# NBA Regular Season GAME 2: NO/Okla City Hornets @ Houston Rockets 11/2,7:30 CT



## ThaShark316 (May 7, 2004)

*@*










*Hornets​*





































SF: Bostjan Nachbar 
PF: David West 
C: P.J. Brown 
SG: J.R. Smith 
PG: Chris Paul​
*Rockets​*




















*

















C: Yao Ming 
PF: Juwan Howard 
SF: Tracy McGrady*
SG: Derek Anderson 
PG: Rafer Alston​
* - game time decision


The Rockets go into Saturday night's game against the 1-1 Hornets with concern. G/F Tracy McGrady was left friday's practice with back spasms and status for the Hornets game is in doubt. If McGrady can't go, most likely it'll be Derek Anderson starting at the 3 and David Wesley playing the 2. NO/OKC is coming off a beating at the hands of the Cavaliers, 109-87.

I don't think we'll need T-Mac tonight, we should handle the Hornets...NO/OKC will try and make it tough on us.

Rockets 93
Hornets 80
Rockets


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## Rockets111 (Oct 29, 2005)

McGrady isnt playing


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## hitokiri315 (Apr 30, 2004)

is D Mason not a starter. I guess Nachbar is a better option


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

Hornets always give us problems for some reason,e ven with T-Mac. Bottom line, our games vs Hornets are generally ugly.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

For those pplive/ppstream users,u can choose the "shanghai sports"channel which is carrying this game.Just try to find the chinese characters like this "上海体育台” and click it.If there r only garbled characters in ur too bar, just look for the channel with the most viewers(there r bout 35000 users right now).


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

This has been so pathetic. Everyone is playing keep away from Yao and Wesley is too old to be on the floor. Head and Alston should be in the backcourt with Bowen at the 3 spot. There is no way PJ Brown can stop Yao, let's just get him the ball.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

I've tried to be nice, but Anderson is a waste of a roster space. Disrupting the flow of the offense, throwing up bricks, not even looking to move the ball. He shouldn't be on the floor if he's not getting to the FT line or getting it to Yao.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Wesley just can't keep up. JVG needs to let the rookie have a chance.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudy :clap:

*Waits for Luther's chance* :sigh:


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Luther is in 

Go get em Lu!!!!


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

kisstherim said:


> For those pplive/ppstream users,u can choose the "shanghai sports"channel which is carrying this game.Just try to find the chinese characters like this "上海体育台” and click it.If there r only garbled characters in ur too bar, just look for the channel with the most viewers(there r bout 35000 users right now).


You are talking about TV or Web? What is pplive?


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Head finally comes in, so they go to Mason who is burning Anderson.

One more time.

Alston/Barry, Head, Bowen.

Sorry guys, I'm just in a bad mood, to the Hornets credit they are an extremely fast team.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Ballscientist said:


> You are talking about TV or Web? What is pplive?


Check this thread

http://www.basketballboards.net/forum/showthread.php?t=212152


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Luther just stuffed Speedy, horrible call.

Yao has been in front of PJ Brown all night long, but it seems like we've abandoned our inside-out game.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> Luther just stuffed Speedy, horrible call.


Nah, I think it was fair enough.

Swift looks... energetic.

Wesley has looked like absolute crap.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Luther looks like a rookie in his first game.. Once he starts knocking down those shots he'll be fine 

:banana: Congrats Luther on your bucket on the goaltend :banana:


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Nice block by Yao!


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Nice run to get back into the game by DA, Barry, Head, Yao, and Stro!


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Yao getting the ball and making good things happen... Swift has been great on the boards.

Nachbar looks pretty comfortable on the court. Not awkward and out of place. I think he'll end up being in this league for some time.

PJ Brown for MVP?


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

I thought Yao was gone when they threw it to him then, but he spun left. Agile. Olajuwon-esque.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Bill Worrell shedding some light on important matters:

"You know Clyde, one thing Barry does that the other guards don't do is let Yao reposition after he passes out and passes the ball back to him."


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

JON Barry! He has been our MVP far and away in this young season.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Hakeem said:


> I thought Yao was gone when they threw it to him then, but he spun left. Agile. Olajuwon-esque.


 Imagine what he would be doing if he was in town for Hakeem's visit.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Jon Barry did a T-Mac.


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## hitokiri315 (Apr 30, 2004)

MAn MRC you really don't like DA for some reason i can't figure it out.

Nachbar looks like an actual NBA player and not some overrated import. Hope he shows the NBA that he was not a bust. From the looks of tonights game he is making a statement.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

hitokiri315 said:


> MAn MRC you really don't like DA for some reason i can't figure it out.


To be fair, DA hasn't looked good so far.


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

What is it that causes the Rockets to play so bad against this team? They cause us trouble even when Tmac is playing.


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

And where is the freakin score board, i cant stand this


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Yao made some excellent blocks :naughty:


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

DA finally starts camping on the perimeter and waiting for shots on offense. The whole game he has been disruptive, trying to get off horrible shots (always had poor shot selection) and not bothering to set up Yao or look for a higher percentage shot. I'm just not a fan of overaged guards who keep trying to relive their glory days and refuse to accept their place in a team. Hopefully it will change over the course of the season.

DA hsa been scrappy and gobbling up loose balls to his credit.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Big shot Luther Head. Gotta love his confidence, and his smooth shot.

