Nice post amboddie, and, hey, welcome. I'm sure you've already found that this is the greatest site in the history of the world. It's good to see stats like that...makes me all nostalgic for the old Steve days. Steve looked a LOT more patient last night, and when he's not trying to force his shot, his athletic ability creates opportunities. He's got a player in Yao who is a very good post passer, and when he's got cutters, good things can happen. You don't shoot the way that Steve did last night unless you're being patient, or you just have a freakishly good shooting night. I think it's more of the former than the latter. I REALLY don't want to lose Steve. I think we'll regret it.
I think there are two big differences to Francis' game tonight. 1. His shooting was on fire. 2. The Lakers were not doubling and trippling Yao before he got the ball. When that happens it's not a problem to get Yao the shots, and our offense works the way it was designed and Francis looks good. When other teams attempt to double and tripple Yao away from the ball the passes are harder, and not as smoothe, this causes bad passes and our offense has to adjust, and it's just not capable of that kind of adjustment yet. So the next time we play a team without a big center and they send two or three quick guys to at Yao without the ball, Francis' game and the Rockets game won't look the same.
FranchiseBlade: Totally agree with you. We haven't quite figured out how to consistently punish other teams that front, double, or triple Yao. When we can't get the ball into Yao we settle for a perimeter game and our shots have been inconsistent this season. I'm optimistic though. I think we'll figure it out. Last night was a good example. I liked the fact that Cat was slashing to the basket to create opportunities. Of course Steve's shots were falling which was a huge plus.
"throw up a lot of shots"? Isnt that called shooting? I thought that was a big part of the gaem of basketball. btw, how is 9-11 "throwing up alot of shots"?
