C's/Rockets - 3/7/07

Snap back to reality.

I wish I had predicted that the Rockets were going to unleash a beating on the Celtics tonight. Not because I'm happy that it happened. Rather if you love the NBA and have a moderate understanding of how the league works you had to see this coming. The Rockets had to make up for losing at home, short handed last week. And they did. Houston showed up and shot better than 50% from the field (51.3%) and from the 3 point line (53.6%) while executing a beautiful offense. They didn't even need Yao to be Yao and he slowly continues to play himself back into shape. And while I'm on the subject of Yao I'll say this - Skip Bayless is crazy if he thinks Houston does not need the big fella and can survive with Dikembe Mutumbo playing big minutes. That might fly in March against the C's but it won't cut it in May against Dallas. And no I don't watch Cold Pizza. I only caught a segment. I swear. I'm on vacation. There's not much on during the day. Forget it. Long story short the Rockets dominated a clearly over matched Celtics squad. Now onto some random thoughts.

Looking at the schedule I say the C's go 4-8 for the rest of the month. The Wins? Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Philly.

“Did you see that knee brace? That’s the BIGGEST knee brace I have ever seen.” - Tommy Heinsohn on Yao Ming

“That would be a body brace for me.” - Mike Gorman

Just under 6 minutes into the game Kendrick Perkins and The Truth ran a pick and roll. Perk drove to the basket, grabbed a bounce pass, finished, and hit the free throw. I didn’t know he had it in him.

I think the C’s easily used more picks in the first quarter than they have in any quarter I can remember. And strangely many of them were effective.

During halftime Donny Marshall tried to popularize the phrase, “right in your mouth” to describe when a player hits a jumper over a defender, preferably when his mouth is open. Key word "tried".

Why does FSN have to show that Gerald Green’s numbers are better than T-Mac through their first 90 games in the league? And then to top it off Tommy Heinsohn claims Green will be a replica of McGrady. I don't need to get my hopes up like this.

In all my fawning over Al Jefferson I’ve neglected the fact that Delonte West has put up some good numbers since the All Star break. This article speaks to that. On top of that he’s been shooting right around 50% from the field and from the 3 point line, while knocking down just over 90% from the charity stripe. Well done Delonte. And yes FSN was all over this too.

Speaking of Delonte. It looks like he left the game with a concussion from an errant Dikembe elbow. When I post my list of guys whose games were perfectly suited for NBA Jam and obvious choices like Harold Miner and Dee Brown show up because of their athleticism, Dikembe will also make it. Based on his body of work you wouldn't think so. But any setting where players can throw elbows with reckless abandon suits Dikembe just fine. And yes I know you're desperate for my take on NBA Jam. It's going to be a while. But know this. I will reveal myself to be the foremost expert on an 11 year old game that nobody plays anymore. Wait and see.

One final thought - At a some point in the 4th quarter I switched over to the St. Johns/Marquette game and almost immediately said, "Holy crap, it's Mo Vaughn." It was actually Anthony Mason, there to watch his son. Draw your own conclusions about Mason's post career workout program.