Like I said before...it was a great win but there are some causes for concern... defensive rebounding:::Kings got 14 offensive boards Early foul troube::Yao and Stro combined for 10 fouls, and they're silly too...inexcuseable poor FT shooting: 17-25 FTs The interior defense allowed way too many easy layups as well...it was nice that we got the win but I have never seen our defense give up so many easy baskets...against legit contenders, thats gonna kill us if its not improved upon...
Damn what a way to start the season. Yao, TMac and JB did real good today and seems like that motivational call from JVG did wonders for JB. Hopefully he can keep this up. Like Houston said, the fouls and D. Rebounds need to improve. WE need lesser fouls and more command in the rebounding. It's still early in the season though so hopefully this will work out fine in ouf favour. Getting the win was great and heres for more to come.
The game was very entertaining. The first half I was upset at a few things. Swift looked extremley nervous on D, but he did have a NASTY dunk on Brad Miller. Juwan Howard played horrible, but I wasn't too worried about him because you know his shot is usually on. Yao looked more assertive. Tmac was himself. Second half, it seemed like Van Gundy gave the team a really "nice" pep talk. The came out and played great. But more than anything, Yao took over in the 4th quarter. He was WAY more aggressive than he usually is. That was the highlight of the whole night. I also like the way Skip played. He ran the offense like smoothly, and everybody got good shots.
I didn't catch the game last night, but I did follow it up until the end of the first quarter, when the team was down 9 and Yao looked like he would average 5 fouls the whole season. This morning, I open the sports pages and see Yao putting up 22 and 10 in 23 minutes, and Jon Barry lead the team with 24. Not that I can comment on anything else because I didn't see for sure how everyone did, but that's what I like about this team. We have so many guys besides Yao and TMac that can put up some big points occasionally. Anderson, Wesley, Howard, Swift, Barry, Alston and Sura (when healthy) can all do so and it's that unexpectability that helps us win games. Opponents never know who will go off in one game, and there will always be at least one player who will go for a 18 point night.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Locke:</div><div class="quote_post">I didn't catch the game last night, but I did follow it up until the end of the first quarter, when the team was down 9 and Yao looked like he would average 5 fouls the whole season. This morning, I open the sports pages and see Yao putting up 22 and 10 in 23 minutes, and Jon Barry lead the team with 24. Not that I can comment on anything else because I didn't see for sure how everyone did, but that's what I like about this team. We have so many guys besides Yao and TMac that can put up some big points occasionally. Anderson, Wesley, Howard, Swift, Barry, Alston and Sura (when healthy) can all do so and it's that unexpectability that helps us win games. Opponents never know who will go off in one game, and there will always be at least one player who will go for a 18 point night.</div> Thats is what I like about our line up. There should be at least one person to have a great night, and you never know who. Yesterday it was Barry. BTW I loved his speech at the beginning of the game. He got us pumped for the season. Swift will catch on soon, just give him some time. Our line up is so great that we can play as bad as we did last night and still get the win. Yao is ready to "prove the haters wrong".
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ZhuangCorp:</div><div class="quote_post">did anybody see who played backup pointguard? i thought Head would play it, but he didn't play.</div> McGrady played point whenever Alston went out...there was no true backup point...if Alston wasnt handling the ball, then TMac was...
SKIP looks like he can do wonders in running our offense. He was to timid at times to create off the dribble and dish but settled in later in the game. Because of Yao's good hands, those two will become best friends on the court. I knew STRO would be the first guy off our bench, just didn't expect it to be for Yao. JVG threw out some good combinations on the floor, and J.B. was amazing.
