I haven't really done this in a while, but I felt in the mood tonight. So, here are some of the thoughts I had througout the game that I jotted down. [*]It's no wonder Golden State leads the league in offensive rebounding - they can't seem to even hit the rim, let alone hit a shot! [*]GS's defense is awful. Their transistion D is worse than awful! [*]I find the Rockets use of non-traditional line ups to be interesting. In looking around the league, it appears this is happening quite a bit. Going with 3 guards, an undersized power forward or no traditional long and lean small forward seems to be more and more common. I'm sure the lack of good centers around the league has something to do with that. [*]Was it just me or were Bill and Calvin not too hot tonite? [*]Mo Taylor looked terrific out there. Not only was he hitting shots, he was INVOLVED in the offense and working it on the glass. His offensive put back dunk was earth shattering! [*]Mobley is getting on my last nerve. In the 4th, he walked the ball up far too often, wasted too much of the shot clock and didn't move the ball. What really got me was right after Taylor had hit a big shot in the post, Mobley waved him off the next time down the floor and proceeded to throw up an airball with two defenders all over him. ARRRGGHHH! [*]Bravo to Rudy for the gutsy call with under 40 seconds to go in the fourth. Calling a two-for-one wasn't just ballsy, it was unexpected and totally caught the Warriors off guard. Nice job! [*]I hope I'm not the only one that was jumping up and down screaming at Mobley to go to the basket as the clock ticked down at the end of the game!!! When it hit 8, I started screaming. Moochie bailed him out on that one big time. [*]Congrats to Rudy T. on his 400th victory and getting to .500 in his career on the road (168-168). For his gift, I think we should all pitch in and get him some reading glasses because he spent his entire post game interview session with Bill and Calvin reading the stats. He was totally distracted trying to answer questions and, at one point, picked up Worrell's reading glasses to see if they would help him read the stat sheet more easily. God bless him! ------------------ Mmmmmmm. Sacrelicious.
we all yelled at Mobley.... but come on. He hit the look-so-easy drive to give us the crucial 2 for 1 possession play. Without that, there is no last second shot to yell at Mobley for dribbling too much. And we go to overtime. I'm glad Mobley has more nerves than you. there's a smiley!
HeyP, You are too quick and you took the words out of my mouth. Without Cuttino's big shot(Cuttino is the man) we are looking to tie the game for overtime instead of playing for the win. One good thing though was that G.S. would not have had a chance to score and the worst thing that could have happened was overtime. But thank God for Moochie. One observation I think Jeff left out was where was Hakeem in the 4th? I think he could contributed defensively and in rebounding in the last few minutes. ------------------ Rockets Season Ticket Holder
cato13, He was sitting right next to Cato. Hakeem didn't log one single minute in the 4th quarter. Personally, I think him not being in there on defense is why the Warriors were able to come back. ------------------ "I have a DREAM.........his name's Hakeem." DREAMer's Rocket Page
DREAMer, After the initial minutes, Hakeem was not playing so well. He turned the ball over, what, 5 times? He was simply out of sync and it was a problem. I think the Warriors were able to come back because the Rockets got lazy and for a few possessions did not run any real offense, thus not making any shots. Jeff, I was not yelling at Cuttino, I was in too much shock watching the clock go down and Cuttino dribbling in place. Huh? Our power forwards won the game for us tonight, how often have we been able to say that? ------------------ EZLN
Nice job? Ballsy and unexpected?? I don't think that was anything out of the ordinary. Actually I was berating him for calling a time out when we had the numbers running down the court on a fast break. Then all of the pressure would immediately have been on GS to respond. I was also wondering where Hakeem was in the 4th. Obviously we needed the defense, but a win is a win. I'll take it any way we can get them. ------------------ Five to one baby, one in five...no one here gets, out alive.
I'm with you guys, wondering why Dream gets no minutes in the fourth. But its not surprising: that's been the season-long pattern. Dream gets his 20+ minutes in the first 3 quarters, and then sits in the 4th. Is it age? Tempo? Stamina? Whatever the reason, it doesn't bother me too much. As long as we're winning, Rudy looks like a genius. ------------------ "Thirty-seven?" -Randall, Clerks www.clutchtown.com
Hakeem was having a bad game, even his defense was not there against M. Jackson. Seemed a little tired, trying to keep Jackson out of position. Hakeem was having a bad night, offensively and defensively, any other player having a bad night would not see action in 4th(other than Cat and Francis). As said before he looked out of sync and tired. That's reason Sometimes I don't agree with not having your defensive stoppers out in the game when you have pretty good lead, but I'm not a coach and I don't give a damn as long as it's a win. ------------------
"I hope I'm not the only one that was jumping up and down screaming at Mobley to go to the basket as the clock ticked down at the end of the game!!! When it hit 8, I started screaming. Moochie bailed him out on that one big time." AMEN TO THAT! What was Mobley thinking dribbling the clock down from 17 ticks to 3 just standing in one place? Does he think he's on the playground or something and there is no clock? Luckily, Moochie bailed him out otherwise this would have become ugly. I didnt have an issue with Olajuwon sitting out in the fourth, but the problem was when the Rockets went with Bullard at the PF spot against Jamison. During that stretch, the Warriors killed the Rockets on the offensive glass and made a huge run. When Mo Taylor came back, he did a solid job on Jamison and brought the Warriors back in check. I am in full agreement with Jeff on the waving off of the post players. When Mo had it going like he did last night, you have to throw it to him in the post sometimes in the 4th. If this were a good team, the Rockets would have lost the game. The fourth was basically a guard jackfest with poor rebounding and defense. This is why I go on and on about having a legit post option. The Rockets were having trouble converting consistently in the 4th last night and dumping it down to Mo and letting him go to work would have calmed things down. As the season progresses, and the team gets into playoff contests, the offense will break down in the fourth and thats when you have to go back to basic basketball. Its essential at this stage to have variety and not try the same option over and over again till the game becomes a major jackfest by the guards esp Mobley. Even though the Rockets won last night, there were a lot of problems that need to be remedied. Mobley still does not understand the concept of giving it to the hot hand and thinks he can jack up shots and take the game over at will. Last night, Mo Taylor had it going and should have been deferred to more down the stretch. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
