It looks like Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle feels the same way I felt (and wrote) about T-Mac’s performance last night.

Yao contests a shot from Boris Diaw Wednesday night in a 102-91 loss. The Rockets were down 22 points, but Yao scored 13 points in the third quarter to help get the Rockets back in the game. Click here for the game story. Click here for more photos.

The Rockets blew a golden opportunity to come back from a 22-point deficit against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. It would have been their second greatest comeback in franchise history, but because of poor decision-making and the fact that Phoenix had run them ragged, they fell apart in the fourth quarter and the Suns cruised to a 102-91 victory.

The first half was awful with the Rockets turning the ball over numerous times and shooting only 37%. Meanwhile, the Suns went to the line 19 times in the first half alone, making 17 of those attempts, and held a 57-40 lead at halftime.

One of the main problems was that T-Mac was settling for too many jump shots. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t taking it to the hole more. Everyone knows he’s struggling from the outside and that he needs to be more aggressive and drive to the basket more, but for some reason he kept shooting and missing from outside, and no one corrected him.

Jeff Van Gundy said before this season that one of the Rocket’s pitfalls last season was “Basketball IQ” issues. Well, I think T-Mac’s insistence to continually shoot from the outside ranks as one of those IQ issues.

In the fourth quarter, McGrady did make a three-pointer and a long two-pointer consecutively to give the Rockets a 74-72 lead to cap a 34-15 run to put them ahead for the first time all night. Before those shots, he had shot 4-of-19 from the field. But down the stretch, he again settled for three-pointers, even after Steve Novak had checked into the game for 3-point shooting purposes and had nailed his previous three-pointer. Dumb!

After the Suns had put the game away 98-82 with 1:38 remaining, T-Mac padded his stats by hitting three treys in a row, but the damage had already been done and the Rockets lost.

To cap off a strange evening, for some reason the Rockets broadcast crew gave T-Mac “Player of the Game” honors. Maybe that’s because no one else had scored over 20 points (T-Mac finished with 23) — Yao didn’t finish with that great of numbers (18 points on 6-of-11 shooting) because of foul trouble. But c’mon! T-Mac essentially shot the Rockets out of the game. And you have to give credit to Yao for scoring 13 points in the third quarter to get them back into the game.

Then Rocket broadcaster Matt Bullard had the intelligence to say McGrady put up a courageous effort, or something like that, because he had been injured the night before and was probably playing with pain.

Excuse me, but if this had been any other sports market, the media wouldn’t be so kind and would have been asking instead, “If your hurt so badly that you can’t even shoot right, why are you playing, risking further injury, and hurting your team?” or “Adjust your game to compensate for your injury – stay away from your weakness, like outside shooting.”

Finally, the broadcasters said the Rockets had run out of gas because they had played back-to-back games, and that this loss was expected. But the fact of the matter is that the Rockets had a chance to steal one, and because of basketball IQ issues, they let it slip away.

Now there were other reasons why they lost. Maybe because they had attempted 35 three-pointers and made only 10 before T-Mac’s meaningless 3 three-pointers at the end of the game, which may demonstrate the following: when the Rockets are chunking them up with tremendous frequency trying to make a comeback, or trying to score more points to keep up with the Suns, thus throwing them out of their rhythm, I can buy that. But I don’t believe in letting them off the hook by serving up old clichés like a “courageous effort,” “he was hurting,” or “they ran out of gas.” Some of it may be true, but don’t cite it as the main reason why they lost. It’s weak. And I think Van Gundy would agree.

Yao prepares to lay in one of his 11 field goals Tuesday night against Washington. Yao scored 25 points and grabbed 10 boards in a 82-75 win, while Shane Battier chipped in with 17 points in a game where Tracy McGrady was limited because of an injury. Click here for the game story.

Where would the Rockets have been last night with Yao and Shane Battier? Both players shot lights out (Yao: 11-of-15, Shane: 6-of-11) while every other Rocket struggled (13-of-53 combined). But the Rockets’ defense and some timely three-pointers late in the game prevented Minnesota from completing a fourth quarter comeback.

Despite the Rockets propensity to lose big leads this season – this time they lost an 11-point lead to allow Minnesota to tie it at 68-68 with 4:42 remaining – they were able to close it out, thanks to Shane hitting two treys in a row (he made an incredible 5-of-5).

Then Rafer Alston made up for a poor shooting night (4-of-15 overall) to hit a three, and followed with a runner in the lane to make it 79-70, and that was the ballgame as the Rockets finished with a win, 82-75.

