# Preseason Game 1 Thread: Houston Rockets @ New Orleans Hornets



## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

​*(0-0)/(0-0)*

When/Where:
*Tuesday, October 9, 8:00 p.m.*
*Ford Center*​












































*James / McGrady / Battier / Hayes / Yao*














































*Paul / Peterson / Stojakovic / West / Chandler*

_(just guesses)_​
*PREVIEW

Rockets forward Shane Battier already has a pretty good idea about how the team's new offensive scheme looks in practice.

He's ready to see how it looks with an opposing defense trying to stop it.

"The biggest thing for us is to test it in an NBA setting," Battier said. "When you're in training camp, you got a bunch of young whipper snappers holding you, grabbing you and getting up into you. That stuff doesn't fly in the NBA season. So it will be good to be in a game situation with referees and a real live setting to test this offense."

The Rockets will unveil their brand-new offense Tuesday night when they open their preseason schedule against the New Orleans Hornets in Oklahoma City.

Since training camp opened last week in Austin, the Rockets have been installing Rick Adelman's high-motion, read-and-react system.

The offense has its perimeter players in constant motion, reading the defense before making a cut to the basket or spotting up for an open look. The big men, meanwhile, have become more involved in the passing game. At times, they play from the top of the elbow and seek out wing men cutting hard to the hoop.

So far, all the cutting and passing has been difficult for the Rockets to defend in training camp. Now, they'll see if the Hornets have any better luck trying to slow them down.

"I just want to see how (our team) responds," Adelman said. "How do we run our offense against another team? Are we going to be in a hurry to do things?"

The offense gives Houston's players plenty of freedom. Rather than having a set direction on where to go, the players read the defense and make their own decisions on how to get open.

Obviously, that makes it impossible for a defender to predict where an offensive player is heading.

"It's not predicated on any set movements," Battier said. "We have a nice scouting report before the game and, for the most part, you know where guys are going on a certain player and where guys like to shoot from. In this offense, it's cuts and reads. You can call the same play, but it can be run 10 different ways."

Besides giving players a ton of freedom to make decisions on where they want to go with or without the ball, Adelman's scheme makes many positions interchangeable.

That means the Rockets should be showcasing plenty of different combinations in their preseason opener.

"There's going to a nice flow to it," Rockets guard Mike James said. "We have many options to it. It might be a little sloppy at times in the preseason since we're new to it. But it's going to be fun to see how it looks on the court."*


_*Next Games*_
vs.








vs.








vs.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

my source:

starters lock: Yao, T-Mac,Battier, Hayes

optional starters: Francis, James


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

well it'll be a good test for us since we had a loooot of trouble with the Hornets last season. Biggest difference now? Instead of Alston trying to guard Paul, we have Francis and James.

Yao and T-Mac prob. won't play for more than 20mins, we still have too many guys on our roster we need to test out.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

I like that line up. This should be a fun game


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Ahhh I missed the good ol game threads... 

But I do not miss the Hornets. They always give us crap


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

Something tells me that this season the hornets won't have their way with us. Alot of teams are going to be shocked when Houston comes out running and gunning this year.


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## jworth (Feb 17, 2006)

jdiggidy said:


> Something tells me that this season the hornets won't have their way with us. Alot of teams are going to be shocked when Houston comes out running and gunning this year.


I'm feeling this. With Adelman's offense and the addition of Mike James and Steve Francis to the backcourt, a lot will be different. 

I'm hoping Luis Scola gets some solid PT during the preseason so we can see what he's got. Also, I'm looking to see how Bonzi Wells performs with Adelman. If he can actually put together an entire season of hard work, I'll be pleased.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

This match up is good for us. It will show how us how everyone adapts to the new system against a team that we have problems with. I can't wait to see this.


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

8pm ET? 8pm CT?

Thanks for the game thread.. I am so excited to see this team on the court!!

Please Lord, allow me to get it streaming on my computer... if not on FSSW

Please...

Please...


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

HayesFan said:


> 8pm ET? 8pm CT?


:whoknows: I got that time from ESPN.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

HayesFan said:


> 8pm ET? 8pm CT?
> 
> Thanks for the game thread.. I am so excited to see this team on the court!!
> 
> ...


http://myp2p.eu/NBA.htm


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

I know people are getting pumped up over the first exhibition game of the season, but we gotta remember it's just an exhibition game. The Rox will be testing out a whole new system, new offense, new players, new coaches, almost everything is new. Things are going to look very awkward. Players are going to look like they have bad chemistry. We might get blown out. And I bet if we do, there will be people who come on screaming for JVG to return, Adelman to be fired, Yao to be traded, etc, etc.

It's just an exhibition game folks. :azdaja:


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Ballscientist said:


> my source:
> 
> starters lock: Yao, T-Mac,Battier, Hayes
> 
> optional starters: Francis, James


But this is your sig.

