Washington at Houston

[Bugs']

Washington (30-21) at Houston (31-21)

Game Info: 8:30 pm EST Tue Feb 15, 2005

TV: CSNB, FxSW

Things are going so well for the Houston Rockets right now, they win when they probably shouldn't.
Enjoying their longest winning streak in almost six years, the Rockets will try to put together a better effort than they did in their last game when they take on the Washington Wizards in the teams' final contest before the All-Star break.

Despite nearly blowing an 18-point lead, the Rockets held on to defeat Portland 81-80 on Sunday. Houston's seven-game winning streak is the NBA's best active winning streak and the team's longest since March of 1999.

The Rockets, who are a season-high 10 games above .500, escaped with the win after shooting 0-of-11 from 3-point range, while allowing Portland to go 8-of-13. Houston's point total was its lowest in 13 games.

``Winning subconsciously softens some teams up and some players up, but winning can also make you hungry for more,'' Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. ``If you've watched the last two to three games, instead of being hungry for more, we've been softened up by the result of winning.''

The Rockets shot 39.7 percent from the floor (31-of-78), but improved to 5-7 when shooting less than 40 percent.

``We got the win but when you have a team down like that you've got to keep them down,'' swingman Tracy McGrady said. ``We shouldn't have been in that situation. It was ugly. I don't want to actually say what it was because it was too ugly.''

Yao Ming scored 23 points and Juwan Howard had 17, including four free throws in the last 13 seconds, for the Rockets.

The Rockets will likely have to play a much cleaner game if they want to beat the Wizards, one of the NBA's surprise stories this season.

Washington has dropped two straight following a four-game winning streak. Despite getting 34 points from Gilbert Arenas and 30 from Antawn Jamison, the Wizards lost 98-96 to league-worst New Orleans on Monday.

Sitting eighth in the league in scoring, Arenas has been unstoppable over his last six games, averaging 31.8 points, nearly seven more than his season average. The fifth-year point guard has scored 30 or more points 15 times this season.

The Wizards have dropped their last four on the road.

[bofluid]

I'm expecting damn near triple double numbers from Bob Sura tonight after seeing Dickau torch us last night. Gil and Jamison are going to have to carry the team again. Sura and Juwan are both weak defenders. JJ had 60+ dropped on him last year by T-Mac. Hopefully JJ can hold T-Mac to a third of that production this time around. It's hard to be optimistic about this one, but I have faith. This is a different Wizards team from years past.

[RedskinsNation]

I almost forgot that McGrady lit us up last year...

I think it will all boil down to containing Yao.

If we can keep him in the 10-12 point range and keep McGrady in the 20's then we can pull this one out....I hope that since we lost last night that we play w/some anger and we are aggressive on the boards and on defense.

Jamison and Arenas are both going to have to go off...again.

We have null offensive weapons w/out Hughes...Dixon needs to get MORE minutes in my opinion because he is our 3rd scorer right now w/out Hughes in there.

But if EJ keeps Dixon on the bench then we have 2 guys that can score period...thats it. Dixon needs to be in there...Jarvis does nothing on offense and even less on D.

[PCRoughrider]

It's going to be ugly!!! :puke:

[Bugs']

Originally posted by PCRoughrider
It's going to be ugly!!! :puke:

You never know....a lot of people here thought last night's game would be an easy win for us....that's why we play the games I guess...;) I'm optomistic:D

[hands11]

Originally posted by PCRoughrider
It's going to be ugly!!! :puke:

Most likely.

Jamison will get eaten alive.

Ruffin will get his 5 fouls in 11 minutes.

Gil will be Gil

Im just excited to see the boy man Ramos and be watching my LAST GAME WITHOUT HUGHES.

THE WAIT IS OVER.

We did well to play 500% ball. This is going to get real exciting, after we watch this game.

[Skinned]

the Wiz have put together some nice strings of offense here so far. Yao will kill us tonight, but it looks like we might get a good performance out of Jarvis.

Tied at 22

[bofluid]

Yao hacked Brendan almost every time he caught the ball in the paint in that first quarter. Of course he only has one foul to show for it.

