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@  Dan G : (17 April 2014 - 10:17 PM) That is some interesting news. We gotta get past Portland first, but I like that stat for the next round.
@  feelingsuper... : (17 April 2014 - 12:45 PM) So yesterday during Truehoop TV Amin said the teams that win any season series 4 to 0 go on in the post season with a 51 and 4 record versus the losing team. Hmmmmmm...
@  Buckko : (15 April 2014 - 05:22 AM) Hope we can get him back in the offseason, he was just signed for the rest of the offseason.
@  jorgeaam : (15 April 2014 - 04:16 AM) Bulls release Tornike Shengelia and sign Greg Smith, well, that didn't take long
@  Cooper : (15 April 2014 - 02:39 AM) nice win. Dwight looks like he's ready go. Bev's still a little rusty but he should be fine.
@  Sir Thursday : (14 April 2014 - 10:24 PM) Thanks huang, that's useful knowledge :).
@  08huangj : (14 April 2014 - 01:15 AM) I've watched a lot of his games
@  08huangj : (14 April 2014 - 01:15 AM) Guys, I live in Guangzhou. Just in case you didn't notice, Powell was in Guangzhou playing with the tigers before he came to the Rockets. No midrange shot. Good rebounder. Bad defender. Good at attacking the rim. This is my summary for his time at Guangzhou.
@  Cooper : (13 April 2014 - 11:16 PM) hes 6-9 so id guess more of a pf but it doesn't really matter either way I guess.
@  Buckko : (13 April 2014 - 11:02 PM) Not really, you seen his season averages? Not pretty.
@  Sir Thursday : (13 April 2014 - 10:18 PM) He's more of a PF, I thought. You could always make the specious "RINGZZZ!" argument, since he won two with the Lakers...
@  Buckko : (13 April 2014 - 09:04 PM) Waived Pittman, signed Josh Powell. I don't really get why they signed a scrub SF.
@  Drew in Abilene : (13 April 2014 - 02:41 AM) In the postgame interview, Bev said he was alright, but it looked iffy...
@  08huangj : (13 April 2014 - 02:40 AM) Not watching the game. Just looking at the play-by-plays.
@  08huangj : (13 April 2014 - 02:39 AM) Rockets win!
@  Drew in Abilene : (13 April 2014 - 02:39 AM) Oh gosh, I hope Beverley isn't hurt again... He was taken out in the last few seconds limping after falling and looking like he hurt his right knee...
@  08huangj : (13 April 2014 - 02:39 AM) yep
@  Drew in Abilene : (13 April 2014 - 02:35 AM) Harden, Lin, and Beverley all coming up big in these last few clutch minutes.
@  08huangj : (13 April 2014 - 02:01 AM) And why is Parsons missing?
@  08huangj : (13 April 2014 - 02:00 AM) If Rockets don't get better soon, they are not going to be the fourth seed in the western conference.

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Houston Rockets 101, Milwaukee Bucks 95 - Shaking the rust off


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#1 Red94

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    Posted 09 February 2014 - 04:39 AM

    New post: Houston Rockets 101, Milwaukee Bucks 95 - Shaking the rust off
    By: Forrest Walker

    The Milwaukee Bucks aren't a very good basketball team. At 9-40 heading into tonight's matchup with the Houston Rockets, they laid claim to the worst record in the NBA, and in the anemic Eastern Conference, no less. It's possible that there's a worse team in the league, and that's a fairly charitable thing to say. With Ã–mer Aşık returning to action in Milwaukee, with the Rockets on a four game winning streak, with the team playing better than it has in a long while, it should come as no surprise that the Rockets very nearly lost the game. When inconsistency is the only constant, sometimes a win is just a win. After week-long period in which the Rockets only played one game, sometimes there's some rust. And after a two-month-long injury, sometimes a player like Ã–mer Aşık has some rust of his own.