I was at the game in Oakland with the Chucky Brown Fan Club and several other Houston expatriots and have to say it was great to see the Rocks in person for the first time this season. The one question I had watching in person was about the official near the end of the game. During the Warrios timeout right after the play when Cutino drove to give us a 2 point lead, one of the officials was incredibly pissed off with the Rockets bench, and I had no idea why. Several of the Rockets assistant coaches had to go over to calm down the official who was madder than any ref I've ever seen. He was getting right near the Rockets huddle and clearly wanted to call a technical on someone if they gave him the slightest reason. Keith Jones finally put his around him and walked him away to try to get him to calm down. It was really strange and clearly pretty tense down there. Did they mention anything about that on the telecast? I thought that was probably the reason the Rockets just ran off the court at the end. ------------------ "Someday I'd like to do something really meaningful with my life. Like burn Stockton to the ground!" - Henry Rollins
I noticed that too on the telecast. Maybe he was just jealous that Cuttino didn't kiss him the way he kissed the other ref. ------------------ "I really don't try to score, I really just try and pick apart teams by passing to create opportunities." -- Cuttino Mobley
Hakeem did NOT have that bad of a game. Yes, he did have an abnormally high number of turnovers, but Taylor had 4 and Steve had 6. Plus, Hakeem shot well (3 of 6), and had 6 rebounds and a block in 17 minutes. So, contradictory to what some poster seem to believe, Hakeem was not shooting poorly, and was not having trouble rebounding the ball. As I said in another thread, in the first 3 quarters the Warriors were playing a perimeter game, due in part to Olajuwon's presence in the paint. Then in the 4th they simply shot the lights out, but had most of their points off lay ups. ------------------ "I have a DREAM.........his name's Hakeem." DREAMer's Rocket Page
All I know is that last nights was the most exciting game THIS SEASON for me. I have not cheered like that in a while. I am starting to believe again. Hakeen may be right? We maybe able to win a Championship now! That's how it was in 94, we got better as the season went along till the end when the Rockets became the best in the league at the right time for two championships back to back baby. All I know I am just going to be ready for it this time around. ------------------ "Instinctly u recognize things,now take advantage of what u just recognized!".. Hakeem..
Odiggidy: Cuttino did a good job of not letting the Warriors get another shot at the very end of the game, but that's it. Anyone can do that... just hold the ball till there's almost no time left in the game and then pass it to someone who ends up just jackin it up. Cuttino did not put us in position to win the game at the end... all he did was put us in position to not let Golden State win the game. The shot that Mooch took was actually a TERRIBLE shot. I wouldn't want to rely on a 35 foot throw up on a regular basis. I think that Rudy was probably talkin about Mobley's other clutch shot that he made. And anyway, he's not gonna come out and say "Oh yeah Cuttino did a crappy job at the end of the game." But maybe, what Rudy intended to do all along was to win in overtime, and therefore the only main purpose at the end of the 4th quarter was to not let Golden State have another chance at winning? If that was the case, then good job MObley... but I personally dont think that's the best strategy. ------------------ da ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence - alaskanSnowman [This message has been edited by alaskansnowman (edited December 15, 2000).]
4th Quarter: plain and simple THE REFS TRIED TO SCREW US. ------------------ I Bleed Rockets Pajama-Pinstriped-Blue!
Great win, but it should have never been that close. The Rockets lack of defense will cost them against the better teams. One question, has Mobley thrown a pass to Shandon at all this year? The Warriors announcers brought up how obvious it was that Shandon was only averaging 6 pts a game. The reason was Mobley never passes the ball to him. Several time he was open for a layup on the break, yet Cat ignored him. Got to be frustrating for Shandon. ------------------ When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Did you guys hear the cheering when Moochie made that miracle shot? I mean in a road game, that's strange. Sure everybody, not only the Rockets fans, is having fun watching the Rockets. ------------------
I have a few observations too -chris porter will be a nice player... hate to say i told u guys so - kenny thomas rolls to the basket very well - steve has developed a bad habit of picking up his dribble in the middle of the lane. if he drives he should drive to score and dish. - walt is struggling BIG TIME - shandon and kenny Thomas outletted the ball very well ------------------ --TEX
Texasalsa right on! Yeah, what was the deal with Francis picking up his dribble in traffic about, what, 4 times. Mobley may drive into the teeth, but at least he is committed to a plan. Francis's wild attempts to throw 1,000,000 moves at you is not simple offense we need. I agree with MManal that low post is a great way to get simple offense when things are slipping from you. But I also agree with Rudy who clearly thinks Mobley's ISO is simple offense and a better ISO that Francis at this point, particularly in the 4th. We need both. In the immmortal words of Rudy: "We are not a lot of this, and none of that."
Alaskansnowoman said No, as strange as it may seem, Rudy T was clearly talking about the last play of the game where Cuttino held the ball almost til the time ran out. He said better that then taking the shot too early. And I too was thinking of the Drexler 97 mistake at the exact same time when Rudy said "we've made that mistake in the past."
