myths exposed...Cat & KT's defense was outstanding...

I think Cat and Thomas pretty good d. Thomas played good in the second half on shareef. I can't say it was great because he did give up 28, but it was ok. The thing about is it won't let up. After this he has Brand, Smith , and Googs, so lets keep it up

 

KTs defense cannot go unnoticed for too much longer. He is so fast for his size! And he knows what he is doing. His hands are active as well. btw: we all need to look at Kenny stand next to other players. I was 5 rows up. Kenny is not 1 inch shorter than Shareef, and certainly NOT 2 inches.

I honestly believe, longterm, K9 is being groomed for an atypical small forward role. Don't forget to watch his passing.

As for Mobley, when the season progresses and more and more articles are written about the Rockets improved defense, they will focus on Cato/Willis and any rookie acknowledgments required. What will continuously go unnoticed is that the real improvement starts on the perimeter, by limiting the amount of time the frontline has to step in to help. Mobley, the leader who leads by example, won't care if we keep calling him "one-dimensional." As long as Rudy notices, I don't care about the Compaq Center and other CC Mobley hatas who remember one triple team on Mobley by Kucok and say that happened several times. dribble. dribble. dribble. (btw, the Kucok play looked more a mistake than planned...like a triple team on the wing is a plan...sheesh.)

 

The current Rockets team is primed to set some sort of record for steals during a season. One thing that caught my eye last night was how fast the entire team's hands were while on defense. I think this trait will definitely cause problems for the opposition throughout the season.

 

are you my long lost twin brother?

I was watching this in slow motion! We were laughing ourselves silly, rolling on the floor, especially the part where Shandn shows his mastery of the transitional backpedal after he bricks one. You see how he always looks at the coach with that grimmace like he doesn't know what he did wrong. Let's not forget though that Shandn does a lot of things that don't show up in the box score....like allow the entire defense to collaspe into the lane when he is passed the ball!

What will be different this year is the Knicks media will show less mercy than Houston did? They guy seriously sucks on offense.

But "I'm a Jordan stopper." Did Fegan train you to say that in your sleep too, Shandn?

 

I'm not a Mobley hater, but I've probably been one of his harsher critics. He HAS been talking more about stepping up on defense, and I have to give him lots of credit for showing it in the box score last night. I'd love to see him keep up the good work!

 

I have to agree with everyone about Cat and KT. Terry was essentially non-existent last night. And while Shareef put up 28 pts on Kenny, it took him 25 shots to do so (made 10). I will take that percentage from ANYONE he is guarding, regardless of how many shots he takes.

And as for the Shandon bashing, for shame on you all. I can't believe how much pleasure everyone is taking in one poor game by Anderson. Sure, I don't want him to lead the league in steals and 3 point percentage, making the Rockets look stupid, but I don't want to see him fail so badly that he can't stay in the league. I am just happy that the Rockets had enough intelligence to know he wasn't worth what he was asking for.

 

Oh...don't worry yourself. Save that for cheering for Dream. Shandon didn't fail. Ask Fegan! Anyone who can get $5.333m by slyly pointing fingers at a coach and young point guard to obfuscate his own garbage offense (that allows an entire defense to play the stars tighter)...did not fail!

 

Since I couldn't watch the Rockets game, let's talk a bit about Shandn.

I'm glad we got rid of the guy. Aside from Jordan making him his b**** on the offensive end, Shandn as usual didn't have any "o" in his very, very limited game. Bricks and an airball while he was completely open reminded me of why we complained so much about his shooting... so much for his vouch of improving that part of his game.

And he always had that bored dead fish look in his eyes. The man doesn't care. He is emontionless. His motivitation level should be at it's highest as he is supposedely trying to earn minutes in Van Gundy's system and he sleepwalks around the court? Getting abused by his floorness in a really bad shooting night and notecieably out of shape?

So much for the defensive stopper. The guy is an open-court slasher and that's it.

If I were a Knicks fan I would be pulling my hair out now... and the other poor Jazz reject Eisley, didn't even got to play.

Layden must be a popular guy in NY now.

 

Hey Terry what do you think about defense?

It needs a few patches here and there and a fresh coat of paint, but it should be alright for a year or two....

 

That's too funny!

