Nice efforts by the Rockets. It should have been a good game if not for the bad officiating. One time when Allen was driving to the hoop and got fouled by Yao the refs called the foul on TMac when in fact TMac was 5 feet away and was never close to Allen. I thought we had the game in the last 3 mins when the Rockets lead by 9 points but too bad they did not tighten up their defenses and in the matter of 1 min. the lead was down to 1. Had Mutumbo made his second FT we would have a chance by then. We caught the Sonics on their off night 3pt shooting but we just did'nt get the rebounds. Sura's absence was greatly missed on his ability to rebound anywhere on the court and the way he took care of the ball. Too many loose balls and missed rebounds for the Rockets that became bread and butter for the Sonics. I wish Sura will be back tomorrow. Let's just hope the best for him. He's the one that binds the Rockets.
Though the streak had to end sometime, I didnt like how it ended, on poor officiating. You cant blame padgett for taking a bad shot or costing us the game, because hes won so many games for the rockets. I hope they can take it in stride and move on. Tough one tomorrow night.
Nice game from Rockets - except the final 4 minutes. Seattle had totally off night but good rebounding kept Sonics close and that final 4 minute run was unbelievable! Without that rebounding edge Rockets would have had a big and comfortable W. I listened this game from radio so I can't really comment on refs, but I don't think that refs descided the outcome.
We were so close..If only we could have hung on to that one. Yao had a great game but I don't feel his 30 points that much since we lost anyway..T-mac was being too humble on that last possession. He's mr. clutch, he should have taken that one. Oh well hope we do well againts the Spurs. 3-0 against Duncan and the best team in the NBA anyone?
That game was ours if it hadnt been for that terrible officiating. The last one on wesley for the loose ball was just pathetic, they decided the game on free throws, i left the stadium at that point. Yao should have had an even bigger night. No one can handle him so next time maybe he will put up like 25 shots. he was 11-16, come on. Hopefully rod can have a good matchup with parker and the rockets pull one away today.
This was obviously a tough loss. The key to beating Seattle is to limit their offensive boards. That's what they depend on to keep themselves going when their outside shot isn't falling. We allowed them to get 17 offensive boards. I'm sure their second-chance points were significantly higher than ours. I thought Mutombo suffered from some bad officiating throughout the game, and the 6th foul (hooking foul) on Yao was very questionable. That's a move Yao does every game, and they almost never call it -- so why call it on him in 4th and foul him out? I felt that it would have been a good move to play Mutombo and Yao together when Reggie Evans was in at PF. Evans isn't a threat from the perimeter and could easily have been held in check by either of our centers and we wouldn't have given up so many offensive boards. I think its worthwhile for Van Gundy to experiment with a two towers lineup during the season, because it might come in handy if we should meet Seattle in the playoffs.
It is NOT questionable. It is an outrageous BS call that even Jerome James himself confessed that it was a wrong call. Basically the referees just robbed the Rockets of their winning streak of 9 at the last minute of the match, including the BS call on David Wesley at 17 second something for Ray Allen to hit 2 free throws to nail the win for the Supersonics <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Sonics game at a glance SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF TURNING POINT: Yao Ming was called for an offensive foul with 1:17 to play when the official said he used his right arm to hook Jerome James. Yao fouled out with 30 points, and Houston's final three possessions after he left resulted in a turnover, one made free throw and one airballed 3-point attempt by Scott Padgett. Houston outscored Seattle by 10 points when Yao was on the court; the Sonics outscored the Rockets by 12 when he was on the bench. WHISTLE WORKS: When James heard the whistle in the fourth quarter, he feared the worst. "It thought for sure it was against me," James said. "When the referee said, 'Offensive,' I just had to tell him thank you and run down the end of the court real fast before he changed his mind."</div> link EDIT:Kind new here,now there is the link.
