Great win!! Tmac and Yao played great. Battier played awesome and Juwan did a great job in spreading the offense when Marion doubled.
<div class="quote_poster">Mag Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">T-Mac and Yao really stepped it up, tonight. Our defense was dismal, but you gotta take these big wins when you can. Home court, baby. This is gonna be great. I am proud to be a Rockets fan.</div> HELL YEAH BABY! DAYUUM PROUD Did you see how happy Tmac and Yao were after this win? It wasn't even a playoff win and look at them. MAN WAIT TIL PLAYOFF TIME, THIS ROCKET IS GOIN HIGHER THAN ANYONE THOUGHT IT COULD. I HONESTLY think we have a shot at teams like Mavs, Spurs, Suns (we just showed 'em up tonight). You could tell how hard T-mac was playing EASILY.
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Great win!! Tmac and Yao played great. Battier played awesome and Juwan did a great job in spreading the offense when Marion doubled.</div> How many times did Juwan score off of Marion's double teaming? I don't remember that.
i have no voice. i was at the game and it was intense the entire time. hell of a win. after the game t-mac did an interview with fsn i believe and we were all in the first row chanting 'mvp','mvp' and he was grinnin ear to ear. great feeling. great win. we are rollin now.
<div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How many times did Juwan score off of Marion's double teaming? I don't remember that.</div> I don't know, i'll have go back and check. But he did a wonderful job spacing the floor for Yao. I noticed when he came in the game in the 3rd quarter, we began to dominate. Phoenix did exactly what i said they'd do and used Hayes's man (Shawn Marion) to disrupt Yao. That strategy worked for them early. Juwan did a good job of keeping Marion honest and rebounding (5 offensive boards). Exactly how I envisioned it.......
120 points!!!!! What a gutsy effort by the Rockets!!! Man even after playing so hard on defense they still scored 117 WOW!!This goes to show that Phoenix is an extremelly potent offense!
<div class="quote_poster">Eduardo Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> T-mac: I'm gonna get you!!</div> LOL!! Marion looks gay in that picture!!!!
What a game last night!!!! God if Tmac plays like that and the rockets are patient with their ball movement (so they can get Yao involved against quicker teams that front him) then I like our chances against anyone. We did a great job of slowing the game down and making the Suns beat us at our type of game. I like Tmac guarding Nash, his long arms really bother his passing angles. Shane, Luther, and Rafer have all been playing great lately and they'll need to keep it up. The line up of Yao, Battier, Tmac, Luther, and Alston was most effective against Phoenix last night, because it's not as easy for them to double down on Yao when Shane is drilling 3's in the corner.....great win and I can't wait for Saturday Night!!!!!
<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> We did a great job of slowing the game down and making the Suns beat us at our type of game.</div> 120-117??? We did not slow the game down, we tried but failed miserably, we won because we rebounded well and took good efficient open shots(for the most part)The only team I've seen this season slow down Phoenix is the Spurs. Remember they still had a chance to tie in the last few seconds. Phoenix is an offensive juggernaut.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">120-117??? We did not slow the game down, we tried but failed miserably, we won because we rebounded well and took good efficient open shots(for the most part)The only team I've seen this season slow down Phoenix is the Spurs. Remember they still had a chance to tie in the last few seconds. Phoenix is an offensive juggernaut.</div> taking good efficient shots is part of "slowing" down Phoenix...you're not going to stop them from scoring completely because they are great offensively, but you can slow them down some by slowing the pace down...and we did a good job of that last night. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Our defense was dismal</div> I actually thought it was pretty good...Phoenix is just that damn good.
<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">making the Suns beat us at our type of game.</div> The Suns average 110 PPG, they scored 117, we average 97 and scored 120, Who made who play their game? We beat them at their own game. But a win is a win and we should'nt argue about it.
<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">taking good efficient shots is part of "slowing" down Phoenix...you're not going to stop them from scoring completely because they are great offensively, but you can slow them down some by slowing the pace down...and we did a good job of that last night.</div> Defense was good in stretches, but also bad in stretches. Theres no excuse to give up a 4pt play in the 4th quarter of a game. It was a great win, but we still made some errors. I wouldn't dwell on it, we did WIN the game. P.S. Juwan should start for us in the playoffs, and last nite was proof.
I think Tracy McGrady has been underrated for his work this year. No question that he's a top 10/15 player in the league and maybe can be an MVP candidate next season as long as he's playing with Yao. The Rockets look like a sleeper team, but they have the potential to reach the West finals.
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">P.S. Juwan should start for us in the playoffs, and last nite was proof.</div> So you don't want us to get any scoring off the bench other than Luther Head? Or maybe you think Juwan should play 40+ mpg?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Defense was good in stretches, but also bad in stretches. Theres no excuse to give up a 4pt play in the 4th quarter of a game. It was a great win, but we still made some errors. I wouldn't dwell on it, we did WIN the game. </div> yeah I understand, that's why I said "pretty good", there were sometimes where our rotations weren't good on the pick and roll (and that 4 point play was idiotic), but it's bound to happen against a great offensive force like the Suns....I'm just glad that we proved we could beat Phoenix...
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Defense was good in stretches, but also bad in stretches. Theres no excuse to give up a 4pt play in the 4th quarter of a game. It was a great win, but we still made some errors. I wouldn't dwell on it, we did WIN the game. P.S. Juwan should start for us in the playoffs, and last nite was proof.</div> After one night? If you were only this lenient and beliving everytime Hayes has a good night.
