Francis had no turnovers, 7 assists, to go with 14 pts. Now THAT sounds like a PG. Mooch continues to please. I think KT might be able to show us something, considering the injuries. Damm, so early... Cato? Pussyfoot... Stay on the bench you overpaid, underworked, mf.... I'm impressed with Shandon's heart - coming up with a Big Game so quick... Walt. Muy Bueno. Thoughts? ------------------
Francis played under control.... Walt got the "Wizard" back in him.... Anderson, very nice showing.... Mobley was quiet for the most part... Cato .... well, nough said ... ------------------ Mind is the fore-runner of conditions. Mind is chief; and they are mind-made. If, with an impure mind, one speaks or acts, then pain follows one even as the wheel, the hoof of the ox. Mind is the fore-runner of conditions. Mind is chief; and they are mind-made. If, with a pure mind, one speaks or acts, then happiness follows one even as the shadow that never leaves.
I just hope 2 things happen: 1) Walt doesn't pull another disappearing act, and 2) Steve learns from his mistakes. Cat (Cuttino) has apparently learned another shot (another 15-18 footer with a step-back move first), and he apparently spent some time on D. He's ready to follow Steve anywhere, and score 25 points while doing it... Steve.... Can score 30 points whenever you ask him to. But he'd rather get 10 assists. And a few rebounds to boot... I'd expect a career triple double in the long run. Once he figures out how to stop himself from turning it over, he will be unstoppable. Like KG unstoppable. That good... ------------------
No turnovers consistently. That is what we need. Way to go, Rockets! Keep it going! ------------------
I would like to attribute his foul problem to playing better D. I think his third foul was a terrible call. He was up in their face all night. ------------------ In the end there will be no judges...only witnesses to my greatness.
Can we say the offense indeed is flexible? Against Minnesota's single coverage-deny-all-the-options, we have scorers like Mo, Francis and Mobley to turn to. Against double coverage, we know how to find Shandon and Walt big-time. Like Rudy says, it helps a lot when everyone can shoot...and it's looking more like everyone can dribble, too. Rudy has a nice, flexible offensive game plan going. I don't see how people view a big ISO game like Minn as our sole offense. imo, it is an option of our offense. Two different defenses against us; two different offenses to throw out. Minnesota's defense is stellar. I don't expect too many teams to thrive off single coverage of our scorers.
NBA.com is saying that Stevie had 2 TO's last night. Anyone know the deal, being that he's on my NBA.com virtual team. ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink
Was thinking about starting a Topic about this myself yesterday. I think that Francis with 7 assists and zip turnovers was the most important stat from the game. Of course ther where a lot of good stats to choose from, but when you consider how turnover prone our guards have been and were in the first game, then this is something to notice. Lets hope for more games consistantly like this in the future. Its not that we where so much better than the Bucks in not turning it over - it's that we were not way worse as it usually is. (turnovers: 14 Rockets - 15 Bucks) For the rest of the game, it was really a step up from the first game, but I expected they could do much better than last game as they showed something late in that loss too. If you look at the stats you could say that this win was down to better shooting than the Bucks, as rebounds were also close (Rockets 36- Bucks 35) but it also tells why we shot better - moving the ball, taking the shots that came our way - Rockets had 21 assists with only 10 for Bucks. The Rockets with their guard play also tends to get fouled more by the opponents. This time we got to the line 32 times, 6 more than the Bucks scoring 5 more FT points. This is looking way much brighter than after the first game, now we only have to hope that the others players can step up with Cato being down for 4-6 weeks. But we should be able to beat the Clippers anyway with KT back and Mo probably back too. ------------------ Heath
Yeah Steve had 12 points 7 assists and NO turnovers , glad to see him dish to whoever is hot , Oh here is that wicked dunk last night http://espn.go.com ------------------ I dont know how to sign nature
Yep, I'll agree with that. The thing about the Rockets is on any given night Maurice Taylor, Walt Williams, Shandon Anderson, Steve Francis or Cuttino Mobley could explode offensively and lead the team in scoring that night... to a lesser extent KT and Hakeem as well. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
Walt and Shandon were huge last night. As I said before, when Shan gets his points, I think that's a good indicater that we will be in the game. Steve had a nice game and appeared to me to put more effort into defense. I also thought Cat played better defense, and although he had a poor shooting night, he made some big plays inside in the 4th qtr. Now, I have a question. As incorrectly stated elsewhere, Hakeem is drawing double teams. The problem is, no one is moving to a passing lane for him, and he's forced to try cross-court passes if he can see someone there. What's the deal, HeyPee? Did you notice it? ------------------
Moe, I can say that Mo seems slow to find the interior passing lane. I've seen that a couple of times. Come on Mo; instinct man. Get to where you can receive a pass. There haven't been a huge amount of Hakeem touches to remark accurately. But, as you, I do get the feeling Hakeem's passes are laborious. Historically though, wouldn't you agree that we rarely ever send cutters into the lane while dream is shaking. My impression has always been that Dream can't really see cutters because he is so fockass'd on da'ball and da'rim, so Rudy would just have everyone space out as non-moving targets. I am not convinced Hakeem can find cutters even today while shaking. Although he did take an entry from Francis and then give him a hand-off coming around the baseline. You are right about him getting doubled!
How about if everyone rotated strong side if Hakeem gets doubled? That should at least put the open man at the top of the key, making him easier to find. ------------------