Alston has impressed me this season to hit big shots down the stretch, even when he has struggled shooting earlier in the game. He has made me forget this year about the Rockets’ inability to sign Mike James this off-season, who finished with only 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and one steal in 23 minutes. Meanwhile, Rafer scored 13, had 7 assists, 3 steals, and grabbed 3 rebounds

Although the Rockets are known for losing big leads in the fourth quarter, they are winning (they have won 9 of their past 11), and I have said all along it doesn’t matter if they lose leads. Just win, baby. And if you lose leads and still figure out a way to win, it just makes you stronger later in the season when the pressure gets really intense. Yao seems to agree:

“Actually, at the point it’s getting close, I’m not nervous,” Yao said. “I didn’t feel worried. That’s the way we play. We’ve gone through this many times.”

Tracy McGrady got hit in the abdomen late in the first quarter and was in-and-out of the game all night long. He finished with 8 points (4-of-14) and 7 assists in 32 minutes of play.

It doesn’t look good for him to play against Phoenix on Wednesday night, but at least the injury didn’t occur in his back where things could get really scary after missing so many games last season, leading to a disastrous record.

Yao shoots over former teammate Stromile Swift on his way to 28 points in an 85-76 win over the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday night at Toyota Center for the Rockets third win in a row. Click here for the game story. Click here for more photos.

The Rockets again showed Saturday night that when things are going south — like they did in the second quarter against Memphis – they can stare panic and defeat in the face and still find a way to get the job done. That’s a mark of a team that I think can go a long way this season.

Against the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday night, the Rockets were sizzling in the first quarter, shooting 61% on their way to a 24-18 lead, with Yao making all four of his shots.

But then all of a sudden the wheels came off. The Rockets only hit 20% of their shots in the second, with Yao only making 1-of-4 shot attempts.

Meanwhile, Memphis showed their athleticism and quickness during a run that gave them to a 39-37 halftime lead. They were aggressive going to the rack, getting fouled, and shooting 20 free throws in the first half compared only to Houston’s eight.

Rudy Gay, Houston’s first round 2006 draft pick traded to Memphis along with Stromile Swift for Shane Battier, showed glimpses Saturday night why Memphis GM Jerry West wanted him so badly. At the half Gay was tied with Brian Cardinal for most Memphis points (7 points), led the team in rebounds (6) and blocks (2). One of those blocks came against Yao in an amazing athletic move.

So Houston went into the locker room at halftime wondering if their reknown fourth quarter offensive collapses were now moving up in schedule a couple of quarters early. Would they be able to put that bad shooting behind them and come out with more resolve at the start of the second half?

Did they ever.

Rafer Alston came out more aggressive out of the gate, scoring on three of Houston’s first 4 possessions with a jump shot, a running floater along the baseline, and a Skip-to-My-Lou crossover-like move to the basket for a layup. Throw into that scoring mix a dunk by Yao, a tip-in by Shane Battier after a missed Alston free throw, and a few easy shots by Yao, and the Rockets finally got some breathing room to take a 53-47 lead.

The Rockets ended up outscoring Memphis 28-13 in that pivotal third quarter to lead 65-54, and kept playing hard to open the lead up to 15 points in the fourth quarter, cruising to their third straight win.

Yao finished with a team-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting, 8 rebounds and three blocks.

The things I like about Yao’s game this season that is leading to his increased scoring numbers this season (26.4 ppg vs. 22.3 last season) are the following:

First, he’s getting to the line almost 3 times more per game this season, and making the same percentage (about 85%) of free throw attempts.

The other thing is that he isn’t blowing near as many chip shots around the rim like he has done in previous seasons. I think that might be coming not only with being stronger and using more of his weight to get exactly where he wants around the basket, but taking his time and concentrating all the way through his shot when he is around the rim.

T-Mac was fantastic, showing once again how great of a passer he is, finishing with a career-tying 13 assists and 19 points. I think he is still shooting too many three-pointers (1-for-4), although the one that he did make was a difficult one that came at the shot clock buzzer. It’s almost like if he has time to think about the shot, he misses it, but if he has to use his natural ability and just shoot, his muscle memory kicks in and the shot goes in.

But his ability to find open shooters is phenomenal, including a wraparound behind-the-back pass to Yao for a dunk.

Honorable mention goes to Luther Head, who continues to shoot lights out from three-point territory, hitting 3-of-4 treys (9 points total), including two in the fourth quarter that kept Memphis a comfortable distance away. Luther is really having a breakout year, hitting 50% of his three-pointers, and is just the kind of contribution they need from a second-year player. Dallas had Devin Harris come to the forefront last season, and his fellow Illinois teammate Deron Williams is having that kind of year this season (18 ppg, 9.3 assists per game) with the surprising 12-2 Utah Jazz.

I was able to take a break from all of my personal stuff happening today and read one of the best articles I have seen written about Yao in the past few months. Check it out by clicking here.

