I loved the game. It went pretty much as I thought, except for an "L" in the result column. But that "L" could just as easily have been "DSW*". Similiarly, if we had a "W" it could also be a "DSW*". {* Ed Note: DSW = Duh, So What?} Preseason: As so many have postulated here, and no doubt accross the country on similiar BBS's, the preseason has nothing to do with Wins and Losses. Coaches have a well defined agenda going into these games and the Win-Loss column is likely closer to: Reason #37, Get WaterBoy used to quicker Gatorade and towel exchanges. My Favorite Ten Observations 1. I don't know if I can even type this, because it is so painful to admit, but ... stop laughing,now ... I actually saw Walt make a couple of good defensive plays! And, they did not involve reaching in simply because he was out of position, but, and this really hurts me, he was in the proper position for the defensive play and IT WAS HIS MAN! All those novenas to St Jude are beginning to pay off!!!!! 2. Our starting five are in pretty good physical shape. I know they huffed and puffed, but generally they looked good. Steve, Mobes and Shandon were ripped. Hakeem had a good workout without too much languishing on the runback. (Did you see him diving to the floor for a steal within five minutes of the start?) Hakeem was supposed to have dropped 35 to 40 lbs this summer. He looks about the same weight as about Jan-Feb of last year, and that is following a Ram-fast. A good start for him. Wiz looks like he dropped a couple of pounds too.(Dang second positive thing about the Wizbang so far. I got to take it easy.) Taylor looked in better shape than when I saw him in LA last December. 3. Maurice Taylor. I don't know about ya'll, but that guy imporessed me. He tried for every available rebound in his way, coming down with 9 or 10, he hustled most of the time out there, he looked INVOLVED. I really liked his demeanor. Liked his anger at himself when he missed a shot or got out of position. You can tell by his game that he is used to getting the ball a lot. Better still, he showed he had some moves inside. Although they were sometimes stilted and looked awkward, he showed he has some excellent skills waiting to be properly applied when he gets comfortable with his teamates. 4. Steve. I could say a lot here, but will only mention that his turnovers were the result of (a) officials learning/honing their season form a little too strictly, (b) Stevie Wonder's missed calculations on passes to teammates. In most cases, it was the teammate just not in position. Or, he zinged them in unexpectantly. Both of these categories will improve with time. He looked bulkier, but faster somehow, didn't he? 5. Cato did not impress me with anything, except he did not argue with the officials. Thanks,mom. He looked like he was just out there filling a position. 6. Collier looked like a lost sheep. I am waiting for him to slim down or get rid of that "unsightly baby fat". (I hear he has already been advised to move some weight to muscle, or his play will be limited.) I watched his footwork when he had the ball and he does have some placement moves. His touch at 16 feet was okay, but hurried. That is just the inexperience and the jitters I am hoping. His "D" was invisible. 7. Langhi was like Peter Pan. No ... not spritely and gay while fluttering here and there. Peter Pan like he was on the court, and by the time you noticed him, he was gone again. He is taller than I expected, and runs the floor well, but I can't think of anything that would resemble an accurate appraisal. 8. I know almost everyone would have missed this. I think anyway. The Praying Mantis (who looks pretty good physically this year) was doing a good job out there. He made some passes. Broke up some plays. Made some patented (and successful) long shots. Basically, we had no real answer for him, until Matt bullard came out and stayed in his face everytime he crossed the half hash. Matt shut him down. Took away his involvement. For all the harsh and sometimes even accurate portraits we paint about Matt Bullard, he is a skilled veteran who will do exactly what RT tells him to do. Bradley went to the bench. 9. Najera. Good first game. Limited experience are hidden by a strong work ethic and blue-collar attituide. Must have been a fun night for him. Reminded me of many Rockets of the past, including Mario, Murph, Rudy, Sleepy, etc... . All piss and vinegar. Just turn me loose! 10. When Cuban found out he was not allowed to spend money on players directly by giving them presents, allowing them to use his Jet indiscriminately, buying them "gifts" .... he did the next best thing. He rebuilt them the best lockeroom in the NBA (probably pro sports), gave them first class, top shelf accomadations when travelling and basically gave them anything they wanted that was not construed as invasion of the salary cap regulations. They now have more coaches than any other NBA team. Each with a specific practice duty, and game day assignment. Only in NelsonLand. Ya gotta love his propensity and dedication for being an oddball.(Let's see Karl Malone try to fight with Nellie now!!!!!!!) Cheers.
