http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2004-03-14-court-coverage_x.htm Team of the week Houston Rockets: They won their fifth game in a row Saturday, 88-80 against Memphis, ending the Grizzlies' seven-game winning streak. They have also defeated Dallas, Minnesota, New Orleans and the L.A. Clippers during the streak. "Yao Ming is the second-best force in the game and Steve Francis is one of the top guards, so they should be pretty good," Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown said. "I like what they've done with their defense. They've won some big games recently." Yao Ming has averaged 21.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.0 blocked shots and shot 54.9% from the field and gone 31-for-34 from the line during the streak, while point guard Steve Francis has averaged 18.6 points, 6.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and shot 50.7%. USA TODAY Top 10 (Through Saturday; last week's ranking in parentheses) 1. Indiana (1): Don't overlook Jonathan Bender's contributions. 2. Sacramento (2): Big games this week against Nets, Pacers and Rockets. 3. Minnesota (3): Easing Troy Hudson and Wally Szczerbiak back in. 4. San Antonio (4): Tony Parker has to play well for Spurs to win. 5. L.A. Lakers (5): They have 16 games left to get it together. 6. Detroit (9): Everything coming easier since arrival of Rasheed Wallace. 7. Houston (10): Cuttino Mobley and Jim Jackson are perfect complements to Yao and Francis. 8. Memphis (7): Shane Battier is one of league's top sixth men. 9. New Jersey (8): NBA's third-worst three-point shooting team in the league. 10. Dallas (6): The defense is still a big hole.
Finally some love for the Rockets!! But we have been playing a lot better as of late, looks like SF and Yao are coming along just fine, hopefully it's a start for things to come. Go Rockets!!
DearRock: Were you the one that, at the top of the season, said a 4 or 5 seed wasn't out of reach? If so, props. We'll probably wind up at 7 or maybe 6, but you seem far less crazy than you did then and I love a believer.
Thanks you Batman. I was indeed the one and still looking for it too although my latest projections put us more at 5 than 4. If we really approach the remaining games like they were playoff games, I think we will come close. Of course we have to see what Dallas does. Anytime now they could start playing serious ball but they have an east coast swing that could push them back. Memphis is here to stay and SA and LA are not going to drop as they are starting to play better and the schedule is not as tough. I do think that Dallas and Memphis could be overtaken.
If Yao and SF3 can consistently put up that kind of numbers for a whole season, Rockets will be true contenders, and both Yao and SF3 will be perenial starters at the ASG for the west conference, and both up be making the year end all-NBA teams.
Who ever wrote this needs to talk with me and see my tapes of the Rockets. It should read:- Cuttino Mobley and Jim Jackson are perfect complements to Francis. IMHO they are anything but perfect compliments to Yao Ming.
WOW, these are perfect numbers if they can maintain them for a longer period of time, like next season.
I don't think Mobley and Jackson are PERFECT complements. They have done a very good job though. Jackson has been an almost perfect role player..he has become one of my favorite players. He is just a great all around solid player. I love him! And Mobley has adapted and changed his game a bit...he is a shooting guard..I think he has done a pretty good job. Both of them have stepped up and played very well! Taylor also very nice...Cato pretty good effort every game. Our bench is fantastic! No more Moochie or Amaechi! Now hopefully we will beat the Suns tonight...then the Spurs! 7 games in a row!!! Thank you USA Today!
What would be the profile of the player who is the perfect compliment to Yao? I do not like the word perfect but working with Yao is a two way street and I am thinking that those players compliment him greatly so far and getting better.
JJ and Mobes have been very good complements to Yao this season. When you have a dominant inside force I think Mobley and JJ are great players around Yao because he shoots the Three well enough to keep the defense honest, yet they can still drive and create.
There's your key right there. Those numbers above are numbers that ALL STARS do CONSISTANTLY. The fact we are on a winning streak shows that the TWO stars on this team are finally BOTH putting together good games. Yao is stepping up and putting up solid numbers and Francis is shooting "50.7%" from the field. That is huge. This team needs outside shooting for us to be successful. Over the last few months Yao has been stepping up but Francis was not. That just wasnt going to get it done. When Francis starting playing like the All Star he should be (added to Yao's production) then we started winning.
Deuce you are 100% correct. The SF shooting could be the difference between us getting 50 wins or not. SF gets open shots all the time and he just was not nailing them. To me everytime he comes across the middle and upfakes to free himself, he should just drain those jumpers. How sweet it is to go into a game with four players, not including MoT, being able to give you 20 points? Think about the problems that causes defensively. Then you add the defense. More and more it is beginning to feel like 1985 and 1994-1997.
