We could have won the ball game. I was just having a wishful thinking what if T-Mac had scored on his third put back and got fouled for a three point play or maybe even just making the second free throw. Though bad officiating in the last few minutes did somehow affect this game I'm still glad for the efforts the Rockets showed on this game. Maybe it's time for a change in game plan. Being conscious about making turnovers didn't help. But if you just play with flow of the game and try to give your best shot, the Rockets would have a chance to go back in the right track. I like the new line ups of point guards that we had. We have a quick point guard in Barrett and a tall point guard in Gaines which would solve our problems in playing against bigger guards(remember the match up between Livingston/LAC and A.Miller wherein T.Lue was helpless) provided they play better. The Rockets have a pretty schedule this month and have lots of home games. I was hoping they could take advantage of that. The only real challenge for this month will be against the Spurs and the Mavericks again or maybe the hot streaking Cavs. Both at home. Hopefully if they play well I see the Rockets winning 11 of the next 13 games this month and we could be at least 17-13 by the end of the year. Go Rockets!
Another thing about the game that I liked. Van Gundy continued to play Yao even when he got into early foul trouble. I think that's smart. We can't let the refs dictate who we put on the court. And they'll be much less likely to call a foul on Yao if he's already in foul trouble.
That last call on Yao was pure garbage. Dirk got away with a travel, and then a charge. I guess the refs are protecting whoever has the hot hand. His fifth foul also came after Dirk reached over behind the back, and Yao I guess fouled him hard because he was sticking up for Sura. McGrady had a good game, but we shouldn't base on this performance alone to say hand the ball over to him. Although Yao was not shooting the ball well, his presence alone handicapped the Mavs' double-teams on McGrady. When Yao was out, McGrady got pressured a lot more and thus his production dipped. I didn't watch the whole game, but from what I saw in the second half, Barrett and Gaines played well. Gaines attacked the rim and Barrett hit open shots. The thing I didn't like though was Van Gundy putting in Padgett after Yao fouled out. With Padgett in the game, the tallest player on our team on the floor was Taylor at 6-9, which subsequently resulted in us getting killed on the boards and interior defense. Mutombo should have gotten in when Yao fouled out.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">That last call on Yao was pure garbage. Dirk got away with a travel, and then a charge. I guess the refs are protecting whoever has the hot hand. His fifth foul also came after Dirk reached over behind the back, and Yao I guess fouled him hard because he was sticking up for Sura. McGrady had a good game, but we shouldn't base on this performance alone to say hand the ball over to him. Although Yao was not shooting the ball well, his presence alone handicapped the Mavs' double-teams on McGrady. When Yao was out, McGrady got pressured a lot more and thus his production dipped. I didn't watch the whole game, but from what I saw in the second half, Barrett and Gaines played well. Gaines attacked the rim and Barrett hit open shots. The thing I didn't like though was Van Gundy putting in Padgett after Yao fouled out. With Padgett in the game, the tallest player on our team on the floor was Taylor at 6-9, which subsequently resulted in us getting killed on the boards and interior defense. Mutombo should have gotten in when Yao fouled out.</div> On NBA TV, they interviewed on of the Rocket assistant coaches before the game. He said their number one problem has been rebounding. And yet, Van Gundy continually goes to a small lineup when Yao is out of the game. It's baffling. Mutombo should be the primary backup center (he played TWO minutes), and Weatherspoon should get at least 20 minutes playing PF. Mo Taylor and Juwan Howard have gotten plenty of chances.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">On NBA TV, they interviewed on of the Rocket assistant coaches before the game. He said their number one problem has been rebounding. And yet, Van Gundy continually goes to a small lineup when Yao is out of the game. It's baffling. Mutombo should be the primary backup center (he played TWO minutes), and Weatherspoon should get at least 20 minutes playing PF. Mo Taylor and Juwan Howard have gotten plenty of chances.</div> Taylor and Howard are incompetent on the boards, and Padgett is average at best. Mutombo and Weatherspoon are the best rebounders we have and they combined 6 minutes against a larger Dallas team. Maybe it was because Van Gundy was going uptempo last night? Anyhow, you would expect more minutes from those two when we were outrebounded.
well the rockets did show some promise tonight I like Bob Sura starting because he pushes the ball and I love that Barret Kid (goodbye charlie ward).......I think this is definitely T Mac's team with Yao being the secondary scoring option, I figure if we can get anywhere between 15-20 points and 10-15 rebounds a night from Yao then I think we'll be alright..........I'm not blaming the loss on the refs but they made about 4 bad foul calls on Yao tonight .....Dirk and T Mac were just unbelievable..........what the rockets need besides a rebounding 4 is some shooters, we had plenty of open looks behind the arc tonight but we just couldn't knock them down......I still have faith in this rockets team and we do have a easy schedule coming up so GO ROCKETS!!!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shoeaddict:</div><div class="quote_post">was it me or were they running more during the game?</div> They were, and the reason was T-Mac handled the ball more and had the green-light, and both Sura and Barret push the ball better than Lue and Ward. Offensively, I liked what the Rockets did yesterday. They made some bad turnovers in the overtime, but other than that I liked the pace of the offense. The defense wasn't very good, and I think you have to put some blame on Van Gundy for that. Where was Mutombo? The Mavs would penetrating all night, and we had zero interior defense. Why weren't we double teaming Nowitski? I expected aggressive double teams throughout the game, but we only started seeing them in after his blitz in the overtime when it was too little too late.
