Sitting behind Rocks bench tonight

Sorry, I've been pretty busy the last couple of days. When I get a chance, I'll post a couple of notes on the game. For now, here's the pic of Calvin and myself. I'm the one on the right ;-)

 

Looks like I'm having some trouble referencing the pic in it's current location -- the link to Ofoto worked in the preview screen, but not on the actual page. Let me poke around and try to find a free site to host it on real quick (I'm all ears if someone has a suggestion).

 

Let's try this instead ...

 

OK, I'm making a real mess of things. I will work with RH to get these pics up and stop wasting everyone's screen space with my dead links. Apologies.

 

Big props to rockHEAD for hosting the pics. Here we go ...

View from my seat :


Jealousy is a disease :



Calvin and Bill :



Good thing I could only see the back of JVG's head on this one, because that look probably would have turned me into stone:

 

Sorry, no pics of Olajuwon shopping, but here are some more random shots:

 

Finally have a chance to share a couple of stories from the game. Overall, it was pretty damn exciting (before the 4Q collapse). Everyone around me was a Suns fan, so cheering loudly for the Rocks was extra fun. Random notes in no particular order:

I couldn't hear anything when the Rocks were huddled up. Perhaps if I was four or five seats to my left, but I'm pretty sure that those seats are reserved. On the other hand, JVG spent the entire game standing right in front of me! It was kind of a bummer for visibility reasons, but I did get to witness his expressions/mannerisms/etc. for the entire game.

I have no idea what the relationship is between MoT and JVG, but I can tell you this: during a timeout immediately following a 3 seconds call on Mo, JVG gave him the coldest stare I have *ever* seen. It was so cold, I wouldn't be surprised if it made Mo's mama shiver. Once everyone sat down and JVG started to talk, he stared at Mo again. Keep in mind, this was in the middle of talking to the team, and he kept staring at him for like two seconds (which seemed like an eternity given the context). Pretty funny stuff. I did lip read JVG saying something like "That's twice", but I didn't know what he was getting at. Not sure if that was the second 3 second call on Mo, or if it was the second stupid mistake, etc.

Aside from the thing with Mo, I really didn't see JVG going after anyone. Steve had a number of questionable plays, at which JVG simply looked away or dropped his head. One cool thing about him is that he seems supportive if you fail, but fail within the system. I witnessed JVG nod his head approvingly and clap his hands after missed shots that were wide open, taken within the rhythm of the offense, etc.

Oh yeah ... I'm used to seeing JVG wave his hands around in wild desparation, begging players to move the ball. I just thought he wanted people to hurry up. That's not the entire story. Players on this team need to push the ball more on offense (at least when they are in the backcourt), and definitely need to get back on defense. Believe it or not, Steve appeared to be really bad at getting back on D in certain situations. In particular, when he flopped or thought he was fouled. Marion scored a number of really easy hoops, mainly because the Rocks were not active in transition defense.

Yao Ming had absolutely no inside presence in this game. Could have been the fouls --- I *hope* it was the fouls. In any case, no one was afraid to take it to the cup. Later on in the game, this was quite apparent.

I think JVG is an awesome coach. However, there is no excuse for wearing a $10 tie.

If I think of anything else, I'll post it later.