More thoughts from Tuesday’s Rockets-Lakers game
October 31st, 2007by John
I had a few more things I wanted to write about regarding Tuesday night’s game against the Lakers that I didn’t have time to write last night because the game ended so late.
It might be a symbol of great things to come that Yao Ming scored the first basket of the Rockets’ season, scoring on a reverse layup with 7:37 remaining in the first quarter after catching a sweet pass from Rafer Alston. On the next possession, Yao scored again on nice fadeaway jumper. Other Rockets had their chances to score first, but collectively they went 0-for-5 to start the game.
Did you see what Yao did with 5:09 remaining in the first quarter? He got the ball at the edge of the lane about 8 feet away from the basket, then made the most aggressive move I’ve seen him make in a long time. He dribbled strongly toward the basket with authority, was going to throw it down, and was fouled. Maybe his plan is to do that more often. After all, who is going to stop a freight train that’s 7′6″ and 300+ steamrolling his way to the basket? At minimum, he’ll get fouled and go to the line.
For all those critics who think Mike James is a ballhog…if he was a ballhog last night against the Lakers and he performs that way, then I’m all for it. Ballhog away! He was extremely effective scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting. And I don’t mind a hot 3-point shooter taking another 3-pointer right after hitting one. You play the hot hand.
Bonzi Wells played okay, scoring 7 points in 18 minutes. I was disappointed he turned the ball over twice in a row, though. It was like a throwback moment to last year.
The first quarter was pathetic, with the Rockets shooting 5-of-20 from the field and turning the ball over at least 5 times. I had thought maybe the Houston Texans were out there playing.
Around the 3-minute mark in the second quarter, some of the Rockets’ best moments occurred. First, with 3:45 remaining Yao did an awesome job playing like Vlade Divac in the high post by passing the ball to Tracy McGrady for a reverse dunk! That’s what this new offense is designed to do! A thing of beauty! I predict Yao will continue to keep getting comfortable dishing assists from the high post area.
Then with a little over 3 minutes remaining, Mike James stripped the ball from Kobe, brought it up court, penetrated into the lane, and dished to a running Yao for a throw-down dunk! Then right after that, Mike James hit a three! With James on the floor in the first half, the Rockets scored 10 more points than the Lakers.
With all the problems that Kobe has had with his trade demands to get out of LA, he outplayed McGrady in the first half with 19 points vs. 10 points for McGrady, who was 3-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the line.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:32 pm
yeah, but I still don’t like alston a bit, he needs to go to make room for james, and francis.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:11 am
i like alston more than francis if you choose who fits at the point… alston is more of a passer and make plays than a scorer which benefots his teamates.. dont like his turnovers though. yao played great! MVP?
November 1st, 2007 at 12:56 am
I saw part of the game and the post-game statistical sheet of the Rockets. I am very impressed by the following facts:
(1) Yao Ming Played 41 (!!!!) minutes and he did not look very exhausted. This improvement can be the results of many things.
(2) Yao Ming had many plays with very quick moves and turns, this may be the result of benefiting from his summery training with Dream - mentally and physicallym and CD, and ?.
(3) Yao had more offensive boards, more assists, and more blocks, highly efficient. He was doing everything to help his team.
The areas to improve for Yao and for the Rockets:
(1) Yao should not think too much, over-thinking or over-analysis can make him hesitate and turn-over the ball. Follow the instinct and do the best for the team, even this means to shoot more often without passing to his teamates. He has to remember that he is the player on the team with the highest shooting percentage.
(2) Demand the ball, when he is in good position, especially when his teamates can not see him or ignore him or think he has finished his shooting “share” of the night. They still do so from time to time.
(3) Rockets coaches should tell Rockets on the court with Yao to protect their center from the attacks of other team in order to reduce his fault as well as to reduce the injury by the dirty plays, having his teamates whatch out for him. Who does this better, who should play along with Yao.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:59 am
Yea, big Yao played pretty well,and his leadership showed up as well. meanwhile ,where is Steve Francis,why he could not be on the court, is that crazy?
November 1st, 2007 at 6:52 am
I think Rockets fans are expecting way too much out of their players, to the point where it’s getting pretty unreasonable. Alston is who he is - a not-very-accurate shooter who handles the ball well, defends well (am I the only one who remembers how he completely owned Jason Terry last season?), and can hit Yao with the pass. James and Francis will ALWAYS look for their shot first. In the former, that’s a good thing if he’s coming off the bench. The latter… well, get him in shape, then we’ll talk.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Francis I believe is a little out of game shape. Alston and James seem to be taking care of the point guard position. We all want to see the Yao/Francis combo that we loved back in the day. we have to understand that it will be awhile before that can be accomplished. Yaos aggressiveness is a big improvement this year. In this offense he should avaerage 28 & 14. MVP!
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:39 am
you want james to be a ballhog??? don’t you think he distrupts the flow of the game by not passing????????? FYI, I still prefer rafer over him ANYDAY cause we need someone to distribute which Rafer can and wants to do.
i can’t believe how short-sighted you are on this one.
I use the word ‘ballhog’ as a joke because of the people who use that word and complain James is a ballhog. He is brought in to mainly score. That’s what he did 3 years ago when he was a Rocket, and that’s what he did two years ago as a Raptor, the year where we could have really used his scoring and had to deal with Rafer “the Brick” Alston. Rafer is a passer first, then a shooter. James is a scorer first, then a passer. We need James’ scoring punch off the bench, as seen by him saving the Rockets’ with the boost of energy he has provided the past 2 wins. He’s like Vinnie “the Microwave” Johnson, a backup guard who helped the 1980’s Pistons win two rings because he “heats up fast.”
Now if James was throwing bricks and not passing, you would hear me complaining more. But he’s not. He’s shooting a great percentage, and the Rockets are winning because of it.