[Skinned]

We are hanging in there at 35-30 right now, but this game is in danger of being a blowout. The Rockets are scoring with such ease at times that we could be quite vulnerable. Let's hope we keep focused and try to play some D!

Juwan is probably going to have his season high....:puke: and god damn it Rod Strickland is now in. We are doomed!

[mad4comp]

There has to be something wrong with EJ's brain...i mean how the h3ll can u still double team, after what happened last night, not to mention what team your playing today. Im starting to think he is just plain retarded.

[Skinned]

Wiz 2nd team

Etan - playing well; couple boards and a few FT's

Ruffin - pure hustle ; not many rebs though

Blake - cold as ice

Dixon - a nice inside reb and putback but cold from the outside

Hayes - quiet

We need the guards to do the scoring but they're not. Etan has been most aggressive on offense, yet it should be Juan.

[mad4comp]

And no PJR..while Brendan is trying his best, he cant hang in there with Ming..time to see what PJR can bring to the table.

[mad4comp]

2nd quarter, and we lose. there goes Juan.

[mad4comp]

I dont understand why Dixon has to drive all the time..SHOOT when you have an open shot. geez.

[mad4comp]

EJ is retarded, game over.

[Skinned]

Now that just did not look promising. On the bright side, at least we are at the all-star break., Now let's just make it thru the rest of this game.,..:wish:

[mad4comp]

Ming - 16pts, PJR - 0.......EJ has to be dumb if he cant figure out that the only guy that has a remote chance of stopping ming is PJR. Even if that doesnt work out, at least we'll know hes not ready, i just dont understand how PJR still hasnt played a minute.

[Gamebreaker]

Juwan has 12 points already, he's benefiting from the attention Yao gets.

[Gamebreaker]

Jarvis is having a nice game so far. Too bad our defense is so bad we'll likely not be able to catch up. 70-59 Rockets.

Doesn't Van Gundy looks like he never sleeps?

[Gamebreaker]

OOOHHH!!!! Haywood dunks all over T-Mac!!! That BETTER make Sportscenter!

EDIT: My bad, that was on Mutumbo and not McGrady.

[PCRoughrider]

UGLY.

[bofluid]

Originally posted by Gamebreaker
OOOHHH!!!! Haywood dunks all over T-Mac!!! That BETTER make Sportscenter!

EDIT: My bad, that was on Mutumbo and not McGrady.

:laugh: He was trying so hard not to cheese after that dunk. It was nasty though.

[js79]

we suck (this game)

[mad4comp]

EJ and his Double team D need to go, even though this is just one game before the All star break and Hughes is coming back and what not...he is still not a good coach, and never will be. I said this from the beginning, and will keep saying it. The only reason this team won any games was because of the players, who would be incredible in any type of offense.

[mad4comp]

And lets see what PJR has to offer...ooops never mind, EJ is a dumbass. Even though this is a blowout, and we have PJR activated and suited up, he opts to let him watch the game from the bench. If we ever win anymore games, its gonna be because of the players, and it will not have anything to do with the coach.

[Chachie]

Defense. If they won't play defense, it doesn't matter who's coaching. EJ's good, but he can't suit up and play D. The players gotta do it.

[Skinned]

PJR is in.....lets see what he can do

[Bugs']

Very ugly loss....we really need to adjust what we are doing on Defense it is getting embarrasing.....PJR ran the floor well and looked like he has some quickness, nothing to be ashamed of from him tonight in the few minutes he played....I hope Dixon is ok with a week off.

[Skins11]

Originally posted by Gamebreaker
OOOHHH!!!! Haywood dunks all over T-Mac!!! That BETTER make Sportscenter!

EDIT: My bad, that was on Mutumbo and not McGrady.

Isn't that more impressive?

[Gamebreaker]

Originally posted by Skins11


Isn't that more impressive?

Mutumbo has been dunked on so much it's no longer anything to get happy about. The only player I've known to ever dunk on T-Mac was Ray Allen in the playoffs a couple of years ago. That dunk has to make the plays of the day on sportscenter.

[hands11]

Originally posted by mad4comp
EJ and his Double team D need to go, even though this is just one game before the All star break and Hughes is coming back and what not...he is still not a good coach, and never will be. I said this from the beginning, and will keep saying it. The only reason this team won any games was because of the players, who would be incredible in any type of offense.

