easily the best player on O last night. Yet Francis still demanded being the #1 option. Passing to yoru best player now and then isn't enough. I give credit for overall play. Francis played well in one quarter? Let's throw a ****ing tea party! Who gives a ****? I don't care if he plays well in the 4th quarter. I don't care if he plays well in the 1st. I might if he were a rookie or a scrub. I care if he plays well during the game. Yes, all the FOFs are insidious. They hide behind this little "we're Rockets fans!" screen, when all the while, most of the longest serving members of this board (but not all) have come to the conclusion that Francis isn't the right direction anymore. Maintain, if you want, that he's still the best player on the team (which is wrong, of course, imo)... but the "better fan" stuff doesn't fly.
My answers on most of the rest would be redundant. But here, I think the answer is pretty obvious. Jim Jackson or Cuttino Mobley. Francis has never been a good 3 point shooter. Even during his good years, he's only been "ok" from that range. If you need a 2, then Yao or Francis should be your options at the end. IF you want to tell me that it's better to let Francis have it to avoid the risk of an entry-pass turnover... well, that's reasonable (though I disagree). But Francis is only the 3rd best option - at best - for a 3 point shot at the end. Mobley probably has the best pure shot. Jim Jackson has more heighth. Find your mismatch there. Incidentally, here's a question: can you not see that the team resisted getting Yao the ball in the post tonight, even when he was open and had hit his last 2 or 3 shots? It happened several times. Do you think there's any adequate excuse for that?
Haven, Yao took 16 shots, Francis 18. None of Yao's shots came off offensive rebounds becasue he didn't have any, a point you failed to mention. Knowing that he got all of his shots from the offense, how exactly was he being excluded from the game?
Are you trying to be as obtuse as freaking possible? Lord. You think we should give francis credit for helping us get out of the hole HE helped put us in?
He got ignored after winning position in the low post. Steve, at one point, ignored the O and decided to go his own after Yao had scored or been fouled on 3 consecutive possessions. Steve is incapable of milking the hot hand, because he's too damned selfish to be excluded for that long.
I see exactly what you are saying. Unless Yao is WIDE OPEN, most people won't throw it to him. God forbid Steve or Cat would have to throw a good bounce pass or a(gasp) lob pass to Yao. On several possessions Yao was open 2-3 times but the pass was never made, they just kept staring at him. I can't remember how many times I was yelling "He's open! Pass him the freakin ball!" last night.
yao had only 3 less rebound from duncan. And how in the hell is he suppose to guard that ginboli shot. it was just a crazy shot. And are you steve or what you defend him so much. STeve played a crap game, 6 0f 18, 4 to, while tony parker out played him. And he makes way less than steve. Steve is garbage.
Although, of course, one has to differentiate between players who can't throw the entry pass... and those who just don't want to! There's some overlap, so it can be quite difficult. For fun, try to figure out which one it is on every possession. Gee... did Steve not want to throw the ball to a reasonably open Yao in the post... or this time, was it just that he realized he's a crappy entry passer and was smart enough to not turn the ball over Of course, somehow Boki has become a better entry passer in 1.5 years than Steve has in 5... but that's another story.
The rebounding thing IS getting old from Steve-lovers. Hell ,steve had more rebounds than Duncan, is Duncan a sucky rebounder now? The thing is Yao is improving, and with the additional hand strength he'll get in the coming years he'll get 10,12,15 rebounds on nights like this. Improvement...something steve has yet to do in 5 years. That Gino shot was crazy! Hell, Wilt wouldn't have been able to block that. It was so high off the glass it was almost impossible to block except maybe from the weakside. It helps if your guards aren't letting Ginobili in the paint whenever he wants to...but the Steve-lovers can't say that...its Yao's fault.
were we watching the same game??? Your boy did get a pick from Padgett, he f**ked up plain and simple, all on him this time. No Defense for him, and everybody in the TC and and TNT and and ESPN saw it finally. . .I've been so tired of hearing about Jeff and Yao and how the rest of the team doesn't do this and that. . .and never have been able to figure out why the national media LOVES Steve? I support ALL Rockets, but this dude has some serious immature flaws in his game. And all his fans need to realize it, he talks the talk about how he wants to "Do what it takes to Win" but all he does is Rebel against that? "I'm gonna play the way I play?" "I'll take that shot again?" "Yao needs to be more aggressive" "I thought our big men didn't play the pick and roll"? sounds like LEON from the budweiser ads? It's everybody but him all the time. . .you can tell this guy never watches tapes of himself for improvement of his mistakes on his own, what he did wrong, defensively, offensively, that's what great players do. Man if I could I'd trade his a** right now for T-Mac and and T. Lue, just wouldn't give up Mo, JJ, or Cat, or Yao. That's the Rockets core...somebody sped-dail the Magic.
Agreed - good point - he's trying to correct bad habits NOW so that LATER - in tight playoff race and hopefully playoffs - decision making is better. Luckily - I think JVG is more relaxed and persistant than in the pasted - he didn't explode after the game - meaning he probably recognized that since it was nationaly televised - Steve would get enough negative messaging about his ball hogging at the end of the game from other sources. That's exaclty right. He's too stubborn to realize it and won't listen to coach - he made the Spurs defense look great in the flleeting moments of the game. I still think it's too soon to throw in the towel - but TNT analysts all seemed to agree that Rox parts are not fitting well together so far - ie sum of parts greater than whole - let's see if Rox make playoffs.
Agreed - TNT analysts where brutal in their analysis of Steve's final play. Other teams usually don't say anything - probably 'cause they like predictability of Rox - but quotes from Horry let out that he was anticipating Steve's tendencies and that they were spot on - making him that much more effective against Steve. Last nights game may have been a watershed of sorts because last night the issue may have been propelled from Steve vs. JVG to Steve vs. Team.
SF should watch more his own tape vs the Sarcromato King. Learn from there. Maybe he will never get it!!! ( how to pass ball)
Overall I thought it was a pretty good game against a tough opponent. We sure haven't been in it until the final possession in many of the games against the Spurs in the last few years. That's not to say the game was all rosy. I got really tired of hearing Steve Kerr and Fratello basically laugh at the Rockets for most of the game. Simply horrific ball handling and passing. Bad D on Ginobili who pretty much ran the EXACT same play twice in a row to beat us. It's obvious that Steve Francis is really trying to do what's he's supposed to but that he just isn't that kind of player. I don't think he'd be any more effective at shooting guard either, without the ball in his hands. I guess I'm in favor of trading him but after this season I don't forsee us getting a whole lot for him. All Marbury bought the Suns was spare parts, and I guess that's what we'd get, too. But I'm really sick of blaming Steve for everything. I'd prefer to get a new scapegoat in here to try out for a while... maybe Yao.
Isn't it ironic that Steve was there to represent the Rockets winning the first pick and now it is the very thing that threatens his future as a Rocket?
For all of you complaing about Steve taking 2 more shots the Yao, keep in mind that he played 20 mins more then Yao did (don't remember the exact number). And for the last play of the game, I didn't see anybody open as I watch it. I am glad you guys can run it in slow motion and point out somebody was open for .2 seconds and then blame Steve for not getting it to him. I didn't like the final shot either, but he tried to get something better but ran out of time. My main point is the game was lost by the team, not Steve. The whole team was making stupid turnovers the whole game. Eliminate even just a few of those they win easily again. It was the same way with the Sacramento game. If they ever figure out a way not to turn the ball over all the time, they will be a much better team.
