Front Row Recap of Rockets v. Clippers (Yao's Back, Mutumbo v. Fans, and more)

Okay, so my first basketball game went amazing and its a good thing that I can type this because I lost my voice from all the yelling. Here is a recap of some of the things they might have not shown on television and I will post pictures as so as my girlfriends send them to me. I had some amazing seats, and was like a couple feet from the Rockets bench. I keep yelling out for Novak, Mutumbo, and the rest, and in the fourth, I finally got Novak's attention (after yelling SuperNova for 2 hours). My seats were so good (right behind the basket where the Rox were shooting in the first half) that all my friends that watched the game saw me on tv when the Rox were shooting FTs and when Yao blocked Kaman in the fourth and I stood up and swung my Yao jersey. I had a red Rox hat, authentic TMac jersey, and Yao swingman. I was also next to visitor's tunnel so I got to see the Rox/high five them as the left at half time and the end of the game. On to the info....

1. In the fourth, Yao seemed to have hurt his back after a turn-around over Kaman. It was noticable as soon as he tried to hurry back on defense. He still managed to play through it, but as he was leaving off the court after the game, I reached out my hand to him, but he headed to the lockerroom holding his back and looked in pain. Don't know the seriousness of the injury, but when he was walking off, it didn't look too good. Hopefully, it was just some pain and he should be good to go come Weds. We can't lose both of our players to back injuries.

2. In one play (in the third or fourth, I can't remember exactly), Yao blocked mobley's layup and Mutumbo was standing at the bench and started to wag his finger. The Clipper fans behind me were yelling at him to sit down b/c he wasn't doing ****, so I started to wag my finger in the air to support Deke and then he turned around, smiled and joined me in the finger wagging.... Great moment in my life.

3. Alston played great! Started off somewhat sloppy, so I was still upset from the mistakes he made at the end of the Lakers game so I started to yell at him. However, he really came through in the fourth and the fans behind were yelling "Do we need to remind you that your not that good Rafer." That made me laugh, but he played great so the Rafer situation is still up in grabs as far as I'm concerned. Good passer, sometimes can shoot a bit too much... But another great moment was when the game ended, and I was yelling at the Rox to sign my hat. Rafer stuck his hand out and gave me a five, but he was rushing to the lockerroom so I didn't get him to sign it. But he gave me a big smile and high five which was awesome!

4. Bonzi Wells is really getting along with this team. During the whole game, Bonzi, Novak, Mutumbo, and Padgett were laughing and supporting the rest of the team. Mutumbo was standing as much as JVG. He was yelling out screens, and cheering everytime Yao scored, so its good to see the support from players. Also, this team looks like it is having a blast out there on the floor. So teams, you really can't see that. It looks like the players are forced to play with each other, but the Rox seemed to be having fun. In the fourth, Rafer was taking a breather, when he came and sat next to Novak and it seemed like they were having a blast on the bench. ALSO, Bonzi and JVG seem to be getting along very well. During timeouts, and even during some plays, Bonzi would be talking to Coach about the play. Thats good news b/c we really need him.

5. Chuck Hayes is a rebounding machine, but he is also a lay-up blowing machine. Missed a couple of easy baskets in the first and took away some assists from Yao. But he is an amazing rebounder, especially when he is doing it against Brand and Kaman, who are pretty good rebounders themselves.

I was cheering so much that a Clipper fan who was sitting next to Steve Novak on the Rox bench in front row came over and told me she would try to get Yao to sign my jersey. It didn't happen, but I thought it was cool b/c she tried since the first quarter to do it, but the game was so close that Yao was never on the bench!

Pix should be coming in a little bit, or tomorrow so I hope you guys enjoy this little update, and if you guys have any questions ask and I will try to answer them. Great win for the Rox!

 

Here are some pictures from the game. Sorry if the quality isn't great.















More To Come!!!

 

Here are bigger pictures so the quality on these are better. Just click the picture and you will see them in bigger size!

 

Probably! He had atleast 2 or 3 from what I remember. However, the refs made some bad calls in the game that took a block and two steals away from the Rox!

 

More pictures for you guys to enjoy!

 

I got to the arena with like 1 min left in the shootaround b/c of that damn LA traffic and parking so I missed that, but speaking of shots, what the hell was that shot that Chuck Hayes put up in the first or second. He jumped, double-clutched the ball around his chest and threw up a shot that was short and down right UGLY! Wow... But again, his rebounding makes up for the ugly shots and missed lay ups!