Well, there is some truth to what you say. He is still learning, as is the whole team. He is slow to make some adjustment but he seems to be getting a little quicker. He did at least activate Ramos, though I thought he should have done that before the first SA game.

I kind of look at Jordan as I do Jamison. There is a lot of good there, but there are some wholes.

Overall, he is good for the team. I dont see him going anywhere for at least another 2 years. Till then, we need the stability. But after 2 more years, he will either have gotten better, or by then, then team we will be stable enough that they can make a change and get just about any coach we want without rocking the boat to much.

We hadnt been in the possition to do this in the past because we sucked so bad and our front office was a joke.

We are rebuilding and we are lucky enought to be able to watch some good basketball along the way. Just remember how far in the whole we had been and for how long. Its not going to become perfect over night.

Here is what I think we have that are 100% keepers.
We have 2 young super stars in Gil and Hughes. We have a mid aged scorer and team stablizer, and we have a great GM. All the rest are works in progess. Give it time, then our GM will make the right adjustment at the right time.

[hands11]

Originally posted by Chachie
Defense. If they won't play defense, it doesn't matter who's coaching. EJ's good, but he can't suit up and play D. The players gotta do it.

I hear people say something like that often enough to drive me nuts. Of course the player play. Thats why you call them players, but coaches are call coaches for a reason.

Coaches make a huge difference. You have coaches known as offensive coaches and some are defensive coaches. Thats because they know how to coach those things better then most. They know what to do with the players they have, how to play to thier strenghts and cover thier weakness and they get everyone to buy into the team concept. That what makes them great.

Coaches are also responsible for deciding who is on the floor, how long and with whom. All these things have huge impact on the game.

A coach like Billich or Greg Williams are what make those thier defenses great more then the players they have playing. Look how much bettter the Redskins defense got in one year. We didnt change that many players. We actually lost Champ. It was the coach that made the differene great. I dont even think we need Smoot. We will be great regardless. Because we have Williams.

Hey, you can have one player in basketball be so good he is going to score every night just on his individual skills along. Gil does this most nights, so does Hughes. It doesnt matter what offense we run. They just spread the floor, and they go one on one. Crap, I can set they play up from the side lines. Or they steal the ball and run a break. Jamison on the other hand, needs the offensive system to be most effect.

But defense, is a team thing. It takes all the players. And that takes coaching. You run a crappy defense give the personal you have, and it will suck. Those same player can play great defense if you run a different scheme that matches thier skill.

This is what people are pissed about. We are 30th in the league. We have a young athletic team with some high and size.

There is NO GOOD REASON this should be so.

[PCRoughrider]

Originally posted by PCRoughrider
It's going to be ugly!!! :puke:

...and it was.

[RedskinsNation]

This team took the plane ride back to DC last night after the NO game...they didnt even show up for this game.

Etan Thomas looks like a robot when he gets the ball...just very discombobulated(sp?). He is so slooooooow and always gets it knocked away.

The whole team played like crap.

Our guys look exhausted after 4 trips down on D because they are running rampant attempting to double team everybody. Our big guys just dont have much to offer on offense....they just dont.

[bofluid]

Haywood put up 16 points, 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots in only 23 minutes. He has to be on the court more. EJ's obsession with Ruffin and Etan is befuddling. Those guys are role players.

[Chachie]

Originally posted by hands11


I hear people say something like that often enough to drive me nuts. Of course the player play. Thats why you call them players, but coaches are call coaches for a reason.

Coaches make a huge difference. You have coaches known as offensive coaches and some are defensive coaches. Thats because they know how to coach those things better then most. They know what to do with the players they have, how to play to thier strenghts and cover thier weakness and they get everyone to buy into the team concept. That what makes them great.

Coaches are also responsible for deciding who is on the floor, how long and with whom. All these things have huge impact on the game.

A coach like Billich or Greg Williams are what make those thier defenses great more then the players they have playing. Look how much bettter the Redskins defense got in one year. We didnt change that many players. We actually lost Champ. It was the coach that made the differene great. I dont even think we need Smoot. We will be great regardless. Because we have Williams.