My Take... Mobley has a step back jumper...woohoo. Looks like that is his new addition. This will give him a better attack in the 10-15' range.
Good takes on the game Oily one. More: 1. Shandon Anderson is in top Defensive form, as he basically stopped Finley cold. 2. Dallas has a very nice team, that plays within its capabilities, they set picks, rolled to the hole, all in all a fun team to watch. 3. Moochie looks really good, and confident, he played very well and was actually running the team better then Francis IMHO. 4. Cuttino looks sharp, he still makes some bonehead plays, but he made some REAL nice defensive plays too, let's hope that continues. The most important thing to notice, is that we are finally talking Basketball around here again...WOOOHOOO !!! On to Thursday's game. DaDakota ------------------ All you MO-FO's better stop ripping off my lines !!
FUNNY that you mentioned Bullard, Oily-Pear. I happened to be sitting by several Rockets fans at the game (I think they lumped us all together on purpose) and we were all laughing at Bullard. The comment heard round the arena was, "Don't come in Bullard's house!!" He had two great defensive plays back to back....a block on Laettner I believe, and then a steal down low. Bullard really played well in the little action he got. ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
DaDa Good points. And, I agree with you. Mavericks will be an exciting team this year. M.Cuban is an excitable guy to play for, and actually mirrors what a lot of fans fantasized about. That is, make obscene amounts of money quickly in a Dot.Com company, buy an existing Sports Franchise and let it rock as you laugh and have fun. It sure helps that he has some brains to go along with that,too. All good points about Mooch, Cat and Shandon. We also will have some exciting games ahead. Welcome back to our Cardiac Kids of yesteryear's RudyBall. Hoop-T-Doop I know I am at a minority around here so it is nice to have ANY compliments about Bull. But there is a reason he keeps making the roster. And it is simple. He is a very versatile player who can play a number of positions, usually with average results, does EXACTLY what he is told to by RT, and has enough skills that he will surprise even the most ardent critic with an occasional assignement in above average production. The fact that he does not do everything with the flare and finesse of an NBA superstar, should not negate his individual effectiveness at doing what he is sent to the floor to do. "Don't come in Bullard's house!!" - I Love It !!!!!! ( Believe me, he will be rolling on the floor with that one!) Cheers.
heypartner: That little stepback you saw from about 8-10 feet was no accident. When I was at training camp, after practice I saw him shooting those shots for about 15 minutes one after another. I watched the entire time and did not ONCE see him miss. It was ridiculous. ------------------ Save Our Rockets and Comets SaveOurRockets.com
Here's my take. Playing a preseason game against Dallas is a complete waste of time if you happen to be a center. I'm sure MoTay appreciated the minutes regardless of where they came. ------------------ "I'd like to be going down Fourth Avenue in a parade with all the graffiti coming down on our heads." -- Patrick Ewing, showing off that Georgetown edumacation.
Good take Franchise Cat. You're right that the Rockets still need a banger. Imagine if Barkley were still playing, Najera would have fouled out in under 10 minutes!! Hell he probably should have after slamming the ball to the court and going over the back twice before the half was over. Oh well, it was just the first of many preseason tests. Another thing I wanted to point out, didn't Rudy say he wasn't going to play anyone for extended minutes?? Why did he play Francis and Mobley 40 minutes and 35 minutes respectively?? BTW, I can't wait for Thursday!! ------------------ Too often, we lose sight of life's simple pleasures. Remember, when someone annoys you it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown, but it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and pimp-slap the mother****** upside the head!
