Guys, I am going to post comments of the game for those who didn't see it. Please feel free to add any of your comments or comment on my comments. 1. Chuck Hayes is still our best post defender, and it is not even close. His D against Garnett is good and the strength he had is amazing. On one play, KG lost his dribble while posting chuck up. Chuck will definitely be an integral piece of our roster. No doubt about that. On the same topic of post defense, I think Carl Landry has improved a bit compared to last year. He had his left hand up contesting Garnett's shot with good timing(or right if KG is fading and spinning). He is just too short and doesn't have the strength to make KG off balance on his shot, which chuck can unless he is out of position or when it's too deep in. Scola's timing is still a lil off. (5PF) 2. Strawberry doesn't stand a chance on this roster. His proclaimed strength, Defense, is suspect at best today. 3. Aaron Brooks' playmaking does not warrant confidence. Yes, he did have great drive and kickouts sometimes, but overall he has also made some stupid mistakes while trying to make plays. At this point, I'll be happy if he can use his speed to blow by opponents and score on a reliable basis. Making plays consistently is not likely to come by this year. One thing Brooks shoudl improve on is his 3 point shooting. He made none out of the 4 attempts. And they are ususally only slightly contested if not fully open. 4. Yao is looking in decent shape. has room for improvement. 5. Ron Artest seem to be able to control his emotion!!!!!! tried to hold yao back. also did not seem to lose his temper when pierce was holding him down. 6. Love Carl Landry. He seem to be confident and in control of his game. 7. Rafer alston seem to revert back to rafer 'brickston'. 8. Our team defense is poor. Hopefully this is only happens because it's preseason. Perhaps Shane Battier just makes us that much better? Our offense seem to be stagnant as usual. One year under Adelman is still not enough.
You forgot the part where Artest mocked Pierce by flopping and drawing a T. Also the part where Bill "tough guy" Walker shoves McGrady, and flies a few feet after getting nudged by McGrady's injured shoulder. Our defense is probably due to the fact that we're playing mostly scrubs and reserves, so some of the newer players have yet to get a grip on our defense. Not to mention, Artest may be a very good defensive player, and may have played for RA, but this is still his first time playing with Rockets Defense and Offense, so he probably needs time to adjust as well. However, despite the fact that we don't look as smooth as we should, we cannot forget that we just played the defending champs. Not to mention, our unsmooth offense seems to be enough to beat Celtics. Imagine if McGrady played 5 minutes more, or if Battier was here. We know they won't play big minutes, but we might just have won this game.
By far, Artest seems to be the only rocket that is ready to start the season. He is strong and seems to be already in good shape.
this is a little off topic but: I DVR'd the Boston game last night and when I tried to watch it later on it was just a FSN sports center.... I have AT&T which is ch. 756...does anybody else have AT&T and know what the deal wih preseason games is...I havn't watched a game on TV yet because I went to the first two
Backup PG is a big problem unless Francis is able to come back for the start of the season. We can't wait until midseason for him to return, going into the season with only Rafer and Brooks is scary. Brent Barry is not an option at the point so unless Adelman experiments with TMac running the point as one of his rotations we'll need to trade for a backup PG if Francis can't cut it.
I dont know about everyone else but i am very happy that Mcgrady and Yao got into it with other players, and with the defending champs. This shows something that i didnt think Mcgrady had in him, passion. To nearly get into a fight is good for several reasons. One because it shows how much he cares and his passion. Mcgrady is bashed all the time for his softness and his timidness, this shows that he understands that he has something important to fight for this year and is willing to fight for it , literarly. Second its good because it will bring the team together!! This team with its new players needs to create a bond. For Yao and Mcgrady to get into to it and to see Artest backing them up, it just could not get no better!! Its what the team needs. I think that Artest needs to know that he has players in here that are willing to go to war with him. And that this is not the soft team that everyone else say it is. When it comes to the game, im just relieved that everyone is healthy. Go Rockets
It's because there are TWO FSN-Houston channels, and you recorded the wrong one. Even though it may say "NBA Basketball" for channel 756, they only show it on 755. Rockets' games will always be on 755 for AT&T.
I used to consider Pierce a guy who is not always willing to make troubles, and I even had sympathy on him when he was knifed eleven holes on his fat body. Now I really think Pierce should go h**l where he will be knifed more
I loved this game. It was pre-season, but we already let Boston know we weren't going to take their balls-in-your-face behavior from last year. All that rough play, as well as the "no shots after the whistle" stuff, is all designed to establish a psychological superiority over their opponents, and we didn't let it happen. And it was the reason why this preseason game was so hotly contested. We match up pretty well against them (Artest on Pierce/Allen, Yao on their crappy rotation of centers, and good defenders for Garnett to boot); I think this is the matchup the whole country might want to see in the Finals by the time the season is halfway gone. Artest is not the #1 man in this clubhouse (I'd say Yao probably has that distinction now by virtue of his talent), but there's a palpable difference in our team's attitude with him on board. I absolutely cannot wait to see our first game against Utah. We just need to get to the season already so our third unit doesn't get anymore play, seriously they are just laying turds in the punchbowl every 4th quarter. Thankfully during the regular season they'll either be on the bench or playing <15 minutes in staggered form around our real rotation players.
McGrady does actually look pretty Intimidating when angry. He needs more of this. The part where Eddie House backtracked was just classic. Its going to be all over youtube soon.-
Actually, I thought Brooks did a much better job in the 2nd half. Yea the first half looked real bad at times but I thought he mostly pulled it together in the 4th. And I'm not worrying about Alston as his bricks don't seem seem like they are going to be affecting the outcome of the game as much as they did 2 years ago. Head's play in the 2nd half reminded me about what I hate in his game. Pleasantly surprised T-mac's FT's were falling. If its between Wafer and strawberry, stawberry is gone.
Rockets have brought in a special players development coach. one of his tasks was to help with our free throw woes. so maybe that is a the reason why tracys free throws looked good. besides the fist one, all of his 8 made free throws were swishes. didnt even touch the rim.
