Yao and TMac will never win a championship with...

all we need is a PG to bring the ball up and post up Yao or move the ball to the open shooter....the shooter should not be Rafer as is the case most of the time....
Rafer is a total DUMB F#@!.....down by four he dribbles around for like 7 seconds before making that 3...woop de do skip to my lou...you scored a 3 when we are down by four..now we only lose by one....WTF was that....JVG needs to pull the plug and use him as a backup PG...its decision making like that that makes me question JVG and Rafer especially...
And whats up with JVG resting Yao with 6 mins left in the game....!!!!

 

So you are gonna tell me that when Rafer hit that three, you weren't cheering and excited, but u were pissed off at him for dribbling around for a few seconds?!?!?! You are a HATER and extremely biased against Rafer. Him hitting that 3 was big, and it was a designed pick and pop kinda play. Making that 3 was big, because it put us only down by 1. After a foul and if they make both ft's, with a 3 we have a chance to tie the game and go into overtime.

PS - Anyone else think Shane was fouled on that desperation halfcourt shot?

 

umm...i applaud at Rafer's efforts to wait for Novak to set a pick to actually launch the three when all year he would chuck it up with no conscience no matter if there was a defender on him or not..but you DO realize that after he made that three:

1. there was only 1 second left
2. the Rockets had zero timeouts meaning
3. they couldn't advance the ball at halfcourt

so basically that 3 particularly didn't mean anything if you were left with 1 tick left.

 

You are right on all those points, but the blame still shouldn't be on Rafer. Shouldn't we be blaming Novak for taking his sweet time to set the pick?? And it isn't his fault that he is trying to do things to help the team win.

All I'm saying is that when TMac and Snyder come back, Rafer will slip back into his role as a distributor and get these other guys the ball.

 

i'm surprised at how many people thinks he's such a hero hitting those last minute "clutch" shots when the fact is... he wouldn't have to if he shot at least decent the first three quarters. he dug the team into a hole first place, why should we be happy he almost got us out???

 

Fire JVG is the 1st thing we should do now.

 

Yes I was pissed big time because as a PG he needs to know a)how much time is left b) the situation c)the team has NO timeouts so it would have to bring the ball up the floor again if they regain possession d)if he misses there is still time for a rebound and putback.

he had no need to wait for novak, the shot rafer took was still a tough shot after the pick with a hand in his face so the pick really do anything. a very poor bball decision.

i dont expect rafer to be an all-world PG heck the heat won last year with jason williams as their pg. what i do want from rafer is better decision making with the ball. so he shoot 37% i am ok with that because for the most part his shots are wide open and he has to take those shots make or miss for the defense to honor him. his decision making and bball iq is poor. this is what is truly lacking without tracy in the lineup.

also not fouling randolph on the inbounds pass before was not good, but it looked like they did foul him but the refs decided not to call it since he didnt have the ball for too long.


shane may have been fouled but no ref in the world would call that foul.

 

I do blame Novak for not setting that screen either BUT how is a rookie going to dispel the deer-in-headlights jitters if he doesn't play for stretches at a time only to be inserted into the starting lineup to be used a a decoy. I don't understand why Van Gundy didn't sub in Howard or Chuck Hayes after Rafer made that layup. They fouled Jack and that was the opportunity to put in Howard.

I think people forget that when both McGrady and Snyder were playing, Rafer's job during the 4th quarter was to be a cheerleader on the bench. Van Gundy would play Head more than Rafer in the 4th because of reasons that we see now.

 

Why should the blame go on Novak? He hardly plays...that shouldve been somebody else to set the pick....or he should have shot it without the pick to give them a chance.

Why can't skip slip into his role as a distributor now? He shouldn't be their 2nd option. Theres Bonzi, Shane, and Luther....get these guys the ball instead of trying to call plays for yourself. Skip did overlook Shane in the post about 3 times last night.

 

You are right the blame shouldn't be on Novak or Rafer, and JVG should be blamed for the personnel he had on the floor. The thing is, Bonzi, Shane, and Luther should all look to score more. Bonzi had a terrible night, shooting some strange shots, and going 2-10 from the field. I also saw Shane post up a couple of times and we couldnt get him the ball. Shane should definitely be our 2nd option since tmac is out. Shane needs to start avg around 12 ppg and contributing on the offensive end on a more consistent basis. I applaud Head because he knows his role and is a gunslinger on offense. He knows what his strengths are and thats shooting the ball. He has really stepped up his game in TMac's absence. Rafer shouldn't be the third option on this team, but since no one else is really stepping up, Rafer has to do it.