HOOP-T, you must have been sitting near me. I also heard many Rockets fans singing Bullard's praises (me included). Air Bullard is my favorite basketball player who is not a star in any way. The dude cracks me up. ------------------ "Nothing is certain but the unforseen." Some Dude
Raven, Where were you sitting? I was in sec. 119, don't remember the row (maybe H), but we were seats 1 and 2 in that row. Good stuff! ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
How 'bout Bradley trying to put the ball on the floor and dribble behind his back? What was he thinking? Dumbest Bill Worrell quote thus far: "It sure is nice to have a scorer at the power forward position, something we've been lacking the last couple of years." (or something like that) Did Bill see *any* games in the last two years?!?
jamcracker - I don't think Worrell will ever top himself for the quote he made about Jim Deshaies (ex-Astros pitcher). The knock on Deshaies is that he was not consistent from start to start. Worrell's comment was "He's consistent, just not all the time". As an aside - do any of you have digital cable that uses the "InDemand" service to supply NBA League Pass? If so, were the games on last night (there were 3 scheduled)? My cable company is trying to pass the blame off to InDemand for me no being able to see the games last night. Thanks ------------------
Ya know ....... RT keeps talking like a running gunning wide-open-type of offense is the direction he wants the team heading in, but I continually see more of a finesse-type offense trying to peek through. Actually, a finesse game certainly plays into the type of players we have on the roster (with only a few exceptions). Anyway, the above posts are noted an welcomed. Every team needs a couple of bangers. Pig was never shy about anyone. Karl is only a banger with an asterisk*. In my opinion, he only banged and roughed it when on offense, or if he was getting stopped consistently on the other end and he wanted to payback an opponent. Kevin Willis would be my most recent Rocket favorite, and I would take him over Oakley right now. He made no bones about it. His "... I am going to use all my six fouls on you ... ", philosophy was deadly. It was like hitting a brick wall of solid rage. Did anyone see the Vancover Game? Swift paraded around after making some highlight runs and then banged, shot and pushed his way into the league properly. I liked him at the draft and may have even picked him 1st given the opportunity. DaJones (A big D Maverick last year) came alive and stroked some very nice ball too. Dickerson was steady. Harrington showed he could and would play ball this year, despite wanting to play somewhere else.
Sounds like you are talking about Craig Ehlo Oakley brings so much more to the table than Willis. He has a nice outside shot, fights for every lose ball and he doesn't whine if he's not getting 30 min a night. He also does whatever the coach asks him to do. Whatever it takes to win. He would be a nice addition to this team. My take on last nights game: Shandon looked aggresive on the offensive end. Nice to see, as last year he didn't get comfy in the offense till the end of the season. Mobley continues to make the same mistakes, in this his third year, as he made in his first year. Isn't that why Rudy traded Sam Cassell? He did look better on D I will admit. MoTay looked very good, hustling on the boards, and hitting a couple of nice J's. Francis, well what can you say. The guy does everything. He had a couple of bad turnovers but I can live with that. He was also trying to get everyone involved. I think during the season Rudy may turn him loose in certain situations because there is no one who can stop him. I was very encouraged with Dream. He will be fine in this his final year. Offense is not a problem for this team, Defense is another story. Hopefully Rudy can get these guys on the same page defensively so we won't have to go through another season of 3rd quarter collapses. ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know. [This message has been edited by BobFinn* (edited October 11, 2000).]
B(Mickey)Finn, wrote: Oakley brings so much more to the table than Willis. He has a nice outside shot, fights for every lose ball and he doesn't whine if he's not getting 30 min a night. He also does whatever the coach asks him to do. Whatever it takes to win. He would be a nice addition to this team. Right now, Oak is a better all-around player, without a doubt. No argument from me. But my point was: We have guys with an outside shot and lots of other skills. We have a vertible plethora of talent on the roster. But what we need is a pure unselfish banger, who allows his teamates to play their game without worrying about looking over their shoulders. Someone who is the prime protector. Someone who does not need the ball to be effective. Is content to not score unless only as a last result. Kinda-like the Big Powewr Forward version of point guard Moochie Norris. Did you ever notice how he only scores after an almost begrudgingly shrug and all other options have been eliminated.) A big guy version to effectively and consistently protect their asses all night. To me that is Kevin Willis. Not Qak.
Not to argue with you, but: In 80 games last season, Oakley averaged 6.9 pts In 79 games, Willis averaged 7.6 They both shot a lousy 41% Oakley never has been a scorer and doesn't need the ball. He loves setting picks. I like Willis as well, but I think Oakley would fit in much nicer on this team. ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know.