Another Shandn one: Did you see the slashing spin move he tried on Jordan. Shandn with the ball at the top of the arc, Jordan is like sagging 10 feet away so the Wizard's can cheat on guarding Spike Lee closer, so Shandn has nothing to do but shoot a 3, drive, or make that crucial hot potato, swing pass to a double-teamed Sprewell....so this time he decides to try his dribble since, after all, Fegan says he is a driver/slasher type who shouldn't have to spot up...He drives with the dribble to the right of Jordan with the idea to make that patented Drexler spin-change.hands-and dive to the basket-move...he succeed in getting Jordan to "fall" for the drive part of the move, and manages to succeed in spinning while changing dribbling hand to his left hand has his back shields Jordan as he spins...well done, Shandn.

But too bad Shandn forgot to do this move quickly, because Jordan had time to continue around Shandn's back and snatch the ball out of his left hand. I mean, we see defenders play matador defense (especially on fastbreaks) and whip their arm around the back of the dribbler to poke the ball away (that's Playground 101 defense), but I don't think I've ever seen a guy do a spin move and the defender able to run around the spin and snatch the ball...we must have watched that in slow motion 5 times...we were rolling on the floor.

 

I definitely noticed. He seemed to have good chemistry working with Glen Rice in the 2nd quarter, a couple of excellent passes in a row. Impressive.

 

crispee, why so hung up on Shandon? Is it just because he played on national TV and had a bad game, or are you planning on analyzing his play on a game-to-game basis?

I agree he had a bad game, I agree he's overpaid... but move on! This thread is about a good, Rockets-related topic: Cat's and K9's defense last night. Both were excellent!! 3 out of your four posts in this thread have diverted attention away from that important message, IMO.

 

Unbelievable...sometimes I get great laughs in here.

One bad game by Shandon and hes a scrub.

One decent game by KT and suddenly he has shred being the defensive liability that he actually has been for 3 years.

I guess Francis is a scrub for his shooting problems last night.

Is it respectable defense when a guys takes 25 shots on you but misses alot of them, yet still manages 28 points?

Anyone who believes KT (at least right now) is a starter on any other 3 teams in the NBA is seriously delusional. Heck make that any other 2 teams.

Mobley, deserves praise. Although its not like Terry is a player who puts fear into any coaches game plan. Cmon....its Jason Terry. Not Kobe Bryant.

This is the Hawks guys. For as good as Shareef is, he didnt get the Grizz to do anything why should he make Atlanta a sudden "Eastern Conference Contender"

Its real nice to get a W. But cmon guys.



Good Job Cato...thought Id never in my life say that.

 

I think Thomas is an average defender at best overall, mainly because of his short height.

I see him as a player who can make plays on the defensive end, but he is NOT a stopper by any stretch of the imagination.

In other words, if he's not making a great play, he's getting dunked on.

 

Wasn't KT the one getting lit up by SAR in the first half?

He did adjust well in the 4th quarter, but you can't forget that he was getting torched early...

 

Dreamshake,

Try one plus 164 games watching Shandn. You merely think he is good and just needed to move on, so that is why you call it just "one bad game." Like none of the other bad games count. Let me explain one thing that tips off how bad Shandn is, watch the defense against the Knicks anytime Shandn gets the ball. They back off him and guard everyone else tighter. They want the ball in Shandn's hands. That tells me that the league's scouts have a profile on Shandn.

He is a 5-yr vet. The league will learn your patterns.

No. I believe he has always shown solid defense, and now he is faster. This is no fluke. The defensive liability tag was given him based purely on height and having to play too soon as a rookie. Make no mistake though, he is not a defensive liability....what I am seeing is no fluke.

Further, KT is not our starter, either. He is our backup if Mo' doesn't get injured. This backup is a good defender, with fast feet, fast hands, reflexes and smart! He has a solid role on this team for the longterm. Get used to it. You can say we don't know what we are talking about, but when you continue defending Shandn's offense, that is really telling.

DS...you know, you have no real take in this thread other than saying we are wrong, because we are just mentioning one game. Very weak. That is what gives me "great laughs in here."

 

Didn't Griffin played all his minutes against SAR. I know that he got tourched on a couple of occassions.

But how much torching is SAR doing at 10-25?

Let's not argue. Just watch Kenny. Watch his lateral movement and hands. If he makes stud PFs shoot over him, without backing him in, that is a success in my book for any defender. Make the studs shoot over you. Do not let them get around you or back you in. How much can one hope to accomplish against studs?