Yeah at the very least he was standing up for himself, and rightfully so, after a cheap shot no-call foul by Barnes. I don't know what the officials were watching.
McGrady had a very fine performance. His health is the main thing that is holding him back.Brooks is developing a lot of confidence. A lot of improvement is necessary in order to develop consistency.
Man I hate those west coast games. Struggled to make it all the way through. Great win last night. Phoenix is still a very good team. I loved the fight in them (pun intended). McGrady looked fantastic. Yao played well against Shaq. Artest is playing great defensively but forcing things offensively. He needs to relax and let his shots/points come in the flow of the offense. His shot will be back When it does, the Rockets will be what we all hoped they'd be. Aaron Brooks has to be an early leader for 6th man of the year. I'm ecstatic to see that there is someone that can take the pressure off Rafer. I'd still like to see him get the ball moving earlier in the shot clock.
I hate Barnes so much. I hope he pisses off the wrong guy this year and gets tomjanoviched in the face.
Holy crap...F'n Barnes and Shaq...I've always thought shaq was a douche... What a great win...I hope this is the catalyst that lets us turn the corner...
CP is the one that started the trash talk with Rafer, and Alston was not at fault at all in that mess. Once again Nash was the one that charged into the fray after Rafer was already into it with Barnes. Rafer isn't at fault when it comes to Nash either. It's fine to dislike Rafer or think he isn't the right pg for our team. It's stupid to blame him for things that aren't his fault.
I hope no one uses this as a "Rafer sucks" argument. I don't regret what he did at all. You can't just let some guy bump into you like that. I mean, as long as he doesn't take it too far and challenge the tech limit like Rasheed does every season, I'm fine with him getting into a fight or two every season just to show the league that we actually have balls.
Some Notes for the Game: 1) There was 1000% increase in movement...yes we were stagnant at times because PHX was getting passed our picks, but Ron Artest, Mcgrady, and Scolandry were all giving picks constantly....I think Adelman stressed that in the past two days. 2) Brooks played really well...He needs to come off the bench as that spark. 3) Landry and Scola played mediocre. Scola shot the ball very poorly. 4) Artest shot the ball poorly, but i feel his defense was good. 5) Rockets had ALOT more energy than they thought. 6) I think the fight was actually a positive because after the veterans meeting and an altercation where tmac and Yao come to step up for Alston shows how much these guys are willing to stand up for each other. 7) Our Big three still are not putting consistent numbers on the board, but lets hope they gel more. 8) Mcgrady played well, but lets see if he can keep it up.
good things: 1) yao rebounded and defended very well. dude came to play. his offense isn't still there. he got blocked by shaq twice (one to start the game) with zero double teams. that's not encouraging. i'm still worried b/c yao has zero lift. 2) tracy actually looks better running. the arc on that jumper, the movement when he sets screens to get into the post position, the way he defended his guy (though still not htat great). basically, he moved better and i didn't notice much limping. hopefully the knee keeps getting better 3) the PG play > sun's PG play. rafer and brooks were superb. brooks is as consistent as anybody now. if rafer can play anywhere close to that, we'll be in ridiculously great shape 4) we need shane back. hopefully then artest will be better
and you can see tracy must be feeling better b/c he played the entire 2nd half (when we already had a fairly big lead)
They did good with the fight, but the fight most likely would not have happened if the refs had called a foul or Barnes to begin with. How do the refs not call that is beyond my imagination since it was soo close to where the ball was.
Yes, because Rafer is going to have 1 good game in 8 the ENTIRE SEASON. Stop stirring the pot with your agendas.
