# NBA Regular Season GAME 9: Houston Rockets v.s. Detroit Pistons



## KokoTheMonkey (Aug 4, 2003)

*@*














*ROCKETS​*




































C: Yao Ming 
PF: Juwan Howard 
SF: Tracy McGrady
SG: Derek Anderson  
PG: Rafer Alston

*Pistons​*





































C: Ben Wallace 
PF: Rasheed Wallace 
SF: Tayshaun Prince 
SG: Richard Hamilton 
PG: Chauncey Billups​


Detroit comes into Houston on fire sporting an 8-0 record, along with scoring 100+ PPG and allowing below 90 PPG. So far this season, Detroit has been nearly a flawless team, and you can tell by watching them or by glancing at their stats. Detroit is a team that finishes games very well, so if Houston wants to win this game they better not be behind early in the 4th or I can't imagine a comeback. Houston desperately needs someone other than T-Mac and Yao to do something, and playing against a tough defense like Detroit, Houston will probably have to settle for across the board contributions from the role players. Houston has to limit TO's, and has to force Detroit to shoot the ball worse than the 48% they have shot the ball thus far this season. 



PS: Hopefully no one minds me starting this thread, I'm sure someone would have done it, but I figured I would start it earlier in the day.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Thanks a lot for starting this game thread early for us, KoKo. :biggrin: Hope this Spurs guy can bring us good luck. :angel:


----------



## ThaShark316 (May 7, 2004)

Hey, if we lose...we can ALL blame Koko!! :biggrin: 


Should be a good one tonight here in H-Town. I think we have a good shot at winning...might be the only who thinks that..but still.


----------



## edyzbasketball (Nov 16, 2005)

GOOO HOUSTOOON!!!!

Maybe we can beat the Pistons and be the first team who does that...


----------



## O2K (Nov 19, 2002)

i dont know who im rooting for (i love both teams) but i do hope Tmac goes off for 40+ points, i think that is possible as well, i predict

houston 98

detroit 92

i think houston can hand detroit their first loss


----------



## 4ever_bball_fan (Aug 5, 2004)

It will totally rock if the Rockets can upend the Pistons!

Come on...let those outside shots fall for a change. And somebody be ready to stop Billups!


----------



## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

This will be a tough game for the Rockets, even if it werent a back-to-back game coming off a close loss against the Spurs.

The key is to limit Billup's offense. Billups is much stronger than Alston, so I expect JVG to utilize the trap often, either with Yao or Derek Anderson. I would prefer Yao coming out to help against Billups to limit ball movement on Detroit's part. Also, it would be a better idea to force Ben Wallace to take shots rather than leaving Rip open to take shots.

I see a problem in that TMac will likely guard Rip Hamilton. Rip is too good of a slasher to have DA on him and is too clever away from the ball to expect Wesley to be effective at guarding him. On defense, we will have to make too many adjustments, asking TMac to switch between Rip and Prince. On offense, Prince should give Mac a hellova time as did Bruce Bowen last night. Given that Mac will use most of his energy defending the two (of Rip and Prince), he will not have enough energy to be effective on the offensive end, especially coming off an injury and a tough game against the Spurs.

Rasheed should also cause alot of problems as do most Power Forwards that can shoot from long range a la Raef Lafrentz. I would try and double Sheed, too along with Chauncey leaving Prince and Wallace to take shots.

On offense, I dont see any magic happening here. We are a poor passing team and the tandem of Billups, Rip and Prince are excellent at denying the entry pass. 

Matchups on Offense: (Man defense as each Pistons player is a great on-ball defender)
Skip - Billups
DA - Rip
TMac - Prince
Howard - Sheed
Yao - Ben Wallace

The only real advantage we have here is Yao. The problem is we cant seem to make the entry pass into him. If we have any chance of beating the Pistons, were going to have to run the ball as much as possible and not give the Pistons a chance to set up their defense. Yao will have to work extra hard to run to the offensive end and take advantage of his size.

Matchups on Defense: (Traps and double-teams)
Billups - Skip and DA
Rip - TMac and DA
Prince - TMac
Sheed - Howard and Yao
Wallace - Open

Having to double team anybody creates problems for our defense... We have to double team Billups and Sheed. Secondly, Tmac has the additional duty of guarding Rip making transition defense especially difficult (there will be confusion as to who's who's assignment in transition). TMac will probably guard Rip and switch to Prince when Prince gets the ball. DA will leave the double on Billups to help on Rip should this be the case. This should cause many matchup problems for us.

