btw, DoD...you sure are putting a lot of effort into this...I applaud you...When you get back, come to my house and we'll have bar-b-que squirrel.
I was looking at the box score and noticed that a Thomas Hamilton plays for the Mavs. Is that Mr. 2 Sandwiches?
Is that Tiger Woods sitting next to Collier (as he pretends he doesn't hear you)? Looks like they get the same attendance as the Summit (or laptop, as the young folx know it)
from those pics, yall think those summer leauge rocket jerseys look like the new ones they are getting? i actual like those already better than the pinstripes.
DoD- Thanks for another great game report. You've got a real flair for writing and provide great insights. Looking forward to your next game report. Dallas Rocket
BF that isn't Tiger Woods! That guy is actually a friend of mine who works for the Rox. Does that mean I have an inside source?!? Haha!
I forgot the smilie face Tiger is over in England getting ready for the British Open. As for inside source material, what exactly does your friend do for the Rockets?
I KNEW we should have picked that Yuogoslavian guy Mladen as our backup SG instead of Tito. He scored 16 POINTS IN 19 MINUTES!!!!!!
July 16, 2002 vs. Los Angeles Lakers Rockets 92 Lakers 98 (in overtime) Another meltdown... The Rockets led this game the majority of the way. Then we had a collapse that rivaled that of the Roman Empire - but at least the Romans put up a fight. What is it about our point guards that they play so well, yet they have to make at least one boneheaded play a game? I know this is just a summer league, but my God, is this boneheadedness a pre-requisite for our PG's to get into a game? We should've won this game! Yet here I am writing about another collapse in the 4th quarter a la the previous game vs. the Mavericks. Eddie "I got skills, now somebody feed me" Griffin Let's start off with some of the bad. Eddie wasn't quite the dominating player he was during the first couple of games, but he got his points (20). First of all, his 3 point shot off this game. He airballed at least one that I recall (collectively I think the Rockets airballed about 5 or 6 shots - without a doubt it's the Langhi curse; Damn Lanky is looking for retribution for being left off the team). How about another Griffin negative (yes, 2!)? He was being boxed out by guys like Mark Madsen and Jelani McCoy. Say what you want about Madsen in the low-block but the guy is tenacious and knows how to spread his legs to get solid footing. Once Madsen had established position, Griffin had a tough time dislodging him. How about we move on to some of the good? Eddie did display his usual ability to hit shots from everywhere on the court. I wish I can tell you this guy has a go-to move, but I honestly don't think he does, and I honestly don't think it matters. He's one of those rare breed of players who doesn't ask for the ball in a particular spot or a particular position - just get him the ball, he'll do the rest. Eddie was still manning the paint while blocking and changing shots. His shot blocking is starting to resemble a young Hakeem in that he went after everything in this game. The only downside to that is that he collected at least 2 fouls going after those blocks. I can't blame him as they seemed to be "blockable" shots, though. He did manage to stay out of foul trouble with 3 for the game. Tierre "I'm lookin' good but hang on, I need to do something stupid" Brown Tierre is an offensive explosion in this SPL. He's still getting to the bucket with ease on his drives and scoring. When the penetration is cut-off, no sweat; he just pulls up and pops a 15-20 foot jumpshot. At times, he seems to forget there are others on the team and tries to be "the man". I guess that's understandable since the guy is trying gain a spot on the roster, but you wonder if it's doing more harm than good. There were two possessions on which Tierre reverted to the old Cuttino Mobley/Steve Francis/Moochie Norris school of "watch me be stupid" basketball. On one possession, I think there was something on the order of 19 seconds left on the shot clock, and Tierre had the ball. Tierre starts dribbling (picture Moochie)... Tierre keeps dribbling (picture some more Moochie)... Tierre is met with a double team... does Tierre pass the ball out? (picture Steve)... NO! Tierre tries to force himself through the double team... are there teammates open? Of course not, because at this point, you need to be picturing Cuttino Mobley who never sees teammates open (ok, so I exaggerate). Anyway, the shot clock expires while Tierre is dribbling around like a crazed man. The worst transgression that Tierre made came at the end of regulation. The Rockets are up 2 with a few seconds left in the game, and it's the Lakers' ball. The Lakers player gets the ball out at the 3 point line and jacks one up. Tierre runs at him and bumps bodies in mid air (picture to come). Yes, that's right. Tierre" SteveCuttinoMoochie" Brown fouled this guy on a last second heave. Luckily the refs are blind and called it a 2 point shot and awarded the Lakers player with 2 free throws. The Lakers hit the 2 FT's to tie the game at the end of regulation, and send it into overtime. In the words of Col. Crap... arrggggh! Tierre ended up with 19 points. Oscar Torres Oscar ended up with 17 points and a lot of them came on drives and penetrations as well as dunks. He was also a member of the "airball club" today. I was hoping Oscar would stand out a bit more in these games, but this was probably among the better games he's played at least offensively. I didn't watch his defense much, so he could've been horrific on that end. I'm also not too sure what he ended