Collier was in street clothes. Does that count as DNP-CD? Griffin, KT and Tmo are solid, all-around players. They all deserve quality minutes on this team. MoT was hobbled trying to run a fly pattern for Tmo. Whatever that thing is on his right leg...it seems constricting. I'm fairly sure he's not really 100% or else he's just going to be hobbled the rest of his career. Rice shot the ball alright but look really bad on defense a couple of times. Boki got good looks. Short on every single shot. All in all a heartening effort though. Nice drive lefty scoop bank shot that just missed. Tito Maddox sucks. Absolutely no left hand. Looks like his feet are too big. Pigeon toed. Looked really bad except for one nice def. rebound. Often dribbled 10-15 seconds off the play clock before the play even started. He's got to be a long shot to make the team regardless of the guaranteed status. Tierre looked alright at times but bad at others. Same old Tierre. Yes, I was at the game.
Collier is destined for the IR. But I understand he had an injury to his nose (possibly a break) in practice which may be the reson for the DNP.
Yeah, Mobley's line looked perfect: 22 pts, 9-12, 3-3 FT, 6 rbs, 4 assists. If he can just get his TO's down by about 7 there isn't much more to be asked of him.
I see Eddie took eleven shots tonight and only one 3. What kind of shots did he take? Any post-ups? And same question for Mo. Did he do the usual face up jumpshots?
Eddie was mostly turning and facing up and taking the "j" when they backed off. He did have one good turnaround bank shot though from the post.
I don't think Maurice Taylor hit that three that is in the article. In the stats, they don't even have Taylor attempting one. I bet Cuttino hit the three and Taylor made a basket.
Guess Tierre makes the team again since Maddox doesn't seem ready to handle the point. NBA.com has Rice as making only 3-7 FG, 1-4 3ptrs. But they don't have Mo T making or even attempting a three, so it's obviously suspect. I hope Rice goes off a little bit, because it would just be depressing if he had another mediocre year (I know he was injured most of last year, so I'm not blaming him or anything) after all the hype. As long as TMo gets minutes, I'm not concerned about Nachbar. He's not going anywhere and will get his eventually, when he's ready. Someone said Eddie played some 3. What did Eddie and KT play most of the game? Kenny's been rebounding well, particularly if he's been playing SF. The box score says we got 15 fastbreak points. Do you guys feel the transition game has improved any with the recent emphasis on it by the coaching staff?
Boki was horrible! 0-5 + some turnovers and fouls. You cant do any worse than that. Plus one turnover was during a rebound that he got credited for when it was just a 3 point game, luckily The Cat stole it back and scored. Boki just looked plain bad out there, I sure hope he turns it around before everyone cries 'Langhi'.
I went to the game so i will post some observations. First off, Rice looked good!! I got there about 5 minutes before game time, and saw him take about 10-12 shots, mostly 3s, and he didnt miss even 1, not 1 He also did good during the game, had a couple nice post ups, and a 3 on a fast break. Not bad work. U know, the third quarter started, and i said to my friend(Teeloo), Eddie has only got like 1 block shot, and with no Francis playing, this game is getting boring dude. Just then, Duncan gets an offensive rebound and tries to hook it in, and Eddie just stuffs him. The very next trip down the court, Duncan tries throwing it down on Eddie just to have it stuffed again!! Couple of trips down, a guard, i think stephen Jackson, tries to put it up, and Eddie came from behind and just takes the ball away with one hand!! just sick Couple of minutes later, i think jackson again, went hard to the hoop only to have it swatted hard again by Eddie. By then i was chanting Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!!! Mo Taylor looked good. If people dont put a hand in his face, he will knock the 16 footer all day. He had a couple nice Js, couple of dunks, a layup, a block, and a couple of rebounds. U know, the only person that did not impress me that much was Boki. And not because of the missed shots. He kind of looks a little chubby to tell u the truth. From where i was sitting, i saw no cuts on him what so ever(of course i was in the upper deck ). Also, he looked a little slow out there on D. On one occasion, Stephen Jacson, who was Eddie's block practice bit** the whole game, did a sick crossover on Boki and took it in for a layin and the harm. Cat had a little chat with Boki after that. It didnt help, and he got schooled by Stephen again later. It was during this time actually that San Antonio made the run and got within a point. Offensively, Boki looked all right though. He did have a very smooth drive to hoop, but missed the finger rool He was probably just a little nervous. But the player who impressed me the most was Cat. He was very effortless tonight. He scored in a bunch when we needed him to, got a clutch steal to seal the game, and was even playing point some of the game. He was talking to the rookies, especially Boki and Tito, and even playing D. He played very unselfish ball for the second straight game, and if he can do that on a regular basis, the Rockets will be rocking!!!