We NEED to come out and keep the guards out of the paint. Yao should leave the post often to trap on Billups or clutter up lanes vs. Rip. 


Score:
82 - Rockets
93 - Pistons


----------



## Copper (Dec 9, 2004)

TManiAC said:


> This will be a tough game for the Rockets, even if it werent a back-to-back game coming off a close loss against the Spurs.
> 
> The key is to limit Billup's offense. Billups is much stronger than Alston, so I expect JVG to utilize the trap often, either with Yao or Derek Anderson. I would prefer Yao coming out to help against Billups to limit ball movement on Detroit's part. Also, it would be a better idea to force Ben Wallace to take shots rather than leaving Rip open to take shots.
> 
> ...


 Wow, nice write up..I agree with just about everything but the final score..Pistons 105 Houston 92


----------



## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

Copper said:


> Wow, nice write up..I agree with just about everything but the final score..Pistons 105 Houston 92



I dont see the Rockets breaking 90 points tonight.

I can, however, see the Pistons scoring 105 if Ben Wallace splits minutes with Antonio McDyess. Playing Rasheed at C and Dyess at PF half the time should be very advantageous to the Pistons. Sheed would draw Yao out to the perimeter leaving easy high-percentage shots for the superior Detroit guards. Sheed can also find a shot on Yao.

-edit-
anyone know what position Sheed usually plays against the Rockets? In retrospect, they have no need to be playing Dyess that much. All they need to do is play Sheed on Yao and Wallace on whoever our PF is.


----------



## DTigre (Mar 14, 2005)

Dyess seems to have his best games against the Rockets so i think he'll get some more minutes today. (Not counting the one where he punted the ball out of the arena)


----------



## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

DTigre said:


> Dyess seems to have his best games against the Rockets so i think he'll get some more minutes today. (Not counting the one where he punted the ball out of the arena)


was this against clarence weatherspoon and ryan bowen or are we talking about pre-J-Ho injury days?


----------



## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

For the first time, I'll be able to watch the first game. I just hope I can get a nice surprise and have the Rockets win.


----------



## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Thanks Koko, hopefully your team gave us a wake up call yesterday.

What a moral booster it'd be if we can be the first team that beats Detroit


----------



## ThaShark316 (May 7, 2004)

No Skip tonight...

Bowen starts @ SF...T-Mac @ SG...PG - Wesley.


----------



## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

ThaShark316 said:


> No Skip tonight...
> 
> Bowen starts @ SF...T-Mac @ SG.


Great adjustment by JVG. The lineup makes alot of sense matchup-wise.


----------



## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

so, the line up goes some big changes. wesley, tmac, bowen, howard, yao.

at least jvg is being proactive. hopefully this means more time for head with DA not playing


----------



## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

bowen just made a 3.


----------



## ThaShark316 (May 7, 2004)

Pimped Out said:


> bowen just made a 3.



Already more consistant with his shot than DA. :biggrin:


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

I was just about to say this starting lineup is a joke,then Bowen made a 3 pts. :banana:


----------



## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Smart move by moving T-Mac to SG, no way Rip's gonna be able to guard him.


----------



## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

Yao Mania said:


> Smart move by moving T-Mac to SG, no way Rip's gonna be able to guard him.


is he? it havent been paying that close attention, but rip on bowen and prince on tmac makes more sense.

edit: unless they want to keep prince off the ball and use his length to play the passing lanes.

edit2: what does everyone think of yaos facial hair?


----------



## TManiAC (Dec 19, 2004)

Wesley - Billups: Billups is a big guard that isnt necessarily the quickest. He is also their biggest offensive threat. I like the adjustment.

TMac - Rip: Rip is great at slashing and and creating off the ball, TMac is just the man to guard him.

Bowen - Prince: Whoever is Prince is assigned to is pretty much reduced to a offenseless waste as a result of his defense. We sacrifice Bowen to him but in turn limit Princes offense with our defensive "pitbull"... well more like sharpei.

Howard - Sheed: meh

Yao - Ben: Yao is dominating with his size


----------



## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

Hey, is anyone using PPLive. There are no seeds, so I can't watch. Please, someone get PPLive.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Demiloy said:


> Hey, is anyone using PPLive. There are no seeds, so I can't watch. Please, someone get PPLive.


no way are there no seeds  
there r at least 50000 ppl using it now.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Pimped Out said:


> edit2: what does everyone think of yaos facial hair?


he had his jaw cut in the summer,so he has to wear facial hairs to cover it.

but it does make him look tougher.