Chuck = our starting PF.....he plays good with Yao and Tmac and Juwan gives us some offensive fire power off the bench...
<div class="quote_poster">durvasa Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">So you don't want us to get any scoring off the bench other than Luther Head? Or maybe you think Juwan should play 40+ mpg?</div> This is nothin new from me. I've said all year that the elite teams are gonna take advantage of Hayes's lack of athleticism, and you saw that first hand against Phoenix. Yao had problems getting the ball and Hayes had problems finishing (like I predicted he would against Phoenix). We can't afford to give Utah that same advantage. We've all enjoyed Hayes's heart & hustle all year. But this team can't have somebody missing layups in the playoffs. Howard should start while Hayes can back him up. We might lose a little from the bench, but the floor will be spaced early and Yao will get better looks. <div class="quote_poster">Locke Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">After one night? If you were only this lenient and beliving everytime Hayes has a good night. </div> It's not the first time Howard changed the whole complexion of the game when he played with Yao & Tracy. When he did it earlier in the season, you guys used it being against "The Bucks" as an silly excuse. When it's Phoenix, ur still makin excuses. Utah is gonna expose Chuck and by the time we adjust we might be down 3-0.
<div class="quote_poster">Rock4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">This is nothin new from me. I've said all year that the elite teams are gonna take advantage of Hayes's lack of athleticism, and you saw that first hand against Phoenix. Yao had problems getting the ball and Hayes had problems finishing (like I predicted he would against Phoenix). We can't afford to give Utah that same advantage. We've all enjoyed Hayes's heart & hustle all year. But this team can't have somebody missing layups in the playoffs. Howard should start while Hayes can back him up. We might lose a little from the bench, but the floor will be spaced early and Yao will get better looks.</div> Long post, bare with me. Firstly, Juwan also misses layups and point-blank hooks. Chuck actually converts a much higher percentage on those shots (60% vs 52%, according to 82games), and he doesn't get his inside shots blocked as frequently (10% versus 15%). So, that's not the advantage Juwan gives us. You're right, Juwan gets more attention from defenses, so if he's stationed in the high post that can give Yao a little more room to catch the ball in the post. Absolutely, that's what happened in the third quarter (not so much in the first), and we took advantage of that. That's what you gain from Juwan offensively. But I don't think he actually hit an outside jumper all game, and his jumper has been way off for a few weeks now. If that doesn't start going in, then teams will stop respecting him as well. Juwan also did a fine job on the offensive boards, somewhat uncharacteristically (particularly of late). So, overall despite the poor shooting he had a positive impact in that third quarter. I agree that you gain some offensively with Juwan in there. I've argued that the gains are relatively marginal in general, but perhaps against Phoenix that isn't the case (at least based on the third quarter). I just don't think it's smart to make lineup changes based on a few games, let alone a single quarter. I'd rather look at the trends over a large sample of games. Based on that, I still maintain that our starting group is better off with Chuck because of his impact defensively and on the boards. Overwhelmingly, our starting group outscores the opposing team in the first and third quarters when Yao, McGrady, and Chuck have been playing. Even against the good teams. Against Phoenix the other night, we happened to be a net +3. I've shown many times over that Yao-McGrady-Juwan combination hasn't been as effective, even if you look at what they did against the good lineups. And the difference is largely defense, not offense. We're just been a vastly better defensive team when Chuck has been on the court, while we're a slightly better offensive team when Juwan has been on the court. That's what the evidence has been if you look at our entire season against the good teams. What you do instead, though, is ignore the games that don't follow your script, and only focus on isolated games that happen to coincide with what you're saying (and even then, you often exxagerate the results). Our path to the championship will likely go through some combination of the following teams: Utah, Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Detroit, Miami. Shall I look at what Chuck and Juwan have done respectively against these teams, both in terms of individual production and team performance while they're on the court? I can take into account other teammates on the court as well (for instance, only look at team performance when McGrady, Yao, Shane, and Rafer are also on the court). The sample size might be small, but I think that could be interesting. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It's not the first time Howard changed the whole complexion of the game when he played with Yao & Tracy. When he did it earlier in the season, you guys used it being against "The Bucks" as an silly excuse. When it's Phoenix, ur still makin excuses. Utah is gonna expose Chuck and by the time we adjust we might be down 3-0.</div> Except Juwan didn't change the complexion of the game against the Bucks. The only reason he entered the game early in the third was because Chuck got injured, and we played just as well in the first quarter with Chuck as we did in the third quarter with Juwan. So, you're predicting we'll be down 0-3 against Utah if Chuck starts? Just a few weeks ago, you were mocking me for thinking Utah had a chance to win. If I recall, you also predicted last summer that if Chuck starts this season we'd be in the lottery. Mr. Doomsday here. http://www.justbball.com/forums/showpost.p...71&postcount=24 ---------------- <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rock4life:</div><div class="quote_post"> I like Chuck Hayes, but if we started him we'd be back in the lottery next season. I'm not really familiar with college bball, but I've seen Reddick play and he's gonna be another undersized SG which don't need. Rudy Gay seems like a pretty good fit. </div> ---------------- FYI, we're 30-12 this season in games that Chuck has started.
