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Yao vs. Warriors - 4/6/04
 Yao looks on from the bench Tuesday night after fouling out in the fourth quarter during Houston's game against the Golden State Warriors. Yao, who scored 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, fouled out when the game was virtually over as the Rockets lost to Golden State 90-97, dropping their fifth game in a row. They now only hold a 1 1/2 game lead over Utah for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 5 games left to play. To see more photos from the game, click here. (Photo courtesy of AP). |
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TUESDAY, 4/6/04 - This is going to be a short report on the Rockets-Warriors game Tuesday night because:
1) It's the first night of a back-to-back (the Rockets play the Clippers on Wednesday), which are toughies 2) It's a West Coast game, meaning the game started two-hours later start than normal 3) Another Houston team (the Astros) already lost to a Bay Area team (SF Giants) on Monday AND Tuesday 4) I'm getting slammed at work this week and am working on an important project tonight 5) The Rockets lost their fifth in a row, are fading fast from the playoff picture, and I cannot take it any more....GAG! Really, this is getting tough to take for any Yao Ming fan or Rocket fan. Having the longest losing streak of the season when you're expected to show some heart has got be the worst. Well, there is one thing worse. How about going through it for the second year in a row! But this time it's with a high-priced coach, a much better Yao, and the first playoff berth in five years at stake. Something really interesting occurred in the third quarter between Steve Francis and Jeff Van Gundy. With 5:53 in the third quarter, the Rockets were trailing 57-71 and Steve Francis ignored Van Gundy's call for a timeout, and instead took it down court for a 1-on-3 fast break (yes, he was outnumbered), and with no other Rocket in sight he put up the lowest-percentage fallaway, leaning jumper--which missed, of course. The shot was so bad, even Warrior analyst Jim Barnett asked, "What kind of shot was that?" Van Gundy was furious, calling for a timeout the next time the Rockets got possession, and stared Francis down as he came back to the bench. Despite the poor shot selection, the Rockets had a chance to win the game when they cut a 13-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to 7 points late in the game, but they couldn't hit big shots when it counted. If this were a "season of destiny," those shots would have dropped. Yao finished with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, grabbed 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in 34 minutes of play. He fouled out late in the fourth when the game was out of reach, so don't read too much into his foul trouble. I won't be able to do a shot chart or Detailed Yao Analysis for this game because of all the obstacles listed above. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track Wednesday night after the Rockets play the Clippers, the second-worst team in the Western Conference with a 27-51 record and losers of 11 games in a row. If the Rockets lose that game, they should just forfeit the rest of the season because they would have no business making the playoffs. Hey, maybe getting into the lottery again and having a shot at drafting Houstonian Emeka Okafor to put on the front line with Yao might make up for this embarrassing losing streak and Eddie Griffin fiasco! It will also be interesting to see if Clipper coach Mike Dunleavy is extra-motivated to beat the Rockets, the team he so badly wanted to coach but who the Rockets passed over in hiring Jeff Van Gundy. Wouldn't it be fitting for Dunleavy to help spoil the Rockets season after that? With the way Van Gundy is coaching right now, that decision might have been as bad as the Rockets not matching the offer the Memphis Grizzlies tendered to super-guard James Posey, who is showing just how valuable we knew he was. |