I agree with you. We played good JVG-style ball through the first half and dominated. Then we reverted to rudyball for mobely, moochie, and mo. I hate that. Not because it impacted the score (it didn't, we were playing the bulls), but because of the tonality it suggests. "Well, we got Yao his touches, now its our turn." I would rather Mobley came off the bench. I think he is perfect as the leader off the bench. He has a totally different game then JVG wnats/runs which is great for throwing defenders for a loop when he comes in. He is a fantastic shooter too. Let him come off the bench and be the focal point for the 2nd-stringers. THis way he gets his touches in a more "proper flow" of the game. Just my two cents. --rhad
Can somebody with a tape of the game actually count how many times Yao got the ball in the post with a reasonable amount of time on the shot clock?
I think there were maybe only two times when Yao was open and didn't get the ball, but on one of those it was that other people were open too. Cat dribbled the ball and held on to it too much, about five times, mostly after the game was already in control, Steve forced two bad passes, one of which was really bad, and that's about it. It wasn't perfect, but it was really good and under control most of the time. I know to some people a win isn't as important as Yao being the hero, or carrying this team by himself. I, for one, am glad that tonight, Yao's teammates played good ball, and we were able to spread the load around.
A-Train - Here's Q1 vs CHI. Sadly, it's not going to change many minds. Too much selective recall. There are a great many posters here who are missing the subtle but key way JVG has influenced the Rox. The ball is going to Yao...early and often...and it forces the other team to adjust. If that adjustment frees up the outside shooters and they are "on", who cares about shot count. Trust me...the ball is going into the post. Hope you understand my short hand... 11:50 - SF drive TO 11:38 - JJ -> YM 2 10:57 - JJ -> YM 2 10:00 - SF/KC PnR SF miss 9:40 - JJ -> YM -> KC miss 9:30 - CM postup fouled 9:04 - JJ -> YM trans 2 8:30 - CM -> YM miss 8:00 - CM -> KC 2 7:30 -> SF/YM PnR SF 2 7:10 - JJ ISO 2 6:28 - CM/YM PnR CM fouled 6:22 - CM -> YM ISO miss 6:00 - SF/YM Pnr SF -> JJ 2 5:28 - JJ -> SF TO 4:54 - CM -> JJ trans miss 4:18 - perimeter ball move - miss 4:00 - JJ -> YM 2 Notice all of the YM's? 3:32 Substitutions Yao to bench @18-14 Rox. 2nd unit of Moochie, CM, JJ, Braggs and Cato expands lead to 29-19 before period endind 3 by Donyell Marshall. Q1 29-22 Rox. I am going to paraphrase the Bulls' announcer Johnny "Red" Kerr: 2002-03 @ CHI - "The only people on the floor who can stop Yao Ming are Francis and Mobley." 2003-04 @ CHI - "The Rockets expect to make the playoffs this year and if they keep playing like this, I expect them to go deep into the playoffs".
We have to recognize that at the beginning of the game we were playing the JVG's style through Yao. That established our lead and quickly woke up Chicago that they had to double or trible team Yao all the time. So Francis was smart enough to pass the ball around until we hit the open man or on a rare occasion when Yao was open. The difference between this and the Memphis game was, we hit the open perimeter shot. More than that, we hit 3-point shots on a regular basis. We made Chicago pay for double or tribling Yao. And of course, when the lead was wide open, it didn't matter whether we were playing ISO or street ball, the Bull had totally collapsed then. Chicago has been a bad team this season, so be too high on Houston's nice play. As such, why should Yao, being double or treble teamed, take more shots, when the other players were wide open. Here is the Yahoo review: "CHICAGO (AP) -- Steve Francis thought the Houston Rockets got a little bit of help from the Chicago Bulls. Francis scored 19 points, Cuttino Mobley added 14 and Yao Ming had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who cruised to a 98-66 victory Monday night. Houston forced Chicago into 19 turnovers and held them to just 27 percent shooting. ``They play five-man basketball,'' Francis said. ``They play too much individual ball. I think that helped us a lot by them being selfish and not passing the ball to one another. You are not going to win if guys think about themselves more than the team, and that's what it looked like they were doing out there.'' Jamal Crawford led the Bulls with 19 points, and Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 17 rebounds. It was the third blowout loss already this season for Chicago. The Bulls lost to Washington at home by 25 in their opener and got beat at Milwaukee by 30 on Saturday. Chicago (1-3) was never in this game as the Rockets got off to a quick start, taking a 16-5 lead on Jim Jackson's jumper, which ignited the first set of boos from the United Center crowd. ``I'm not going to point any fingers or anything like that,'' Chandler said. ``The only thing I can do is to contribute and do my part, try to be a leader and try to help my teammates out. I'm not going to kick any people while they are down.'' The Bulls had a number of defensive lapses in the first half. Houston extended its lead to 55-35 at the half when Chandler bit on a Scott Padgett's pump-fake and drove to the basket for an easy dunk. Jalen Rose missed a short jumper with 4:30 left, which triggered a loud chorus of boos. Rose was 2-of-9 with five points. Bostjan Nachbar hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Houston. He closed out the third quarter with a 3 and started the fourth with another to give Houston a 80-48 lead, tying for its largest lead. Nachbar was 4-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with 12 points. Francis scored 13 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting. Mobley had 12 and Yao had 10. The Bulls shot just 24 percent in the first half. ``We had all open shots,'' Francis said. ``We made the extra pass and that'swhat got us the lead and the win.''