up shooting percentage-wise, so you may want to wait for proexposure to come out with those stats. There's really not that much to say about Oscar other than he got his points. Nothing really stood out like it did with a Griffin or a Brown. The rest of the not ready for prime time players... Tito Maddox had another unstable and somewhat forgettable game. If there's one thing about Tito's game that's a constant, it's that something will eventually screw up when he drives. Prior to Tierre helping to choke the game away as mentioned above, I saw Tito trying to help him choke the game away. Tito with one of his patented I-can-get-into-the-paint-on-anybody-and-then-turnover-the-ball-with-the-best-of-them moves. The culmination of Tito's game today was when I saw him airball a 10 foot jumpshot. That was truly sad. I can actually see what the Rockets see in the guy. He's 6'4" has an explosion on the fast break, can be dangerous in the open court, and can probably guard some of the 2 guards in the NBA as well as PG's. But man, it's so hard to find anything other than his fastbreak abilities that's really great or noticeable in a positive way. I want to like the guy's game, but he makes it so damn difficult. Ahmed Ismail displayed what I fear the most from his game. He's too methodical in his movements at times and telegraphs his dribble. As I mentioned in the last writeup, if he's up against a quick defender and decides to put the ball on the floor, he's in deep Cato... I mean doo doo. Oh, and I can't remember if Ahmed airballed a shot or not (it's a pretty safe bet he did, though, considering the ICBMS we were launching today), but he did clang quite a few bricks from the 15-20 foot range. Ahmed did get posterized on a dunk today. Nasty one, at that. That's ok, I'm sure it'll be one of many in his long NBA career. Terrence Morris ended up with about 14 points today. He started the game pretty well, and had me excited. He hit at least 2 3 pointers today. He also managed to hit 3 children, a security guard, and a space shuttle on his way to those 14 points. With Terrence I think it's all or nothing. There's no such thing as being slightly off. He's either dead on or "tell the fans to duck". He had to guard bigger guys in the paint today and did admirable I suppose. But when you consider the guys he had to guard at times had about as much talent as me, well, you get the point... Jason Collier played limited minutes tonight. As much as I feel for the guy, he's just not NBA material and it's showing by how much he's struggling in these SPL games to keep up just on defense. Collier did have a bright spot in today's game, however. He blocked a dunk attempt from behind. I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn't fallen asleep, but yup, I was awake, and I could see daylight between Collier and the floor, so I guess he did elevate. Sorry, no pics, you'll have to trust me on that one. Nobody else I can think of really stood out or nothing else really worth mentioning. I do have some more pics I'll be uploading later tonight. One of the pics shows the Tierre Brown foul on the 3 point attempt that sent the game into overtime. Another pic shows the result of a fast break in which Eddie Griffin threw down a dunk. Admittedly, I snapped the pic a bit too late, so he's on his way down after the dunk, but I don't care, it's still a pic, you bastids!! Also to be uploaded are a Terrence Morris dunk shot. No great pics, but hey, at least you get to see some of the action.
As far as "inside source" material, well he works in the Trainers Department. Not quite sure on his exact title though, b/c he only told me once waaaayyyyy back. But if I ever do hear something, I'll post it up, just don't shoot the messenger! PS: Thanks DoD for the game recaps again, as well as the others who hit up the SPL and wrote what they saw.
Thank you very much DOD. It good to have someone at the game that could pass on their take. I must say that I sometimes feel like I am on a roller coaster ride when reading your reports. At the end of it I am not sure whether somebody played well or not. When I read you reports then go through the box score I sometimes end up being confused. Yes we lost this game but I was able to extract many positives, including the following: T Brown had a great game. He is there not only to make the roster but actually demand minutes either on this team or another. I cannot say he is selfish when he collects 8 assists. He has proven so far that he deserves a real shot in the NBA. He has shown that he is a scoring point guard and even collecting rebounds too ala his mentor, Wink. Tmo or rather TRock promised he was going to be more aggressive; however he does not seem to be delivering on that promise reverting instead on being his usual solid self. That is okay because there is a place for him. I would have preferred that he take a leaf out of Brown's book when it comes to establishing yourself, being counted and not just blending in. Eddie is Eddie. Torres' spot is practically secured in my humble opinion. I would be very surprise that CD would be that motivated to move the good natured Torres in favor of someone else. If it was management's intention to test Torres and Brown and make them feel like their spots were not secure, these players have certainly responded. As far as I am concerned the summer team can close up shop and send these guys back to their off season program and have them report for training camp. There is nothing more to prove. It is a good thing they are not in the Revue. It should be no surprise anyway, these guys were not like Omar Cook down in the NDBL, they were playing real minutes in the real NBA.
