Yaos condition didnt have anything to do with the rockets losing tho. It was the turnovers (Lue's pass to no one). We played a great game picking up the defense and going on that big run but like the commentators said, it was not having the ability to close out games. And missing open shots in the 1st half also had something to do with it.
^ the Lakers have a hard time protecting big leads. Cost them alot of Games. GG guys. It might have been different if you had your full arsenal. But, it was a good win for the Lakers to win on the Road. Odom looked good.
I was ok with T-Mac sitting out the game because i really dont wonna see him get hurt again and miss more games. I know ppl wanted to see T-Mac vs Kobe but i would really like to see them play when both players are 100%
I guess this is how our new system works now. Either Yao or Tmac go down and the team is basically screwed. I mean, even though we put up great close games, we never close them out and just the one missing piece. Actually, still don't know about how the team will react with Yao going down, but at least now we know we really have to step it up to beat teams without Tmac. With Francis, Mobley, and Yao, at least we had a better chance of not being affect that much by injuries since we had three of them.
Hopefully TMac will comeback strong and rested next week, and we'll be much better. We should be able to win the next 4 games, and that would put our record at 8-4 which is solid.
I was thinking the same thing last night durvasa, except I was expecting to add the Lakers game to the win column (thinking Tracy would be in the lineup, at least in a limited capacity). The way I look at things is that they completely overhauled their roster during the offseason AND have a major early season injury. Considering that, they could easily be 5-2 right now. They'll be alright.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">I guess this is how our new system works now. Either Yao or Tmac go down and the team is basically screwed.</div> It's Only been 2 games without T-Mac, You cant really say we gonna lose everytime we lose yao or t-mac. They have been close games. The rest of the team needs to learn how to close out games better. We may lose early in the season but i think that later in the year if we lose one of our superstars we will be able to win.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Anton:</div><div class="quote_post">Lakers by 5 </div> Yeeehaa! And they say gambling is bad
I didnt watch the game but I was looking at the box score and a few things popped out at me immediately. Here are the statistics I dont like: - We only had two players in double digits(Yao - 32, Jackson -15) . The next highest was Ward and Taylor with 6 each. I would like to see a more balanced scoring attack from the rest of our team however you will not hear me complain about Yao getting 32 points on 21 shots any day of the week. I am just happy he got 21 shots off. - We shot 36% from the field compared to their 40%. - They shot 6 more freethrows than us. Even though we shot a higher percentage, in close games you can usally look at TOs and FTs to see what the outcome should have been. We didnt win this one. - The Rockets biggest lead all night was three points compared to the Lakers 22. Obviously its hard to play from behind especially when you are that far behind. With McGrady out we dont have the type of team that can come back from a huge deficit late in the 4th. We need to keep the score close throughtout the whole game so we can run our offense and look to feed Yao. A few things I liked from looking at the statistics: 1. We only had 13 TOs in the game. Let me say that again....we only had 13 TOs in the entire game. I dont know what the Rockets did differently but I will take 13 TOs any day of the week. 2. We had 10 steals in the game, 7 more than the Lakers. Padgett did a heck of a job off the bench for us with 4 steals and 7 boards. 3. Yao Ming had 32 points on 21 shots. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Aznxballer:</div><div class="quote_post">How can Kobe Bryant, a guard, be getting more rebounds than Yao, who is a 7' 6" center?</div> Well the answer is very simple. Kobe Bryant might be the best rebounding guard in the game right now along with Kidd, Pierce, etc. Kobe does a fantastic job of hunting the basketball while its in the air. Meaning he is just boxing out his opponet for a quick second, just enough time to guage where the rebound will fall,then he is going to go find the ball. Do to his athleticm, he can get from Point A to Point B faster than most people. Yao is different. Yao down low is taught to box out his opponet then get the ball. Down low in the paint it is absolutely crucial or the opposing center will slip inside theb box out for the offensive rebound. In addition because Yao is so far from under the basket that on perimeter shots it is very hard to judge where the ball will hit the rim and bounce off. This is why a lot of times you can see perimeter guards get more rebounds then post men since they can judge where the ball will land once its released.
Whoa! Looks like someone has his panties in a bunch! Never mind the fact that there are countless other posts that are less "intelligently" stated than mine, I'll take your advice holier-than-thou all mighty site director! Don't worry; I won't be posting in here anymore because I don't think I could stomach such snobby, stringent individuals such as you. Lighten up a bit.