    So, what of Ã–mer? How did he fare in his first game back? The answer is largely that he barely played. He saw the floor for eleven minutes, matching the time when Dwight Howard rested. He attempted no shots in that time, grabbed five boards and picked up two assists. He also changed a few shots, but that was mostly during his second six-minute stint. He looked a little slow and a little ungainly, even by his standards. Aşık seemed to get more comfortable as he played, but is clearly not exactly in game shape and will take a little while to get back up to twenty or so minutes per game. It was far from his best performance, but it was also a surprisingly hard job with the aggression of Zaza Pachulia and Nate Wolters. It wasn't perfect, but it's worthy of a sigh of relief. There's a backup center again.

    Dwight Howard absolutely took over the game, and his post play has only been improving. He continues to dominate opposing big men down low, this time going for 27 points on 11-19 shooting. Nobody could stop him except for himself, and he was quick to attack mismatches down low. His rebound game was solid as ever, with him pulling down 13 of them. The team suffered on the offensive side, however, with the Bucks outdoing the Rockets 14-6 on the offensive glass. In fact, if there's one reason the game was closer than 10 points, that's the prime candidate. Milwaukee got plenty of second chances, but Dwight wasn't the one giving them up. It's hard to have many qualms with his game, at this point.

    James Harden, however, didn't look quite as good. It's as if his shooting efficiency is controlled by a pendulum, swinging back and forth every other game. After some quality play against Phoenix, Harden couldn't buy a foul call in Milwaukee. He shot a paltry 4 shots from the line, and this went along with a poor night overall for him. He scored 22 points, missed 8 of his 9 three point attempts, but went 8-12 otherwise. His peripherals were similarly up and down, with 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers but 4 steals. Harden has earned a few passes on the offensive end, however, and given how laid back the Rockets looked for much of the game, there's not really much to take away there.

    The point guards, however, looked as good as ever. The chronically overworking Patrick Beverley and Jeremy Lin went full speed and picked up two very nice lines. Beverley played 30 minutes, in which he shot 50% from the field, scored 15 points, had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, 3 blocks (!) and no turnovers. That steal was also particularly noteworthy, as it was another of his patented "literally take the ball out of his hands" steals. Lin, for his part, played for 28 minutes and looked aggressive throughout. He shot 8-15, had 18 points. 4 assists and 2 steals. His 2 turnovers was a good number for him, especially given how often he attacked the rim.

    Hopefully, the center position will come to resemble the point guard situation. While Beverley and Lin may not be world-beaters, both of them are able to play for limited minutes and increase their efficacy. Both are always fresh, and if head coach Kevin McHale wanted to, he could drop Aaron Brooks into the mix to further rest the two. With Ã–mer Aşık back, Both he and Dwight Howard should be able to stay fresh and aggressive on both sides of the court with Houston dropping only slightly in overall performance when Dwight sits down. Once Greg Smith returns to the rotation, he should be able to play the same role as Brooks.

    There's not a lot to take away from a game where the Rockets look groggy and just starting to get back on track. They won, they got back Ã–mer Aşık and Donatas Motiejunas hit 4-5 shots. The streak has extended to five games, and the Rockets now have a day to get to Minneapolis to face the Timberwolves on Monday. That matchup should be a lot more meaningful and a lot more informative than an early vacation day before the All-Star break.


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    #2 Bigtkirk

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      Posted 09 February 2014 - 02:12 PM



      Asik's FIC40 score was 19 in this game, third best on the team behind Howard and Beverley. I'll take that for the first game back after a couple of months off.

      How did D-Mo manage just one rebound in almost 25 minutes?


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      #3 rocketrick

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        Posted 09 February 2014 - 03:51 PM

        Asik's FIC40 score was 19 in this game, third best on the team behind Howard and Beverley. I'll take that for the first game back after a couple of months off.
        How did D-Mo manage just one rebound in almost 25 minutes?


        Exactly Dude, let's trade DeMo YESTERDAY and sign our Big Giant off the Bench Who Plays Whenever and if he looks forward to, or wants, to Play...........Max Dollars....................YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        Edited by rocketrick, 09 February 2014 - 03:56 PM.