Hey, you can have one player in basketball be so good he is going to score every night just on his individual skills along. Gil does this most nights, so does Hughes. It doesnt matter what offense we run. They just spread the floor, and they go one on one. Crap, I can set they play up from the side lines. Or they steal the ball and run a break. Jamison on the other hand, needs the offensive system to be most effect.

But defense, is a team thing. It takes all the players. And that takes coaching. You run a crappy defense give the personal you have, and it will suck. Those same player can play great defense if you run a different scheme that matches thier skill.

This is what people are pissed about. We are 30th in the league. We have a young athletic team with some high and size.

There is NO GOOD REASON this should be so.

Your points are valid, Hands, but you're acting like the rest of us don't know a thing about basketball. OF COURSE coaches are special for a reason. Duh.
My point is that Eddie Jordan has had success for a reason. He's special. We had a LONG line of coaches before him with a LONG line of more talented teams. The reason this team has been (over)achieving (apparently) is because of the COACHING.
They are tired and they are minus a couple of key players. This is evident because the PLAYERS' defense is getting sluggish and the PLAYERS' shooting is poor.
The coach that everyone is bashing right now is the same one everybody was applauding last month. It's an 82 game season. We gotta get our lungs and legs back and we GOTTA get Larry back on the court.

BTW- The Nets had a pretty good D when he was there. Their PLAYERS made it happen. Now ours have to respond the way they did.

[Bugs']

Originally posted by Chachie


Your points are valid, Hands, but you're acting like the rest of us don't know a thing about basketball. OF COURSE coaches are special for a reason. Duh.
My point is that Eddie Jordan has had success for a reason. He's special. We had a LONG line of coaches before him with a LONG line of more talented teams. The reason this team has been (over)achieving (apparently) is because of the COACHING.
They are tired and they are minus a couple of key players. This is evident because the PLAYERS' defense is getting sluggish and the PLAYERS' shooting is poor.
The coach that everyone is bashing right now is the same one everybody was applauding last month. It's an 82 game season. We gotta get our lungs and legs back and we GOTTA get Larry back on the court.

BTW- The Nets had a pretty good D when he was there. Their PLAYERS made it happen. Now ours have to respond the way they did.

I'm not going to comment on hands11's self-proclaimed mastery of basketball knowlege but some people on this board don't like EJ as a coach even though we have the best record since 1978. They want to credit MJ and the players talent for the only reason we are doing as well as we are. I personally believe that EJ is a good young coach and has shown the ability to get his players to buy into his offense. Now, they have to buy into his defense. If you hear the players talk, none of them complain about EJ or his system, quite the opposite. The Wizards this year are a good example of a team playing as a team. That is a sign of a good coach...Doug Collins couldn't do that here and he used to be regarded as a good coach...:2cents:

[mhd24]

Eddie Jordan is not special. If he were, than we would be a hell of a better defensive team then we are. His idiotic coaching decisions on Haywood have perplexed me for two seasons now. Haywood is a MUCH better offensive and defensive player than Etan. Haywood can actually defend his man (unlike Etan, who is an atricous man-to-man defender), pass, (Etan has to be the worst hands I've ever seen. He's also very selfish. His assist number are downright putrid for a big man. Haywood and Kwame are much more unselfish and can actually pass.), and play a team game.

[hands11]

Originally posted by Chachie


Your points are valid, Hands, but you're acting like the rest of us don't know a thing about basketball. OF COURSE coaches are special for a reason. Duh.
My point is that Eddie Jordan has had success for a reason. He's special. We had a LONG line of coaches before him with a LONG line of more talented teams. The reason this team has been (over)achieving (apparently) is because of the COACHING.
They are tired and they are minus a couple of key players. This is evident because the PLAYERS' defense is getting sluggish and the PLAYERS' shooting is poor.
The coach that everyone is bashing right now is the same one everybody was applauding last month. It's an 82 game season. We gotta get our lungs and legs back and we GOTTA get Larry back on the court.

BTW- The Nets had a pretty good D when he was there. Their PLAYERS made it happen. Now ours have to respond the way they did.

What coaches and what players ?