Yao greets former Rocket teammate Steve Francis before Monday night’s game between the Rockets and Knicks in New York. Each player’s career has taken different directions since Francis was traded 3 seasons ago from the Rockets. Yao had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks Monday night, whereas Francis scored 7 points, had 4 rebounds and 3 assists due to limited time after being benched most of the second half by Knick coach Isiah Thomas. Click here for the game story. Click here for more game photos.

I’ve got to make this short since I am tending to a major illness in my family, and I probably won’t be able to watch any Rocket games for a week or so because my life and schedule has been thrown completely out of whack because of it. But that’s life.

With the bad news I have had lately, it was nice to see the Rockets put a little bit of happiness into my day. The Rockets beat the Knicks in New York and didn’t blow a lead in the fourth quarter for once. They actually pulled through in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Knicks 32-28 and beat a scrappy New York team 97-90.

Yao scored 26 points (14-of-16 from the line), grabbed 9 rebounds and had 3 blocks. He had 15 at halftime, and the Rockets shot 60%, but they still only had a 58-55 lead at halftime and had too many turnovers.

T-Mac had 24 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, including 6 points during a 10-1 run in the fourth to seal the victory. And Rafer Alston had an excellent game – 17 points, 3 assists and two steals. He also nailed a three-pointer in the final quarter along with Luther Head to keep the Knicks at arms length.

The bad news is that Kirk Snyder broke his hand and will be out for awhile, but Vassilis Spanoulis played great by drawing a charge, going to the hole strong and allowing Yao to clean up on the boards for a put-back.

Click here for the game story.

Click here for more photos.

Okay, so that’s about all I can post. Things are getting kind of crazy around here. I’ll probably be back on this blog in the next week or so.

Yao comes out to the perimeter to limit Tayshaun Prince offensively in Detroit Saturday night. Yao had a monster night statistically (33 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists), but was limited to two points in the fourth quarter on the way to a 104-92 Rockets loss. Click here for the game story. For more photos from the game, click here.

The Rockets had a golden chance to make a statement about the kind of team they are Saturday night against Detroit in Auburn Hills, and for 3 quarters, they were looking pretty good.

Yao was dominating through those first 3 quarters, scoring 31 points.

T-Mac had started the game hot, scoring 8 of the Rockets first 10 points, and 13 of their first 19, not missing a shot and looking like he was on his way to a 30+ point night.

But the problem was that the other Rocket players weren’t shooting well (12-of-35 for 34%), and when Yao (two points in the fourth quarter) and T-Mac cooled off, and the defense couldn’t stop the Pistons in the final quarter, it was a recipe for disaster and a 104-92 loss.

Detroit had gone on their own dry spell in the second quarter when they missed 10 shots in a row and fell behind 34-26. But you knew the Pistons, only two seasons removed from a World Championship, were too good of a team to fold and die.

They came roaring back and managed to close their deficit to 52-50 at halftime. Both teams played to a stalemate in the third quarter (26-26), leading to the Rockets collapse in the fourth quarter where they were outscored 28-14.

Giving up 104 points to the Pistons is surprising considering the Rockets headed into the game giving up the least number of points per game this season on the road (about 91) and Detroit averaged about 90 ppg.

Even T-Mac admitted the Rockets’ shortcoming on defense:

“Our defense in the fourth quarter was bad, really bad. Until we change that, we’re going to keep having those results.”

Detroit’s defense did a good job forcing Yao and T-Mac farther from the basket, making the Rocket offense bog down, resulting in turnovers and bad shot selection. T-Mac only hit 2-of-7 field goals in the second half and scored 24 points. He was also limited in playing time because of foul trouble, a rarity, but considering he was playing against Richard Hamilton, it’s somewhat understandable.

Pistons’ coach Flip Saunders revealed after the game his strategy in using Rasheed Wallace and the rest of his big men against Yao, who was 1-for-5 in the fourth:

“Sheed (Rasheed Wallace) is smart. Last year at times when we played (Yao Ming) we actually put Sheed on him and he did a nice job. He fought him and fought him. I told our guys going into the game, Yao gets a little bit tired in the fourth quarter so you got to keep running, keep on pushing and keep on fighting in there and try to wear him down to the fourth quarter. I think we did that.”

Chauncey Billups said after the game, “(Wallace) played Yao really well, we cut Yao out running so many pick and rolls and making him play out on the perimeter because he is really unstoppable.”

The Rockets turned it over at least 5 times in the fourth quarter (two by Yao), went 7 minutes without a field goal, and shot only 26% (5-of-19) while Detroit went on a 13-0 to put the game out of reach.