Here is another from Chronicle: Rockets take Bulls by horns in romp Futility continues for Jordan's ex-team By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle CHICAGO -- It's right there on the cover of the Bulls' media guide -- "History in the Making." Still, there was reason to doubt it. Even with the record book dressed up as a historical text, the line sounded like a marketing slogan, not a promise. But Monday, the Rockets went for it. They more than thrashed the Bulls, 98-66. They not only wrote new lines in their own record book, they went after a place in the Bulls'. This has become no small task in the ignominious history of the Bulls since Michael Jordan left. But the Rockets went after one of the toughest marks to better, applying defensive clamps that threatened to leave the Bulls with the worst shooting night they had ever clanged their way through. For three quarters, the Rockets were on their way to a place of honor on Page 161. They took away the lane until the Bulls had some of 17,792 fans ducking while damaging the United Center with more than three-quarters of their shots. The Rockets had pushed their lead to 29. The Bulls showed few signs of removing their blindfolds. They did, however, put together a fourth-quarter streak of three consecutive made shots, and the Rockets could merely rewrite their own record book, holding the Bulls to the fewest points, worst shooting and fewest field goals ever made against the Rockets. "You can hear it," Rockets forward Jim Jackson said. "People are talking about defense. We're taking pride in it. We're not a great defensive team. But that's a step in that direction." The Rockets could not claim greatness on Monday because the Bulls were so awful, it was difficult to tell. The Bulls' night of 26.6-percent shooting (21-of-79) ended fittingly when Eddie Robinson hit the side of the backboard on a nine-footer. The Bulls' 18-of-77 (23.4 percent) shooting against Miami in 1999 was their worst ever. But Monday was bad enough. The old mark for bad shooting against the Rockets was 26.8 percent (26-for-97) by the host Clippers on Feb. 28, 2000. "Our team has some capabilities defensively," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I think we have strength inside of us we just need to bring out on a consistent basis." The formula for Monday's win was simple: The Bulls gave the Rockets any outside shot they wanted and missed any outside shot they took. But the rout was on from the tip. Bulls center Eddy Curry was overwhelmed by Yao Ming and Kelvin Cato, missing all eight of his shots until the only part of his game that was not soft was his touch. Bulls' fans went from booing Curry to laughing at him, and with Curry useless in the paint, the Bulls had nothing inside, instead settling for whatever unlikely outside shot happened by. "We played good defense," Rockets guard Steve Francis said. "But they looked like a team with a lot of talent, but with five guys trying to do too much by themselves. "They're not looking to get the ball to their teammates. When a guy gets a shot, it's like a desperation shot. There's no continuity. I thought our defense was OK. But it wasn't superb enough for them to have the worst night against us. "You're not going to win if guys are thinking about themselves more than the team." While the Bulls tossed medicine balls at the rims, the Rockets had their best shooting night of the season. Led by Francis' 19 points, they made 52.1 percent of their shots (37-of-71) and 60 percent (9-of-15) of their treys. "We're not a great perimeter shooting team, but we shot great tonight," Van Gundy said. "We passed the ball better. We'll shoot the ball better as we pass better. We were much more intent on hitting people on time and on target." The worst misstep came in the second quarter, when Francis was starting to take over the game but landed on Jalen Rose's foot, turning his left ankle. Francis had set up Yao for a dunk and scored on a hard drive before his jumper ended with him collapsed. But after a timeout, he stayed in the game and immediately nailed a 3-pointer. He ended the half with three consecutive drives and seemed unaffected, though he said later he was worried about having to take X-rays today. "I didn't know what happened," Francis said. "I was scared when it happened." An 18-4 run in the third quarter put the win away and left only the pursuit of records. "If they (the Bulls) ever learn to play like we're learning and we're doing, they got talented guys," Francis said. For now, even if the Rockets could not get in theirs, the Bulls have a place in the Rockets' record book.
Thanks, GATER. If this thread is to be of any value, it should serve to ANALYZE WHY Yao's shot count is low, not to COMPLAIN THAT his shot count is low. There are many reasons that could contribute to the low shot count, and not all are bad.