Wow,Yao gave Ben another nasty two-hands facial!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

I just d/led pplive, but it interferes with the rest of my internet connection!!

still nice to finally watch some bball action though!


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

DA needs to stay on our bench before this idiot goes!!! 

Finally we can run some fast-breaks now.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Yao Mania said:


> I just d/led pplive, but it interferes with the rest of my internet connection!!
> 
> still nice to finally watch some bball action though!


it does occupy a lot of ur computer resourse,but as for its interference with ur other internet connection,I have no ideas how to fix it.

and



> According to PPStream's FAQ, if you use Windows XP SP2, you may need to apply a patch to remove the outbound TCP connection limit (10). The following link provides more information. http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=1497.
> 
> PPLive and PPStream perform a lot better on my computer after removing the limit.


----------



## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

and our offense completely dies down in the 2nd Q.....


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

It seems like the Pistons are not missing at all. :angel:

Yao, plz continue with this aggressiveness!


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Is Head on drugs? I know u have a nice spin around dribble. But what the heck was that ridicolous 3 pts shot?


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Yao is dunking everything tonight! 
Blah, offensive foul on Yao

Anyway,it's a legit call, he pushed off with his left hand


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Yao gave Big Ben a block, Ben looked frustrated :laugh:

then Stro nice alley-oops! :banana:


----------



## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

if head keeps getting minutes and producing we may have make the "i got head" group.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

T-mac has 10 rebourds before half  we are killing the Pistons on the boards :laugh:

And What can DA contribute anyway? Can he even make a open shot? Geez,this guy really freaked me out.


----------



## ivanpei (Oct 22, 2005)

Yao's been NASTY. Tmac doesn't look very healthy. Let Head stay on, I don't think our guards can stay on billups.


----------



## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

im liking head...


----------



## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

this team is just frustrating

simply frustrating


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Grandpa Mutombo blocked Big Ben's dunk,haha :clap:


----------



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

I can't believe I've seen Wesley running so much on offense. This is a first. Ben Wallace is getting beat by Yao but still stripping or blocking him! Amazing man on man defender.

Luther Head must travel every other time he dribbles the ball. It would be embarassing if the refs suddenly call it.


----------



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Yao is dribbling way too much. He is going to get called for that offensive foul if he holds on to the ball for so long.


----------



## Nocioni (May 23, 2005)

8-0


----------



## O2K (Nov 19, 2002)

tmac looks bad this is not good for the rockets, maybe he shouldve stayed out the three weeks


----------



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

McGrady looks like he is done for the game. The Pistons already know he is going to pull up every time Yao isn't posted up. 

We need to get Yao some jumpers, with 4 fouls he isn't going hard at Ben Wallace in the post.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Let's vote for Wesley for the All-Star Game!


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> McGrady looks like he is done for the game. The Pistons already know he is going to pull up every time Yao isn't posted up.
> 
> We need to get Yao some jumpers, with 4 fouls he isn't going hard at Ben Wallace in the post.


:yes:

I got tired of seeing TMAC jacking up Js.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Genetic Mutation of Wesley!!


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Yao and 1! Great pass by Wesley:clap: we r only down by 2 now


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

TMAC is wearing Wesley's Jersey now.

Nice block by Yao!


----------



## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

wesley!! what the heck!? 

this is more like rockets ball, emagine if anderson made atleast 2 shots and mcgrady made atleast 1/2??


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

LMAO @ R.Wallace, how many dunks he has missed in this game? :laugh:


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Ben's FT went a mile away from the hoop :laugh:


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Yao was fouled out,we r over


----------



## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)




----------



## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

man, i actually had a feeling we could really win the one
we were on a roll


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

I just don't get why wesley was trying to take it to the hoop on rasheed? :boohoo:


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Anyway, I finally see some good on wesley and swift,hope they can keep it up.


----------



## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Swift was OK, but his man D is just bad.


----------



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

The defense was pretty solid but it is near impossible to pull off a victory against Detroit with 20 turnovers and your superstar going 3-16 (albeit back problems). I don't think we can ever be a successful *regular* season team if we can't get Yao shots within the flow of the offense. He doesn't need to post up every time, he can knock down those 10-12 jumpers with a fair amount of ease. Because defenders get physical once the ball is put on the floor, Yao needs to fire off a couple of shots once in a while facing the basket.

