# Regular Season Game Thread #3: Houston @ NO/Oklahoma City



## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

Where is everyone nowadays?



> The Hornets are undefeated and returning to New Orleans.
> After playing only three games there last season due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets will look to start 3-0 for the first time since 2003-04 when they open the New Orleans portion of their home schedule against Houston on Sunday.
> 
> The Hornets (2-0) will play six regular-season games at New Orleans Arena in 2006-07 and 35 other home games - plus any playoff contests - in Oklahoma City. The 18,000-seat arena is expected to be sold out for Sunday's game, which will be attended by NBA commissioner David Stern.
> ...


http://www.nba.com/games/20061105/HOUNOK/preview.html


starting lineup Houston: Alston, Snyder, Mcgrady, Battier, Yao
Starting Lineup New Orleans: Paul, West, Stojakovic, Mason, Chandler


team strat is for yao to get chandler in foul trouble and then dominate the game. hopefully tmac can get back in rhythm. he always scores well against NO.


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

*Houston*







(1-1)





































*NO/Oklahoma City*







(2-0)




































Preview


> Hornets look to remain undefeated in home opener
> OKLAHOMA CITY (Ticker) -- The last time the New Orleans Hornets started 3-0 was the 2003-04 season.
> 
> The Hornets will look to match that mark in their home opener when they square off against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
> ...


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

*Vbookie*

vBookie Rules of BBB.net
*Like vBookie? Remind others to play. Like BBB.net Board? Invite a friend.*


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

*Re: Vbookie*

Hey people, I am thinking changing our game threads format to this way! Put your ucash on a good use. Let the money speaks! This is like a poll to see if you think the Rockets will win!


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

NO will of course attack the rim and try to get Yao tired and in foul trouble. NO is counting on Yao to be fatigued from yesterday's battle.

This means Rox need to protect Yao with Hayes, Battier, Snyder, and Wells. Rox have a deep rotation and can throw fresh bodies at the Hornets. TMac needs to lead and distribute the ball. He is the best passer on the team. He should keep taking shots to improve his confidence with the new ball. We need Novak and Head to step up and shoot some more 3's.


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

I have what may be a dumb question, but is someone doing a schedule thread where all the games are listed and the links to the threads for those games and links to the recaps?

Also I am just peachy with the vbookie threads  I placed my bet!

Edit: also are we betting that chuck doesn't get to start again tonight! ::big grin::


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

HayesFan said:


> I have what may be a dumb question, but is someone doing a schedule thread where all the games are listed and the links to the threads for those games and links to the recaps?


That's a good thinking HayesFan, I don't think anybody is making it. You can start the thread and I will help you to update too, deal?


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

i am so confident of victory that i will bet all my points on rockets winning


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

chn353 said:


> i am so confident of victory that i will bet all my points on rockets winning


 :jawdrop:


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

gotta show a little bit of faith


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

HayesFan said:


> I have what may be a dumb question, but is someone doing a schedule thread where all the games are listed and the links to the threads for those games and links to the recaps?
> 
> Also I am just peachy with the vbookie threads  I placed my bet!
> 
> Edit: also are we betting that chuck doesn't get to start again tonight! ::big grin::


last year was the first year we did it. tone wone was the one who made the thread. hes not here anymore so if you want to do it, go for it.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

chn353 said:


> i am so confident of victory that i will bet all my points on rockets winning


i put up all of mine too.


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

I dont want you guys to be broke after this game


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Well, there is this thing call Reps. And I have plenty to give away.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

PriceIsWright said:


> I dont want you guys to be broke after this game


whats wrong with being broke?


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

Pimped Out said:


> whats wrong with being broke?


on the streets?


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

alston sucks


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Rafer took some dumb pills?


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

wow... is Rafer drunk? Seriously?


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Battier needs to be careful with that jersey or it'll catch fire


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## LamarButler (Apr 16, 2005)

Battier is so good at that corner 3. He fits in really well with you guys.