With our current lineup, i think its is essential for Taylor (or even Howard) to being playing well in order for us to win. The PF's will either make us or break us down the stretch. Yao and Tmac (when he's healthy) might be able to do some prolific things, but IMO, its our starting PF that seems to be affecting our play. When Taylor contribbutes, out team does well because you can always count on Tmac to score like crazy, and Yao has got out of his slump.
Actually, Yao has had two straight 25+ point games, hardly what I'd call a slump. Our main problem is closing out games and role player contribution. Our clutch execution has always been bad; remember when Tracy slipped against Sacramento and Lue missed the three? Or when Jackson committed that offensive foul? Or last night when Lue threw a pass away? We have to step it up with the clock winding down. The role players were ballistic last night. They couldn't do anything to help Yao scoring wise and that was our downfall. As good as Yao is putting points up on the board, he can't do it alone. I still think we're pretty well off, considering the fact that we could have gone on a 5-2 winning streak had T-Mac been here.
Well with or without T Mac I think the Rockets should win the next two against the nets and hawks.......we did a good job of not turning the ball over last night, but when we did commit the TO'S it was costly.....I still don't know what Lue was thinking when he threw that pass to Yao.....after watching tonights game I would like our chances in the playoffs if we faced the lakers.....they had no one that could come close to slowing down Yao....and once we get T Mac and Sura back that will be more of a threat on the perimeter.....no need to panic folks I still like the rockets chances this year.......the main reason we lost last night is because we started off slow and we couldn't hit open shots when we had to
The main thing we have proven without T-Mac is that we are not a team to be weakly if it loses one of its stars. Unlike the Lakers, which would suffer without Bryant, we have held our own against two playoff-caliber teams. This is also a great opportunity for Yao to prove that he can carry a team by himself.
The refs didnt help our cause at all, did you see Mihm blantantly foul Yao? He pushed Yaos arm away from the basket, the refs made all the wrong calls down the stretch mostly against the rockets with borderline calls that in a game that tight should never be called.
yeah I'm not going to blame the loss on the refs, because the refs didn't give us a 22 point deficit, but they did make a lot of bad calls or I should say no calls last night!!!
Houston Biggest problem is that we have no 3rd scoring option. Every good team need 3 people on the roster who you can go to for a basket. Houston does not have 3 scoring options. 2 Scoring options can go along way, Just look at last years lakers. But 3 is really need, Again just look at last years lakers. Example: Minny: Garnett,Cassel,Spree Spurs: Duncan, Ginobli, Parker Miami: Shaq,Wade,Jones Pistons: Hamilton,Billups,Wallace Sac: Webber, Peja, Bibby Houston's other players Outside of Yao and T-mac are just not very good, And it really shows with one of the big two out. Yao and a healthy T-mac might get us in the playoffs, But they will need some help to go farther than that.
Well, the three-peat Lakers didn't really have any third option. They were just Shaq/Kobe period. At the start of our season, our third option was supposed to be Juwan Howard, but now he's coming off the bench, so it is now up to Jim Jackson and Mo Taylor to be the third option. However, we had three scorers last year in Yao, Francis and Mobley, but we still didn't get anywhere.
[/QUOTE]At the start of our season, our third option was supposed to be Juwan Howard, but now he's coming off the bench, so it is now up to Jim Jackson and Mo Taylor to be the third option. However, we had three scorers last year in Yao, Francis and Mobley, but we still didn't get anywhere.
Just be patient until Sura is back. Given solid minutes he has always been a great 3rd scoring option kind of guy, with rebounding and passing skills to boot. Check out his stats for the 3 times in his career that he played at least 30 minutes per game... 99-00 Cleveland (30.4 MPG): 13.8 PPG, 44% FG, 70% FT, 3.9 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.25 SPG 00-01 G. State (31.8 MPG): 11.1 PPG, 39% FG, 71% FT, 4.3 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.02 SPG 03-04 Atlanta (35.4 MPG): 14.7 PPG, 42% FG, 78% FT, 8.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, .93 SPG His shooting %'s leave much to be desired, yes, but I think on a team with major scoring threats such as Yao and Tracy, Bob will get more clean looks than in years past, thus increasing his shooting accuracy a few percent. All things considered, he's a whole hell of a lot better of an option at the point than anything we have at the moment, with his size and ability to create, and as long as he meets our expectations he'll be able to step into that 3rd option scoring role we desperately need on a nightly basis. In fact, given equal minutes, Sura puts up just about the same numbers Mobley did, minus some 3pt and FT line shooting % and plus a few assists. He needs to hurry up and get healthy
