Yeah, that was VERY big this game. The starters actually turned it around and built a lead during the quarter.
I was wondering something along those lines too; thought maybe it was just me. If only he'd do that more often.... Actually, I wondered if he's been part of the problem for the last few weeks; going back to Hayesfan's thread speculation about the trade deals overhanging their heads - you know Shane has to be one of the names being bandied about as trade bait now that we've got Ariza. Couple that along with fatigue, and you've got a player that isn't able to focus like he should...and if one of captains is off, the rest of the team wobbles too.
I have no hard stats to back this up, but my impression was that the third quarter was easily one of their strongest, suprisingly. That alone made this game exciting to watch. I remember being quite happy 6 or so minutes in that quarter, realizing that our strong showing at the beginning of the quarter was going to continue through.
Man, nothing like a win over the Spurs. As someone said earlier, we made them look old. Gotta say I was surprised at just how much flopping they did, too. More than usual. Duncan was solid (no surprise), but made most of his points from the charity stripe. Pretty good defense tonight, which was nice to see. Sure, Van Gundy would have a heart attack giving up that many points to the Spurs or anyone else, but it's a different game today. Our guards, small as they are, were huge. Chase got 20 minutes, and while his stat line may not set the world on fire, I liked his impact on the game. Ariza looked better. Heck, just about everyone looked better. Can we petition the league to give us a break between games like that more often?
Shane is human,but he is professional enough to handle these things. He tends to revert to mostly outside shooting when he struggles. Tonight was a different game. He is wanted by other teams,but he is not being bandied about. Ariza has a long way to go.
We played extremely well but I'm surprised how little the Spurs looked like, well, a Spurs team. They didn't play their trademark stifling defense, Parker and Duncan didn't try to pick-and-roll us to death, and I think Ginobili got most of his points from jump shots while getting to the FT line only once. Not that I'm complaining but it was kind of weird.
No matter how many times Ariza tried to throw the game away, the Rockets wouldn't let him. There is no way he only had 2 turnovers. Brooks, Lowry, Landry, Scola (Budinger) - Untouchable. Morey can ask the Fantastic Four (and Air Bud) to vote if Yao and Hayes can stay. The rest better work on their game.
I must say, the Spurs defense REALLY isn't what it used to be. 52 points in the paint against the Spurs used to be unthinkable. I must say, great win on the road. Shows that this team still is capable of putting up good games.
Hi, greetings from Argentina, talking about spurs and rockets, what do you think about this fantasy picture ?
Just when the GARM was starting to go into panic mode, the media support was starting to wilt, and the going was starting to get a little tough... The ever-resilient Rockets play like champs and leave no doubt that they have a ton of heart. Fantastic team, fantastic game.
