Codell, forget about the attendance. Talk about the team's performance. The depth. The handling of that vaunted Spurs team. And the evidence that we are top 4 material.
Ya know, youll never be able to tell me that you told me so until you come back from fantasy land Anyway, attendance was just a minor observation really. Im just concerned that if we dont put butts in the seats, then Les is going to put pressure on Rudy to accelerate our championship aspirations. Last thing this team needs, is pressure.
Looking at the box score it looked like Cat had FIVE steals. Is that correct? Was it because Eddie having those blocks and playing great D allowed Cat to play the lanes and gamble more?
Like you said, you didn't see the game but..... The "motion offense" was used only in the first half. It seems in both preseason games so far that we use the motion offense in the first half, and the crap/iso offense second half. I keep wondering why. Trying out new plays? Inexperienced players? Reason for PG's low assist numbers: In the motion offense, the PG's do not have a specific role as passers. In this offense, everyone is passing and the options open up. The main thing that this offense helps with is spacing which, in turn, leaves driving lanes and mid-range jumpers. I'm not sure how many dribbles (after the pass) before it's not considered an assist, but that could be the reason also. Rest assured though, when the motion offense was used, the Rocket's offense looked unselfish, smooth, polished, and beautiful. Good passing, good shooting, and good spacing allowing men to get open can all be attributed to our new offense. And also rest assured that our old iso offense still looks like crap. If the new offense was iso offense, I'm sure you would be reading tons of b*tching from posters on here. But seeing as the new offense is a keeper, a thing of beauty, I haven't seen anyone b*tching about it.
Cuttino: Very impressive. 9 turnovers were horrible, but he also had 5 steals. Both teams were sloppy. Tierre: About what you would expect. Average performance from an average player. Oscar: Very good performance. Played good D and had some nice baskets taking it to the player defending him and popping shots over him KT: continues to get his points and he rebounded well EG: Shot a 15 ft bank shot that looked like one of Duncan's. Rebounded well. Had 5 blocks. Overall a real good game. MT: Rusty but showed signs that he will be awesome. His shot is there. Actually rebounded, blocked and defended well too. Rice: A little rusty but overall very good job. Grabbed a few rebounds too. That first three was classic. His clutch play down the stretch was nice too. TMo: Unbelievable job. Forget about snackbar, he is history. TMo started and actually looked like he belongs at the three as a starter. Rice will need to keep up his progression to hold TMo back! Shot, rebounded and ran real well. He really blends with his team mates too. Boki: Terrible. He did a real good Langhi impression. Mooch: Was doing well running the team before the injury Tito: Raw talent but you can tell he needs work Overall: San Antonio's first team minus Robinson and Smith against Mooch, Cat, EG, MT, and TMo was fun to watch. I thought we were the better team despite missing so many players. Duncan didn't do squat in the first half really. He had some nice plays in the second half. Even so, I don't see him as the kind of guy that can carry this team. He didn't show that capability last night. The SA starters were really the only ones that did anything of significance. We were much more deep than SA, especially on the front line. And we didn't have any of our centers available. We are easily in their class. With Francis, Cato, Mooch, and Yao Ming available we would be better than SA in my opinion. I think they are overrated and we are vastly underrated. Our forwards did an excellent job of rebounding and the team spread the scoring well. The guys seem to like playing together, you can see some good chemistry. With Cat and Steve looking good in the first two games, and the forwards all doing real well (except Boki) we now only need to shore up the center spot. Cato has been doing well, bring on Yao Ming...
I was disappointed last night watching Nachbar. I’ve heard Rudy say before how surprisingly athletic he was and how he got so many dunks during fast breaks, but in the half court last night he looked VERY slow footed. Seemed like everyone on the court was 2 steps faster then him. I don’t know if it’s the injury or not, but if that is his normal speed, we’re in trouble.
Thanks Rice. Remember, Jack, we have the luxury of allowing an injured rookie to transition. He just needs our support and patience to come along. We are not here, now, to find out if he is a talented player who will be a star. Just give him some space. As it is we do not have a need for him. We are filled to the BRIM!
One thing I loved in the boxscore was EG jacking up just one three! And that's with 11 shots or so. Maybe the problem with Snackbar is that his teammates unconsciously see him as Langhi, so don't pass him the ball.
Great recap by all above. Not the highlight of the game by any means, but Oscar did try hard to impress and make the team,and he succeded. Now the dilmena is at sf if KT and Terrence keep playing like that. Of course Rice has only two more overpaid years left. Hard to say what Mo T's role will be, though he looked rusty except for his shot that is still there. He certainly was trying hard on defense and rebounding, but just wasn't that good at it.
I can't tell if Emanuel Ginobili of the Spurs looks more like Adam Sandler from "Little Nicky" or his opera singing character on "Saturday Night Live"?
You have to wonder if Boki has his 'legs' yet, all of his shots looked short. And, yes Virginia, Boki plays typically Euro non-existent D. I would like to see him in there earlier, however, and more involved in the offense instead of just standing at the 3pt line.
Observations: 1) I'm not willing to pass any judgment on Boki until I see him play when the Rockets are running their 5 man offense. He doesn't seem to be an ideal iso-type player, but the only time he's gotten into the game is when the Rockets have reverted to iso-play. He's not playing well, but at least he's not getting in the way of other players the way Langhi would. 2) Tierre's straight up steal of the Spurs point guard was really nice. It would have been nicer if he had kept control of the ball and hadn't traveled afterwards. He might be a real 12th man if he can improve his handles. 3) TMo is showing the same good basketball IQ as he did last year. The main (and big) difference is his ability to hit his shots. 4) Griffen still looks lost on offense sometimes, but his shot-blocking is ridiculously good. 5) Cat has become a great spot-up shooter. Combine that with his slashing ability and you have a potent offensive weapon. 6) Tito doesn't look like an NBA player.
watching the midnight showing again last night, bill mentioned they had something like 10 assists on the first 12 baskets. it wasn't until the second team came in, in both the 2nd and 4th quarters that we went to iso's. the first team looked very smooth.
A lot of people were looking for a defensive backup 2 guard. Always thought Torres was the man. Nice action on Duncan there.
I was fairly impressed with T.Brown's play after moochie went out. Boki needs some time to get acquainted to the NBA, but I think it will work out in the long run. EG is a baller KT finds a way to get his shots and could be the wild card off the bench at the 3/4.
Speedy Claxton must have stumbled, twice, in the act of shooting, with the 24-second clock running down....
Probably one thing over looked in this thread...The rockets won without Francis. Didn't they go 0-15 without him in the line up last season? I think that's a damn good sign of things to come....even if it was only preseason.