What we need is the old Jayson Williams. That guy didn't mind banging or scrapping with anyone! ------------------ Too often, we lose sight of life's simple pleasures. Remember, when someone annoys you it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown, but it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and pimp-slap the mother****** upside the head!
Jerome Williams is our man. He is buried in the farthest reaches of the Detroit bench. One can only hope... ------------------ By moonlight, we RIDE ten THOUSAND side by side...!
I unfortunately missed most of the game (Caught the first 6 minutes, and the last 4:30). So my analysis will be in 2 sections: From what I saw- -Cat's defense was much improved. -Walt's was better, not sure how much though. -Mo was really going after the boards, he seemed to be pressing a little, and forcing on offense. That I'm pretty sure he can improve upon. -Hakeem looked a lot healthier than before. His minutes will likely decrease from last season, but at least we won't see the huffing and puffing Hakeem who looked closer to Charles Jones. -Shandon was VERY assertive on offense. Hopefully, he'll find a good stroke, and he'll be a big weapon. Thoughts from the box score: -We lost the game in the 2nd quarter. -Rockets pulled down 53 rebounds. To put that in perspective, the Lakers led the league last year with 47. The Mavs managed 45 boards, kind of odd looking at the stat below. -Shooting was atrocious. 36%? That'll obviously get better. Free throws (85.4%) were great. The Mavs shot 44.8% from the field and 60.9% from the FT line. (The Rockets misses also somewhat account for our high rebounding total). -Our guards did very well in the board department, maybe due to the minutes they got, but I don't think we can expect our 4 guards to average 7 boards a piece. Now here comes my shocking statement: I like what Kenny did based on the numbers I see (I didn't see him in the game at all though). If he can get around 20 minutes, get 6 boards, and not take too many shots (depending on who he's in with, maybe a little more than the 4 he took.) and shoot a good percentage. Kenny lovers, save this thread for evidence! . TURNOVERS. Way too many, and not enough forced. Eisley and Nash are hardly Jason Kidd and John Stockton. Francis, Cat, and Shandon should be forcing them to make more errors than they did (only 14 turnovers, Eisley 3; Nash 2). Francis is a much better handler, I don't recall seeing him make any turnovers from the fragment I watched. Hopefully, it's just timing. What was with Shandon's 4 turnovers, where'd those happen? Where were our blocked shots? We had just 3: 2 by our 6'4'' guard Cuttino Mobley, and 1 by Air Bullard. Maybe Cato's injury played into part of that, but especially since Dallas went small for awhile, I'd have liked to have gotten more. Blocked Shots are a good way to start fast breaks. Random thoughts on Dallas: We proved they aren't THAT good. I thought we did a good job on Finley, holding him to 11. If we can force it to the last seconds, with our main center (Cato, assumed Olajuwon not having too much time) out, and in THEIR building, I like our chances, even though it is a meaningless preseason game. Who let Greg Buckner get 13 rebounds. He's a 6'4'' backup. Najera did play a great game. I'll keep my Langhi though. He was entirely based on hustle, 6 of his 9 boards were offensive. In the NBA, they'll start watching him more carefully, IF he even gets any minutes behind Trent, Laettner, and Thomas. If he can burn 6 fouls in 26 minutes, with the big men the Rockets have, I wonder how long he'd last vs. Shaq, or the Spurs. Bring on Charlotte. Unfortunately for us, (I personally wanted to see our frontline matching up against theirs) Derrick Coleman is out for the preseason. ------------------ The Serious Police are watching. Follow the rules or be assimilated. Shandon is underrated. [This message has been edited by NIKEstrad (edited October 11, 2000).]
I also have league pass on INdemand. I was so frustrated yesterday when I could only watch fragments of the game on NBA.com TV. I called the cable company, and they said that they were not offering preseason games; yet they had three scheduled yesterday, and about ten more over the next few days. They said this was a "mistake", with the guide. Ten mistakes over three days? It is very annoying. ------------------ 1999-2000 Rockets Game Formulas: End of 1st quarter: "They're playing so well!" 2nd: "What a great game!" 3rd: "Theres no way they can lose now!" 4th: "What the ******* **** happened?!!"
