This is just dying for a heypartner response.... "When those guys are coming at you one-on-one, it's definitely tempting to start playing one-on-one yourself," guard Chauncey Billups said. "They're young, they've got a lot of playground players. I guess that's what they're going to live and die on this year. And we're nothing like that. We're more execution, looking for options, running plays." ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
more wisdom ... from Sam Mitchell... "Somewhere along the line, those young guards [Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Moochie Norris] are going to have to realize it helps to have somebody score down low every once in a while." ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
I think MO put it best when he said "we couldn't make lay-ups and we just shot ourselves in the foot." Cat basically said they were young and played with too much emotion. I think these 2 guys will be the leaders of the team this year. ------------------ "I know how hard it is to put food on your family." George W. Bush
Sounds like Chauncey and Sam have noticed our guards. Keep watching them, boys....oh, and never minds those guys in the paint, they aren't any good.
It reminds me of a sign that I saw at a Nebraska football game when Tommy Frazier was out with the blood clot in his leg: "Quarterback, We don't need no stinkin' Quarterback." ------------------
Somewhere along the line, Sam Mitchell is going to have to realize that it helps to have one of the top 3 players in the league to score down low. ------------------
I hate to admit it but Sam Mitchell has a point. Francis, Mobley and Norris shoot 17-45 from the field. Cato, Hakeem and Taylor shoot 14-19 from the field. The only player on the court who was getting a for sure double team was Taylor. The rocket guards were taking very low percentage shots almost trying to do the spectacular. I kwow the rocket backcourt is young but they must play smarter basketball. ------------------
Clutch, upon further review and coming down from my own thrill of the return of the NBA (we must have watched 6 league pass games AFTER returning from the Summit), I have a more appropriate response... Let's leave aside for a second that Chauncey is mainly talking smack. Minnesota owns us. I fear them as much as any team. For some reason, they have our number. I believe their game plan was to not double team at a high rate, and thereby make our guards beat them. Walt couldn't get open, and Francis was being corralled. Hats off to Garnett's ability to give Minnesota flexible defenses. I saw less movement by the Rockets than any preseason game. I have to believe that has something to do with KT out and Mo, Shandon, Hakeem rusty with the system. Francis's turnovers that forced Rudy to give the rock to Moochie pretty much dictated our game plan as well. Dammit Francis, stop with the turnovers...slow down!! wow,,,jump shooter. I didn't once see Mo doubled. They were letting Garnett take him mano. As for the tough shots by the guards, did you not see a bunch of missed lay-ups in the first half, and plenty of wide-open looks by Francis that he bricked. I just don't see how you can take Mobley's 10-22 (and 4 missed lay-ups) and surround it with Francis's 4-17 and say they both shot poorly. And dammit, Mo was out of position on that last turnover. Mo, the guards need you to fill passing lanes, they must use peripheral vision to find you.
Heypartner even Calvin Murphy commented when Taylor got the ball on one occassion the rockets were finally getting a double team. He was the hottest guy on the court. I agree with you on several halfcourt sets that Garnett did play Taylor straight up and Mo took the guy apart. I believe Taylor was what 5-5 in the first half compared to Mobley and Francis combining for I think 3-17 in the first half when pretty much the game was decided. ------------------
How many times do I have to hammer this point home? FG% doesn't mean crap when you are making the other team foul you. Mobley went to the line ELEVEN FRIGGEN TIMES last night and sank every free throw. Taylor shot an unconscience 80% from the floor and still just barely beat Mobley on points per attempt. Is Mobley perfect? Hell no, he still has a lot to learn. Would I like to see less ISO's and more team play? Hell yes, but until the Rockets can play consistently as a team, it sure is one hell of a luxury to have Mobley to fall back on. It's arguable that Anderson is consistently better than Mobley, and Mobley is definitely getting better at a faster clip. The Rockets need to be dissed for their team play last night, but we wouldn't have been in the game towards the end without Mobley. ------------------ stop posting my damn signature
The problem is not Mobley, it is Francis. He needs to grow up in a hurry. Too often he tries to do too much, it took Hakeem 10 years to learn this, I hope Francis is a faster learner. DaDakota "Basketball is a team game" ------------------ All you MO-FO's better stop ripping off my lines !!