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        #4 rocketrick

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          Posted 09 February 2014 - 03:54 PM

          The One Who Has Yet To Prove He Can Catch A Simple Pass at The Rim For A DUNK..............
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          #5 rocketrick

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            Posted 09 February 2014 - 04:01 PM

            Morey is terrible..............He should have WEEKS ago traded D12 for detritus and forced McHale and the Rockets to place Asik back in the starting lineup BECAUSE....................I have yet to figure out why, but I'm certain many members on this forum will have the precise reason to do so............
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            #6 timetodienow1234567

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            Posted 09 February 2014 - 04:15 PM

            Are you ok? You seem a little out of sorts.
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            Why so Serious? :D


            #7 rocketrick

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              Posted 09 February 2014 - 04:21 PM

              Oh yes, I am out of sorts simply because I speak the truth...........
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              #8 thejohnnygold

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              Posted 09 February 2014 - 05:58 PM

              richard-sherman-elite-daily-600x300.jpg

               

              ^<<<RocketRick                       :lol:                  The Rest of Us>>>>>>^

               

              I'm just kidding.  That did come out of left field a little bit.

               

              Also, I do not know what a FIC40 score is. :(


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              #9 timetodienow1234567

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              Posted 09 February 2014 - 06:01 PM

              http://basketball.re...m/info/glossary
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              Why so Serious? :D


              #10 Dayak

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              Posted 09 February 2014 - 06:11 PM

              What's going on with you Rocketrick? :)
              Btw, can't wait to see another win at Minny.
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              #11 thejohnnygold

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              Posted 09 February 2014 - 07:39 PM

              Thanks!  I had never heard of that before.  Interesting that it is an offense oriented stat and Asik excelled at it.


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              #12 Ostrow

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                Posted 10 February 2014 - 04:33 PM

                I was at the game in MIL. Harden looked engaged on D.  He was doing things he definitely wasn't doing early in the year.  At least when his jumper wasn't falling he was finding other ways to make an impact.  My favorite play of the game was a TO by the Rockets ahead of Harden.  He sprinted back to catch up and force a 2 on 1. I think he ended up stopping the Bucks from scoring, I'm not sure, but that didn't matter to me, what mattered is that he cared enough defensively to try to make a play.


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                #13 feelingsupersonic

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                Posted 10 February 2014 - 05:40 PM

                Thanks for the update Ostrow and good to hear from you. That's cool you caught a Rockets game.
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                #14 bladad

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                  Posted 10 February 2014 - 06:23 PM

                  I was at the game in MIL. Harden looked engaged on D.  He was doing things he definitely wasn't doing early in the year.  At least when his jumper wasn't falling he was finding other ways to make an impact.  My favorite play of the game was a TO by the Rockets ahead of Harden.  He sprinted back to catch up and force a 2 on 1. I think he ended up stopping the Bucks from scoring, I'm not sure, but that didn't matter to me, what mattered is that he cared enough defensively to try to make a play.

                  HARDEN+DEFENSE = I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!

                   

                  Just kidding.

                   

                  Great to see him putting in the effort on the defensive end. The team defense is going to be so much better if he keeps that level of play up on his less preferred side of the floor.


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                  #15 Buckko

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                    Posted 10 February 2014 - 07:53 PM

                    Hey we're #8 at defense right now and with asik getting back, we can only go up. Still I don't understand people who insult the rockets about D.
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                    #16 thejohnnygold

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                    Posted 11 February 2014 - 04:52 AM

                    Some fan posted this to the interwebs...thought others would enjoy.  Personally, I think he nailed them both.

                     


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                    #17 MrLobble

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                      Posted 11 February 2014 - 05:00 AM

                      I'm dying!!! hahahaha ^^^ 

                       

                      On another note, I've become addicted to following Dwight's latest overload of Instagram pics and videos lately... I find them real interesting. This team appears like they really like each other both on and off the court, and hopefully the chemistry can continue to improve!!


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