# Regular Season Game 64 Thread: Houston Rockets @ Phoenix Suns



## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Sorry I'm too lazy to do the fancy stuff, Dean or cornholio can post it for me 

Gumby knows it, we all know it, we don't match up well with the Suns. But we CAN beat these guys... keys to winning:

- <b>Rebounding. </b>No 2nd shot opportunities for these guys, we have to win the battle of the boards. Hayes and Juwan will have to battle it out with Marion, and Yao's gotta go tough against Juwan. We also gotta crash the offensive glass and make it difficult for them to run once they get possession.

- <B>Don't try to outshoot them.</b> Despite our improved shooting this season, we're still not better than these guys. Our shooters (ESP. Rafer) can't get carried away trying to match them shot-by-shot. Stick with easy baskets, give it down low to Yao. And finally...

- <b>Hustle!</b> Stick with your man on defense people! 'cuz once you lost your man on D and the 2nd come comes to help, the Suns will have already rotated the ball and have created an open shot for someone. They're that good.

Lets go out and pull off this win!!!


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Our starters were forced to play too many minutes against the Magic. Because there was no Bonzi, we simply couldn't score without T-Mac or Yao on the court.


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

i don't know if we'll beat the Suns, but i tell you this...the league better get ready, 'cause we bout to make some noise...whether srarting right now or when the playoffs start...

or maybe i'm a bit to confident right now, lol.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4621184.html



> With Chuck Hayes returning to the starting lineup as soon as Yao Ming did, coach Jeff Van Gundy said he expects to stick with the current starters and is sure he will not repeat his decision to start Steve Novak, as he did the last time the Rockets were in Phoenix.
> 
> Van Gundy said he is committed to starting Hayes with Yao "unless I change my mind."
> 
> ...


Well it goes along with my game plan, rebounding and easy baskets. The Novak experience was a total failure because it put us down on the boards and we'd be settling for jumpers. Steve, you have a long offseason ahead...


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Starting Novak was a bad idea, although I hope he gets to play when we are ahead by 20. Anyways, this game will be a challenge for the Rockets. Yao seems to be getting better each game. Everyone else seems to be doing fine. If the Rockets plays excellent defense and don't make any poor shots, the Rockets can win this.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

​*(39-24)/(48-14)*

When/Where:
*Monday, March 12, 9:00 p.m.*
*US Airways Center*​












































*Alston / McGrady / Battier / Hayes / Yao*














































*Nash / Bell / Marion / Diaw / Stoudemire*



*PREVIEW

The Phoenix Suns try to sweep their second five-game homestand of the season and continue their success against Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets when the teams meet Monday.

Phoenix (48-14) won all five games of their Jan. 5-13 homestand, which was part of a franchise-record 17-game winning streak that spanned Dec. 29-Jan. 28.

The Suns, whose 25-6 home record is second in the NBA behind Dallas' 30-3 mark, look to complete another perfect set of home games after winning their fourth contest in a row at the US Airways Center, 104-103 over New Orleans on Friday.

The victory was also Phoenix's ninth in 10 games since the All-Star break, with the lone loss a 99-94 defeat at Philadelphia on Feb. 28.

The Suns and Mavericks are the only two teams in the league to have already clinched playoff berths.

Phoenix managed to beat the Hornets on Friday despite allowing 10 of the game's final 11 points.

"Nine and one, it's pretty good," said Suns guard Raja Bell, who is 10-for-18 from 3-point range in his last two games. "You can't expect to be perfect all the time. Having said that, we do need to continue to get better and that's what the rest of the regular season is for.

"But I'm not going to hang my head and sit here and say we're not playing good basketball. We won the game and we are trying to get better every time out."

Phoenix has defeated Houston five straight times, outscoring the Rockets by an average of 16.6 points in those contests. The Suns have not lost to Houston since a 98-97 defeat on April 9, 2005.

Steve Nash is averaging 19.4 points and 10.8 assists in the last five games with the Rockets, including a 21-point, 14-assist performance in a 100-91 win at Houston (39-24) on Jan. 17 - the last meeting between the clubs.

Yao and Tracy McGrady both missed that game due to injuries. Yao was recovering from a broken right leg that sidelined him for 32 contests, while McGrady had a sore lower back.

Yao appeared to be fully recovered Sunday when he had 37 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in the Rockets' 103-92 win over Orlando.

"Actually it's getting better every day," said the All-Star center, who is averaging 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in four games since coming back from the injury. "But my turnovers are still too high and my rebounds are still too low.

"I don't know how long it will be before I make it all the way back. I don't have experience with this kind of injury, so I don't know how long to say."

