The Rockets, coming off an impressive win against Portland, look to please the home-crowd against New Orleans. April 1st, 2005 Toyota Center, Houston, Texas TV: FSNSW (Local) NBALP (League Pass) Inside the Numbers <font color="red">Rockets</font> Leading Scorer: Tracy McGrady (25.4 PPG) Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming (8.2 RPG) Assist Man: Tracy McGrady (5.7 APG) The 'X' Factor: Yao Ming (18.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.87 BPG) <font color="teal">Hornets</font> Leading Scorer: Lee Nailon (14.7 PPG) Leading Rebounder: Jamaal Magloire (9.4 RPG) Assist Man: Speedy Claxton (6.1 APG) The 'X' Factor: JR Smith (9.8 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.8 APG) Probable Line-ups: <div align="center"><font color="red">Rockets ). Wesley, is a good defender, and should win this match-up. Advantage: Rockets Small Forward: McGrady/Nailon - McGrady got injured last time these two played, and even though it was Yao's fault, look for McGrady to be seeking for some revenge. Advantage: Rockets Power Forward: Weatherspoon/Brown - Brown is still a factor, in any game. Weatherspoon was coming off a good outing against the Blazers, he was going for the screens like they were Big Macs. Clarence won't defend well, but he might score a good 8 today. Advantage: Hornets Center: Yao/Magloire - Hm.. 29 points in 30 minutes, that isn't too bad. Yao is a weird character, some days he is unbeatable, others, not so much. Let's hope he is as inspired as he was against Portland .. even though he'll drop some good numbers tonight. Advantage: Rockets <div align="center">KEYS TO THE GAME </div> <ul>Rebound.. The Rockets win when they rebound. When the Rockets rebound, they win. Win do the Rockets when they rebound. Grab the Boards, and stay aggresive on them. Keep the outlet's going with the rebounds.[/list] <ul>Tempo. Control this young team by controlling the speed of the game. Keep them on their heels, and keep them working. The Rockets have to set the tone early in the game, and shouldn't really stop until the game is won.[/list] <ul>Get the Crowd into it. The Rockets really need to emphasize home-court. If they really want it in the playoffs, get the atmosphere going now. If the Rockets can get the crowd behind them today, they will win.[/list] Prediction: I do not see the Rockets losing this game. Yao and Tracy should have around 20 a piece, and look for Barry to have a better shooting night, than his past games. Rockets: 102 Hornets: 86
I think Yao may be out for this game. Its fine with me however. near the end of the season, we have tmac and the hornets are probably the easiest team we will fast for our last couple of games. Plus Mutumbo isnt half bad eh?
I am currently at the Rockets game, its about 40 minutes prior to the start of the game and I have seen no signs of him warming up yet so I do not think this is an April Fools Joke. I will post if I see him warming up with the team but as of right now it doesn't look good. Its so tight, I can actually post from the suite I am in.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Hunter:</div><div class="quote_post">I am currently at the Rockets game, its about 40 minutes prior to the start of the game and I have seen no signs of him warming up yet so I do not think this is an April Fools Joke. I will post if I see him warming up with the team but as of right now it doesn't look good. Its so tight, I can actually post from the suite I am in.</div> The Suites are so nice. A comp, a personally server, plasma screen, nice bathroom, food laid out over the counter, big table, comfortable couches, rocket legends pictures, etc etc.
Both teams are shooting horribly at the end of the first quarter. the Rockets are shooting 24% from the field(was 19 before Padgett hit a three with four seconds left) and the Bobcats are shooting at 19%.
omg.. this game really enlighten me about the importance of Yao to this team.. look at today's game, no inside scoring!! and everybody has a poor shooting night!
Gah! How the heck did this happen. Houston lost to New Orleans 76-73 with bad shooting on both teams. Man I'm really disappointed. We should be able to beat them without Yao but instead Houston collapses. Not good after becoming really hot and going on a couple of winning streaks. I really don't know what happened today since I didn't watch the game but I'm guessing there were less double teams so less role players were open because Yao wasn't there. Really a shame though.
Tracy wasn't aggressive enough late in the game. He was having a horrible shooting game, but so was everyone else. He needed to just be aggressive and attack the basket. Not sure why he didn't do that. We were leading by double digits for mos of the game, but it looked like we were getting tired and weren't emotionally into the game. Hopefully they can bounce back in the next game.
Here are the things I saw: 1. McGrady shot wait to many bad shots. He needs to realize that when you are in a shooting slump its better to take the ball to the rim rather then jack up fadeaway contested threes. 2. David Wesley needs to be cut from the team - seriously he played like absolute trash tonight. 3. Clearance Weatherspoon is a workaholic. He was after ever lose ball, took the ball agressively to the paint, grabbed the boards. 4. Bobby Sura, Bobby Sura, where would we be without Bobby Sura? 5. The Hornets just wanted this game more than us. They were a lot more agressive and got to the rim pretty much at will in the late 3rd/early 4th quarter. 6. Both teams can't shoot, period. Oh yea, BTW, the rockets need to go back to their old rockets warm-up/introduction set of a few years ago. This one and the one for the past two years just don't fly with me. Suite rooms for the Rockets = The Best Time Ever!!!
we lost yesterday because of : 1) poor shooting night from everybody 2) Deke can't replace Yao's presence 3) underestimate the opponent 4) slack off a little bit after having a comfortable 18 points lead in the late 3rd quarter 5) mcgrady didn't do his job of carrying his team when Yao's not there 6) hornets got hot late in the game.... well it wouldn't happen if houston didn't allow that to happen
I was surprised when I saw the score from this game in yesterday's papers. We shot like trash. Weatherspoon and Padgett were the only players to shoot above 40%. Some positives to take out of this game: We rested Yao. We've learnt to not be complacent. We've gotten closer to meeting Seattle in the playoffs, which might be best for our chances of advancing. Other than that, I'm glad I didn't catch that game.
