# Preseason Game 2 Thread: Houston Rockets vs. Atlanta Hawks



## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

*Houston Rockets (0-1) vs. Atlanta Hawks (1-0)*​*Friday, October 13, 7:30 p.m.*​*Alltel Arena*​ *vs.*​
*ROCKETS*




































Alston / Snyder / McGrady / Battier / Hayes 

*HAWKS*




































Lue / Johnson / Smith / Williams / Pachulia​
Rockets.com Preview 


> HOUSTON -- During his postgame press conference on Tuesday night, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy kidded that he wasn't going to focus on the negative because he has a new, rosy outlook this season.
> 
> He might have a hard time maintaining it if he watches his young bench endure another second half like the one he viewed in the preseason opener.
> 
> ...


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## o.iatlhawksfan (Mar 3, 2006)

this will be an interesting game, I'll look foward to watching Shelden, marvin, and josh in their second pre season game, and on the Rockets, I want to see how battier fits in with the team.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

i wonder how hayes does against Zaza. i know he played well against the grizzlies at center, but i cant get excited about a performance vs Tsakalidis.


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## MissRose (May 22, 2006)

Yeah, I can watch the game on Ch 51! I am sure the guys that struggled during the Memphis game will do better. Well I least I hope.

My prediction....Rockets 85 Hawks 79


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

It truly saddens me that they STILL don't have a head shot of Chuck in a Rockets uniform!!

Anyway! Could the "third string" have played worse in the first game? I think they have no where to go but up. For some of them though you can't say they were nervous cause it was the big leagues... JL3 was up last year... SP played poorly... I think we will definately see improvement in this game from them.

As to how Chuck matches up against Zaza... He's shorter than Tsak.. but quicker. Chuck _should_ be able to defend him.. the problem may be on the other end of the court. I can't see Hayes getting a lot of offensive rebounds this time. (of course I don't think he got more than one or two during the grizzlies game)


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

I dont care about if we win or not I just wanna see Steve Novak again


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Hayes is a very interesting to see in this game. Anybody who sees this please give me a report.


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Damn it,i wont be in Houston till Saturday


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

things to look out for in this game

tmac : JVG promised to overplay tmac in the last few games of the season to get him into shape

Hayes: can he be the backup center rockets need? he will need to prove himself once again in this game

novak: fluke or consistant?

rafer: consistancy a matter too


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

Friday the 13th!!!! Starters should not play


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Is Mac still chubby or is he fit? :biggrin:


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

hes 15lbs lighter


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

HayesFan said:


> It truly saddens me that they STILL don't have a head shot of Chuck in a Rockets uniform!!
> 
> Anyway! Could the "third string" have played worse in the first game? I think they have no where to go but up. For some of them though you can't say they were nervous cause it was the big leagues... JL3 was up last year... SP played poorly... I think we will definately see improvement in this game from them.
> 
> As to how Chuck matches up against Zaza... He's shorter than Tsak.. but quicker. Chuck _should_ be able to defend him.. the problem may be on the other end of the court. I can't see Hayes getting a lot of offensive rebounds this time. (of course I don't think he got more than one or two during the grizzlies game)


i remember zaza being a very good offensive rebounder (i could be wrong here), but if he is, chuck will have his hands full boxing him out.


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## o.iatlhawksfan (Mar 3, 2006)

Pimped Out said:


> i remember zaza being a very good offensive rebounder (i could be wrong here), but if he is, chuck will have his hands full boxing him out.


He's a excellent offensive rebounder, he was 2nd in the league in off.rebound.He was first in the league, for most of the season, before getting injured.


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## CrackerJack (Jul 2, 2005)

sherwin said:


> Friday the 13th!!!! Starters should not play


T-Mac should definately not play


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Hayes grabs 20 rebounds

Book It!!


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

Pimped Out said:


> i remember zaza being a very good offensive rebounder (i could be wrong here), but if he is, chuck will have his hands full boxing him out.


yeah.. that's sort of what I am afraid of, the guy is quick. We shall see how much of Chuck's extra training this summer paid off! 

Though I like your prediction of 20 rebounds Dream! LOL Don't think its likely but hey.. its good to have goals!