Basically....life with Strickland starting at the point is going to be bleak. Last night was a soul crusher. I don't want to work today, and I certainly don't want to think about Tony Parker going at warp speed past Rod. Tracy better bring his A game. We've been playing so well as a team that McGrady's shooting really hasn't been a factor, but without all the hustle and bustle of Bob - I hope he rains some treys. Establish Yao early and often, play crunch time D the whole game, pray for good officiating and maybe we pull it out.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting yaofan:</div><div class="quote_post">It is NOT questionable. It is an outrageous BS call that even Jerome James himself confessed that it was a wrong call. Basically the referees just robbed the Rockets of their winning streak of 9 at the last minute of the match, including the BS call on David Wesley at 17 second something for Ray Allen to hit 2 free throws to nail the win for the Supersonics link EDIT:Kind new here,now there is the link.</div> Hmm, that is a questionable call then, if James had felt for certain that it was him who had committed the foul. Had Mutombo been able to put that second free throw away, we'd have been in a much better position to win the game. Offensive rebounding basically killed us. durvasa, I like your idea of playing Yao and Mutombo together, but I think Van Gundy felt that Seattle would pull out the running game with both of them on the court and then we'd be in trouble? We could try it for a few minutes, but if we're facing the Sonics in the playoffs, we'd definitely need to try it to limit Seattle's second chances. And btw yaofan, you need to remove your signature. It's way over the 468x100 limit that JBB imposes.
Even though the Rocketeers lost they still tried and played well down the stretch. Sonics are the top one or two team in the NBA this year and Houston played them well, lost by single digits. Very close winnable game. It shows that the Rockets are not far behind the top teams of the NBA. May be their defense on Ray Allen could have been a little better in the 4th. He killed Houston in that quarter. I think everyone realized that when Yao Ming fouls out the Rockets seem to loose their edge, it shows you how much Yao means to the Houston defense and offence. :-o T-MAC played o.k, ever noticed that Tracy seem to play better when he's on the road? Similar to Kobe.
I dont want to hear the excuse that Padgett has won so many games for us blah blah blah, cause he hasent. He has had one game winner, and I know this for fact because I've checked the play by play stats. If your gonna rely on Scott Padgett to hit big shots for you this season, than your in big trouble, especially in the playoffs. Also if Barrett doesnt start tonight than Im going to be very upset...
No doubt....Strickland is a monstrous liability. Barrett hasn't shown me too much, but at least he can push the ball. Padgett should not be the go to guy in the clutch, McGrady should be. With Yao out last night, game on the line, Mcgrdy has to take the game winning, tying, losing shot.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Even though the Rocketeers lost they still tried and played well down the stretch. Sonics are the top one or two team in the NBA this year and Houston played them well, lost by single digits. Very close winnable game. It shows that the Rockets are not far behind the top teams of the NBA. May be their defense on Ray Allen could have been a little better in the 4th. He killed Houston in that quarter. I think everyone realized that when Yao Ming fouls out the Rockets seem to loose their edge, it shows you how much Yao means to the Houston defense and offence. T-MAC played o.k, ever noticed that Tracy seem to play better when he's on the road? Similar to Kobe. </div> Uh, did u even keep up with the game? Houston played horrible down the stretch, thats the whole reason why they lost. Rockets basically just built up a big lead in the first quarter then starting draining it away in the rest of the quarters. I didn't think McGrady played that hot either. He was great from the free throw line and his shooting was horrible. Just seven for eighteen? Not to mention he had like three turnovers. I really hope he picks up his game though. It doesn't really seem like his trying or anything these past few games, but I guess we'll see in the San Antonio game. Another thing that killed us was our bench points or lack of. Howard, Padgett, Barry, and Mutumbo each didn't contribute much while Sura was obviously out. There was strength offensively for those guys and it probably contributed to Seattles cutting the lead down in the last quarter.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bplld:</div><div class="quote_post">That game was ours if it hadnt been for that terrible officiating. The last one on wesley for the loose ball was just pathetic, they decided the game on free throws, i left the stadium at that point. Yao should have had an even bigger night. No one can handle him so next time maybe he will put up like 25 shots. he was 11-16, come on. Hopefully rod can have a good matchup with parker and the rockets pull one away today.</div> I finally saw that game and I have one thing to say to you : stop whining! That shove from Wesley was definetely foul becouse he shouldered Allen out and Allen had total control over ball. There were many bad calls, but against both teams - there isn't a basketball game where refs do everything 100% right! If you like to argue about bad calls then I can watch this game again and point out several very bad calls against Sonics. The thruth is that your lack of hustle (crappy rebounding) lost that game not the refs.
