What happened this game? Cat got 8 assists? This is unheard of. Yao played like a girl, and he got 21-14? Hey, if he plays like a girl, and can average 21-14, I will take that.
BTW- A "W" is a "W"... I hope we string a few more out there... I'm pulling for the Mavs to underestimate the Grizzlies tonight and leave us in sole possession of 1st. hulk[/i] No sweat, dude... wouldn't wanna aggrevate David Banner anyway, right? Seems like this year's squad has some resolve... Way to bounce back Rockets.
Yao made a very good move, the fake and the up-and-under move, the one Hakeem used to do a lot. And as he bypassed Amare, I thought it would be a nice layin, but it was blocked. Too bad, coz he has the skills with that kind of moves that most big men lack (including Amare... sorry Suns fans). What a waste.
alright 6-2 and in first place in the upside down midwest. To all those non believers who say "well the rockets have not really played anyone", all I can say is atleast we are winning the games we are suppose too!! Also, glad to see that Bostjan is getting some PT because of injuries. He seems to get lost sometimes but has nice touch! I just hope that when the Rockets two BIG TIME FREE AGENTS (HA) come back he is not back on the bench. If he is going to get better he needs to be in the game. Now that we have 4 small forwards does anyone know what will happen to the rotation?
The Rockets are winning with defense. I would have never believed it. If they ever get their offense really flowing, look out. The have much better ball movement than last year, and, thank God, they no longer walk the ball up the court and dribble out the shot clock. Entry passes are still pathetic, poorly timed, inaccurate, and slow. Shooting is streaky. Progress is noted, but much more is needed. I think Pike and A. Griffin will make a significant difference. All the additions are playing well. Moochie should be locked in a closet or at least never allowed to play basketball again at any level.
Notice that a troll is only here when it's looking good for them. When things go south and they're forced to eat crow, they're nowhere to be found. Classic troll behavior.
You guys don't expect too much from Yao. He is still a little hype until now. You can watch Cav, that center is exact yao's future.
How many offensive boards does big Z get? How many blocks does he get? Does he change the play of other team? How many double or triple teams does he get? Does he pass the ball well? Does he ever have a no-look pass or even a back-door pass? What's his potential? Ask yourself these questions, Dude.
no, he doesn't. your stat check proves that Yao in his second year is already as good as (in fact stat-wise slightly better than) big Z in his SIXTH NBA season. i don't see how he has a point unless he can prove that Yao is already peaked now in his second NBA season or never going to improve!
I dunno... I'm kinda worried he's peaked. I mean I guess Yao is a bit better than at the end of last year. Still, he has to continue to rebound consistently, and deal with the double team better. The good news is he's only started lifting weights for one year, so he should continue to get stronger.
Here's my 2 cents about last nights game, Yao being passive/aggressive some misleading stats etc. Both people are correct about Yao. At times he was definitely passive or at least tenative. He had his shocked blocked several times by a guy half a foot shorter than he was. He didn't go quickly into his scoring moves and just took too much time before going for it, and then it was often a fade away and was rarely him going toward the basket through traffic. That being said there were other times, especially when the game was on the line when he was aggressive. It looked like he was fighting for rebounds, looking to be a scorer, and working hard. Overall I think there was a slight advantage to Yao's aggressiveness vs. Yao's passiveness, but both traits were evidenced tonight. Marbury did have more points, but didn't punk Francis or appear to have Steve's number. It's obvious that Marbury feels he has something to prove after Steve being the all star starter. Marbury's ego causes him to want to make this a personal competition. Marbury was on fire the first half, even though many of those points came against Moochie's matador defense. The second half Steve came to life both offensively and defensively. Steve played the best defense I've ever seen him play in that second half, and Marbury's game was virtually non-existent. Meanwhile Steve's game was in full gear. It started the last play of the second half when Steve blew by Marbury like he wasn't even there for a dunk. During crunch time when it really counted Steve was a leader and Marbury was taken out of his game. Steve only had one assist for the whole game. Just looking at stats that would be troublesome. But the truth is that Francis played team ball, passed early, didn't dribble too much, and took the shots he should have taken. His passing was fine. It should also be noted that Steve had only one TO. It was a great game. Cat actually played smart that game. His outside shot was way off, and he wisely abandoned it. Cat started driving and that turned into either a bucket, a foul, or an assist to Ming. Mobely was using his head, and when his outside game was off he tried to get close to the basket. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Kelvin Cato. The guy was a monster who always worked hard at the little things. He was a tough presence inside, when nothing else was going right Cato was a huge factor grabbing boards and keeping the ball alive when we needed it. There were some trouble spots and nobody was perfect. But overall the guys were definitely moving in the right direction and it was a good win.
The reason why Yao got blocked by Amare so much last night: Yao has a 1' vertical. Amare has a 3' vertical and insane explosiveness!!
I was impressed with Amare's defensive aggressiveness. This is something he totally lacked last season. He is an athletic freak. Yao need to use his 7-6 body to his full advantage to avoid those blocks. Shaking a defender and then a weak layup attempt are easy targets for blocks.
It's still early in the season: Yao PPG 15.6 RPG 9.0 APG 2.0 SPG .63 BPG 2.50 FG% .500 FT% .733 3P% .000 MPG 32.0 Z PPG 14.9 RPG 5.4 APG 1.0 SPG .22 BPG 1.44 FG% .500 FT% .741 3P% .000 MPG 30.1