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## CrackerJack (Jul 2, 2005)

this game televised anywhere?


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Most likely Houston areas


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

This game not on any PPstream channel?


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## o.iatlhawksfan (Mar 3, 2006)

for those who can't watch the game go to http://www.790thezone.com/Default-1.aspx and click on "listen live"


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## Rockets111 (Oct 29, 2005)

no but right now its 24-13 rockets im listening to it on the radio


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

o.iatlhawksfan said:


> for those who can't watch the game go to http://www.790thezone.com/Default-1.aspx and click on "listen live"


I am getting some Highschool game or something?


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## o.iatlhawksfan (Mar 3, 2006)

OneBadLT123 said:


> I am getting some Highschool game or something?


it's back to basketball, you can also use audio league pass on Nba.com


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## Rockets111 (Oct 29, 2005)

league pass one plays the hawks vs grizzlies, or rockets vs grizzlies

then the 790 one is playing high school football

damn espn gametrack not working.........


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Rockets111 said:


> league pass one plays the hawks vs grizzlies, or rockets vs grizzlies
> 
> then the 790 one is playing high school football
> 
> damn espn gametrack not working.........


It was the game, but it just swtiches back and forth
what radio station is covering the rockets in houston?


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## Rockets111 (Oct 29, 2005)

im not from anywhere near houston so i have no idea


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## MissRose (May 22, 2006)

Rockets are shooting 60%, right now it's halftime. The score is 65-40, Rockets leading. 

Hayes has been in foul trouble. So far Head, Lucas and Snyder look really good. Novak has not played much. I hope JVG lets him play more in the second half instead of Padgett.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

MissRose said:


> Rockets are shooting 60%, right now it's halftime. The score is 65-40, Rockets leading.
> 
> Hayes has been in foul trouble. So far Head, Lucas and Snyder look really good. Novak has not played much. I hope JVG lets him play more in the second half instead of Padgett.


Thanks for the update!


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

84-71 HOU lead
10:03--4th quarter


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

These boyz aint playin'!! lol...
Watch out for the Rockets!!!!! 

107-93 Houston wins. Great game.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

this is the only game i cant find a box score for.


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

Luther Head- 20pts
Tmac- 13pts

I 4got the others, lol.


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Luther Head FTW!!!


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## CrackerJack (Jul 2, 2005)

wow luther pickin up the slack


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

god damn boxscore wouldnt work.. had no other way to watching the game so i just sat around and watched bball clips


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Luther with a 20-6-5 game, take that Joe Johnson!

I'm still worried about our back-up PG position, Kill Bill is having trouble adjusting and Lucas holds and shoots the ball far too much than he should.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

*Boxscore*

OFFICIALS: Scott Foster, Matt Boland, Jess Kersey TIME OF GAME: 2:12 

REBOUNDS
Atlanta MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA OR DR TOT A PF ST TO BL PTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J.Smith 34 6 13 1 3 5 5 2 1 3 0 1 0 2 1 18
M.Williams 30 4 8 0 0 8 9 2 2 4 2 5 2 2 3 16
Z.Pachulia 15 3 7 0 0 2 2 2 1 3 0 4 0 1 0 8
J.Johnson 24 7 14 1 5 2 2 3 1 4 3 2 0 5 0 17
T.Lue 18 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 4
J.Childress 31 3 7 0 0 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 0 1 0 7
S.Stoudamire 24 1 10 1 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 0 5
S.Williams 24 2 5 0 0 2 2 1 4 5 1 5 1 1 1 6
L.Wright 16 4 7 0 0 0 0 1 6 7 0 3 1 0 0 8
M.Freije 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
R.Ivey 14 2 4 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 3 1 2 0 4
C.Bozeman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TEAM TOTALS 240 34 81 3 12 22 25 14 19 33 14 27 6 16 5 93
PERCENTAGES: FG: 42% 3PT: 25% FT: 88% TEAM REB: 7 TOTAL TO: 16