I watched the game. They gave or attempted to give Yao the ball practically every time he had good position. Much of the time, especially later in the game, Yao was setting picks and screens in order give other players openings rather than demanding the ball himself. The vast majority of the guard play was in the flow of the game. Neither Mobley, nor Francis played out of control. We won by thirty. Looked like a good strategy to me.
As I said in the earlier post, I don't mind about Yao's low shot counts in the recent games, but if this trend continues it'll be an issue. The Rockets won't go far in the West without relying on its front strength as its focal point on offense. The earlier we establish that pattern, the better off we'll be in the long run. Perimeter play and inside-out approach is like walking on crutch and running on wheels respectively. We can walk on crutch like we did the last four seasons, but learning to run on wheels at this stage outweighs inching forward on a crutch.Each game in the early season, especially against weak opponents like the Bulls, should be a lesson to learn playing inside-out. Simply put, we won a game at the expense of team growth - one quarter of consistently feeding Yao is only 1/4 of a lesson. Looking back the three games played there's reasons for not establishing a consistent inside-out pattern. In game 1 Yao was in foul trouble. In game 2 the Grizzlies caught the Rockets off guard with their defensive arrangements - which was a good lesson in terms of learning to play inside out. Game 3 is a step back, but players shot the ball well enough to win, which raises some valid concerns as to whether a blowout will reinforce bad old habits. It's hard to change habits. So it's under expectation for some early twists and turns, and concerns raised upon these are perfectly understandable. I'm afraid things can go multiple directions from here on - is resistence futile? or will it wag its ugly head and the sword of trade exception be unsheathed?
That doesn't matter unless Lord Yao gets 30+, because at the end of the day all that matters is Yao...right?
It sounds kinda funny when Francis criticizes the other team for not looking to get the ball to their teammates.
Thank you Gater, for providing the evidence. Now that the Yao fans have it, can we please lay-off of the criticism for awhile. A rockets win is a rockets win even if His Holiness, Yao Ming, didn't do it all by himself. I know that might thow off some of your plans for world domination by Yao, but we won, we won big, and Yao had the ball a lot during the game. Yao was a big part of that win, and big part of this team, but it's still a team game. I know a lot of people wanted Gator's game plays to look like: 9:40 - YM -> YM -> YM 2 + FT But that's just not possible.
If people remember, it took the Hakeem Rocket's years to learn how to get the entry pass into him. Once he started getting the ball in the right position and passing out to the open man did he begin to dominate. I didn't see a lack of effort of trying to get Yao the ball. What I saw was Yao establishing position quickly and the entry passer waiting an extra second and the passing lane closing up. It's going to take time. I believe the up side is it's going to take them less time to learn how to make an entry pass into Yao than it did with Hakeem. Patience.
Gater had a good summary of the 1st quarter but you jumped to the conclusion: "and Yao had the ball a lot during the game". That is a big leap from 1 qtr to the whole game. Yao got a good number of touches in the 1st quarter. Yao got some touches in the 2nd quarter too but not as many. What people complained about were the 3rd when Yao didn't hardly touch the ball. Yao didn't play the 4th. I think we shared the load fine in a blow out but let's be fair and tell it like it is.
Sabonis/haven/silentfan: substance/form 30 point asskickings do not grow on trees, even against the Bulls. This was not an ugly win. This was a team that dominated the other team on both sides of the ball. Yao had around ten points in the first half. He would have easily gone over twenty had we needed him, but since we have a tough game tonight and were ahead by 30, we dribbled down the shot clock in the 3rd and then gave him the rest of the night off. I agree that mobley acted like a crackhead at times from what I saw, but otherwise everything was clicking on all cylinders. "Not successful"? Maybe in a stats-obsessed Yaocentric view of the universe. I just want to see the Rockets win. And they did, easily. End of discussion. PS, cool chart GATER.
We could count on one hand the number of times that Yao should have gotten the ball but didn't. It's not worthy of real criticism in this game. That said maybe if the ball left Cat's hand earlier a couple of times, something might have developed for Yao, but that's an unknown. Overall, all the guards, including Cat played in control. Of course their were a few times when that wasn't the case, but not real cause for concern at this point.
I completely disagree. The way we win is just as important! If the players are not going along with the directions of the coach there is a problem. We have all seen the last four years and we dont want anymore, as I understand it JVG wants to develop the Team arround the Center, playing the inside outside game. They only played the new JVG Ball for the first Quarter, then they reverted to Rudy Ball where there was an'I' in Team Basketball.
Right now Yao gets as many shots as he should get. He is is no more than an 18-19 ppg scorer. From what I've seen he just does not have the stamina to be a dominant player which is ok. His defensive presence is becoming pretty dominate though. Thats fun to watch. The whole team feeds off it.
