Yea we missed Luther's 3s these past 2 games. I agree with Rock, I can't believe JVG didn't give any minutes to Bonzi especially with Head out. I can't wait til the next time we meet the Jazz. Should be a good one.
Typical Rockets. Bring up a huge lead then blow it. This is a systematic problem and i'm not sure if Van Gundy knows what's going on because our offense problem is huge and until it is solved this team won't get very far in the playoffs i gurantee you.
<div class="quote_poster">drake Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Typical Rockets. Bring up a huge lead then blow it. This is a systematic problem and i'm not sure if Van Gundy knows what's going on because our offense problem is huge and until it is solved this team won't get very far in the playoffs i gurantee you.</div> Good point. Until we make some adjustments on offense, we're definatley not gonna go far in the playoffs. I think some of you get a little big-headed after we win, saying things like "we don't even need Bonzi". But the truth is without Bonzi, we still don't have a relaible 3rd option. Time for JVG to put his pride aside and play him.
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Good point. Until we make some adjustments on offense, we're definatley not gonna go far in the playoffs. I think some of you get a little big-headed after we win, saying things like "we don't even need Bonzi". But the truth is without Bonzi, we still don't have a relaible 3rd option. Time for JVG to put his pride aside and play him.</div> So, who should Bonzi have replaced in the fourth quarter when they made their run? We were up by 7 with 4:26 left. We had Rafer, McGrady, Battier, Juwan, and Yao in the game at that point. The Jazz then went on an 12-3 run over the next 3 minutes to go up by one. So, who do you sub Bonzi in for? And what does he give us that those other 5 can't at that point in the game?
<div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">So, who should Bonzi have replaced in the fourth quarter when they made their run? We were up by 7 with 4:26 left. We had Rafer, McGrady, Battier, Juwan, and Yao in the game at that point. The Jazz then went on an 12-3 run over the next 3 minutes to go up by one. So, who do you sub Bonzi in for? And what does he give us that those other 5 can't at that point in the game?</div> Well, I'll tell you what I would've done from the start of the 4th quarter. I'd bench Yao (so we can minimize Okur early). Then focus on getting quality high percentage shots, no fadeaways, quick 3's, or off balance jumpers. My lineup woud consist of: Tmac Bonzi Syder Battier Howard Instead of the high pick n'roll we run 95% of every game, I'd make sure we get Bonzi on the block. Let him set the tone for the 4th quarter, hopefully get to the free throw line. Have Snyder diving to the rim, Tmac & Battier on the perimiter and Howard backpicking for Snyder (off the ball). That way Bonzi have some options if they double team him on the block. If you noticed, Boozer killed us down the stretch by getting to the free throw line. Even tho he's not particularly a good free throw shooter, he changed the game by getting there. That would be my role for Bonzi in the 4th quarter. Utah could've made a slight run, but we definatley would be better off with Bonzi in there.
Tmac and Rafer need to switch roles - Tmac should've shot the ball and Reefer should've passed it....that s#!t was frustrating yesterday...
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well, I'll tell you what I would've done from the start of the 4th quarter. I'd bench Yao (so we can minimize Okur early). Then focus on getting quality high percentage shots, no fadeaways, quick 3's, or off balance jumpers. My lineup woud consist of: Tmac Bonzi Syder Battier Howard Instead of the high pick n'roll we run 95% of every game, I'd make sure we get Bonzi on the block. Let him set the tone for the 4th quarter, hopefully get to the free throw line. Have Snyder diving to the rim, Tmac & Battier on the perimiter and Howard backpicking for Snyder (off the ball). That way Bonzi have some options if they double team him on the block. If you noticed, Boozer killed us down the stretch by getting to the free throw line. Even tho he's not particularly a good free throw shooter, he changed the game by getting there. That would be my role for Bonzi in the 4th quarter. Utah could've made a slight run, but we definatley would be better off with Bonzi in there.</div> Firstly, Yao wasn't primarily assigned to Okur. He was guarding Boozer. Now, if you thought Boozer was killing us by getting to the free throw line, what do you think he'd do without Yao in there? Your proposed lineup lacks perimeter quickness to contain Deron Williams, lacks rebounding, and severely lacks interior defense. Further, we lose a dominant post presence in Yao, one who we largely depend on to get ourselves open perimeter shots, and we lose our point guard. Your proposed lineup kills our offense and defense. You say Utah might make a run. Er, you think? Of course Utah would make a run. We increased our lead to 7 points with 4 1/2 minutes left. It was after that point that Utah made their big push. So, do you think we should have subbed out our point guard and Yao Ming for Snyder and Bonzi with minutes remaining in the most important game of the season? Are you nuts? You can't just sub in a bunch of wing players and think that will solve all our problems. It's one thing to say "obviously we should play Bonzi in the fourth", but when you actually try to put together a lineup you get something ridiculous like what you proposed. That's why I've said from the beginning -- as talented as Bonzi is he simply is not a good fit on our team. Thanks for illustrating my point.
