LOL - yeah...shot charts....huh? Well, sounds like you need to get some sneakers on...go play the game, and see what happens when 3 guys surround you..... Maybe, just maybe, he needs to pass it out and have his TEAMATES hit shots...ala Dream with MadMax, Elie, Kenny, Horry, and Cassel... It takes 5. DD
Yea I will put those sneakers on, and grow 2 feet and find some people who are 6 inches and 18 inches shorter than me and test out my theory... OR, I will look at the game and say hmm in the 3rd quarter Yao was hitting the turn around 'jump' shot and nailing it and in the 4th quarter he missed the 2 he took not counting the 1 that I will not even recognize since it was such a poor decision. Putting more people on him makes it harder to get him the ball, but what effect does derek fisher have on his shot that happens 3 feet over his head?? I can also go back and look at his history and how this happens with great frequency regardless of defensive scheme...
There's one thing that worries me. The Rockets seem to put up a good fight when facing a good teams like the Celtics, yet they falter when playing weak teams like Toronto, The Phillies etc. This is not typical of a championship-caliber team.
I don't think the refs cost us this game....don't get me wrong they did have some very bad calls, but we could have made a few more open jumpers or layups we missed. The refs were way worse in the cavs game.
Dude this game had nothing to do with Yao's in-ability in the clutch. They strategicly took Yao out the game at the end of the 3rd quarter. Yao was killing Pau,bynum whomever they put on him. He was protecting the paint,he was destroying them on the glass. They out him on the bench and stopped his flow and our rythym as a team. When came back into the game the lakers changed the game plan. They started not DOUBLE teaming but TRIPLE teaming him. This with 2 7 footers and a 6'10 lamar odom.
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We falter against weak teams playing with a unhealthy mcgrady who has us playing 4 on 5 on defense and boggs down the offense and also kills our continuity and chemistry by coming in and out of the lineup. These so called good teams are overrated, They get help from the refs and still can't really beat us with a short handed squad. The lakers are weak soft team, they don't play defense and overrall I think if we get healthy we are the better team. Yao was giving them the blues before they removed him from the game.
You do realize that MJ, Dream, Bird, heck every star player misses a lot in the clutch right. Did Yao miss those two free throws last night? At least be fair to the guy......he played awesome last night....and his teamates let them down. Rafer....2 FT....come on...that is easy there. DD
It was too bad when Yao got the ball from AB, he must have thought the guard still guarding him (AB) and never thought of giving back to him ( he was looking for other opened teammates). But replay showed that AB actually stepped aside of the Laker guard after passing the ball to Yao and was waiting for Yao to pass back to him. With all these happening in matter of seconds, one could not fault Yao, in all fairness. I would put more blame on Rafer who missed the two FTs and Landry for not taking the shot when he was wide opened. All in all, it was a good match and they could have won if the refs had done a better job.
Wafer is the guy who played awesome. Yao again made highly suspect decisions and plays although he did use his body really well in rebounding the ball last night. A center as slow as Yao trying to take charges on Kobe Bryant is about as stupid as it gets. He tried it twice, unbelievable. He should be dumping Kobe on his ass and sending him to the line without a chance at the three point play because Kobe is going to get that call 99 times out of 100. Then that shot at the end of the game, down three and he takes a two. That was just not knowing the game situation which is inexcusable right there. Knowing the game is supposed to be Yao's strong point but he still makes too many rookie decisions out there. Wafer is hella impressive though. We haven't had someone who could shoot that dribble drive mid range shot probably since Sam Cassell.
I feel very very good about our team right now. Sure this was a heartbreaker loss, but look beyond the L. The game was so very tight WITHOUT 2 superstars in artest and tmac. Can you imagine how much we'd tear up the lakers....and we beat the celtics too!! Dude, i don't know about you guys, but I smell finals...rockets vs Cavs.
I love your enthusiasm, but you have to look at both sides of the coin. We lost to the Wizards, and barely beat the Thunder.
That's my point, when Tmac and Artest are healthy again, we are going to be a crazy deep team that no one will want to face. So far this league has only been able to see the Rockets at half strenght, and we are still 8 games over .500....ESPN, NBATV praise lakers, celtics and cavs, I dont think they know what the rockets are all about...ppl say "if rockets get healthy we can compete or go deep" ... i say "with what we have NOW we are competing as it is...IF we get healthy, we can win it all, not just go deep and compete. If Artest played...that's probably 6 - 10 pointes less than the lakers have bc of his defense and add in a steal or two that could lead to a bucket for us, that's a whole different ball game not to mention offense he brings...than throw in a healthy Tmac and it would have been a one sided blowout even the refs would not be able to stop, so ppl who think the lakers are so great can enjoy their glory of beating a very short handed rockets team barley...for now...and we'll just have to hope that our guys get healthy, and once they do and are at full strenght, not 1 game in and one game out....those so called elite teams...will be in trouble.
YES and in BOTH games, TMAC on one leg was allowed to play.....that's the problem...he hurts us more than he helps us when he is injured. We need to get healthy, that's all there is to it.
you gotta look after we "snapped out of it"...basically beating the celtics on. our issue has always been focus. our team always loses focus in the fourth...and tmac doesnt have any focus unless its either a title contender or the playoffs. the 72 and 10 chicago bulls lost to the raptors twice...so losing to the bad teams isnt the end of the world...especially since we wont see those teams in the playoffs
Just like I predicted...guys played their hearts out and still lost...great hussle game, props to the whole team except stupid Alston. 4/15 and missing of the last two free throws...that cost our team the game. RA always seemed lost in clutch time and all he could do is the hopeless running jumper.Time to find a solid someone to replace him. and the last possession, I dont understand why the coach put Yao on the court when we obviously needed a 3pt. It was a disappointing ending. but it was a good game. After all, we were facing the #1 team in the league with 2 big players on the bench. Who said Odom would not play? not that he killed us, but did the team know he's gonna play or not? Lakers, the Fakers... The officials were a mess last night. We only got 8 or 9 free throw at home...that's ridiculous.
I Can't believe all the Yao bashing, people need to stop wishing what they want him to be, we all know what Yao is gonna bring to the table. First, everyone wants him to be a 20 10 center, which he know is, now they want him to dominate 4th quarter. I guarantee that if Yao doesn't sit out for the first 6 minutes of the 4th quarter every game, his shot wouldn't be affected. If yall have played the game of basketball and noticed that when you are in a flow and the shot is falling, then sit for 20 minutes and get back on the court, its very hard to get back in that same flow. Playoffs, Yao will be on court probably the whole 4th and stay in his flow. We got the best center in the league, what more yall want. So what if he don't dunk on everyone, thats Yao. Now we are complaining about his 4th quarter performance against the Lakers, he only got 3 damn shots and 2 of them rimmed out. Don't give me that Dwight Howard BS either, Yao lights his ass up every time. Give Yao a break the man brings it 100% every night. I can remember his tip in against Boston and his shangai Shake with the foul against Portland for clutch shots until Roys miracle shot. Yao aint the Dream, get over it.
Rick has never been a big talker with the media...even in his little half time/end of game interviews on national TV he snuffs the interviewer.
