Game Recaps

Weekend Recap: Rockets 91 - Bobcats 86

By Tom Martin Mar 13, 2009, 11:12pm CDT

When all else fails, pray that Vladimir Radmanovic tries to be the hero.

It's a weekend, and I leave town extremely early tomorrow, so I'm going to bed with these thoughts in mind:

I love Ron Artest. He hit the clutch shot down the stretch, and his block of Vladimir "Space Cadet" Radmanovic to end the game was nothing short of greatness. His ability to make up for shortcomings on the offensive end by playing great defense makes him even more valuable than statistics signify.
I can't stand Ron Artest at times. On the possession before his game-winning shot, he dribbled for literally 20 seconds. I've never seen a possession like that before - 20 seconds of nothing but dribbling. And it wasn't like it was on the top of the key; he was going through the paint and creating whole new plays for himself. Eventually, he saw Yao in the post, decided to keep dribbling, and caused Yao to draw an offensive foul as he set a pick for Ron. Terrible possession. But again, Ron made up for it.
Kyle Lowry and Yao Ming: two of the most unlikely clutch 3-point shooters on our team. Lowry's from the corner was huge, and Yao's from the top of the key was nothing short of magnificent. I don't understand why he doesn't shoot more from out there. He's awfully good at it.
Shane Battier: another impossible three down the stretch. Why can't he make the easy ones?
Brooks really needs to stop slumping so badly. Like, when he has an off-night, he continues to shoot. Brooks isn't the kind of guy that will shoot himself out of a slump on the same night it occurs. I've never seen it happen.
I <3 Space Cadet. Took a bunch of ill-advised threes in the 4th that killed possessions for Charlotte.
Yao defended Okafor extremely well.
Good to see that the free-throw shooting is back in check.

I wasn't going to forget: Luis Scola "Phantom Call" of the Night: 6:26 in the first quarter. Radmanovic tries an up and under (post move) on Scola, and actually does it quite well. Scola stays put, sort of sticks his knee out, but Radmanovic gets around it without making any contact at all. The referees see differently: Phantom Call: Block.