man i dont know why JVG didnt take out yao during that last defensive posession when Joe johnson hit that shot, suns were exposing yao on the pick and roll all night i knew it was going to cost us. And my god can we stop freezing yao out when hes shooting over 50%? the window of opportunity to get him the ball is very slim and when hes in position to reciever it the guards have already passed the ball to the other side of the floor or are playing with the ball on the perimeter. same ole same ole...sigh
I have been saying all of this and more for nearly two years. The only solution is to recognise, at the end of the season, that Steve and Cat don't belong on a Yao Ming Team, their Games and Mind Set are not compatible with a Center Oriented Team. They will never turn the 'Corner' because they dont know how to and because both lack Basketball IQ and Smarts, just like Moochie. This isn't to say they can't be great individual players but they are poor Team Players.We must decide is a Championship our Goal or being loyal to Steve and Cat our main focus. It is most unfortunate but it looks like refusing to pass to Yao Ming is rubbing off onto JJ as well.
As bad as the 3-15 FG night Steve had, it did not annoy me as much as a PG who could not free himself so the ball can be inbounded to him. A PG who shied away from the ball and let the SG and SF bring the ball up court. Phoenix's pressure was not that good and we kept using up the shot clock so as to end up with terrible shots time and time again. Very frustrating!
This game is why bettors should never pick the Rockets. They were favored by 10 points, and it looked like a smooth ride after the 1st quarter, but the defensive pressure rose which exposed the team's key weakness which is passing. When Marv Albert is saying the Rockets are a poor passing team, you've got problems. Never bet for a team with Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley making decisions.
You want a 7'6" center dribble the ball and create his own shots? What kind of ball game are you playing?
Well, that's another issue If we have perfect players for all the positions, we wouldn't be fighting for playoffs, right?
is it? i would do that trade. and it may be possible since AI's tenure in philly is turning rocky. it wouldn't make us any worse and possibly better.
This game just illustrates what has been the problem the entire season. The Rockets at the guard position do not have good passers, and the outside shooting is just horrendous. Cuttino is streaky. Steve is just bad from outside. Their overall passing ability is below average in the NBA in terms of guard duo, and they obviously have to be at the bottom of the NBA playoff teams in terms of recognizing defenses and adapting. This is why some quarterbacks suck in the NFL. They are not able to quickly recognize the defense that is being played. This means they are caught in a situation in which time is running down, and they start committing turnovers.
Very embarrassing game tonight. I hope the Rockets are ashamed of themselves and was hoping that the fans in the stadium actually boo-ed them. What a piss poor performance. That is totally ridiculous for the press to mess up our rhythm like that. Unexcusable. The guards (all of them starters and bench) really played like they didn't belong in the NBA. 2nd on my list of being at fault is JVG. Insanity is expecting different results by doing the same thing. They needed to respond differently to the press but didn't. JVG is to blame for that.
Tough loss... just watched it on Tivo.. had to leave with 3 minutes left in OT. One of those very rare Rocket losses in which Yao Ming gets both a double double and more than 3 blocks. Has that happened before? Stuart
I doubt it's happened before. Yao had to be perfect today to for us to win. Unfortunately he's not. Thats what we need...we should trade Yao for a perfect basketball player, he'd be a GREAT compliment to Steve and Cuttino...we can't beat the Suns with these wimpy big men like Yao that are only going to give us 29/19/6.
Hmm... I just looked it up. The Rox were 7-1 when Yao goes for double-doubles and records more than 3+ blocks. The only other time this has happened is the second game of the year, Yao had a double-double and 3 blocks against the Grizzlies and lost. Take it for what it's worth. Stuart
