# The real test comes tonight against the Nets.



## Cometsbiggestfan (May 14, 2003)

How will the Rockets fare?


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## Tom (Jul 15, 2002)

i don't think the rockets can duplicate the shooting of last night...good for my nets. Bad for my nets...Yao is well rested.

The nets win 97-94 in a close one...with alot of complaining on both sides.

PS... My wife BUBS, told the guys at... (clutchcity) that the twin towers could co-exist... they laughed at her and berated her and demeaned her and banned her...They have egg on there faces now. i'm out.


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## NYCbballFan (Jun 8, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Tom</b>!
> i don't think the rockets can duplicate the shooting of last night...good for my nets. Bad for my nets...Yao is well rested.
> 
> The nets win 97-94 in a close one...with alot of complaining on both sides.
> ...


Good observations. 

I agree with Mrs. Tom about the Twin Towers alignment. I don't understand why Rudy T didn't go to the Twin Towers last season. Yao is more of a finesse, offensive-oriented center. Rebounding and shot-blocking aren't his biggest strengths. Cato is a physical shot-blocker and rebounder who lacks a top-notch offensive game. He's athletic enough to match-up at PF. Cato is the perfect kind of player to complement Yao. It's a logical tandem.

Tonight will be fun to watch. Biggest test of the season so far for both teams.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Stevie is 0-8, 2 points; are playing weak on transition defense. down by 7 at the half. Nets big men are doing a great job on doubling Yao, forcing him to kick it out to their great perimeter defenders (Kidd, Kittles, RJ). Forget about Stevie's shooting woes, if Rockets don't start taking advantage of the chaos Yao causes in the middle, then Nets will run away with it.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>NYCbballFan</b>!
> 
> I don't understand why Rudy T didn't go to the Twin Towers last season. Yao is more of a finesse, offensive-oriented center. Rebounding and shot-blocking aren't his biggest strengths. Cato is a physical shot-blocker and rebounder who lacks a top-notch offensive game. He's athletic enough to match-up at PF. Cato is the perfect kind of player to complement Yao. It's a logical tandem.


Rocket fans, including me, had talked about a post of Yao and Cato for a long time. But Cato was very slow on getting back on defense, and was not as active as he is now when Rudy T was coach. As Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chron said, when some players are given confidence in the way they play their game, their overall game drastically improves. This will likely happen with Cato and Nachbar, who Gumby has been urging to shoot shoot shoot.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Wooo damn Stevie showed some heart out there, getting 12 poitns in the 4th quarter, single handedly winning the game for the Rockets. Feels good to beat the best of the east... although I think the Pistons would give the Rockets a much harder time, even if the Nets had KMart.


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## Marcus13 (Jul 17, 2002)

GREAT WIN!

It was big though for real

Although, Yao was mediocore at best

The Franchise was the overall leader but Cuttino put more buckets in, tonight was a good team effort- they earned that one


Sorry Petey


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## groovehouse (May 21, 2002)

:bball: the rockets came alive in the 4th quarter... there was no 4th quarter meltdown! They made clutch shots, played good D and NJ missed a lot!! :bball:


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## AFunk4Life (Jan 10, 2003)

ROCKETS WIN, ROCKETS WIN! I think we may finally have a winner again. Thank you Jeff Van Gundy. Go Franchise!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

*Yao's signature move*

2nd night in a roll he pulled off his spin move, first against Curry, now Zo! I think this is going to be his signature move from now on, kinda like Jordan's fade-away and Shaq's 2-hand dunk... what do u think?


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## Petey (Aug 23, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Marcus13</b>!
> GREAT WIN!
> 
> It was big though for real
> ...


I for one think this game would be very different with KMart, for those whom don't, I think KMart has shown he can play with alot of the bigger PF, Cato would not had been an exception, how would Cato had held Martin in check?

-Petey


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## darkballa (Sep 19, 2003)

nets couldve won this if they started zo and collins at the same time. with scalabrine bringing some off the bench. I dont even know why they started scalbrine not bad though.


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## Petey (Aug 23, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>darkballa</b>!
> nets couldve won this if they started zo and collins at the same time. with scalabrine bringing some off the bench. I dont even know why they started scalbrine not bad though.


Veal had done well this season so far, and he did well when he started last year.

Starting Collins with Zo, would had resulted the same way. They would have picked up fouls so quickly that Veal would have been in the game sooner then later.

-Petey


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## groovehouse (May 21, 2002)

Yao's wicked fast spin move on Zo...

http://www.groovehouse.org/temp/yaodunkzo.wmv

please right click and save as


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## NYCbballFan (Jun 8, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>darkballa</b>!
> nets couldve won this if they started zo and collins at the same time. with scalabrine bringing some off the bench. I dont even know why they started scalbrine not bad though.


Because Cato hit those jumpers, right?

Offensively, Scalabrine missed shots, but so did a lot of Nets. From a skills standpoint, Veal is capable of delivering scores as he did in the 4th Q.

Defensively, Scalabrine is one of the best help defenders on the Nets, which means he's one of the best help defenders in the NBA. But you have to give something to get something. Veal paid for being the primary double-teamer on Yao AND the primary help defender for the entire team (the Nets Cs didn't leave Yao) by playing soft at times on both Mo and Cato. Give Veal and Cato credit. Even though Veal was hedging his defense, he's very good at closing out and didn't allow Cato near the basket. Veal DID sacrifice the mid-range jumpshot to Cato, but when prioritizing the Rockets guards and Yao, you give that shot to Cato, anyway. To Cato's credit, he punished Veal by hitting those shots. 

When Veal actually focused on man-to-man defense, as opposed to recovering from a help assignment, it was a different story. Mo may have hit a tough shot or two over Scalabrine, but nobody Veal FULLY guarded got past him for an easy score.

Can Scalabrine replace K-Mart? No. But he was a warrior, and he did his job.


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## TRACIELOVESCOMETS (May 14, 2003)

THE ROCKETS DEFINETLY EARNED THIS ONE! GO ROCKETS!


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## NYCbballFan (Jun 8, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>The Franchise</b>!
> 
> 
> Rocket fans, including me, had talked about a post of Yao and Cato for a long time. But Cato was very slow on getting back on defense, and was not as active as he is now when Rudy T was coach. As Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chron said, when some players are given confidence in the way they play their game, their overall game drastically improves. This will likely happen with Cato and Nachbar, who Gumby has been urging to shoot shoot shoot.


Interesting point. I have heard that when Cato first joined the Rockets, he was hyped up as the heir to Olajuwon. He's obviously not on that level of player, and I wonder if not being the next Olajuwon messed with his head. Unrealistic expectations can put a lot of pressure on anybody.

Cato seems more enthusiastic with his starting role at PF rather than his role as a back-up C afterthought to Yao. His game actually seems to fit better in his new role, too, where he complements Yao's post presence, protecting him on defense and the boards while working in scores when the post defense focuses on Yao, while also contributing as the mobile big man to work with the one-on-one skills of the Rockets guards. I don't know if Cato still wants to be the next Hakeem, but right now, JVG has given him a functional niche in the starting line-up.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>groovehouse</b>!
> Yao's wicked fast spin move on Zo...
> 
> http://www.groovehouse.org/temp/yaodunkzo.wmv
> ...


Very nice, too bad you don't have the one with Calvin Murphy commentating...


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