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

LamarButler said:


> Battier is so good at that corner 3. He fits in really well with you guys.


lol battier fits really well with every team in the nba. But thank you


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Yao 3 fouls in the first 5 mins, wtf


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Trade Mcgrady and Alston for Iversion and Iguodala


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

tmac and alston are doing a good job at making sure i lose all my points


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Wow wtf is going on???? We're getting killed


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

I guess this shows Yao NEEDS to be on the court for our success. His tossing the ball inside out is what helped us score so well last night. 

BTW ... How the heck did Chuck get three turnovers in 8 minutes??
... and Yao 3 fouls in 5 minutes???


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Just started watching... How did Yao pick up those fouls?


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

Howard is working hard!! So is Bonzi!


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Hakeem said:


> Just started watching... How did Yao pick up those fouls?


The first foul happened when Yao went over Chandler's back for rebound. (Ref is right)
Second one happened when Yao held onto Chandler's jersey when Chandler beat him with a screen. 

Theres is no third foul. It's a mistake in the box score. 2 fouls in real life.


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

PriceIsWright said:


> Trade Mcgrady and Alston for Iversion and Iguodala


Dang, what happened to TMac? What happened to him?


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Nice production from the bench tonight. Good run right now


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

ooo we caught up


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Bonzi is definitely not in shape. He has no lift at all uke:


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Bonzi's nickname is Porky Pig until he lose some pounds :biggrin:


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

As I said before the season, Bench T-Mac


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Trade T-mac


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

t-mac is just no good anymore.. I hope its just the ball, and him not being in shape


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Dream Hakeem said:


> Trade T-mac


T-Mac for Garnett


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

C'mon, stop hating :angel: 

Anyway, Yao is gonna kick *** in the 2nd half, I know he's pissed


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

TMac is like Ben Rothlisburger. WTF is wrong with him?? :curse:


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

Hahaha...so much for Battier not being one of our consistent offensive threats. He is the only reason we are still in this game. TMac and Alston must have been drinking throughout the flight to NO, cause they are playing sooo crap at the moment. 
Is Hayes like the most turnover prone player ever in the NBA? He does great by grabbing rebounds over larger players and then proceeds to throw all his good work down the drain in the next 3secs by having a brain explosion.

Im hoping Yao comes out in the 2nd half and demolishes Chandler.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

yaontmac said:


> TMac is like Ben Rothlisburger. WTF is wrong with him?? :curse:


It's still early in the season. 

Hope he can return to 75% or 80% of his old self soon


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

wow, we're shooting less than 35%, NO's shooting 50%, and we're only down by 6 at the 1/2. 

It's Yao time in the 2nd half.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

The only way to save Rockets:
Stop passing the ball to T-Mac.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

geez cut it with the hate on T-Mac already, you know it'll only take him one good game to win everyone over again, and that'll probably come like next game.


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

great rebound by yao!


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Ballscientist said:


> The only way to save Rockets:
> Stop passing the @#$#@* ball to T-Mac.


fixed


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

You have to give TMac the ball because he is the best passer on the team. :cheers:


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

ye...how come everyone hates TMac so much...OK he missed most of last season, but there is no need to vent all your frustration just on him. Cut him some slack, he is not going to be 100% from the onset considering he hasn't played competitive ball since march last year.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

woohoo, we have the lead!

I gotta give Gumby credit for starting Chuck over Synder, Bonzi, or Juwan. Its obviously not because he's the better player, but what he does compliments the other 4 starters so well. 

Yao's starting his ramage.


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

Battier is freaking MONEY from 3!!


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## ChiBron (Jun 24, 2002)

T-Mac's athleticism has gone down the toilet. That's why he's been struggling for so long. Back in the good ol' days(Orlando) if his shot used to be off he would simply break anyone off the dribble and take it strong to the rack. Once you knock down some FTs you start a feeling a little better and the jumpers start falling. But the poor guy doesn't have the quickness/explosiveness/hops/balls to take it to the rack and accomplish something anymore.