Rockets starting lineup:
Coca Cola
Butter
Mac Chicken
French Fries
Yummy


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Rockets.com has us starting Alston at the point.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

OneBadLT123 said:


> http://myp2p.eu/NBA.htm


The games at 7pm(if you live in Houston) 8ET


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks yall. My directv is showing that I get to watch on the big screen!!  If only channel 639 comes in. I actually have a listing for FSN Houston, which is weird! LOL but we shall see. 

If it doesn't I guess I will be p2p streaming instead... looks like its going to be on CCTV5 so I shouldn't have any problem (hopefully)


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

HayesFan said:


> Thanks yall. My directv is showing that I get to watch on the big screen!!  If only channel 639 comes in. I actually have a listing for FSN Houston, which is weird! LOL but we shall see.
> 
> If it doesn't I guess I will be p2p streaming instead... looks like its going to be on CCTV5 so I shouldn't have any problem (hopefully)


I guess its on shanghai Sports channel instead? :biggrin: But I doubt I will be able to watch it


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

> Rockets.com has us starting Alston at the point.


Adleman might start Alston just out of respect for the fact that he was the starter all of last season. In defense of Rafer, he did have to man the PG alone last season. Blame JVG if you want but, it is a reality of last season.

Everyone keeps dismissing Alston but, he very well could be the starter on this team since he can distribute the basketball. Who knows at this point.

Hopefully someone will be in desperate need of a PG by the end of preseason and trade for him. Maybe Denver with one of their PG's going down.


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## CrackerJack (Jul 2, 2005)

prey for no injuries:worthy:


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Rockets.com

According to Rockets.com it seems like Rafer is the starting PG. 
I like starting Scola at 4. I wish we will have no scratches from these preseason games. Finally, we can see some action.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Ahh its like its a whole new season...

Oh wait it is


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Starting Alston isn't a bad idea. It's only the preseason. Let's see what he can do with the new system. Either way, I think he will lose his spot to Francis.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

Link



> *Limited action*
> Coach Rick Adelman said he would probably play *10 of his 19 players tonight*, using different players Thursday at Toyota Center. He said Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming will play in most games, though they could sit out one of the back-to-back games Oct. 23 and 24 against the Grizzlies.
> 
> "In the preseason, if you want to give guys a good run, some guys are not going to play," Adelman said. "I'll let them know as we head into the game who is not going to go. If you don't play, you'll play the next game."


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Damn it's not showing up on my Sopcast on either channels.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

giordun said:


> Damn it's not showing up on my Sopcast on either channels.


not on Shanghai Sports (Channel 6001)?


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

It's showing on Shanghai Sports.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

It works now thanks.

What the hell we got Alston and Chuckwagon starting.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Whoa... T-Mac don't fall like that.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Haha Rafer airballed. Thankfully we got Mike James to shoot 3s next time.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

The Hornets are having some trouble right now. Alston...airball.


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Alston to Ming!!

Scola for layup!!


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Scola is in.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Dude we're rolling.

Scola is checking on for Yao.

I like this there's like a lot of passing.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Wow Scola is good.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

looks Scola is for real? :biggrin:


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Scola and Hayes are in at same time?


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Rox up 20-6


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Yea I guess we're going with like a small line up. On the floor...

Scola
Hayes
Battier
Luther
James


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Yao coming back on. We're up by 15 and we're ROLLING.

YO IT'S FLYIN RYAN BOWEN CHECKING IN FOR THE HORNETS!


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Yao
Scola
Battier
Head
James

SKINNYZI WELLS JUST CHECKING IN FOR BATTIER!


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

I like what I'm seeing so far.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Same. There's a lot of movement and passing and stuff and we still play defense. 

Scola's looking pretty good.

Look at Bowen go!


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

I always loved the way the Kings play, and I am so glad now the Rox can do it.

We are up 30 to 9.

Anyone miss Van Gundy? :biggrin:


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Here's the box score.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=2007100903

We limited them to 2/20!


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Wow Go Bonzi!


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

James
Mac
Bonzi
MIKE HARRIS
Yao

Our first scrubby guy to check on is Mike Harris!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Bonzi looking good


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Damn its so weird seeing Yao up high... Crazy!


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Wow look at us just dominated the 1st quarter 30-9 

Whoa Yao shooting at deep mid range?? I like!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Bonzi is tearing it up


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Tmac is having trouble shooting tonight


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Looks like Francis is about to check in. 

Sweet pull up from Mac.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

You can tell this offense is still raw on this team. But the difference in movement compared to JVG is clearly visible.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Wheres Brooks?? Francis comin in soon?


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Haha great Steve Francis's return and his first move is a turnover!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

So weird seeing Francis back in our uniform...


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

We're going on a small line up...

Alston
Francis
Mac
Battier
MIKE HARRIS

Harris has been on for a while.

COME ON STEVIE!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Sick pass from Alston to Harris


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Woo Mike Harris is actually pretty good. That was a pretty nice dunk.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Steve Francis has 2 turnovers... :S

Mike Harris is ok... At least he looks cooler than Landry. Landry looks like a little boy but Mike Harris looks like someone who's gonna beat you up, and that was a nice play Alston to Harris. I can see more of Harris.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

*Holy **** Francis*


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Gra...

