The Rockets look to go 12-12 this season with a victory tonight. Against a weak and inexperienced expansion team in Charlotte, the Rockets should have no problem taking this one. However, the Bobcats are pretty solid at home, and they have won four straight at the Charlotte Coliseum. Rookie Emeka Okafor is having a ROY-type season, leading the team in points, blocks, and rebounds per game. However, Primoz Brezec and Okafor will have a hard task at hand in guarding Yao Ming. Expect Yao to have a good game tonight. T-Mac will also probably have his regular 20 point game, and Bob Sura might look to continue his fine play that he demonstrated against the Warriors last night. Rockets by 12.
w00t w00t! When Gerald Wallace missed that free throw I was screaming, but Jamal Sampson saved the day. Okafor and Sampson make quite a 1-2 rebounding punch.
T-Mac jacked up a lot of shots in this game, 9-30 FG Tough loss but don't underestimate the Bobcats they're starting to come together and understanding what it takes to win.
Great game. I love Okafor...the man has a great future in this league. McGrady's shooting wasn't very pretty...but from what I read, he hit that last three at the end of the game; good thing for Sampson to hit his two free throws. Who missed the shot or had a turnover before the Rockets fouled Sampson?
What a joke. 9-30 against some CBA guys man... Tracy should be living on the block. Posting up smaller players. Not shooting 41% from the field as a 6'7" 2 guard. Iverson can get away with that as a 6 footer, but Tracy with his height and athleticism has no excuse to be shooting that low. Especially now that he has the help of Yao Ming.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">w00t w00t! When Gerald Wallace missed that free throw I was screaming, but Jamal Sampson saved the day. Okafor and Sampson make quite a 1-2 rebounding punch.</div> What is woot woot? are you an owl? That's great man we want the bobcats to win some games so they can gain a bigger fan base.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post">Great game. I love Okafor...the man has a great future in this league. McGrady's shooting wasn't very pretty...but from what I read, he hit that last three at the end of the game; good thing for Sampson to hit his two free throws. Who missed the shot or had a turnover before the Rockets fouled Sampson?</div> <strike>Yeah, all of a sudden you love okafor ...bandwagon freak.</strike> I'm sure you were an okafor fan when he first came in to the nba...as well as kobe..but hey at least you stick to him like glue, gotta give you some props for that <font color="red"><font size="-2">You gotta stop baiting on Lakers fans or action will be taken. -Trip</font></font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post"><strike>Yeah, all of a sudden you love okafor ...bandwagon freak.</strike> I'm sure you were an okafor fan when he first came in to the nba...as well as kobe..but hey at least you stick to him like glue, gotta give you some props for that <font color="red"><font size="-2">You gotta stop baiting on Lakers fans or action will be taken. -Trip</font></font></div> http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26337 I wasn't even trying to diss the Rockets. It's no surprise that there will be upsets in the NBA.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post">What is woot woot? are you an owl? That's great man we want the bobcats to win some games so they can gain a bigger fan base. </div> Can't you accept a loss? geez. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Tracy should be living on the block. Posting up smaller players. Not shooting 41% from the field as a 6'7" 2 guard. Iverson can get away with that as a 6 footer, but Tracy with his height and athleticism has no excuse to be shooting that low. Especially now that he has the help of Yao Ming.</div> He's actually close to 6'9, but you're right, he should be going inside more. Players just fall in love with their jump shot. They start off explosive and exciting when they're young and inexperienced, like T-Mac, VC, but at times you wish they don't know how to shoot, like Maggette. Wade can shoot, but he never settles for the jumper. T-Mac has the biggest advantage out of all the players I listed, but he doesn't utilizes his strengths as he should. The Rockets should run plays for him in the block, where he turn and go inside, and if he attracts the double, he has the option to dish it to Yao, or else, he can take it to the rack strong. He can also get a higher percentage shot if he's in the post, and just takes a look at who's guarding him, and either blow by him, or shoot right over him, with his arm length and good shooting touch.
When talking about Tracy exploding to the rack, there are other factors you have to take into consideration. Players like Kobe and Maggette are well-built and have the body to take the damage that being a constant attacker brings. T-Mac, meanwhile, is built like a rail and already has back problems at the age of 25. If he drives like a mad Iverson, he won't last till age 30. For the good of his career, he should not be a constant attacker, but somewhat like a Ray Allen/Michael Redd type.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Real Deal:</div><div class="quote_post">http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26337 I wasn't even trying to diss the Rockets. It's no surprise that there will be upsets in the NBA.</div> Congratulations u got something right, keep that thread, don't lose it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post">Congratulations u got something right, keep that thread, don't lose it.</div> Look, I'm sorry if you were thinking I was bashing the Rockets. I don't understand why you're so bitter towards me anyways. The game was close, there are upsets every other night it seems like...what's the big deal?
Look Okafur is a great player, but there is no way in hell that we should have lost to the freagin bobcats.........there starting lineup consist of a bunch of 3rd rate NBA players......Van Gundy makes me sick, first he doesn't give barret any playing time and then he plays Mo Taylor way too many minutes......mo used to be able to give us some offense, but now he can't even do that any more.....why did we keep fouling the bobcats.....they weren't shooting good from the field but we kept putting them on the line.....I swear this team just pisses me off sometimes!!!!
Yeah, a disappointing loss to the Bobcats for Houston. Some good points of the game however, Yao had a pretty nice game with all those boards, it shows that he was aggressive to the basket. However, McGrady had a horrible shooting night with 9-30 shooting but was able to manage 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Pretty nice if you ignore his low shooting percentage. I agree with Trip about his shooting situation. He needs to be able to hit those jumpers more consistently but also must be able to mix it up with occasional cuts to the basket. Imagine a strategy with McGrady cutting to the basket, while Yao dishes it down to him for the easy layup. Or vice versa of course. Overall, the Bobcats just out hustled us on the defensive end of the court. They grabbed rebounds, had a bunch of steals, and played harder than us. We played sloppily, and this is what happens. Just hope Houston can see some light out of this and drastically improve their gameplay.
This loss just shows another example why the rockets need a 3rd scorer. T-Mac is a clutch player but he cant do it everygame. Yao would have been our second option but since he was fouled out we really had no other scoring option besides T-Mac. But dont worry about losing to the Bobcats. They upset Orlando and Detroit. And Houstons just the third. Im sure Charlotte will pull out some more in the season. Im not really surprised anyways, the rockets were probably thinking, oh its charlotte guaranteed win. So next time we play em we need to play them like a there a good team and maybe we can win the next one.