The first thing T-Mac has to do in order to not SUCK anymore is lose the extra pounds he's been carrying since the beginning of last season. That's his only hope. Otherwise, he's NOT gonna be much better than he currently is and soon the Houston management will have to trade him. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets shipped off at the AS break this season.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Skip needs to stop chucking. He should not be taking 7 3pters on a team like this.


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

yaontmac said:


> You have to give TMac the ball because he is the best passer on the team. :cheers:


T-Mac = black hole as far as the ball's concerned. (ok maybe not but hes being lame)


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

OKay Yao still has 3 fouls to give. Let him play this quarter! :banana:


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## Goubot (Aug 16, 2006)

McGrady's made his last few shots after a 1-8 start (he's 5-12 now meaning that he went 4-4). Hopefully he'll keep it up.


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

TMac must be going thru some phase.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Was Bobby Jackson incarnated by Jordan?


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

dammit, don't let it slip away!!


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

They are tired... Gundy needs to start moving players in and out more

come on!!


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

they are clearly tired from last night


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## supermati (Mar 28, 2005)

7 minutes left, still a close game.


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

Put V-span into the game, see if we can inject some energy into this team. Ans stop with all the 3pt attempts. Its just a waste of a possession. Get the ball in to Yao and let him do his thing.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Our guys outside of Yao needs to make some shots, NOW


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

dammit, its over... the game got away from us down the stretch.


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## AZNoob (Jan 21, 2006)

JVG needed to put in Novak! GRR!


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## HayesFan (Feb 16, 2006)

Damn.. you know what.. that's the second game where we played good enough to make it close late in the game and fell down the stretch.

Hopefully this is something that they will learn from and those games will go our way as the season progresses!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

AZNoob said:


> JVG needed to put in Novak! GRR!


Seriously, why isn't Novak in in a situation like this??


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

JVG is the worst tactician ever!!!


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

Rafer lost this game for us... anytime we got some momentum, his sheer IDIOCY took us out of the game. He needs to be benched and traded.


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## yaontmac (Jul 5, 2006)

Novak needs to gain more weight. TMac and Wells need to lose weight.


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## AZNoob (Jan 21, 2006)

sherwin said:


> Rafer lost this game for us... anytime we got some momentum, his sheer IDIOCY took us out of the game. He needs to be benched and traded.


Slow your roll, guy. Did you see what Rafer did for us yesterday against the Mavs? You wouldn't have said that yesterday...


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

We Lost!!!


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## AZNoob (Jan 21, 2006)

Again, Novak should have been in the game since halfway through the fourth quarter! His strength is the 3-ball, so why wasn't he in the game? Oy, JVG shouldn't be blaming anyone in that NO locker room but himself right now!


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

JVG doesn't trust Rookies. Anyway, it's not a good game for the Rockets. Everybody looked so tired and restless. Next game should be better.


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

This team better wise up soon or we'll be looking at a deep hole again this season. We have some very serious problems. Tracy is virtually a non-factor in these first three games. His abysmal shooting percentage cannot go on. We simply can't be successful unless Tracy regains 80-90% of his old self. Back in 05-06, Houston was a genuine one-two punch with Tracy leading the way. Even though the pecking order has been changed so that Yao is the first option, Tracy still needs to step up and provide the additional scoring threat. 
Our second problem has been our point guard play. Rafer is wildly inconsistent. I cannot lie that I was thoroughly impressed by his performance last night against the Mavs. However, he was back to the same old scrub today. I can vividly remember four plays where his sheer lack of decision making destroyed whatever momentum we had built. I'm convinced that we cannot get to the Western Conference Finals with Rafer, let alone win a championship. Adequate hardware, uninspiring software. 
Perhaps our biggest problem is the 4 position. Out of our first three games, Boozer and David West out-performed themselves. We simply cannot defend the post against the bigger, stronger PFs in the league. Battier cannot get the job done. I think it's laughable that JVG even contemplated it. The only reason Nowitzki didn't put up 35 on us is because he is more of a perimeter player than a post player. I can't imagine what the likes of TD and KG can do to our front line. Yao has also regressed as far as rebounding.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Battier has been fine, IMO. He wasn't even guarding Boozer a lot of the time, and was OK when he was on him. I don't think his defense was poor in this game, either.

