i was really hoping Jefferson would get a 40/20 night in a losing effort I think shaq was the last person to do that. Also Jefferson is on my fantasy team so I was glad to see him do well, but even happier that it didnt come at the expense of the rockets. great defensive effort and rafer play to his offensive strengths tonight...set shots driving the lane for normal layups, no floaters, no dribble and shoot tmac played with energy early on he looks like he is building himself back up. and of course best part of the night was Clyde screwing up the whole beach boy song thing early on in the 2nd quarter
Much needed win. It seemed like the team just put the clamps on defensively when artest was on the floor and when scola was off the floor. I thought chuck wagon should have got more minutes on jefferson. He did an awesome job when he was in.
Post game interview with Coach. He seems pleased and wants the team to build on this... http://www.nba.com/media/rockets/PressCon020709MIN.wmv right click save as
I think Carl Landry deserves a big THANKS. Yao attacked the rim after Landry dunked ( for like the third time, but this one was an in your face dunk). I think that triggered something in Yao, if Landry was doing it so much, why not him? So the next time he tried it and realized how easy it was. Also, Yao had a quiet game comprared to Jefferson, but a lot more efficient. Only 1 turnover, got blocked twice, compared to 6 blocks on jefferson and Yao had FIVE blocked shots.
I like that last bit there. I agree with coach. This year has been wow...such an enigma. Dont know what the hell to expect day in day out.
very nice win against a much improved wolves team. everyone played well i have to say. yao turned things around in the second quarter when we were trailing over a dozen points; and rafer put up big shots and allowed us to have a little cushion in the 3rd and from then on we never let up. scola shot badly, but nice effort on these fast breaks. more, he had a left-handed layup in one of the them - shows me he's working on his game. mcgrady's best game in recent memories. hope he keeps it up. and al jefferson... i say he's actually better than amare now as he's stronger under the basket. mchale must've taught him something. i know he's on a bad team, but imo he should be on the allstar squad.
i'm kind of sick of McGrady always playing with that smile on his face, chit chatting it up with McCants and Foye. C'mon we got a game to win. You'd be lucky if Kobe would bat an eye towards you during a game.
Good win. Jefferson kept it close in the first half but when he ran out of steam, the Wolves had no answer. Artest seemed to operate within the offense more. Looks like he and McGrady are getting better at playing together. McGrady had a good game, but I HATED how he played the final minutes. I realize it was a blowout, but he really half-assed it on the last few offensive plays, standing back near the half-court line while the rest of the starters were busy implementing the offense. It was as if he just decided that he did enough for the night and the rest of the team can finish up. A trivial thing to b*tch about in a blowout game, but it was still frustrating to see.
^^ On second thought, is that intentional? Is McGrady staying back to prevent the fast breaks? I hope so...
You can really tell when this team gets some practice under thier belt, I saw some good ball movement with the big three. I remember one play where Tracy tossed it in to Yao and a triple team collapsed on him, he passed it back out to Tracy and attacked the rim, Tracy dished it off to Artest at the three point line who threw it right back down to Yao in the deep low post for a really easy basket. Thats the kinda stuff I like to see!
Rockets are showing signs of things falling into place: -Artest played by his strength in using his post-up game -Tmac significantly stepped up his defense tonight -Landry attacked the basket at any chance he got for 4 dunks -Chuck Hayes came in and played good defense on Jefferson for a few possessions. -Rafer shot well (but of course I don't expect that every game) -Yao got the number of shots attempts he should be getting on a nightly basis -The Rockets showed flashes of having great chemistry. On one play, Shane played the defense, Artest got the steal, Tmac got the assist, and Yao got the and 1, all happening in about 8 seconds on that play Some things Rockets still need to work on: -Shane Battier STILL doesn't look to score or shoot the ball -Aaron Brooks is still in his slump -Adelman needs to find minutes for Wafer somewhere -Early on in the game, we were able to get the good shots but then had problems finishing those shots -The team as a whole passed the ball too much, some of which led to turnovers. Another thing to note is I like how Scola didn't let a few missed shots affect his aggressiveness. He went 0-5 to start the game, but still kept looking to score. On three straight possessions after that, he was able to get two layups and a trip to the free throw line. It's a small part of this game that probably no one noticed, but its the mentality that the Rockets need.