Last time we had talent that was healthy, on the court playing, and mixed, we made the playoffs. Then we traded that talent away and we sucked again.

I didnt mean any disrepect, I was just commenting on what you posted. You said it was the players. I was countering that with, it can also be coaching. Ive seen the same players with a different coach play totally different. Like when Parcells came to Dallas.

I always thought one of the true measures of a great coach was how they could design and teach a great system. But also, their ability to quickly recognize when the talent didnt match the system and change the system. Over the long run, you can get the type of talent you need for your system. But as the Skins did to slowly with Portis, you sometimes have to change your system to the players instead of forcing a square peg into a round hole.

Having Hughes back will help them a ton, but they are 30th and they are young and athletic. Hey, maybe its just the way I see it, but I would have to put a good bit of that on the coaches.

I like Eddie overall as a coach, but I do still see him as a young head coach who is learning and he has mostly a young team. I had never heard his name associated with being a good defensive coach, it was always attached to him and the Princeton offense. Maybe Im missing something.

[Bugs']

Everyone is entitled to their opinions of course...but I can't help but wanted to beat my head against the wall when I hear people complain about EJ as our coach. We have the best record since 1978, he must be doing something right. That is, we have the best record we have had in 27 years! Maybe he could hire an assistant coach that specializes in defense. Bring John Thompson in to coach defense and let Eddie continue to groom his offense. ;)

[bofluid]

Originally posted by mhd24
Eddie Jordan is not special. If he were, than we would be a hell of a better defensive team then we are. His idiotic coaching decisions on Haywood have perplexed me for two seasons now. Haywood is a MUCH better offensive and defensive player than Etan. Haywood can actually defend his man (unlike Etan, who is an atricous man-to-man defender), pass, (Etan has to be the worst hands I've ever seen. He's also very selfish. His assist number are downright putrid for a big man. Haywood and Kwame are much more unselfish and can actually pass.), and play a team game.

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but the worst hands ever distinction belongs to this man:
http://www.23.pl/wizards/pix/jahidi_dunk_2_011116.jpg

[Chachie]

I just can't see how we could be complaining about Eddie Jordan. It's important to understand that we are a LONG way from contending for an NBA Championship and we are going to lose more games in the 2nd half of the season than we did in the first. If we start putting down EJ now, we'll be calling for his head by season's end, when we'll be in the playoffs! WTF?

Anyway, I was just as burned-up by the loss to New Orleans as anyone. We are all going to see things we want changed after games like that but we need to keep in mind that in an 82-game season, sometimes you go flat and lose a few in a row. With EJ, though, we're well above .500. When Gilbert, AJ and Larry were with Golden State they didn't have EJ and they didn't have a winning record. ;)

[Bugs']

Originally posted by Chachie
If we start putting down EJ now, we'll be calling for his head by season's end, when we'll be in the playoffs! WTF?



Oh no Cachie, SOME people here were calling for EJ's head as early as December 19th!!

Read if you dare

http://www.extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85523

[PCRoughrider]

Originally posted by Chachie
we are going to lose more games in the 2nd half of the season than we did in the first.

No we're not.

[Fatty P For The Pulitzer]

Originally posted by bofluid


I agree with pretty much everything you said, but the worst hands ever distinction belongs to this man:
http://www.23.pl/wizards/pix/jahidi_dunk_2_011116.jpg

Bofluid, I'll bet you $100 that Jahidi missed that dunk!!

[bofluid]

Originally posted by Fatty P For The Pulitzer


Bofluid, I'll bet you $100 that Jahidi missed that dunk!!

:laugh: I'd be a fool to bet on Jahidi in anything................ever.

[Bugs']

Originally posted by bofluid


:laugh: I'd be a fool to bet on Jahidi in anything................ever.

You guys don't miss the sounds of "Jahidi-hidi-ho"....ringing through the MCI center? :laugh:

[bofluid]

Originally posted by Bugs'


You guys don't miss the sounds of "Jahidi-hidi-ho"....ringing through the MCI center? :laugh:

:laugh: I was thinking of that jingle when making my previous post. No joke. I'll give Jahidi some credit. When he actually caught the ball down low he was capable of dunking on just about anyone.