One thing is for sure. T-Mac needs to stop shooting 3-pointers. He was 1-for-5 in the game, and is shooting 28% from behind the arc for the season.

Yao was phenomenal in those first 3 quarters, giving the Ben Wallace-less Pistons problems down low, getting fouled numerous times, and making them pay by hitting 17-of-20 free throws.

He also threw several nifty passes for 4 assists, and only committed one personal foul. On the downside, he turned the ball over 8 times total.

The Rockets next play the Knicks in New York, and I have a bad feeling about that game. The Knicks are very explosive and gave the Rockets all kinds of fits last week in Houston.

Ben Wallace goes after one of Yao’s shots Thursday night. Yao scored 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting and grabbed 12 boards in a 101-100 win over the Chicago Bulls.” Click here for the game story. For more photos from the game, click here.

Okay, so the Rockets lost another big lead last night to the Bulls. I’m not too concerned. They still won. Before they lost their 21-point third quarter lead, the Rockets were probably playing a little above their heads. For example, the Rockets came out shooting extremely hot in the third quarter, hitting 9 of their first 10 shots. For them to keep up that kind of shooting percentage is not realistic.

Furthermore, the Bulls are no slouch of a team, and they were probably playing below their capability when they fell behind so much. In the long run, the hot and cold streaks tend to even out for both teams, and the better team will usually win, which I believe the Rockets were. And the final score of 101-100 made the game look closer than what it really was, with Andres Nocioni hitting a three-pointer with no time left.

Sure, the Rockets made some mistakes, but they will learn from them, even if the same mistakes and turnovers have been a common occurrence lately. But I would rather have those mistakes happen now than later in the season or the playoffs. They need something to work on over the next 73 games, right? If they didn’t, the games would be kind of boring to watch, don’t you think?

And I kind of like it when the Rocket players are mad and want to fix problems, as evidenced by Tracy McGrady‘s quote after the game:

“I’m not happy at all. You’ve got to be happy about the win, but the overall picture is not good. We can’t throw away games like this.”

Surprisingly, even Jeff Van Gundy is not being as doom-and-gloom as he normally is, even after wins.

“We’re doing some good things to get ahead. If you had looked at our schedule coming into the year knowing we were down a couple of guys and had played our last three games against Miami, San Antonio and Chicago and won two of the three, regardless of how the game ended, you would say (our team) is doing some good things. (But) I’m not happy at all with not playing up to our capabilities.”

One of those good things was the Rockets hitting their free throws down the stretch, hitting 9 of 10 free throws to finish the game. That was pretty clutch and is something the Rockets are not known to do well as a team.

Yao had a rough first half, hitting only 3-of-10 shots, but still had scored 10 points and grabbed 9 boards at the half. Ben Wallace got props from Bulls coach Scott Skiles for playing the best defense he had seen played against Yao. Yao made 4-of-9 shots in the second half and finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He also finished with only two turnovers.

After the game, Yao described what he thinks the Rockets need to close out games better:

“Intelligence. More intelligence, I think. Know the time, know the score, know the penalties, know the number of timeouts. We need every player to know that and to know those situations.”

The Rockets showed some resilience in the first half, turning an 8-point deficit in the first quarter into an 11-point halftime lead, thanks to Scott Padgett scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. I had mentioned the other day the Rockets were smart in signing Padgett again since he was their best 3-point shooter two seasons ago before letting him go. The Rockets extended the lead to 21 points in the third quarter before Ben Gordon got hot and got the Bulls back into the game.

I like the intelligence Padgett showed after the game in analyzing the Rockets second half collapses.

“When you miss 2 or 3 (baskets) in a row, then the next time, you need to get the ball into Yao (Ming)or get the ball into the paint to get a higher-quality shot. Sometimes, I think, when you get hot, like when we were hot for awhile, sometimes you fall in love with it (perimeter game). Sometimes when you’re wide open, it’s better to force-feed the big guy than to shoot up another 3.”

T-Mac had a sensational boxscore and showed signs that he may be breaking out of his slump, hitting 8-of-17 shots, scoring 21 points, grabbing 11 boards and doling out 7 assists.

Before closing, I had to mention one note about the TNT coverage. Analyst Doug Collins was surprised the Rockets were pushing the ball on fast breaks, saying the Rockets are not a running team. Well, if he did his homework, he’ll see that Van Gundy has emphasized running when the opportunity is there since he has the horses, like McGrady and Luther Head. They also have added Kirk Snyder (who was running on one of those breaks Thursday night), who is much quicker than the recently departed David Wesley and Jon Barry. Do your homework, Doug.

This story is one of the reasons why I have respect for Jeff Van Gundy. I love how he speaks his mind, and isn’t worried about fines and such.