Watching the entire game, I thought C-Webb played horribly... Then I check the boxscore and see that he shot 12-22 for 28 points and grabbed 14 boards... However, they were the most quiet 28 and 14 game I have ever seen... Why is that? Because he shoots too many jumpers and didn't make his presence felt inside at all... He does not go to the line enough to draw fouls and most importanly doesn't post up enough to draw double teams to free up the Kings shooters... LA didn't allow Sac to get ANY open shots... Why is this? Because LA not only played great man-to-man D, but they allowed Webber to be guarded man-to-man by HoGrant on the OUTSIDE... Webber taking jumpers freezed his teammates from getting into the game and prevented them from being able to get anything easy off of the double teams... Needless, to say, I was not impressed by him and see a Mo Taylor clone on offense... I say we get Antonio Davis and Olajuwon... Rockets need toughness and Webber can't provide that... ------------------ "Awesome baby!" Dick Vitale
Webbers value to the Rockets is going to be hotly debated. Part of what was seen in Game 3 was Webber carrying the Kings on his back. It's hard to go inside even against Grant (a fair defender) when Shaq is waiting for you. The Kings were 1 of 14 from the 3pt line - not exactly a defense stretching performance. Webber shoudn't take the all of the blame. The Kings entire team (with the possible exception of Pollard) flat out STUNK! Do you recall some of their open court decisions? I was almost embarrassed for them (ALMOST). IMHO, it wasn't a case of how good the Lakers played but more a case of how BAD the Kings played. ------------------ GATER
I mostly agree with kidrock. Webber's numbers are good for this series, but his effectiveness has not been. If you've watched the games, he seems to have had little impact on them. Nothing he's doing is causing the Lakers to change anything. They're defense is treating him just like he was Kenny Thomas -- stick your "4" on him, no matter who he is. No further defensive rotation has been necessary. He's not creating situations for anybody else either. Webber is having little to no effect on this series on both ends, despite the seemingly impressive numbers he's put up. This is a team that won 55 games, one less than LA, and it's not even a series.
Against the Lakers, the Kings were 1-3 during the regular season. There were 2 games were Webber had 25 points. In a loss where he had 25, the Kings shot 20% from the arc. In the win, the Kings shot 46.4% from the 3line. In the playoffs, the Lakers may not be sending a direct double, but whoever is guarding Webber can take risks 'cause Shaq is there for damage control. IMHO, Webber is much better than this series demonstrates. Partly because the other Kings are playing horrendously and partly because Webbers ankle is bothering him. ------------------ Raef to Rocks in '01-'02! [This message has been edited by GATER (edited May 13, 2001).]