 

Its really hard for the others to step up when rafer puts up 20+ shots a game, calls plays for himself, and overlooks teammates in the post.

Shane Battier 1-4
Yao Ming 12-21 (Only 21?)
Bonzi Wells 2-10 (Needs more shots)

 

Yao in actuality, took more than 21 shots. Missed shots that he gets fouled on do not count as fg attempts. Yao shot 11 ft's that night, and im not sure how many of those were and1's. It's funny you mention that bonzi went 2-10 and "needs more shots". If you ask me, it looked like he was struggling to find a way to score all game, and by getting him more shots, were u expecting him to miraculously find his jumpshot? But I do agree with you that Battier needs to touch the ball more.
If you ask me, the offense did look pretty stagnant and there wasnt alot of ball movement, or movement with the ball last night. Keep in mind, the Rockets only had 16 assists as a team, with Rafer owning 8 of those. Rafer shouldn't be the only guy we should be getting on.

 

Replacing 3 starters with a (health wise) suspicious so-called "superstar" was the beginning of the end and is representative of JVG's inablility to "teach" the game of basketball. IMHO I think ownership is more concerned about revenue than a winning team, but who cares: think of all the jerseys they sell. Maybe I've missed it, but has a player ever "blossomed" under JVG? JVG & CD have no idea how to make this team better. Doubt it? Look at all the "splases" we have from the FA market. I'm tired of watching the same season over & over again.

 

The sad thing is, Yao will someday win a championship but probably not with Houston. He's done so much in the last 4 years it's amazing to watch. For people not to say he's the best center in the league is hogwash. He's the best center out there right now period!
Now, as for T-Mac I'm affraid his time in the NBA is running out and rather quickly. I am a very devoted Rox fan and cannot stand watching JVG hold out on some players that can help us at least compete.
He's affraid they'll make mistakes but he puts in Novak with 20 seconds left in the game? What kind of position is that to put your rookie in? It was bad sportsmanship on JVG's part. If he thought he could make a shot in the clutch, why not play him during the game and see what he can do?
As for Rafer, I love his enthusiam. But enthusiam doesn't get you anywhere in this league, ask Steve Francis. He has a role on this team, and that is to throw the ball in to Yao, back off let him get set and if now be ready to throw the ball back in to him. If they double, take it to the hole and make a pass. When I say pass, I don't mean a floater in the lane it's a pass to an open man that usually happens to be standing in the corner for the open 3. It's what T-mac did for the first 20 games and it worked. Why can't Van Gundy teach him to do that?
Sorry fellas, but there needs to be some trades or a coach needs to get fired now before this once hopefull and promising season spins out of control.
BTW, I don't see T-Mac coming back for at least another 5 games. If that's the case, the ROX could easily be 15-15 when he returns and at the bottom of the western confernce.
Does this scenario sound familiar?

 

Correct me if i'm wrong, but our losses we've had recently, would have been worse if it weren't for some of the shots/decisions made by Rafer in the 4th quarters?

And as mentioned, we are missing a teenie tiny piece of our team. Some dude name McGrady. Not sure, but he might help out a lot. Talk about someone who completely changes the team when he's on the floor.

 

Pocket rocket you are absolutely correct. Rafer is taking way too many shots. In the first quarter, Matt Bullard saw Rafer go up for a 3 make it and had the balls to say " Rafer is shooting the ball with so much confidence".
WTF was that? Has he been watching these games? Rafers had maybe three at tops 4 good games this year.
Makes no sense!

 

Well, seeing as no one was making any buckets in the first half, who else should shoot?

Even Yao was horrible in the first half. Rafer is far from perfect, but you can say that about every single player on the team right now. Yao as great as he is, screws up too. On the flipside, as much as Rafer and Head screw up, they do good things too. Without some of their "ill-advised" shots that they make, we'd be gettin blown out of games. You take the good with the bad.

 

JVG makes too many mistakes for my liking...

kinda wierd...because the Knicks use to be my favorite team when Ewing was playing... never saw as many glaring mistakes as I see in so many games...

even the ones we win.... ill pick up on a few...

I heard Lenny Wilkens color commentating...

he was a good coach... for the years he won a championship... and the years I was cheering for the Sonics with Payton and Kemp...

 

Don't jump ship. Everything's gonna be OK.

I got nuthin but faith.