OH SICK DUNK BY FRANCIS


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

And to think people were saying he lost his hops...


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Damn Francis should've dunked on that break. 

Alston's playing pretty good. Just nailed a 3. This system uses a lot of passing and that's what he's good at.

We're playing Luther at 3.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Someone needs to upload that on YouTube right now.


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Steve almost jumped into the hoop! did it count?


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

I don't think it counted. :S


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Whoa Yao got stuffed like twice


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Yao blocked twice! Ouch.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Come on Yao, more muscle into that


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## Mateo (Sep 23, 2006)

good game so far, but they need to play Scola more. who cares if he fouls out.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

I wish I could see this :sad:


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Ok what the heck


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Cornholio said:


> I wish I could see this :sad:


Oh but you can!

http://myp2p.eu/NBA.htm


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Wells can't pass.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

54-47...how did it get to this?


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Snyder is on the court.


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Scola has NBA ready offense. But his defense needs a little working. Otherwise, he's good!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

oh man I miss looking at the live box scores!

CP3's certainly not going easy on us, even in pre-season action...

Not too worried about the score, the pre-season's for us to play around with our rotation anyway. I think Mike Harris is a keeper.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Without Yao and T-Mac on the court right now, we're doing fine. We are still in the lead.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Harris is a stud. We need to keep him on our roster.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Ryan Bowen ties the game up!!!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Novak sighting!!!


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Let's see how Novak improved since his last game.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Ehh were behind, but its our 2nd and 3rd unit so its not like Im worried


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Novak still sucks. And why didn't Brooks get any PT?


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Yao Mania said:


> And why didn't Brooks get any PT?


Good question. He should get some PT right now.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Who's this Haluska guy? He's killing us!

Good ol' trigger happy Mike James. I kinda miss that


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Does James know how to pass the ball?


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

MJ is such a ball hogger. Does he ever pass??


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

With Mike James, the green light's always on

And I'd rather have James shoot than Rafer!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Yao Mania said:


> With Mike James, the green light's always on
> 
> And I'd rather have James shoot than Rafer!


I just hope it does not lead to bad habbits


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

alston just lost a job


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## Mateo (Sep 23, 2006)

Good to see Yao and Francis chumming it up on the sidelines.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Rafer still can't hit FTs... Ryan Bowen with the dagger FTs in this game, how fitting.


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

man this is ridiculous blowing this big lead i know its preseason but...man


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

OneBadLT123 said:


> Oh but you can!
> 
> http://myp2p.eu/NBA.htm


Internet too slow :|


And the guys that didn't play today will play next game.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Flying Ryan Bowen looking for revenge. He sure got it today. That's OK. The game would have been different if Yao and T-Mac were in the third and forth.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

lingi1206 said:


> man this is ridiculous blowing this big lead i know its preseason but...man


Ehh no big deal. Yao and Tmac didn't play at all in the 2nd half, Bonzi got close to no minutes, and it was mainly our 2nd line with some 3rd line players out there so it was expectable.


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## Samael (Sep 1, 2005)

27 turnovers?? That doesn't sound good, not even for a preseason game, seems like they're still trying to grasp the new offense.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Nice 3 by Novak at the and Mike Harris did pretty good but whered all the turnovers come from?? Overall good performance


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

Link



> As spectacular as things were early and as rocky as they would become, that was what Rick Adelman said he wanted.
> 
> He had said that would be the value of starting the preseason schedule, then got plenty to encourage, but also to correct, in his first preseason game as Rockets coach. There were all kinds of signs how prolific the Rockets' radically revised offense could be when it works, and how badly it can still crash when it does not.
> 
> ...





> But even with the blemishes, including an 11-turnover third quarter, the greatest concern might have been the nasty fall taken by forward Kirk Snyder in the fourth quarter. Snyder lost his balance on a Rasual Butler foul and went down hard, leaving the game with a bruised tailbone.





> But before the Rockets broke down, there were moments straight from the Adelman offensive primer.
> 
> In the opening minutes, Rafer Alston took off on a hard back-cut with Yao Ming finding him deep in the paint for a layup.
> 
> ...


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm sure the turnovers will be reduced when the players are use to the system.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

I love how Adelman's making use of Yao's underrated passing skills. 

Gotta be encouraged by that 30-9 1st Q right off the bat though. I can care less about giving up the lead with the likes of Reed and Novak in the game.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Photos from game:



























I like the fact that Yao was challenged by Armstrong and Chandler right from the get go. A friendly reminder that he'll have his work cut out for him this season.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)




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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

WHAT THE **** HAPPENED?

I left to school at like halftime and I came back and we lost!?


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

Don't worry. We were up by like 20 at the half, then our starters sat the rest of the time.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Ok that's fine then. I remember that happened with our first game last season against Memphis.

Were the Hornets playing their 2nd unit as well?


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

Let us also remember that if that starting unit were to get the bulk of the minutes when the season starts that we will be fine. Like Adleman said, he is just trying to get a good look at everyone before the season starts.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Mike Harris got a load of minutes. Who's on the Mike Harris bandwagon?


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