If Kurth Thoms hacking Yao right under the nose of the officials is a "defensive" strategy- then Phoenix should re-think. They were basically playing 5 on 4 defense, completely ignoring Rafer for one. There were 2 consecutive plays where Yao was called for the 3 second violation. And there were 2 shots that Tmac took consecutively when we are close- that basically was the story. We shot badly- and our weakness was badly exposed. We have to have some "nash rules"
Juwan needs to get major minutes against Suns or Shane needs to play PF. They're both enough of an offensive threat to keep the defense honest from triple teaming Yao 8649% of the time. I would leave it up to Chuck Hayes to beat me too. Passing was horrible in that game. Yao wasn't getting the ball in spots easy to score, other passes were telegraphed and could've been picked off by even my Ninja Turtle action figure. Spacing was horrible, shot selections were making the War in Iraq look like a medal of honor decision.
The suns were in control the whole game, they dictate the pace and we're playing into their hands. We have to use more pick and rolls, and hard cut to the basket to free up Yao. Yao was being swarmed but we only took advantages in the first half where Howard and Hayes got easy score. Also our D was not up to par yesterday, people are left wide open time after time in the same spot after they either drive inside and dish to a guy for open mid jumper. To have a chance against the suns, we need to: - slow it down, and run plays that thru Yao but make people pay for triple team Yao (p n R) - Double team Nash, come out early and often once they cross the mid court. Don't let guys like Barbosa have a lot of iso play, they all have guys that can break us down one on one. - Shoot better especially when left wide open for mid range jumper
We did dictate the tempo last night... that was no where near Phoenix Suns style basketball. They played our game and humiliated our defense. We didn't box out, we didn't rotate, and we were completely outclassed athletically. ...and they played better defense, too.
i would say dictating the game would be more along the lines of 90 points or lower, and that didn't happen. the suns didn't play their best brand of bball, but still, more of their brand than rox brand.
What did Yao do against the Suns when paired with Juwan? And you're ignoring the other side of the ball. Chuck did a good job defensively switching on the pick and rolls and forcing turnovers. He's one of the few Rockets players that isn't at a quickness disadvantage when matched up against the Suns.
If we want to win Suns or pass the first/second round in playoffs, Rafer needs to stop his f**king 3pts trying so quickly that his teammates have not get in position. T-Mac should penetrate to attack the rim and forget about his jumpers, if he always make jumpers when he gets the ball, his fg% will be no more than 40%, he should make his ft% better, too. Luther and Rafer should make thier 3pts shooting better when Yao and T-Mac both in trouble. I've noticed that when Yao and Mac play well, Luther and Rafer hit their 3's, but when Yao and Mac play bad, Luther and Rafer are more likely to play even worse. They should be our Barbosa. Yao should dominate the paint, try to dunk more in stead of layup which is more likely to be blocked, try to get more rbs.
It's not about the score, really... it's about the way the game was played. It was a half court game on both ends, the whole game. That's Rockets ball, not Pheonix. They only scored more than 90 because they shot a lot better than what we normally hold opponents to. Actually the most frustrating thing for me in watching that game is that we stopped their first shot like 85% of the time (meaning they changed their mind), but they found holes everywhere and our guys stood around and didn't even try to rotate.
i think he makes a decent percentage of open shots created for him. it's once you add in missed runners, floaters, and off the dribble chucks that his percentage takes a dive. he needs to take a HUGE page out of shane battier's book.
Or it could just be that he knows these two teams are the best at what they do. Pheonix with the run and gun, us with defense and a slow pace. If we find a way to impose this pace on the Suns, we are a great threat to them, but its a big if. However, take comfort in the fact we wouldnt play them until the WCF in the playoffs if we finish as the 5 seed...
i'd be happy if the rockets could just manage to consistently get yao the ball. i mean seriously, when you're staring at the guy and holding the ball for 5 seconds before you pass, are you really surprised when it gets picked off for a turnover?
Coach D'Antoni is just trying to be nice to us. Starting Hayes against the Suns makes sense only to coach Van Gundy. It totally takes awasy Yao's importance to the team. The better would have been Shane at the 4 and go small from there. A team like the Suns should have been in the big picture plans when it comes to using Novak. Rookies have played key roles in the NBA before now and JVG should use this opportunity to "force" Novak to "grow". Should we meet Dallas again (in the playoffs), starting Hayes alongside Yao would be fairly reasonable (since Dallas is a good rebounding team) but Juwan might be more reasonable since he can allow Yao operate in the middle while being tall enough to bother Dirk. It sounds quite obvious but somehow JVG seems to continue to miss it. Putting Yao and Devon George is a no-no - if Dallas goes small, we have to find a better way that what we did in our last two encounters. For a coach who has a good "reputation" and a hard worker and ultra prepared - I could have been fooled. I have been a JVG supporter for a long while but he makes me scratch my head with some boneheaded stubborn stances. Shake it coach, we are getting less and less impressed - it is not about you anymore. If JVG was such a great disciplinarian how come he is not able to force TMAC to drive more rather than settle for jumpers when things get tight? Oh well, we wait and hope that he sees the light soon and surprises us all (show some flexibility and dynamism).
