Yesterday i saw a another Rockets based forum that Steve is bringing the ball too slow into the game. What do you think about that?
I don’t want to say that Steve isn’t a good PG, but if you compare Steve and Rafer with bringing the ball upcourt and give signals to teammates for formations and set some plays. Then i think Rafer is at that point a better choice.
I just want to point this out, because i get the feeling that you hate Rafer or something and never say some positive things about him. This doesn’t mean that i love Rafer too ( his shooting is making me pulling my hair out and look like JVG), but give this guy some credit.

Other than this, i love your analyses and keep up the good work.

Thanks for the compliment. I will watch Francis tonight and see how he brings the ball up the court. I was so stunned about Francis starting, I didn’t really pay too much attention, but they did have an 11-point lead at halftime, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.

As I mentioned in my piece, I don’t think they played lousy in the second half because Rafer wasn’t in the game, it was because of other reasons (laziness, bad defense, etc.). I did like the fact Francis hit a couple of jumpers that Rafer would have missed, but Francis also missed 3-of-4 free throws in the fourth quarter when the game was still in reach. But Rafer might have missed those FTs, too (he has been known to do that).

The turnaround was triggered by a trade which brought us David Wesley and John Barry. Those were “Van Gundy” type guys.

Adleman needs to request a trade for some guys which know how to work his offense. They do not have to be super stars. Just efficient players.

Yao stunk up the gym. As rocket fans, we beg to get rid of Rafer and as soon as we get our wish we use that as an excuse.

The real reason why we lost is b/c the team played without passion, heart, or enthusiasm.

Thurogood Rocketsfan

I have followed your site since inception - great site. I live in Toronto and have followed the NBA since 1972 (Walton’s Trailblazers , Dr J’s Sixers and McAdoo’s Braves, then Rockets and Raptors) and yesterday was my first opportunity to see Yao live and was absolutely disappointed with his performance, especially after the tease of getting 2 blocks early in the game. After a rousing welcome by a huge chinese crowd, I wanted to see Yao perform well, although I hoped for a Raptors’ win, which they did.

The Rockets is the other team I support but almost became disenchabted these past few years when they picked up Me-Mac, Me-James and O-fer, all ex-Raptors who I would have gladly paid their tickets to leave town - yesterday’s game proved me right (although O-Fer was a scratch). Yao is the only reason I watch Houston now and despite his obvious talents, he too is most frustrating to watch - dominant in some games, invisible in others. He defers too much to his team mates and in case no one has noticed, there is a subtle point quota system for Yao among the selfish players on the team. If Yao is dominating early in games, say scoring 15 - 20 points, you will notice they (Me-Mac and Me-James are the chief culprits) would stop passing to him (using double teams or defensive adjustments as excuses) and start jacking ill-advised threes or jumpers until it’s too late when the Rockets fall behind and by then, Yao is cold and ineffective. That also happened with Mobley, Jackson, Wesley and Francis in his early years.

Hopefully, the Rockets, who are extremely good at analysing their performances after each loss, would be smart enough to do so before games.

Again, great site.

K

K, Great obeservations. Sorry it didn’t turn out to be a good game yesterday. I hope Yao and the Rockets turn it aorund or they are going to be losing fans. I hope Leslie Alexander is listening.

Thanks,
John

Tracy shot 33%, Yao 50%. Francis 50%. Hayes 67%. Battier 60% Wells 50%
Hmmm…

Tracy went 1 for 6 from the three! Ouch… Tracy seems to be having the most difficulty understanding the offense and is often responsible for his teammates cooling off due to his lack of distributing the ball.
Shane..where did you go? After a good start, he just seemed to dissappear

Sixers are next…I am row 1 at the game in philly…will report on the rout (hopefully by houston!)

In my opinion, NBA players who make millions a year (actually 7 - 9 months), yet many of them make only less than 40% of their shot attempts! For goodness sake, it is a crime for them to make that kind of money without performing. Those poor shooters are supposed to practice shootings at least 500 shots per day until they can make around 45% of their shots, period!

On that note, James had another stinker. When is he going to get yanked? I think a Rafer/Francis or vice versa combo is a better option if James is going to keep shooting below 38% (since that is all he brings to the table). They both can contribute without shooting well. At least when Bonzi/Battier shoot poorly they can rebound or play D.

Hate to do this, but I got to get on Yao too. He needs to demand more shots. 10-15 shots is too low a number for a max money center, whoever it is.

Thanks again for the updates!

Allen — I have been saying since the 6-game losing streak that they need to start playing Aaron Brooks. I don’t think Mike James is the answer to start at point guard and haven’t advocated it. I think every time MJ has played, either Alston or Francis or Head have been handling most of the ball-handling duties, not to say he won’t handle a certain percentage of the time. After all, you have to do that to keep the defense guessing.

John