Lets see... Hakeem having the game of the season- Rockets giving up layups on every posession, what do you do? Put in the best shot blocker in the history of the game? No, you put in Kenny Thomas of course. Granted Hakeem missed some crucial free throws, but the Rockets would not have been in that situation if they hadn't allowed the Mavs to run layup drills. You can't make the argument that he was resting Hakeem, because they now have three bloody days off. Gee, how do you defend the best player on the Mavericks, Michael Finley? Do you put your best defensive player on him and send a double team, or do you put the worst defensive player on him and let them go one on one. It was choice B for Rudy tonight. Walt should never have been guarding Finley, and when he was, they should have doubled. Ever heard of timeout management? Here were the lineups during most of the fourth quarter. Francis Nash Norris Eisley Williams Finley Thomas Howard Anderson Nowitski The Mavs had their best players on the court, while Rudy went with the worst defensive lineup possible. Hakeems missed free throws probably cost the Rockets the game, but they shouldn't have had to rely on those for the win. -Can someone please guard Nowitski. he had two threes from the EXACT same spot on consecutive posessions that basically turned the whole game around. Lately Rudy was doing really well with his rotations, but in one of the most important games of the year, he was way off of his game. Those lineups may work against the Bulls, but not against quality western teams. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
Yea ZRB, I question Rudy's lineups sometimes. I do not like Walt Williams in the game at the end. I'd rather have KT or somebody who doesnt like to slap and get cheap fouls. I do like Walt Williams when he is hitting, but that is little and not often. Dream was awesome tonight, but he missed key free throws and had some bad TO's. Steve had that bad TO at the end. Mo had a bad tech that really hurt at the time as far as momentum goes. They still went 3-1 on this road trip which is what I expected, and with their easy games coming up, it's looking GOOD. ------------------
This is the first loss against Dallas all year man. What are you talking about? lol ------------------ "Relax... kids swallow quarters all the time. If she craps out two dimes and a nickel then start worrying!" -Grumpier Old Men
They can still go 35-28, but they would still be on the outside looking in. They just choked this one away, thanks to a night of bad coaching and bad free-throw shooting. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
I can't wait to read what the guys at the chronicle think... ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
I think this is just a bump in the road to the playoffs. It was a road game. Dallas really hung in there and earned the win; Nowitzki came up big in the 4th. We make our free throws and not make the costly turnover near the end and we would have won. Most of the time we led. I do believe we gave this one away but I'm very happy Dream stepped up and showed what he can really do. We get Mobley back and we're going to be SCARY the rest of the way. ------------------
I don't want to be scary, I want to be good. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
I still haven't figured out the Walt Williams on Finley thing. There are great defensive players that can't stop Finley -- what was Walt supposed to do? And oh my God, I thought I saw them do an ISO for Walt on one play... were my eyes deceiving me? ------------------ "I was arrested for sexual assault involving an elderly man and I was out in 35 minutes." -- Achebe - programmer by day, geriatric ass grabber by night. As(s?) a side note, he did state he was cleared of charges.