The good news is that Wesley looks like he's found his shot. And being the streaky shooter he is, he should be very hot for the next 3-4 games. As long as he doesn't penetrate he should be fine. The Rockets were also strong on the boards tonight... Swift, McGrady and Yao combined for 33 rebounds against the Wallaces.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Hakeem said:


> Swift was OK, but his man D is just bad.


yeah, that's true. Rasheed scored like 3 consecutive shots over him and he just stood there helplessly…but I doubt Howard could have done better when Rasheed was feeling it.


----------



## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

kisstherim said:


> yeah, that's true. Rasheed scored like 3 consecutive shots over him and he just stood there helplessly…but I doubt Howard could have done better when Rasheed was feeling it.


Maybe not, but Howard was actually playing some decent D earlier, and has been doing so thus far this season. Maybe his heart problem has caused him to re-evaluate his priorities in life. 
Swift wasn't just bad when Rasheed hit those three shots. Earlier, a few times he had his feet pointing away from his man. Doesn't sound that bad, but it's hard to recover from such a position if your guy makes a move to go by you in the other direction. I think it's a sign of his over-aggressiveness. He should understand that he doesn't need to try and force a turnover on every possession.


----------



## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

Interesting picture...:laugh:

Time to blame this all on Koko.

And on Stromile's defense, when Rasheed starts to hit those jumpers, with his long arms, there aren't a whole lot of people who can stop him.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Hakeem said:


> Maybe not, but Howard was actually playing some decent D earlier, and has been doing so thus far this season. Maybe his heart problem has caused him to re-evaluate his priorities in life.
> Swift wasn't just bad when Rasheed hit those three shots. Earlier, a few times he had his feet pointing away from his man. Doesn't sound that bad, but it's hard to recover from such a position if your guy makes a move to go by you in the other direction. I think it's a sign of his over-aggressiveness. He should understand that he doesn't need to try and force a turnover on every possession.


great pic,u drew it? :biggrin:

Yeah,Swift is as silly as our old boy Mo.Taylor on defense,just hope he can catch it up under the supervision of JVG. At least he is getting better on offense every game.


----------



## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Demiloy said:


> Interesting picture...:laugh:
> 
> Time to blame this all on Koko.
> 
> And on Stromile's defense, when Rasheed starts to hit those jumpers, with his long arms, there aren't a whole lot of people who can stop him.


Sheed likes to do fadeaway in very weird angels and get very high elevation,even TD,KG can't contest that.

And Stro lacks of strength,Sheed is obviously stronger than him. Stro can't box out,so he sucks in terms of defensive rebs. But still, he is able to reply on his great speed and hop to get some offensive rebs.

BTW,I like this pic:


----------



## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Haha great pic Hakeem

Some positives to take from this game, but fact is we're 3-6 right now and T-Mac is down again... Let's hope we can have some luck rolling on our side in the upcoming games.


----------



## skykisser (Nov 10, 2005)

kisstherim said:


> Sheed likes to do fadeaway in very weird angels and get very high elevation,even TD,KG can't contest that.
> 
> And Stro lacks of strength,Sheed is obviously stronger than him. Stro can't box out,so he sucks in terms of defensive rebs. But still, he is able to reply on his great speed and hop to get some offensive rebs.


----RB--OFF--DFF
Stro----4-----5
I think he's good enough.

btw, RB 52vs38,but we still lost!! :brokenhea 
Yao was great,but with 9OT and 6fouls :no: 
DW looked good today. DA sucks again.......
and whats worse..TMAC is down again.................................
anyway, its not surprising we lost this game.
hope we'll do fine against pacers!


----------



## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

> Sheed likes to do fadeaway in very weird angels and get very high elevation,even TD,KG can't contest that.


I would say that Rasheed and Garnett have the two gardest jumpers to block in the NBA.


----------



## Kidan (Nov 14, 2005)

Time to fire Yao's coach...


----------



## hitokiri315 (Apr 30, 2004)

It sux that wallace gets to hammer the hell out of yao all game but when yao wants to do the same they always call fouls on him. Oh well pistons just played better and they are a better squad right now. The rox might need to make a move and push for another younger guard. Don't know who but a deal is out there i know it.


----------



## Rockets111 (Oct 29, 2005)

we suck if we dont even pick it up to win these next few games, i do not see a turnaround


----------



## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

wesley hopefully found found his now


----------



## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

howard showed some pretty good man defense last year too, its his help defense which is non existant.


----------

