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Yao vs. Jazz - 4/09/03

Jazz forward Karl "The Mailman" Malone slices to the basket between Yao and James Posey. The Rockets "mailed in" their performance and lost convincingly 73-94. (AP photo)

After a season of promise and excitement about making the playoffs for the first time in four years, the Rockets have fallen faster and harder over the past two games than Saddam Hussein statues in Baghdad. We didn't think another poor performance could happen in consecutive nights after the Rockets lost big to the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday night at home. But the Rockets were absolutely pathetic and showed very little heart in one of their most important games of the year, losing big to Utah 94-73. This game was never really close. It's hard to believe there is only a 6-win differential between the Jazz and the Rockets. By the time this game was over, it looked more like a 16-win gap.

After shooting a franchise-low 29.5% Tuesday night against Portland, the Rockets didn't improve much Wednesday by shooting 31.5%. That really surprised us.

Since Phoenix beat Dallas Wednesday night, the Rockets are now 2.5 games behind the Suns with only 3 games to play (four games remain for the Suns). This loss just about puts the Rockets away for the season. Give the Suns credit--they are beating teams convincingly and deserve to make the playoffs more than the Rockets do. And they are doing it with players who have been around each other a shorter period of time than the Rockets have been together.

Steve Francis went 2-for-14 and scored 6 points after shooting 5-for-20 from the field Tuesday night. Mobley was 3-for-11 (9 points) after shooting 3-for-12 Tuesday. Eddie Griffin was 0-for-6 with no points. Glen Rice was 3-for-9 points with 9 points. Yao was 3-for-9 with 6 points. The team also shot horribly from the free throw line (11-of-22). Did the Rockets fly through Kansas on their way to Utah? And under acting coach Larry Smith, the Rockets have won 5 games and lost 9. Basically, no one stepped up under the pressure of a playoff berth at stake. Game over, man. Or should I say, "Season over?" You can just about bet on it.

Jazz center Greg Ostertag gave Yao a few fits by blocking one of his shots and dunking on him. For being less talented than Yao, Ostertag has always managed to surprise Yao this season, in part because of his long arms.

Prophecy?

During the preseason, I recall Cuttino or Franchise saying if the Rockets didn't make the playoffs this season, you could expect the front office to break the team up, and he even agreed with that approach because they would not have gotten the job done. So now that it looks like the playoffs aren't in the Rockets future this season, we believe something drastic has to be done--the Rockets need an injection of some smarts and heart. Looking forward, we don't know who the Rockets are going to trade or cut, but no one is safe (except Yao and Francis, although sometimes we wonder about Steve).

We believe what the Rockets need is someone who can bring some toughness and chutzpah to the team. Let's face it, some players have it, and some don't. When the Rockets added Mario Elie to the roster back in the mid-90's (I believe for a 2nd round draft choice), the acquisition didn't get much fanfare because Elie wasn't the most talented player around. But Elie could play D and he had mental toughness. Acquiring Elie paid off by helping the Rockets get them the edge they needed to win a couple of rings.

We'll have more analysis of the Rockets woes a few days after the final game of the season, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we'll continue to report on Yao's performances, watch the Rockets go through the motions, but probably see flashes of brilliance from his teammates now that the pressure of making the playoffs is essentially off of them. Through watching dazzling plays over the final three games of the season, a lot of people will get excited about the potential of 2003-2004, but Rocket fans should be cautious about getting excited about a team that primarily plays well when the games don't mean anything.

Detailed Yao Analysis
vs. Utah Jazz 4/9/03
brought to you by John & Jeff

1st quarter - Yao starts the game.

10:14 Free
Throws From behind the 3-point line on the upper-left side, James Posey passes to Yao who is positioned two feet away from the middle of the left edge of the lane. Yao dribbles his way to the edge of the lane, turns baseline, and pump fakes. Jazz center Greg Ostertag is duped by the fake, and while Ostertag is in mid-air, Yao leans into him and shoots. The shot barely misses, but Ostertag is whistled for the shooting foul. Yao steps up to the free throw line and uncharacteristically misses both free throws! The Rockets trail the Jazz 0-5.