Bonzi = done....judging by his play I think we would have more hope in J-Ho being our 3rd option than Bonzi...his post play looked very sloppy and his ball handling was all over the place when he got his minutes...these are the things that frustrate me about this team and also why we won't make it past the 2nd round (I hope I'm wrong) 1. We forget about Yao....Yao was an absolute beast yesterday, but once again we fail to get him the ball late 2. We can't close teams out 3. We depend on the 3 pointer too much and we're not that good of a 3 point shooting team to do this 4. We don't look good in crunch time situations....there was too much uncertainty last night in the last 2 minutes...
<div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Firstly, Yao wasn't primarily assigned to Okur. He was guarding Boozer. Now, if you thought Boozer was killing us by getting to the free throw line, what do you think he'd do without Yao in there? Your proposed lineup lacks perimeter quickness to contain Deron Williams, lacks rebounding, and severely lacks interior defense. Further, we lose a dominant post presence in Yao, one who we largely depend on to get ourselves open perimeter shots, and we lose our point guard. Your proposed lineup kills our offense and defense.</div> Firstly, anytime you put a different lineup out there anybody can find little flaws. Utah isn't a great 3pt shooting team, so doubleteaming is alwayz a option. We were playing Boozer str8up, which i didn't agree with. I'll take Tmac on Deron Williams any day of the week. Tmac, Bonzi, Snyder & Battier are all very good rebounders, so we'll definatley be able to hold up. My proposed lineup is our BEST lineup in terms of getting to the basket, something that we don't do enuff of. You might be fine with jacking up 3's every game, but not Rock4life <div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You say Utah might make a run. Er, you think? Of course Utah would make a run. We increased our lead to 7 points with 4 1/2 minutes left. It was after that point that Utah made their big push. So, do you think we should have subbed out our point guard and Yao Ming for Snyder and Bonzi with minutes remaining in the most important game of the season? Are you nuts?</div> Nuts? No logical. Like I said, my approach would've been different than JVG's. Bonzi would've started the 4th quarter. With Snyder & Bonzi in, we're bound to get some free throws, putbacks & fastbreak points. We'd also be able to gamble more with a quicker line up out there. Utah took advantage of our streaky jumpshooting. At what point does the coach change strategies? Were you impressed by our offense? I (and other Rocket fans) were disappointed in the lack of offense creativity out there. You, however seem satisfied. <div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You can't just sub in a bunch of wing players and think that will solve all our problems. It's one thing to say "obviously we should play Bonzi in the fourth", but when you actually try to put together a lineup you get something ridiculous like what you proposed. That's why I've said from the beginning -- as talented as Bonzi is he simply is not a good fit on our team. Thanks for illustrating my point.</div> Ridiculous to who? You maybe. I don't know what ur crappy +/- stats say about my proposed line up, but one thing i do know is we lack free throws, offensive creativity, and another 3rd scorer. Bonzi is PERFECT in that role. However, blaming him for not being on the team is ur way of protecting JVG. With Luther out, isn't it only OBVIOUS that you deactive Bonzi?
