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CrackerJack · 02-15-2006, 12:57 AM

today they shot like men possessed out there, 58% from the field and 53% or thereabouts frim deep and 6 guys in double figures so we were great offensively. and we only kept brand to 2 boards and 21 points and we pissed off i am sam enough to get him ejected, so i have to say we played unbelievably well. WELL DONE KEITH BOGANS

**Hakeem** · 02-15-2006, 01:49 AM

Wonderful win. It's like when we were playing well and hitting shots last season. Nothing could stop us.

Good to see T-Mac is back to normal.

This is the Rafer Alston we were hoping for. Give me this guy over Mike James any day.

Yao was pretty ordinary, though. They were swarming him, and he responded by being less aggressive and not playing defense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demiloy

Usually Yao does well against the Suns, and I hope he does again. Oh, for a 27/22/5 game again...

My favorite Yao performance of all time, that one.

Demiloy · 02-15-2006, 02:35 AM

Quote:

My favorite Yao performance of all time, that one.

Mine too. Probably Yao's 41/16/7 game in 3OT against Hawks in 2004 would have been even better, but I didn't see that one.

bronx43 · 02-15-2006, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hakeem

Wonderful win. It's like when we were playing well and hitting shots last season. Nothing could stop us.

Good to see T-Mac is back to normal.

This is the Rafer Alston we were hoping for. Give me this guy over Mike James any day.

Yao was pretty ordinary, though. They were swarming him, and he responded by being less aggressive and not playing defense.

My favorite Yao performance of all time, that one.

I wouldn't blame it on him that Yao had a "pretty ordinary" game. He didn't need to get the 24/10 of the past few games because he didn't have to. He took only 13 shots and hit 8. 12 boards and 3 assists ain't shabby. The team was playing well enough that they didn't need to feed the post. He also didn't get swarmed and he was fine defensively. (Kaman 7/7, Brand 21/2) Maybe we were watching different games.

Pasha The Great · 02-15-2006, 05:19 AM

Best game this season. I wished this was on national tv, woulda showed everybody what the rockets were supposed to play like this year. TMAC Yao and Rafer played so good today.. and Bogans 4 threes in a row was so nice.

**Mr. Predictable** · 02-15-2006, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bronx43

I wouldn't blame it on him that Yao had a "pretty ordinary" game. He didn't need to get the 24/10 of the past few games because he didn't have to. He took only 13 shots and hit 8. 12 boards and 3 assists ain't shabby. The team was playing well enough that they didn't need to feed the post. He also didn't get swarmed and he was fine defensively. (Kaman 7/7, Brand 21/2) Maybe we were watching different games.

Yao gets down on himself too easily. When he has too many TO's or gets his shot blocked, he has a tough job getting back into the game. A couple times he couldn't decide whether to take the short jumper or kiss the glass. He definitely wasn't aggressive at all, but again it really wasn't required of him. His ability to grab a rebound in a crowd has been his biggest improvement this season.

Demiloy · 02-15-2006, 09:35 PM

Quote:

His ability to grab a rebound in a crowd has been his biggest improvement this season.

I totally agree with that. In his previous season, and even earlier this year, I almost never saw him grab those tough rebounds. Now, however, he's doing that a lot more. There are still some plays where he should have gotten it, but didn't, but those are becoming rare.

**Hakeem** · 02-15-2006, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bronx43

I wouldn't blame it on him that Yao had a "pretty ordinary" game. He didn't need to get the 24/10 of the past few games because he didn't have to. He took only 13 shots and hit 8. 12 boards and 3 assists ain't shabby. The team was playing well enough that they didn't need to feed the post. He also didn't get swarmed and he was fine defensively. (Kaman 7/7, Brand 21/2) Maybe we were watching different games.

8-13 from the field sounds good, but a few of those were easy baskets for which he didn't have to work, like when T-Mac and Rafer fed him right under the basket when no one was on him.

For a while, they weren't hesitating to double and triple him when he got the ball, and that seemed to put him in a funk for the rest of the game. He spent much of the time standing around on offense, so our guys couldn't have fed the post much if they'd wanted to.

Usually when I criticize Yao for his defense, I'm only talking about team defense. His man defense is almost always very good. Kaman isn't really an offensive threat, but he looked nervous when he got the ball. Brand was killing us, but he became quiet when Yao started to guard him. But Yao's interior D was poor. He was challenging shots, but it was half-hearted.