REBOUNDS
Houston MIN FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA OR DR TOT A PF ST TO BL PTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S.Battier 24 2 5 1 2 3 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 0 0 8
T.McGrady 17 4 5 1 2 4 7 0 5 5 3 0 0 1 0 13
C.Hayes 15 2 3 0 0 3 4 1 1 2 0 6 0 2 0 7
S.Novak 26 2 5 2 5 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 0 0 6
R.Alston 21 6 10 2 4 1 1 2 4 6 4 1 1 5 0 15
D.Mutombo 16 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 1 1 0 2 0 2
K.Snyder 26 5 10 2 3 3 6 4 3 7 0 2 0 2 1 15
J.Lucas 18 5 13 2 7 2 3 2 2 4 2 5 1 4 0 14
L.Head 30 8 16 4 8 0 0 1 5 6 5 2 2 3 0 20
J.Howard 12 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 0 3
S.Padgett 22 1 3 0 1 2 2 2 2 4 3 4 1 0 1 4
V.Spanoulis 8 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0  0

TEAM TOTALS 240 37 75 14 33 19 28 16 28 44 22 27 8 23 2 107
PERCENTAGES: FG: 49.3% 3PT: 42.4% FT: 67.9% TEAM REB: 13 TOTAL TO: 23

SCORE BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4 FINAL
Atlanta Hawks 20 20 24 29 93
Houston Rockets 32 33 19 23 107

POINTS OFF TURNOVERS
--------------------
Atlanta 26, Houston 27

TECHNICALS: Atlanta 2, Houston 0
Atlanta - Defensive Three Second (2)


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## darkballa (Sep 19, 2003)

Great Game

Good points
-Luther showed excellent offensive ability
-Snyder looked great crashing the board and scoring inside( a dunk, a hook, a lay-up, FTS Everything)
-John Lucas made some smart decisions
-Rafer Alston's shooting was great by coming off picks and driving all the way to the basket (especially that left handed lay-up that should have beena foul)
-Mac looks good and doesnt show any sort of handicap.
-Novak had 2 3s ( which could have been more if t-mac had more time)

Bad points
-Lucas shot too many 3s
-Battier had a mediocre game
-Hayes in foul trouble (4 fouls in like 3 or 4 minutes)
-Too many TO's for houston (same for atlanta, maybe because of the new ball?)

If john lucas can shoot less 3s snyder,head,novak,lucas and hayes will be our key platers off the bench. Funny, the 05 team had a bunch of veterans and now we prctically have the youngest bench in the league (excluding mutumbo0


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

darkballa said:


> Great Game
> 
> Good points
> -Luther showed excellent offensive ability
> ...


Deke is older than our entire bench combined

I love how T-Mac is already working well with Novak. He's the guy that's gonna make teams pay for doubling up on T-Mac and Yao.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Just saw the highlights. Seeing how smooth T-Mac looks out there gives me shivers.


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

Ye...I havent watched any of the games...but by what you guys are seeing it seems like Tmac looks to dish out to Novak if he gets into trouble. I mean if Novak can be our Peja of 03/04, and drain everything that comes his way at the 3pt line, it will keep alot of defences honest. 

Granted we cant come to any conclusions yet, but I very much think to begin the season we will see Luther Head take the backup PG duties. And whenever Rafer comes of for a rest, Tmac will become the fulltime ballhandler. Very much like what Lebron and Wade do for their respective teams. Lucas and V-Span dont have the composure yet, to run our offence, they are best used as sparks off the bench.


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## CrackerJack (Jul 2, 2005)

Chuck Hayes fouled out in 15 minutes against an average/over average centre (compared to Yao, Shaq) it looks like a worry sign if he isnt getting it done against Pachulia and Deke will probably have a heart-attack if he plays another minute so i think centre is still a worry without Yao on the floor


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

lucas thinks his AI


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Sounds like Lu head a great game :clap:


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## darkballa (Sep 19, 2003)

chn353 said:


> lucas thinks his AI


lol.... i think youre right but right now these young guys have to have confidence if they want to make the team. Lucas shot WAY too many 3s and houston can do without that. I think JVG better tell lucas that he wasnt brought here to shoot but to play the back-up pg. Shooting is for guys lke Novak and Head but lucas should be the guy who dishes and drives(btw, his 94 ft drive at the end of one of the quarters was an impressive one)


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

darkballa said:


> lol.... i think youre right but right now these young guys have to have confidence if they want to make the team. Lucas shot WAY too many 3s and houston can do without that. I think JVG better tell lucas that he wasnt brought here to shoot but to play the back-up pg. Shooting is for guys lke Novak and Head but lucas should be the guy who dishes and drives(btw, his 94 ft drive at the end of one of the quarters was an impressive one)



agreed. he should use his speed and lack of height for driving in and taking fouls and goin to the line... cause his way too undersized to take jumpers without having a hand in his face at all times. but it doesnt matter .. i dont think alston will play less than 40 mins a game. speaking of which alston has been very impressive so far. im saying he'll avg stats like 14pts-10ast-2stl per game. 

from the past 2 games, this would be my starting lineup (these are from the people that have played.. yet to see how bonzi goes).. and we know that yao will be spectacular every game anyways

alston (40mins)/JL3(5)/Vspan(3)
snyder(28)/luther(20)
tmac(35)/novak(8)/padgett (5)
battier(25)/juwan(23)
Mutumbo(20)/hayes(28)

this team is capable of goin big and goin small to run with teams like phoenix.. looks promising if players stay healthy and consistant.


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

but if every1 played then i would have this lineup

alston(40)/head*(8)
Wells(25)/Snyder(16)/head(7)
tmac(40)/novak(8)
battier(28)/howard(20)
yao(35)/hayes(10)/mutumbo(3)



*head can and will do a better job at PG than JL(most likely benched) or Vspan(if JL doesnt get court time then theres no way vspan will get any)

the only thing with an awesome starting lineup is that it gives small amounts of court time for developing players like novak,hayes, head and vspan. the only reason head got around 20 mins a game last season was cause of the injuries to yao and tmac.. hell.. even bowen started, thats how bad it was.
i hope that rockets can elminate most of their opponents like early in the 4th to rest up tmac,yao and also give more playing oppotunities for hayes,novak and vspan. i dont really care if JL starts or not.. his a bit too selfish for a PG and plus his height isnt suitable.. and rafer was killing it at PG when yao and tmac played together.


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

V-Span needs to pick it up


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

I hope VSpan's problem is just adjusting to the new culture, language and NBA style of play. Sort of like when Yao came onboard. But he probably can't make an immediate impact like Yao, so he'll probably be sort of a project this year.


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

VSpan is gonna take at least half a season to get accustomed to the NBA. Not only is the game totally different, but the travelling is way more taxing on the body. Look for him to increase his effectiveness around the All-Star break. At the moment I think we have a very strong 7/8 man rotation (based on what chn353 put up), which could contend with any team. Lets hope we dont have to through in any of the rookies in the deep end early, like last season.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

darkballa said:


> -Snyder looked great crashing the board and scoring inside( a dunk, a hook, a lay-up, FTS Everything)


Yeah, he definitely looks like a prime Ruben Patterson at times, with his ability to muscle to and finish near the basket. Defensively he is still getting there, but I think his outside-inside game will take away some minutes from Bonzi.

Our 9 man rotation should differ depending on matchups, but I think a core of 8 guys should establish themselves to get PT every game. 

Alston
Wells
McGrady
Battier
Yao

Head (split at 1 and 2), Snyder, Howard (out of necessity)

Novak, Mutombo and Hayes should toggle in and out of that 9th spot. That doesn't leave us with many ball handlers though, as Lucas and Spanoulis are probably going to be benchwarmers this season.


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## darkballa (Sep 19, 2003)

3 min for Billy? prolly around 8 for billy, 8 for JL3 and 32 for alston.


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

no way.. those guys havent proven themselves to be point guard material.. in those 8 minutes they will get around 4 To's and shoot 0/3 to go nicely with 0 rebs and assists and about 4 fouls...

rafer on the other hand showed potential of been a great PG when yao and tmac were healthy. he racked up on avg 8-9 assists when tmac and yao played and with his improved shooting he will defintely get around 40+ mins(he is the only good point guard we have atm)


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Josh Smith makes me laugh.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

lucas is just trying to do to much right now to prove he belongs on this team. If he gets a spot in the rotation and settles in, i dont think he will be jacking up bad shots.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Dean the Master said:


> Josh Smith makes me laugh.


lol he looks so scared but also so plain


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