Positives: (1) Yao looked dominant. This guy is going to own people this year. Nationally, he should now get the respect he deserves. (2) The bench. Barry and Motumbo...wow. Barry's points and Deek's defense was HUGE. Best part is we have others on the bench who can step in and do the same thing on any given night. (3) Rafer looked solid. VERY promising. Alittle timid but he hit open shots and distributed the ball well. Unlike last years point-gaurd, he can definately make the entry pass to Yao. And most impressive, very low turnover rate. Good job, Alston. Negatives:
Positives: (1) Yao looked dominant. From his sweet release on his jump shot to his amped up, more aggressive style of play. Look for him to now get the respect he deserves from the national media. (2) The bench...wow. Barry's offense and Deek's D. Changed the outlook of the whole game. Moreover, we have any number of players coming off the bench who can do the same thiing on any given night. (3) Rafer. Looked alittle timid at times but he hit the open shot when needed and distributed the ball very well. Unlike last years point-gaurd, he can definately make the entry pass into Yao. His on-the-ball D looked sharp, and most important, VERY low turnover rate. Good job, Alston. Negatives: (1) Defense, and mostly Stro's D. No blocks and he looked lost more than a few times, especially on the pick and roll. Player rotation on the defensive end for the team was way to slow, which lead to many easy buckets for the Kings. (2) Fouls. Please stay out of foul trouble Yao, PLLLLEASE! (3) Role Players. Besides the obvious of Motumbo and JB, the rest of the team played horrible. I forgot that Anderson was on our team and Wesley looked a step slower and still can't shoot. And oh yea, Juwan had the worst game of his career on the offensive side of the ball. He had some rebounds but that doesn't make up for not showing up offensively. Overall outlook: Very Good. McGrady was hurting the entire game but willed his way to 23 points (still don't know where all the points came from. He doesn't even have to suit up for the game and he will still getcha 20). Howard shot 0% from the field (0-9), Anderson didn't show up, Wesley sucks right now, Yao's in foul trouble, Stromile doesn't know what sport he is playing, McGrady's hurt, we can't hit a free-throw, our defense is suspect at least,the whole team is playing timid trying to get the feel of each other and we still take care of a possible playoff team in the West. Look for JVG to get the defense tightened up. Time and playing together will take care of the timidness for Anderson and Swift. Hopefully McGrady's knees (the bee's knees) get better and Yao stays away from silly fouls. Barring injuries, I think Houston can make a run at the Spurs for the #1 spot in the West. Yea, I said it.
I saw many things, but what i saw that most intrigued me was the open wide mouthed jaws of yao critics in disbelieve at the player they were seeing. They saw an aggressive yao who went for a dunk almost every time he was in position(which was many times). They saw him make shots he would normally make 2/5 times last year. Most of all they saw a dominant game by a 7 6 player who can now respectively shoot over other centers, grab rebounds like a beast, and be that dominant player in the league(all respect to shaq) I do realize it was one game, but seriously...I think we can expect this to continue.
i don't like howard and swift playing at the same time the well..... maybe for 2 min but not 5-8 min like we did yesterday... i prefer mutombo with swift or howard
I agree...if they wanna go small go all the way with Swift and four guards/SFs. Howard's slow up and down jump shooting style (though usually effective) is not wots desirable in a small lineup. All that did was put Swift at C in half court offense which was one of the reasons he underperformed with the Grizzlies. Though just judging from the first game and the preseason, Rockets should avoid the small lineup unless theyre forced to do so by other teams (read Phoenix). They seem to b best with the traditional Howard/Swift + Yao/Mutombo.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">I saw many things, but what i saw that most intrigued me was the open wide mouthed jaws of yao critics in disbelieve at the player they were seeing. They saw an aggressive yao who went for a dunk almost every time he was in position(which was many times). They saw him make shots he would normally make 2/5 times last year. Most of all they saw a dominant game by a 7 6 player who can now respectively shoot over other centers, grab rebounds like a beast, and be that dominant player in the league(all respect to shaq) I do realize it was one game, but seriously...I think we can expect this to continue.</div> And just think, it was in only 25 minutes. The guy could of easily had 30pts that night. What most impressed me though was his aggressivness on the boards. But I expected this, I can't wait till the end of the season when Yao puts together a career year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">And just think, it was in only 25 minutes. The guy could of easily had 30pts that night. What most impressed me though was his aggressivness on the boards. But I expected this, I can't wait till the end of the season when Yao puts together a career year.</div> When Swift figures out his defense, JVG REALLY needs to have Swift start so he can help Yao out in the defensive post. That way Yao won't make as much Fouls. Howard should eventually be the power forward bench. Mutombo should stay as be back up center not Swift... Not sure why Swift was played as backup center in this game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">I saw many things, but what i saw that most intrigued me was the open wide mouthed jaws of yao critics in disbelieve at the player they were seeing. They saw an aggressive yao who went for a dunk almost every time he was in position(which was many times). They saw him make shots he would normally make 2/5 times last year. Most of all they saw a dominant game by a 7 6 player who can now respectively shoot over other centers, grab rebounds like a beast, and be that dominant player in the league(all respect to shaq) I do realize it was one game, but seriously...I think we can expect this to continue.</div> Agreed...this was another positive attribute I saw during the game...Yao doesnt go up for layups anymore when he's close to the rim...he DUNKS that baby home...thats what we've been looking for these past 3 years...I would be more comfortable with him missing a dunk than a layup because atleast I know he was aggressive in making the move...
I loved Yao's aggressiveness, but hopefully he can stay out of foul trouble so he can stay on the floor longer.........I'm not too worried about the FT's, because Tmac missed 5 of his (mainly because he was injured)....JB and Alston looked great, D.A. looked okay, Swift looked lost at times on defense, but JVG will change that.......it was far from a perfect performance, but at least we got the W.