That iso followed a timeout by Rudy. The Mavs announcers kept saying that Rudy always draws up great plays after timeouts. I can't believe his plan was to post Walt up. Look, I like Walt. I think he's a great weapon off the bench and he should be used in the second and third quarters to help extend leads with his threes. I do NOT think he should be playing in the fourth, when the Rockets need good defense and consistent offense. Horrible coaching by Rudy tonight, and horrible execution by the rest of the team. I can't even feel that positive over Hakeem because of those free throws. Man, I want Mobley back! ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
The Mavs were getting easy dunks even when Dream was on the floor. I think the Rockets were just a little too banged up to pull this one out. Still if they make 6 more free throws then we are not even discussing this. ------------------
Rudy pulled Hakeem out because Hakeem was exhausted. They even called it during the play-by-play. If you would actually listen, you might catch that. Hakeem probably couldn't have blocked a shot after his 30+ minutes if he had wanted to. As for Walt, they were playing matchups. Cuttino probably would've been in there instead of Walt, but he was hurt. The Mavs always force teams into wierd line-ups because Nelson invented small-ball. Not EVERY loss is the fault of Rudy T. No one is perfect but this is a man who has turned a team around about as quickly as anyone could have thought possible. He's molding talent and has a VERY young on the cusp of the playoffs. ------------------ "You know what they say about the music business. Here today, gone TODAY! - Chris Rock at the MTV Music Video Awards
Rudy has been good for much of this season, but TODAY he was horrible. I don't care if Hakeem was exhausted, his mere presence scares opponents away from driving to the basket on every possession. Walt should not have been guarding Finley. Nowitski is slower, and would have been a better matchup for Walt. You don't put your worst defender on the other team's best player. The Rockets now have three days off to rest, so there was no reason for Hakeem not to play most of the fourth. Why doesn't Rudy sit Hakeem in the third quarter? The fourth quarter is when we need him, not the third. I know Hakeem needed some rest, but for HALF THE QUARTER? That is rediculous. This was a hugely important game. I am not blaming Rudy entirely, as the Rockets missed crucial free throws, but this loss had a lot to do with Rudy T. They really needed this win, but instead they racked up another loss to a good team. 13-25 against the west is just not good enough. This loss was big. I think Rudy has done a great job in getting this team to gel and go four games above .500, but his lineups and defensive strategies have been questionable. I have always liked Rudy, but some of his decisions seem a bit moronic. I am no expert, but how do you put Walt on Finley? How? A mental lapse. Hence, Rudy did not have his game tonight. I expect the team to win the next three games, so the next really important game will be against Phoenix. Hopefully Rudy's coaching game will be back. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
Let's face it, ZRB. For you, EVERY loss has a lot to do with Rudy T. ------------------ "You know what they say about the music business. Here today, gone TODAY! - Chris Rock at the MTV Music Video Awards
Do you think Walt should have been guarding Finley? How can you deny the fact that Rudy made many, many mistakes tonight? ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
I'm not denying anything. I'm just pointing out that every loss, for you, seems to either be Rudy's fault or have something to do with Hakeem not getting the ball enough. We know you don't like Rudy. We got that already. What I'm saying is give credit when it is deserved and layoff the blame when it isn't. Rudy did not make "many, many" bad decisions in this game. Hakeem came out both in the 3rd and 4th because he was tired. In the 3rd, he asked to come out. He waved to the bench. In the fourth, the guy could barely breathe. He was lucky to get up and down the floor at all. He was a monster when he was out there, but he just doesn't have the stamina to do 38 minute games any longer. As for Walt, I didn't like him out their either, but he isn't the reason we lost this game. The game was lost at the free throw line, plain and simple. Even if Walt being on the floor was a mistake, that doesn't account for your "many, many" mistakes made by Rudy T. ------------------ "You know what they say about the music business. Here today, gone TODAY! - Chris Rock at the MTV Music Video Awards
Ooops, my bad. "Many, many, many." Got to get that third one in there. ------------------ "You know what they say about the music business. Here today, gone TODAY! - Chris Rock at the MTV Music Video Awards
What is interesting...the refs hit 3 rockets with techs for petty little actions, and nothing for Rudy. The way he was screaming his head off, he should have been ejected (if their so cheap with the t's on the players). ------------------ Watch Cat's Corner every Sunday night on Fox 26 news at 9! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ROCKETS! [This message has been edited by finalsbound (edited March 04, 2001).]
I like Rudy, I have already said that. He has done a lot for this team. I just don't understand some of his rotations. I like Francis, but I hate the way he turns the ball over. I like Mobley, but I hate the way he jacks up ill-advised shots. I like Hakeem, but I hate the way he misses crucial free throws. I like Mo, but I hate the way he doesn't rebound. I like Rudy, but I thinks some of his rotations have been pure lunacy. With every player and coach, there are positives and negatives. I was pointing out that there were more negatives with Rudy tonight. NEVER have I said that I didn't like Rudy, so don't put words into my mouth. I think he is a hard worker and great motivator. I also think he has cost the Rockets a few games with his defensive rotations and substitution patterns. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
I noticed the same thing. I did not see any techs on any mavs. When moochie get the tech in the first half I thought it was for Nash. I still can't believe they T'd Steve early in the game. Rudy looked like he wanted to strangle the ref. I just did not notice the Rockets doing anything that deseved T's. Those were three valuble points to. ------------------
Jeff, why don't you like ZRB ? ------------------ "Roses are red. Violets are blue. I'm a schizophrenic and so am I."