<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Bonzi = done....judging by his play I think we would have more hope in J-Ho being our 3rd option than Bonzi...his post play looked very sloppy and his ball handling was all over the place when he got his minutes...these are the things that frustrate me about this team and also why we won't make it past the 2nd round (I hope I'm wrong)</div> Um, have you looked at the teams ahead of us? If you haven't noticed, there all STACKED. Dallas, Utah, San Antonio & Phoenix all have multiple players who can give you 20+ pts any given game. Juwan isn't a 20+ player at this point in his career. Bonzi is. Judging by his play? He hasn't played NEARLY enuff to make any significant judgement <div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">1. We forget about Yao....Yao was an absolute beast yesterday, but once again we fail to get him the ball late</div> Yao did as much as he could, it was the role players who screw'd it up. Sloan played Yao like played Hakeem, let him score and shut everybody else down. <div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">2. We can't close teams out</div> True. But only because we jack up too many 3's. We need a player who can get to the rim. Bonzi has proven he can do that when healthy. He can also get to the line better than anybody on the team. <div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">3. We depend on the 3 pointer too much and we're not that good of a 3 point shooting team to do this</div> We SETTLE for 3's. But that's JVG's offensive system. When you don't have cutters or slashers, whatelse do yo expect? Utah got some really good looks down the stretch, while we clanked up bricks. <div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">4. We don't look good in crunch time situations....there was too much uncertainty last night in the last 2 minutes...</div> Right again. But why? because we didn't change strategies all game. We tried the same formula of jacking and it backfired.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Um, have you looked at the teams ahead of us? If you haven't noticed, there all STACKED. Dallas, Utah, San Antonio & Phoenix all have multiple players who can give you 20+ pts any given game. Juwan isn't a 20+ player at this point in his career. Bonzi is. Judging by his play? He hasn't played NEARLY enuff to make any significant judgement</div> Bonzi isn't a 20 ppg player either homie....I've watched him play a lot (when he's been healthy) this year and I really don't think he makes us that much better when he's on the floor....it took him half of the season to get in shape and now apparently he and JVG are having problems....I agree that we need a 3rd scorer, but I don't see that happening until the offseason <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Yao did as much as he could, it was the role players who screw'd it up. Sloan played Yao like played Hakeem, let him score and shut everybody else down. </div> yes he did and I noticed it during the game, that's how Dallas beat us a couple of years ago...let Yao and Tmac get theirs but shut down everyone else <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We SETTLE for 3's. But that's JVG's offensive system. When you don't have cutters or slashers, whatelse do yo expect? Utah got some really good looks down the stretch, while we clanked up bricks. </div> I agree.
Bonzi Wells is done as a Rockets player. I am tired of hoping JVG will give this guy some minutes. I was ignorant for having believed JVG would give him minutes with Luthers shoulder injury especially after that foot "injury." The only reason we haven't waived him is because teams like Utah/Dallas would sign him. Does anyone know what happens if we tie with Utah after we beat them the next time we meet? If we have the same record, it would be BS if they got homecourt just because of the retarted divisions.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post">Ridiculous to who? You maybe. I don't know what ur crappy +/- stats say about my proposed line up, but one thing i do know is we lack free throws, offensive creativity, and another 3rd scorer. Bonzi is PERFECT in that role. However, blaming him for not being on the team is ur way of protecting JVG. With Luther out, isn't it only OBVIOUS that you deactive Bonzi?</div> I'm not blaming Bonzi. It's not his fault he isn't a great fit on our team. You're the one throwing blame around here, not me. And, yes, your lineup is ridiculous because it assumes that Bonzi would help us more than Yao. Yao gets to the free throw line just as much as Bonzi, but he actually makes them. And if you're removing Yao in favor of Bonzi, how are you adding a "3rd scorer"? You've only replace a great scorer (Yao) with merely an ok one (Bonzi). You don't need +/- stats to know that is foolish. All you need is common sense. I can't believe you actually think Bonzi will help us win more than Yao. What a freaking joke. You're so unbelievably stubborn you've lost all perspective here.
Guys...stop distributing the blame for this game. It isn't just about Bonzi, Luther, and JVG. It was a team effort that wasn't there. I think the team was nervous about this game because so much was on the line. I think they will be better prepared for the last game of the season. Couple of Points: 1) Yao was the only guy scoring in the first half consistently. Tmac, Battier, Alston just weren't there when we needed them. Juwan was the third guy to score in double digits and he did that only in the fourth quarter. 2) Offensive Rebounding- It was obvious that Chuck is a better rebounder than Juwan but seriously...how are we suppose to win when paul milisap gets offensive rebounds on almost every possession. 3) Production from 2 guys outside of Tmac and Yao. This doesn't always have to be scoring. Chuck could provide the Rebounding and Juwan could get the scoring when they interchange. It doesn't always have to be 4 guys on the court at all times. More Examples: Alston scoring, Deke on defensive end Battier on Defense, Alston on defense 4) JVG needs to get more production out of his bench...do something, but in the past few games we haven't had much scoring outside of yao and Tmac. 5) PLEASE FEED YAO...only 2 (Duncan and Shaq(at times)), and guys in this league only come close to stopping him and we don't play any in the first round. In conclusion, don't worry about this loss...we have another matchup with them. BELIEVE!