DearRock, I understand exactly what you're saying. This is just one of those times where I try not to dwell on stats to see how a player played. For example, Tierre scoring a lot of points means nothing to me in the SPL. He's playing against inferior competition. Most of the guys trying to guard him won't even be on an NBA roster in a few weeks. Their defenses are a joke. So what can I do to convey how Tierre really played beyond the stats? I try to see how he reacts when presented with "a situation". For example, on a fast break with an uncovered man open on the wing, does he try to be the hero and take it in by himself over a defender in the lane? Or does he penetrate just enough to draw that lone defender to himself and then pass to the guy on the wing who gets an easy bucket? That's more important to me because in a real NBA game, chances are Tierre would never get a chance to take on that defender in the middle of the paint on a break because he would get his shot swatted. In the summer leagues he may make it over that guy because the talent is inferior. Another example : Eddie Griffin scores 30 points and gets 10 rebs. Any stat sheet could tell you that. But how did he get those points? Were they garbage points? Where was he shooting from? Was he relying on putbacks or on a dribble to the left or right to get open and then pull the trigger? Eddie's fouls : were they legit? Did he get them reaching? Did he get them as a result of bad calls? Did he get them going for a legit block? I can't just say that because Tierre gets 25 pts and 10 assists, he played well. For example, I saw him drive to the bucket and take it right at a Laker defender when he had Tito wide open on one wing and Terrence open on the other. Whether he made that basket is not important to me because I know that against NBA-caliber talent, he'd have gotten that stuff swatted back in his face. Now don't get me wrong, Tierre has been tearing it up in the SPL, and I've said that in all my summaries. The thing is, I'm not going to be blinded by the numbers because if he could get the numbers he's getting now in NBA games, either he or Steve is trade bait. I gave two examples of really poor decision-making by Tierre. One quite possibly cost them the game since his foul of a 3 point shooter sent the game into overtime. I saw that and his otherwise great performance went out the window, because that was a TERRIBLE decision he made. Tierre had 8 assists this game. That's 8 plays that turned out well. The stats don't show you the other plays where he took it upon himself to score when others were open around him. To me that's just as important. As for Oscar, he had some bad plays and output earlier in the SPL games, but he's come on. I don't want him left off the roster, either. Terrence Morris had a good game shooting the ball, but when he misses, he absolutely airballs the shot or clangs them so bad, it's scary to watch. The stats don't tell you that. The stats don't tell you we airballed about 4 shots in this game. They can't tell you that Tito Maddox may have trouble with quicker guards or with double teams in the NBA. Anyway, no hard feelings or anything because if I weren't here watching the games, I'd be thinking the same as you. Thanks for the compliments, and enjoy the roller coaster ride.
New pics with thanks again to rockHEAD for hosting them : The Rockets get ready for battle... Eddie holds the ball as Oscar makes a break for the basket... Mark Madsen shoots one over Eddie's outstretched arm... (he hit the shot, by the way. ) Eddie post-throw-down... (almost got the shot of the century, but reacted a millisecond too late... ) Eddie thinking "I don't wanna be like Ike" (Nwankwo that is) I know that fool ain't takin' ANOTHER picture of me! During a timeout Boylen and Eddie play paper-scissor-rock (now you know what goes on in those huddles -- a cc.net exclusive) Griffin with the wide-stance jumpshot... TMo brings down the rim... Tierre attempts a painful-looking shot while Tito waves to a friend in the stands and Tmo prays the ball doesn't come to him at the 3 point line... Tierre makes a terrible decision to try and block this shot as time runs out... (this is the foul that sent the game into overtime)
Just got home from Long Beach, and I'll add my thoughts to Dr of Dunk's... The Rockets lead most of the game until the final minute or so when they let the Lakers back into it. Solid guard play from the Rockets for most of the game -- if you don't count the boneheaded parts. Tierre looked good, always penetrating and making a few lay-ups look easy in the middle of the trees. He's gotten better at knowing where his bail-out options are when he drives the lane, but still has moments where he gets into trouble and doesn't know where to go with the ball. Not to mention that he tries to drive the lane EVERY FRIGGIN' TIME, never looking to pass until he's pretty much under the basket. The Lakers had tied the game with about 12 seconds left, then Tierre has the ball at the top of the key. He was determined to drive -- so determined that he ran almost out to the corner looking for an