Why in the hell is Sam Mitchell even allowed to play anymore? Isn't there an age limit? I don't care that the guy is the leading scorer in the Timberwolves illustrious history. It's not like he's the one scoring down low anyways. Although all of his four points were absolutely DOMINANT last night. Shut up, Sam, until you put up better numbers than the guys you call out. ------------------ Jazzkiller
Go on DaDakota, either you start that Francis needs a good dose of pine thread or I will. ------------------ www.NOPostCount.com [This message has been edited by SmeggySmeg (edited November 01, 2000).]
I agree 100% with Chauncey & Sam's opinions. True, it is only 1 game, but I would have thought Francis would have progressed farther as a point guard than he actually has. I do like his defensive intensity. That has improved. ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know.
Pole, FG% and # of FT attempts are TOTALLY uncorrelated. Unless, you count all of the misses you make while trying to unsuccessfully draw a foul. Is that what you are saying we should do? When you are fouled and miss a shot, it does not get put on the stat sheet as a missed FG attempt. Therefore it does not affect FG%. Mobley could've had ZERO shot attempts in the box score and still shot 11 of 11 from the foul line. ------------------ "I have a DREAM.........his name's Hakeem." DREAMer's Rocket Page
I agree. FG% and "points created" (a contrived stat) don't necessarily follow one another. Poor FG% means you missed a large amount of your shots. Had you not taken those misses, your teams chances of scoring on that posession could have been greater. The simple way to answer this "mind-boggling" riddle is this : If I shoot 10-22, and get fouled a whole bunch and score a lot of points, you consider that "good". If I shoot 11-22, and get fouled a whole bunch what do you call that? Better. Keeping with the theme, if I shoot 14-26, and get fouled a whole bunch what do you call that? Jordan. What I'm saying is that no one's stopping you from getting fouled. Go do it. But at the same time, just because you're getting fouled doesn't mean you "have to" miss shots. If you're going to shoot a lot (over 20-25 shots a game), your FG% better be approaching 50% or you are definitely hurting your team more than someone who takes less shots and shoots the same percentage. In other words, I can condone a 3-8 FG's with 5-5 FT's performance far easier than a 9-24 FG's with 5-5 FT's performance. All the latter tells me is you're a damn ball hog and don't know when to quit (assuming it's a nightly occurrence). Mobley can continue getting fouled, which is GREAT; it's an asset that I don't think even Francis with his amazing quickness has mastered. However, that doesn't mean you condone poor FG%. While I wouldn't go so far as Dreamer and say that that the two are TOTALLY unrelated (I think they can be correlated depending on the individual), I can't say a bad FG% can be condoned simply because the guy gets to the line a lot and converts. All that being said, this is best left to another thread. Let's wait until Mobley has a horrific game before we jump him, as 10-22 is more than acceptable. P.S. -- Smeg, bud... this defense of Mobley was for you. ------------------ My stupid little site could never compete. It got to where it was just me sayin' the same stupid crap! Then I realized, why bother when I can come here to say stupid crap! -- cson tells everybody how Clutch put him out of business
DaDakota is of course right. IMO, the other elements looked average to strongly above average for Walt, Mo, and Mobley. Francis is the key. Fortunately, he's of course not going to play that poorly/spastically throughout the year. If he would stroke one out before the game, IMO, the Rockets will be just fine. ------------------ "Everyone I know has a big but... come on Simone, let's talk about your but."
true words of jisdom...errr...wisdom, achebe. true words of wisdom. ------------------ Essentially the top two players to come out of college the last couple of years are Duncan, Carter, and Francis. - vince [This message has been edited by verse (edited November 01, 2000).]
Uh, isn't time spent a factor? I mean time on the floor. What kind of time is Cat giving us in terms of pts/min? He spends alot of time there for a 6th man, and he scores well... We all know that. What's the pt:min ratio? That's what we need to know... unless you're thinking about moving him to PG. As long as we ask him only to score off the bench, what more do you expect him to do? ------------------
I honestly believe that Francis is going to come back with a strong game after this. One more thing.. 10 out of 22 is not bad.. it's not great but in no way is it disapointing. However, it was the first game so let's just see how they pick them selves up from this.... ------------------ against all odds
