…at the Yao/Biedrins comparison. This is a game we should win by 10-14 points, but the Rox being the Rox I’m sure it will come down to the final two or three possesions deciding the victor.

I’m not able to attend tonight but it would be nice to see a little life from the crowd at TC…I’m sure that won’t be the case either.

Artest vs. Maggette: You think Maggette is wishing he signed with any other team in the league? San Antonio is looking pretty good, isn’t it?

Maggette isn’t really concerned with winning. He wanted two things. A. More Money & B. More shoots. He got them, and he happened to play on a winning team under those circumstances, he’d take it. I can’t blame him for maximizing his earning potential(God knows I’m doing the same), but it’s funny you wrote that nugget about him playing for a winner because he simply doesn’t care.

Artest just copied (more or less) T-Mac’s dunk on Shawn Bradley. Impressive.

I love that guy

about time

of the refs’ bias against Yao that I’ve seen all season. The Warriors practically have to kick him in the balls to foul him.

How are we doing on that pre-season prediction?

Golden State – Wow, this may be the best YMCA pickup team of all time. These guys would never lose a casual gym game. In a couple of years they may even be capable of winning a ton of NBA games, because there’s a lot of talent there. In the league, however, there are referees, who while 80% blind, will award free throws 20% of the time, which is enough to doom GS. The Rockets margin of victory is excellent free throw shooting.

I watched the second half again, and if my life ever slows down I’m going to start compiling a video of all the uncalled fouls on Yao. I’d do this to prove my point to skeptics, but there’s an easier way to track fouls on Yao. It’s a rule in two parts. Part 1 – every time Yao gets the ball low – he’s fouled, usually more than once. Part 2 – 70% of the time Yao tries to establish position down low, he’s fouled. 30% of the time no one is trying to play D.

Yes, all those other blogs out there (you know who you are, Utah lurkers, for God’s sake go skiing and then get drunk in a hot tub rather than reading Rockets blogs, ok? at least drink some hawaiian punch) will say this is crazed homerism, but if I ever make my video you’ll see the evidence. It’s practically impossible to play defense on Yao that is both a) legal and b)effective. He’s an outlier, like Wilt was before him – I wish the refs would stop pretending he’s just another guy and call what they see, even if it means a billion whistles. It may simply be that Yao can’t be stopped within the NBA rules as they exist.

Ok got that out of my system.

Here’s a question – are the Rockets better when they revolve around Yao, rather than trying to revolve around both McGrady and Yao. Make no mistake, I don’t think we’re better without McGrady, far from it. I just wonder if they ought to center the game plan around Yao (or possibly McGrady – depending on the opponent) the way the Lakers, with all their depth and talent, center around Kobe?

Tonight we seemed to see Artests stroke return, but Golden State almost steps out of your way on shots, so you so they can get back on offense that much faster. Also, it seems like Yao’s and McGrady’s games (when he’s TMac and driving the hoop) don’t really mesh all that well, whereas Artest is more like the ultimate support player – he can conform his game to what his star teamate does best. If it’s play inside, he’s a shooting threat, if its shoot and drive, he can post most guys up. If you need him to be the high scorer, he can do that too.

Wow! Damn, the Warriors’ defense sucks.

I’m seeing the JVG-version of Yao. Just flat out dominating and going to the line, regardless of how he’s being double/triple teamed. Before, getting double teamed was an automatic pass. Now he’s still trying to score at will.

Hopefully this is a permanent change in his mentality, rather than going back to diaper soft once T-Mac returns. Even when he’s back, we need Yao to play like THIS every game. Defer to nobody! Literally run the offense through him.

http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2008/12/4/682100/game-19-warriors-rockets-E280%93#comments

There were so few rationale comments on there that I couldn’t believe it.

Apparently they never thought Yao was fouled and that he traveled every time.
Let me get this out to you guys, when you are fouled before you “travel” and then “travel” because you are fouled, it’s not traveling. Just FYI

It’s borderline delusional. They think their team played hard and the refs screwed them. Un-freaking-believable. You got screwed because your team is young and doesn’t play as a team right now. Not to mention you don’t employ a starting PG and have absolutely no height.

this shhhhhh IS fixed, this is the WORST officiated game ive seen in my life. How can Stern be so dense to think their was only one corrupt reff in the league

You know, Stern is probably right in saying that Donaghy was likely the only ref taking bribes.The problem, as I see it, is that there are a great many referees in the NBA who are incompetent. And most of the incompetent refs are also surly, arogant assholes (Javie). Besides, why would anybody fix this game in favor of the Rockets? And Yao virtually never gets foul calls in his favor. Dude has to be bleeding to go to the line, usually.

Yes it was. It always is lol. A blind man can tell that D is what is wrong with the Warriors.

The guy who says this is immediately shot down by everyone else, of course. What was painfully obvious to everyone outside of the Bay Area seems to be virtually incomprehensible to Warriors fans. The Warriors gave up 132 points to the Rockets. The Rockets haven’t scored 132 points since the Hakeem-Drexler era. This is a team with two star scorers (Yao and T-Mac), one of which wasn’t on the floor tonight. Most everyone else was selected for defensive ability. But, as we saw tonight, when you don’t play defense against them, you’re still going to get your ass kicked. Of course, the Warriors are a spectacular offensive team, and it is very impressive that they scored over 100 points against one of the best defensive teams in the league.

I mean, I understand that their team is 5-13 and they’re pissed about that, but the problem isn’t the refs: it’s that their team is seemingly incapable of playing strong defense without mugging somebody. Their defensive strategy tonight was “Triple team Yao and give him lots of contact.” That shit worked on Shaq, but it’s not going to work on Yao, because when the refs finally do stop giving the people punching Yao in the kidneys the benefit of the doubt, he’s going to go to the line and make his shots. And there’s a good chance he’ll finish with a basket after being mugged, anyways.

But that’s how the Warriors played defense last night, so their big men fouled out and they were left with no one to guard Yao. The Warriors were simply out-coached.