8:15 Assist After the Jazz have built a quick 11-0 lead, Eddie Griffin dumps a pass down low to Yao who catches it on the right side of the paint, only four-feet from the basket. Jazz shooting guard Calbert Cheaney inches his way towards Yao from the right side for a double-team. Yao makes Cheaney pay by bulleting a pass to Cheaney's open man, Cuttino Mobley, who is parked behind the arc on the upper-right side. Mobley squares up and swishes the trey! The Rockets finally score their first points of the game! They trail the Jazz 3-11.

5:07 In a surprise move, Yao checks out early in the first quarter, and Kelvin Cato checks in to take his place. We don't understand this move by acting coach Larry Smith. Yao has only taken one shot and missed; it's not as if Yao was being outplayed by his counterpart, Ostertag (who is scoreless). The Rockets trail the Jazz 6-13.

2nd quarter - By only shooting 22% from the field (1-for-14 on two-point shots), the Rockets seem to be attempting to break their franchise record in lowest shooting percentage, which was just set in yesterday's game against Portland! Contributing to this debacle is the Rockets inability to hit free throws; the Rockets were only 3-for-9 from the line in the first. After one quarter of play, Yao has 0 points (0-for-1 from the field), 1 rebound and 1 assist. The Rockets trail the Jazz 17-24. Cato starts the second quarter.

7:56 The Jazz start the second quarter with a 7-2 run and lead 31-19. Yao checks in for Cato.

3:14 Yao catches a post entry pass at the middle of the right edge of the lane. With his back to Ostertag, Yao dribbles once and turns baseline for a right-handed hook shot, but the shot is short off the front of the rim! Yao's shooting struggles seem to have carried over from last night's game. He now has missed his first three shots of the game. The Rockets trail 24-38.

1:02 Great
defense After Yao misses a long jumper, Greg Ostertag grabs the rebound and throws a long outlet pass to Karl Malone who is ahead of everyone. However, Yao hustles back and is able to get in front of Malone and secure a solid defensive position as Malone accidentally fumbles the pass. Once Malone gathers the ball in, it's too late for him to take a shot because of Yao's intimidating presence, so he tries to pass off instead. But Yao is able to deflect the pass out of bounds. Great effort by Yao to get back on D.

0:53.2 On a Rockets fastbreak, Cuttino Mobley knifes his way across the paint and puts up a layup attempt on the left side of the rim. Cat's layup misses and as the ball rolls off the rim, Yao skies to the hoop and cleans up Cat's miss with a SWIFT TWO-HANDED DUNK! As the ball falls through the basket, Mobley spikes the ball down in frustration over his missed layup! Yao scores his first 2 points and the Rockets trail 28-40.

Halftime - The Rockets' shooting troubles continue in the second quarter, and after one half of play the Rockets are shooting a miserable 23.7% (10-for-43). They are also 4-for-11 from the free throw line. As a result, it's no surprise that the Rockets only scored 11 points total in the second quarter. Francis is 1-for-7 from the field, and Mobley is 2-for-7. Yao has 2 points on 1-for-5 shooting, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist. The Rockets trail the Jazz 28-42.

3rd quarter - Yao starts the third quarter.

11:46 James Posey passes to Yao who is positioned just a step outside the middle of the left edge of the lane. As Yao works his way inside, Calbert Cheaney moves in from the top to double-team Yao. Yao deftly avoids Cheaney and crosses to the middle of the paint where he fires a beautiful 5-foot hook shot that rattles in! Yao is now 2-for-6 from the field, and has 4 points. The Rockets trail 30-42.

11:03 Assist In almost the identical position as the previous play from the left edge of the lane, Yao works his way to the middle of the paint. As the Jazz defense focuses on him, Yao smartly kicks the ball out to a wide-open Cuttino Mobley behind the 3-point line on the upper-right side. Mobley squares up, shoots, and buries the 3-pointer! In the third quarter, the Rockets are off to a positive start, scoring 5 points in their first two possessions. It looks like the Rockets decided in the locker room at halftime to get Yao more involved in the offense, starting at the beginning of the second half. The Rockets continue to trail 33-44.

7:52 The Rockets are on a fastbreak, and as Cuttino Mobley speeds his way down the left side, he sees James Posey cutting to the basket for an alley-oop dunk. Mobley jumps to throw the pass, but he loses the handle on the ball, and throws an errant pass backwards that crosses over to the Rockets' backcourt, thus committing a half-court violation! As Francis heads back to retrieve the loose ball, FRANCIS KICKS THE BALL OUT OF FRUSTRATION INTO THE STANDS! Francis gets whistled for the obvious technical foul! WHAT IS UP, STEVE?