opening, then drove. After several Rockets missed close attempts, Tierre fought for the ball and got a tough lay-up to put the Rox up by 2 with a couple of ticks left. After a timeout, the Lakers inbounded and Tierre FOULED the shooter. Two free throws later, we're in overtime -- an overtime that the Lakers controlled to get the win. Tierre played well and had about 20 points, but cost us the game by getting sloppy when it mattered most. Tito Maddux has settled down a bit from his jitters of the first couple of games. He's still psyching himself when he shoots, missing a few easy jumpers, but he did a solid job running the point and made a few big plays in the 4th quarter. He's beginning to look more comfortable out there, but still has a ways to go before he's of any real use as an NBA sub. Kyle Hill also did a good job during his limited minutes. Dane Fife was pretty much MIA, doing little during his time. Oscar Torres started slowly, but came on strong in the second half. He had about 15 points, even though he airballed a couple of threes. The new Slim-Fast version of Jason Collier, fit and trim though he may be, was frustratingly inconsistent, making a few good shots, but clanking some others off the rim in an UGLY way. Collier's got a good touch for a wide-body 7-footer -- EXCEPT when there's a defender within five feet of him, at which point he can't make a shot to save his life. T-Mo ramped it up a little in the second half to finish with a good game. Somebody needs to put this guy on 'roids -- not for the bulk, but for the rage. As it is now, attitude-wise he's a mellow version of A.C. Green. Yikes. Ishmael Achmed is a decent player, but doesn't have much of a shot at making the team. He gets almost no elevation before releasing his jumper and was blocked 2 or 3 times. He's not going to get far in the NBA if he can't find some lift when he shoots. Curiously enough, in the 4th quarter they had him defensing the Lakers' 7'2" center, Somolia Samake -- probably because Samaki has no offensive skills whatsoever. (The stories about Achmed's calves are true -- his friggin' calves are as big as Collier's thighs. It's a truly scary thing to see.) As for Eddie, he converted a couple of alley-oops in the first half, including one that looked nearly impossible. I'm still not sure how he got to that ball, much less dunked it. As Dr of Dunk reported the last time the Rox and the Lakers met up, Mark Madsen gives Eddie trouble for some reason. It looks like pure attitude -- Madsen is constantly in motion, pushing, shoving, just being a nuisance. Eddie needs to just clock him one early, take the T, and put that punk in his place. Madsen is the kind of guy who's annoying as hell unless he's on YOUR team. A couple of final notes: I don't know what the Rockets were doing wrong on D, but there were WAY too many instances when Laker guards were left wide-open on the perimeter for easy jumpers. SOMEthing was not working. And Rudy looks good and relaxed. He appeared to be having a pretty good time. The guy goes through a 20 oz. Diet Coke every quarter, so he's probably got a decent caffeine buzz. Either that, or having a 7'5" guy with real skills coming on board is providing the buzz all on it's own. (Hey, DoD -- wish I'd have known you were there. I was right behind Rudy, about 5 rows up, proudly wearing my Rockets cap.)
topfive, I've been sitting all over the building at these games trying to get a view of something different. I've sat on the first row behind the Rockets bench 2 times now to hear what the coaches are yelling, screaming, talking to each other about, and saying to one another. It's really a great spot to sit. But it's not such a great shot to get pics. At this (Lakers) game I was on the same side you were, but near mid-court. I had the unfortunate luck to sit next to a herd of camp-going kids that had more interest in going to take a leak every 2 minutes than watching the game. Weeee... Anyway, good summarization of the game. I have to disagree with you about Rudy. Everytime I looked over, he sure as heck didn't look relaxed. I swear he put a new stick of gum into his mouth on every Rockets possession. By the end of the game I thought his mouth would explode with the 138 sticks of gum he was chompin' on. And you're right about the diet cokes.
Does anyone have any web space available for mpegs? I have some video clips of game action. They're all gonna be 2 megs or less, I think. If I can't find anybody to host them, I'll turn to sharing them using something like Grokster. Thanks for the compliments to those of you that gave them; if I didn't specifically thank you, trust me, I saw the "thank you's". But without this site, I wouldn't have any way of sharing the info to this many people, so thanks to Clutch and CC.net first and foremost. Damn, this has been some fun. I'm so hyped about this season that I can't even freakin' sleep. I'm running on about 2 hours of sleep now on my freakin' vacation. Have I mentioned Houston and Dallas weather sucks compared to Long Beach weather? Not to mention the women down here actually have tans and not an orange tint.