game was on 51 tonight. same for the rest of the preseason as well i think. eddie didn't appear to play any small-forward. he played malik rose on defense who was playing center and was also guarded by him. played well with weakside defense. between him and ming helping each other out, wow, that should be exciting. i don't remember the 3 he attempted but he practically all his shots were the face up and j on top of the guy kind. he did have that pretty turnaorund though. the thing i noticed was that every possesion he'd automatically go into the post but of course he had the smaller rose on him. mo never shot a 3 in the game. i don't know if boki looked "bad" out there, he was just never involved. i'm sure it's the hernia/new league/new offense that's slowing him. i will not call him langhi after under 20 minutes of action. on the other hand i have to say again how good tmo looks. very,very,very impressive.
9 turnovers is off the charts, but I'm not worried about it. Considering the Rocks were without their Top 2 PGs, and the remaining PGs are inexperienced, Cat had to handle the ball far more then he would normally have to. Other then that great effort by the guys, played hard, and got a win. Last year without Francis, this team crumbled into dust and blew away into the wind. This year they're deep and balanced and finding ways to score. The defense has to improve more, but it's much more improved then last year, and I think it's good enough to get us to the playoffs. Lets keep everybody healthy and make a run!
For those who saw the game: How did Nachbar look on the court? I know he was 0 for 5, but how was he running the floor?
Well, Nachbar did look much better than the other game. At least in this one he was actually running and moving instead of walking. He did look out of place though. Thing is, they still didn't pass him the ball until Rudy called a timeout which in turn lead to 2 or 3 ISO plays for him. Sorry, but that's not what I call involvement. I still wish we would try to establish Eddie much more in the post, as well as 15 feet and in. Kenny has excellent footwork for the post, but has decided he wants to be the ultimate "tweener". Again, after playing for a couple of quarters with an actual offense, we went back to ISOs for various players in the second half which led to them coming back. I don't want to see this happen in the regular season. Was I the only one that noticed how anxious Torres was to show off his talents to keep a spot on the team? Morris again played well, but I want to see how well he plays in the regular season if he's given 20 minutes.
well at half time they showed clips from training camp and one of them was steve tossing an alley-oop to boki. there goes that theory that he doesn't pass to him.
I agree. I think that Boki will get his best looks and action within the flow of the game. Both when people rotate off of him to help with steve or cuttino for the open jumper, or when he can receive the ball when the D isn't set and slash to the bucket. Barring a trade (which i hope won't happen), we are too thin at the 2 to let oscar go at this point. So do I. This game and all these posts about Tmo and others are getting me really really excited for the season to start so they can get a chance to prove themselves as valuable back ups and role players. I hope we take off from where we are now and make a run, rather then slumping and falling into injuries after the early optimism of last year. I think we are gonna have a go of it in the West this year!!
although i didn't see the game... it bothers me the fact that we're running a motion offense and only coming up with 17 assists total for the team, while our pg's - Norris, Maddox, and Brown combined for 2 assists total!!! sounds like an iso game to me...
Everyone keeps mentioning how impressive T-Mo is this preseason. If he is really earning minutes, THEN where does KT fit in? The only remaining spot is 3rd string PF or shooting guard. Maybe he'll slim down AGAIN next season, and work 3 hours a day on his J and 3-pt shot, and will start battling for the backup 2. It's over. Trade KT, get a project or a pick for him.
KT's spot on the rotation is his to lose. As long as he contributes, he gets minutes over TMo. Not unjustly, in my opinion. Boki is the one who loses out over TMo getting PT. But if Rice also plays well, I don't see TMo getting more than 10-15 mpg, unless Rice spends some time at backup 2 as DearRock has speculated.
My biggest observation would be only 8,000 at the game last night. Is that 8,000 based on tickets sold or actual attendance? On TV, it looked closer to 6,000 or 7,000 to me. Anyway, whether its preason or not.........OUCH!!!!