Yao has been an absolute terror defensively tonight. He's playing with the intensity of a Ben Wallace or Bruce Bowen.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

Lu for 33333333333 :banana:


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Yao's shots are rolling out, the guy looks tired. Has missed his last 7 shots (although he's been fouled on a good number of those). Perhaps it's all the energy he's put out on the defensive end, but I think we need to start pick and rolling with him and Barry or Alston. Either that or keep posting him up, what other options are there?


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

This is getting scary.


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## Phenom Z28 (Nov 22, 2004)

Yao closing in on a triple double with points, rebounds, and *blocks*!


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Wow, Chris Paul just hit back to back floaters. Game over.

New Orleans ONCE again, for maybe the 2nd or 3rd game in the last year, goes on a 15-2 run in the last 6 minutes of the 4th. I thought the refs were horrible on Yao, because cmon, this guy doesn't miss 7 shots in a row and there were Hornets hanging over his shoulder and flying at the basket for every rebounding opportunity. But the fact is New Orleans outplayed us in a game we should have closed out when we had the 8 point lead.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Agreed, a few fouls on Yao weren't called. I spotted a pretty obvious illegal defense, too, midway through the fourth. Yao did look tired. He was running about too much on offense. Can't have that.

I was going to give Wesley about 10 or so games before calling judgement, but I think I'm giving up. Not only is his shot still off, but he's no longer playing defense. He looks effete. Derek Anderson was crap, too.

Just a depressing game all round.


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## Raxel (Nov 10, 2004)

JVG should have Yao rested when we had 10 pts lead.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

ouch, I know NO/OLK looks better than ppl expected but I definitely thought we gotta win a game like this, T-Mac or no T-Mac.

Stro's really gotta step up his game on both ends, he is honestly below my expectations right now.

Rafer Alston with only 2 assists? Not good enough

Put Head in our starting line-up, we need his energy and athleticism


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## hitokiri315 (Apr 30, 2004)

i thought yao was tired too. I think swift could have helped if was in there but que sera sera. We will bounce back against the magic.


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## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

20 points, 14 rebounds, 7 blocks. How can that not be anything but domination?


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

8-22 from the field.


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## Stat O (Mar 17, 2005)

damn what a bad loss...that hurt


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

I agree Yao's choking in the 4th quarter was mainly due to fatigue,but it could also be the adrelinane in his body,u know after a fight or altercation, ur adrelinane level rises,so u do not have the usual control to hit the shots.

Maybe Mutombo should have played more to give Yao rest so he's fresh down the stretch for those last shots. Hope JVG will figure out when to give Yao a rest to keep him fresh. But it's just one game, the Rockets are just trying to figure out the adjustments to be made right now,and it's early in the season, weird losses happen... on the same day we saw Indiana losing to an 0-2 Philly team and Spurs getting blown out by Mavericks.


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## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

Actually, we should be focusing on the role players, not Yao. They were the ones that couldn't hit the open shots when Yao passed to them out of a double team.


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

weird losses happen... on the same day we saw Indiana losing to an 0-2 Philly team and Spurs getting blown out by Mavericks.


So kisstherim, are you saying the Hornets win over the Rockets was some kind of fluke?


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

girllovesthegame said:


> weird losses happen... on the same day we saw Indiana losing to an 0-2 Philly team and Spurs getting blown out by Mavericks.
> 
> 
> So kisstherim, are you saying the Hornets win over the Rockets was some kind of fluke?


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

girllovesthegame said:


> weird losses happen... on the same day we saw Indiana losing to an 0-2 Philly team and Spurs getting blown out by Mavericks.
> 
> 
> So kisstherim, are you saying the Hornets win over the Rockets was some kind of fluke?


well,not that much a fluke,what i meant was: no matter how good a team looks in paper due to the trades/drafts in the offseason,it always takes time to gel and adjust,so in the beginning of the season,they might suffer some weird losses. As for rockets, even more adjustments r required, u know when TMAC is down, other players gotta learn how the new dynamics work and know their new role without TMac around,for example, DA will know how to be aggressive without overreaching and end up taking shots which are too tough.
The learning process and ajustments take time.


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## girllovesthegame (Nov 3, 2005)

I hear ya kisstherim.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

kisstherim said:


> Maybe Mutombo should have played more to give Yao rest so he's fresh down the stretch for those last shots.


I was thinking that, but then I realised that we don't have a single guy outside of the big two who we can reasonably rely on to score. Neither Swift or Howard can create their own shot. DA shoots at something like 30% from the field. Wesley is a walking corpse. Rafer Alston, from what little I've seen of him, can't finish any better than Wesley can. Barry can't be relied upon to do that 24-point thing again. At least last season we had Mike James. Sura was decent, too, because he at least _thought_ he could score. So Yao had better find a way to play close to 40 minutes a night. Maybe sleep 16 hours on his days off. Stop playing defense. Or something.


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## Rocket (Oct 26, 2005)

Our problem is rebounding...we've given up 27 offensive rebounds the past two games...we need a perimeter player to start grabbing boards...Swift needs to start being more aggressive...Wesley is nonexistant...Head surprised me out there and looked poised in running the point...we dont have enough post scoring...Yao is our only true offensive post presence...Howard is more of a midrange shooter, and Swift is too inconsistent with his offense...


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