And Yao's rebounding hasn't regressed. Dampier and Chandler are two of the best rebounders in the league. Naturally they are going to take a few rebounds away from him. But Yao still grabbed 10 in just 20-something minutes this game.

I am worried about McGrady, though. He's playing like he's 36 years old.


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

McGrady sux ***. Yao is doing his job while Me-mac shoots bricks. Trade him


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

t-mac needs to lose weight ASAP. we all knew him adding weight was a stupid idea.


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Trade T-Mac for Jerome James


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> Battier has been fine, IMO. He wasn't even guarding Boozer a lot of the time, and was OK when he was on him. I don't think his defense was poor in this game, either.
> 
> And Yao's rebounding hasn't regressed. Dampier and Chandler are two of the best rebounders in the league. Naturally they are going to take a few rebounds away from him. But Yao still grabbed 10 in just 20-something minutes this game.
> 
> I am worried about McGrady, though. He's playing like he's 36 years old.


It was my observation that Yao couldn't get a rebound in traffic. His six defensive rebounds were all gimme boards. Everytime he went up with Tyson or Dampier, he just couldn't come down with the ball.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

T-Mac has not appeared even remotely selfish in the past two games. So this "Me-Mac" stuff is unnecessary.


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## Prolific Scorer (Dec 16, 2005)

T-Mac is turning into his idol Penny - Pretty much being a non factor as far as agressiveness, he's playing hesitant....I understand he's had back problems, but damn.


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## K-Dub (Jun 26, 2005)

I think the announcers had it right. T-Mac's shot is broke. It was especially evident near the end of the game when he pulled up for a 3. Flat.. He rebounded and distributed well this game though (7rbd and 7ast). Averaging 5 boards and 6.7 assists on the season.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

K-Dub said:


> *I think the announcers had it right. T-Mac's shot is broke.* It was especially evident near the end of the game when he pulled up for a 3. Flat.. He rebounded and distributed well this game though (7rbd and 7ast). Averaging 5 boards and 6.7 assists on the season.


He refuses to shoot a balanced shot. Everything seemed to be leaning...


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

chn353 said:


> i am so confident of victory that i will bet all my points on rockets winning


 :dead:


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

oh my. some how the vbookie event got abandoned and all bets were returned. i wonder how that happened. i am determined to get to the bottom of this.


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

god damn it


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

hehehehehe....


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## darkballa (Sep 19, 2003)

Give Mac a few games to get back into it he'll be back with vengeance i promise. Were going to the playoffs this year. So far a bunch of players on this team needs to get back into shape. Yao is killing everyone and Mac should be getting better with each passing game. Bonzi can work to be the post up monster he was last year and battiers find the way he is. 

We will be a good team this year, no doubt about it.


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

One bright spot to come out of T-mac shooting bricks is that his playmaking has seemed to improved. Maybe its just the players are making their shots unlike previous seasons, but he is finding the open man pretty easily. I feel much more comfortable with him at PG than i would with Alston. If he can lift his shooting percentage up to 45%, then he will be the perfect two-punch for Yao.


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Trade Tmac for Grant Hill


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## K-Dub (Jun 26, 2005)

Dream Hakeem said:


> Trade Tmac for Grant Hill


What a fan...


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## reno2000 (Aug 23, 2005)

What is with Dream Hakeem's obsession with trading Tmac. Chill out dude...


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

Tmac is done

Trade him now before its too late


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

It takes 5ive to win a game but it takes 1ne to lose it


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

reno2000 said:


> What is with Dream Hakeem's obsession with trading Tmac. Chill out dude...


i was thinkin the same thing...


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