Is Anyone Of You Wondering Why T-mac Passed The Ball Back To Yao Which He Could Have Simply Drains It In The Last A Few Second Of The Game? Yao Was In The High Post And T-mac Almost Got Rid Of The Defense. I Dont Get It.
Dang man we came so close to getting that homecourt advantage. I don't think we can get it anymore, I think utah will pull away. Rockets had their chance, they blew it. For us to be successful in playoffs we must learn to finish. There will be tons of last second games in the playoffs. We need to do two things: perform better in crunch time and close out games. If we can do that, we'll do good in playoffs. I noticed two things in the game that are really starting to irritate me. Tmac not driving in and rafer not hitting open shots. Tmac is such a retard. If you are not hitting your jumpers, you should drive in instead of shooting over and over. That is something tmac needs to get inside his brain. He does drive in occasionally, but then he starts shooting again. Also, rafer alston. Man this guy is sorry! He is not performing like the rafer I know. He is so inconsistent. He will be the key guy for us in playoffs. Some games he'll play good and then other games he'll play garbage. He will be key in playoffs because he'll be matched up with deron williams. Usually, when rafer plays goos, rockets win. If he can step up his game, we'll have a chance, but if we play crappy like this, we'll get murdered. They beat us in our homecourt, and I am looking forward to rockets beating them in their homecourt later in the season.
^T-Mac should be fine come playoff time. I think our chances of passing up Utah is gone, but I think we can still tie with them. What sucks is I think they will still get homecourt even if we end up tied with them, because of the way the divisions are set out. It should be decided by whoever won the last game imo. <div class="quote_poster">dingking Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Is Anyone Of You Wondering Why T-mac Passed The Ball Back To Yao Which He Could Have Simply Drains It In The Last A Few Second Of The Game? Yao Was In The High Post And T-mac Almost Got Rid Of The Defense. I Dont Get It.</div> I was wondering why as well. T-Mac had the open look, but passed it to Yao and got a worse look. I guess he wasn't feeling it. That last whistle by the refs, the one where Battier took the charge, was such bs. The officials called it a foul on Battier, when he clearly set his feet outside of the semicircle and took the charge. That was the turn of the game. It put them up by 3, and we couldn't recover after that terrible call.
<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Bonzi isn't a 20 ppg player either homie....I've watched him play a lot (when he's been healthy) this year and I really don't think he makes us that much better when he's on the floor....it took him half of the season to get in shape and now apparently he and JVG are having problems....I agree that we need a 3rd scorer, but I don't see that happening until the offseason</div> Ur being too pestimistic about Bonzi. He was coming off a groin injury at the beginning of the season, so naturally he wasn't playin up to his capability. If you think Bonzi isn't capable of giving you 20+ in a game, you obvioulsy haven't watched the man play thru his career. Do you realize in the years JVG has coached the team, we've NEVER had a relaible 3rd option off the bench? Derek Anderson, J.J., Stro etc....Blaming Bonzi for JVG's decision not to play him is a cop out. I've come to the conclusion that a 3RD SCORER DOESN'T EXIST IN A JVG OFFENSE. No ball movement, no cutting, no fastbreaks, just Tmac pick n'roll or Yao post up. It's not Bonzi, it's JVG. <div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Bonzi isn't a 20 ppg player either homie....I've watched him play a lot (when he's been healthy) this year and I really don't think he makes us that much better when he's on the floor....it took him half of the season to get in shape and now apparently he and JVG are having problems....I agree that we need a 3rd scorer, but I don't see that happening until the offseason</div> Ur being too pestimistic about Bonzi. He was coming off a groin injury at the beginning of the season, so naturally he wasn't playin up to his capability. If you think Bonzi isn't capable of giving you 20+ in a game, you obvioulsy haven't watched the man play. Do you realize in the years JVG has coached the team, we've NEVER had a relaible 3rd option off the bench? Derek Anderson, J.J., Stro etc....Blaming Bonzi for JVG's decision not to play him is a cop out. I've come to the conclusion that a 3RD SCORER DOESN'T EXIST IN A JVG OFFENSE. No ball movement, no cutting, no fastbreaks, just Tmac pick n'roll or Yao post up. It's not Bonzi, it's JVG.