McGrady, who had 19 points and 10 assists Sunday, is averaging 27.3 points in 22 games since the last meeting with the Suns.

The Rockets have won three straight games overall, with all of the victories coming by double-digit margins. They have held their last six opponents under 100 points, posting a 4-2 record in that span.*

_*Next Games*_
vs.








vs.








vs.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Ehh since we won yesterday we could afford a loss today. We have a comfortable lead against the Lakers but if we do wanna win expect to see a lot of Kirk snyder. I think he will be a sloid scorer on the break and play good defense against Raja Bell. Just push it down low to yao and everything will go well.


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

Rockets play the best defense against the Suns, or atleast the best defense I've seen played
against the Suns. 

This is all about Yao. If Yao is able to stay in the game, Rockets will have a very good chance
of winning. If Suns take him out early, it will definitely favor the Suns.

Some teams can slow the Suns down, the Rockets are the only team I've seen that are capable of shutting them down.


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Bets on!

Rollin' with the new giant on the block!


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

We got to play our deep roster.
Yao/Deke/Jake
Hayes/Howard
Battier/Snyder
TMAC/Head
Alston

No Bonzi this game.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Is kisstherim here?

Got the link for the video connection?


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

nope don't see ktr...

shots aren't falling, but looks like we're doing ok on D so far.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

alright now they're scoring on every posession... KFC leading all scorers so far :laugh:


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

they slow the suns down but it seems to take its toll on offense.


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

what i dont get is that houston is trying sometimes to play at their pace.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

They have gone on a run........

10 behind now.......


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

T-Mac's making things too difficult, they can get easier baskets than his 21-footers. Houston's settling for shots, not a good sign...

26-16 Suns


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

30-18


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

DuMa said:


> what i dont get is that houston is trying sometimes to play at their pace.


its an addiction, they score on u and u want to score on them right back. They gotta learn to be patient.

Juwan knocking down a few shots, but we need stops... 30-20 after 1st Q


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

where the hell has the D gone??


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

barbosa is a fine player. he is gonna fetch some nice money in the future.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Yao hasn't made one FG yet, my god


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

T-Mac trying to take over, but not quite there yet... 11pt lead again


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

yao finally with a basket. then he shoots the T.

i can see yao is really trying and hustling within every inch of his body but its just really clear to me. yao will never be effective against teams like the suns.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

52-42 at 1/2time.... re-visiting my keys to the game:

- We're getting creamed on the boards! Chuck and Yao has GOT to do a better job than that

- Suns are smoking hot from 3pt range tonight. They're 5-7, we're 1-7, that's the difference in the game right there. Yao's only 1-6 so far, he's got to establish himself down low

- defense was better in the 2nd Q, now lets hope we can keep it up for the rest of the game

c'mon guys we can still take this one!!!


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## Samael (Sep 1, 2005)

Yao just needs to be a decoy for this game, he is ineffective, Phoenix is doubling him every chance they get it's up to rest of the team to make the most of those doubles.


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

DuMa said:


> what i dont get is that houston is trying sometimes to play at their pace.



I've noticed that as well.

Everytime the Suns score, the Rockets push the ball up the floor. And their offense stumbles up the court looking confused. Their offense being Yao. =)


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Why the hell can we not compete with this team?

I have never seen one team give another so many freaking problems...


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Also, I miss illegal defense in situations like this. They are double teaming Yao almost every chance they get, even when he does not have the ball...

Ugh


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Chucky working on the offensive glass, that's what I like to see!!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

****ing Suns make another run..... ****


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

wheres kirk snyder??


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

T-Mac, we need you to hit your shots....


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

STOP JACKING UP 3s!!!! :curse:


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Leandro Barbosa, the Rockets killer... the guy cant' miss, outscoring our Big 2 single-handedly so far


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

we shoulda started novak


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

I have come to peace that we simply can not beat the Suns. What are we 0-12 over the last few years?


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

lol howard is 7-7. give him the ball.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

OneBadLT123 said:


> I have come to peace that we simply can not beat the Suns. What are we 0-12 over the last few years?


no clue... nothing goes right when we play the Suns. No one would've thought Barbosa would be shooting 10-13 while Yao and T-Mac combined would shoot 8-32, yikes

The MVP is Dirk's this year, Nash didn't even need to do much to beat us tonight


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Yao's getting frustrated. 4 TOs this quarter, yikes


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Make that 5. YAO!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Geez, Nash or any of the Suns starters are not the main factor, it is their 6th man comming off the bench who is torching us...

wow


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## DuMa (Dec 25, 2004)

barbosa just won 6th man of the year tonight


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

I can't think of any other 6th man in the league that can come out and torch you like that. Well, that's Ginobili, but he's not really a 6th man IMO... 

time to put in Novak!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Yao Mania said:


> no clue... nothing goes right when we play the Suns. No one would've thought Barbosa would be shooting 10-13 while Yao and T-Mac combined would shoot 8-32, yikes
> 
> The MVP is Dirk's this year, Nash didn't even need to do much to beat us tonight


Man, just another typical Suns game. I just hope we somehow do not have to play them in the playoffs. because I really would like them to be knocked out before we even consider going past the 1st, 2nd, or whatever... 

Oh well, who would have thought Barbosa would tear us apart like this. Chuck and Juwon having good games though! Chuck has 5 of our 6 offensive rebounds, and has something like 13/9/3 steals on decent shooting...


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

OneBadLT123 said:


> Man, just another typical Suns game. I just hope we somehow do not have to play them in the playoffs. because I really would like them to be knocked out before we even consider going past the 1st, 2nd, or whatever...
> 
> Oh well, who would have thought Barbosa would tear us apart like this. Chuck and Juwon having good games though! Chuck has 5 of our 6 offensive rebounds, and has something like 13/9/3 steals on decent shooting...


Yao and T-Mac both woke up on the wrong side of the bed. We can't win when both of them have bad games.

It's a frustrating game for Yao I can understand, but he's just turned into a liability this quarter. The best C in the league can not play like that.

T-Mac, just one of the those bad shooting nights... 

ok game's over, another L to the Suns in the books


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Oh well, just throw in the bench, no need to risk injury.

Give the garbage time guys some playing time...


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

:dead: Let's just hope we don't meet them in the playoffs.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

OneBadLT123 said:


> I have come to peace that we simply can not beat the Suns. What are we 0-12 over the last few years?


...



> Phoenix has defeated Houston five straight times, outscoring the Rockets by an average of 16.6 points in those contests. The Suns have not lost to Houston since a 98-97 defeat on April 9, 2005.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

OneBadLT123 said:


> Oh well, just throw in the bench, no need to risk injury.
> 
> Give the garbage time guys some playing time...


LOL I think T-Mac's pissed off too, he's just trying to jack up everything right now. This team officially has a chip on their shoulders everytime we play Phoenix.

Chuck with the double double, him and Juwan being the only bright spots for us tonight.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Tmac 8-28
Yao 1-9
Alston 3-14


Gotta just love that shooting...


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

I am going to drink some beer and play NBA 2k7. Atleast I can beat the Suns with the Rockets...


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

OneBadLT123 said:


> I am going to drink some beer and play NBA 2k7. Atleast I can beat the Suns with the Rockets...


And if you lose in 2k7 too you'll probably throw your Xbox out the window


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## shakesbeer00 (Dec 22, 2006)

I just hope someday JVG can learn from Mike D'Tony to reject himself from the court with two technical calls. That way, Rockets may have a chance to beat Phoenix.  Defense simply not working with Suns.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Hopefully TMAC will hit his shots next time.............

We also need to slow down the tempo of the game. If we cant then Hayes and Howard need to play more minutes. Have Hayes Howard Yao play about 32 minutes each.

Bonzi Kirk will add soemthing to the side though aswell.
If some players arent hitting their shots they need to be repalced and their minutes given to others. TMAC and Yao I realise we cant replace but our achilles heal is no doubt that when Alston is not hitting his shots nobody can take over at PG.


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

The next game will be my first game to watch since my boycott of the rockets after losing to boston. If we had beat the Suns I would've continued not to watch them until we lost again.

Oh well, looking forward to the next game. Spurs passed Dallas in the daily rankings at number one. Not comparing Houston to San Antonio or Dallas but, we need to figure something out quick.


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## j-rocket (Feb 22, 2006)

ok we lost!! it was a back to back!! tracy shot was off and YaO WAS DEAD TIRED!!
the night before they were supose to blow out the magic so they could rest tmac and yao!!
The last two time we played the sun it was on a back to back situation!! keep in mind in a playoff series there is no back to backs games there is more time to prepare !!! 
we cant play Phoenix style of basketball we have to play rockets ball!!! stop jacking up threes and position yao down low in a half court set!!! Many times last night it look as we were trying to match there style of play and it lead to god awful shooting!!!
force them to play rockets basketball not phoenix ball!!!


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

In the Magic game Yao was moving very well without the ball, which gave him a lot of easy baskets. He just looked tired in this one. Combine that with a flat T-Mac and Rafer Alston playing one of his worst games of the season and you have yet another blowout loss to the Suns.


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