We can understand Franchise's frustration in the turnover; if the Rockets had executed on that fastbreak, they would only be down 7 points! But as the leader of the Rockets, Franchise made a grave mistake in letting his frustration overcome his composure, which he has done occasionally this season.

Jazz Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton hits the technical, and on the subsequent Jazz possession, Karl Malone is fouled in the act of shooting. Malone hits 1-of-2 free throws and the Jazz lead 38-49. This sequence was a pivotal turning point in the game. If the Rockets don't make the playoffs this season, we can envision the replay of Francis kicking the ball out of the stands being played over-and-over, and could be the play that haunts Francis for a long time. In effect, this play could label him as a player who doesn't play with his head in the game at all times.

6:52
+
James Posey passes to Yao who is a foot away from the middle of the left edge of the lane. Yao works his way deep inside and turns to his right to take a two-foot shot off the glass, but Ostertag plays good defense on Yao, and forces Yao to take a tough fadeaway. As a result, the ball is shot hard off the glass, but Yao has enough presence of mind to position himself for the offensive board. Yao fights and snatches the rebound over two Jazz players and drops in a layup from the right side of the rim! Yao now has 6 points on 3-for-9 shooting and the Rockets trail 40-50.

6:19 Karl Malone recognizes a mismatch between Steve Francis and Jazz forward Matt Harpring, and lobs in a pass to Harpring in the deep right post. With Stevie obviously overmatched, Yao rotates in from the top to help out, but as a consequence leaves the middle wide open. Harpring jumps to shoot, but at the last second he dumps a pass to Ostertag who sneaked his way into the paint uncontested. With Yao recoiling from Harpring's offensive move, Ostertag jumps and goes in for the dunk, but Yao refuses to give up and VALIANTLY tries to block Ostertag's dunk. But Ostertag is able to dunk over Yao to the delight of the Utah bench, which jumps out of their chairs. This was a brilliant setup by Harpring, but also a mistake by Yao for committing to Harpring and leaving Ostertag a wide-open lane to the bucket. The Jazz lead 40-52.

3:29 Cato checks in for Yao, who leaves with 6 points on 3-for-9 shooting. The Rockets trail 42-59.

4th quarter - The Jazz outscore the Rockets in the third quarter 22-18, and extend their lead over the Rockets 64-46. Houston is shooting 27% from the field thus far. After three quarters of play, Yao has 6 points (3-for-9 from the field), 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Acting coach Larry Smith decides to throw in the towel and benches the entire Rockets starting lineup the entire fourth quarter. The Rockets never get within striking distance as the Jazz are able to maintain a comfortable double-digit lead throughout the fourth.

0:00 With the Rockets shooting an embarrassing 31.5% in tonight's game, the Rockets get blown out by the Jazz 94-73. Yao ends the game with 6 points (3-for-9 from the field, 0-for-2 from the line), 5 rebounds and 2 assists. With the Phoenix Suns strong victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the Rockets have now fallen 2 1/2 games behind the Suns for the eighth and final seed of the Western Conference.

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1st quarter - Yao starts the game.
10:14	Free Throws	From behind the 3-point line on the upper-left side, James Posey passes to Yao who is positioned two feet away from the middle of the left edge of the lane. Yao dribbles his way to the edge of the lane, turns baseline, and pump fakes. Jazz center Greg Ostertag is duped by the fake, and while Ostertag is in mid-air, Yao leans into him and shoots. The shot barely misses, but Ostertag is whistled for the shooting foul. Yao steps up to the free throw line and uncharacteristically misses both free throws! The Rockets trail the Jazz 0-5.
8:15	Assist	After the Jazz have built a quick 11-0 lead, Eddie Griffin dumps a pass down low to Yao who catches it on the right side of the paint, only four-feet from the basket. Jazz shooting guard Calbert Cheaney inches his way towards Yao from the right side for a double-team. Yao makes Cheaney pay by bulleting a pass to Cheaney's open man, Cuttino Mobley, who is parked behind the arc on the upper-right side. Mobley squares up and swishes the trey! The Rockets finally score their first points of the game! They trail the Jazz 3-11.
5:07		In a surprise move, Yao checks out early in the first quarter, and Kelvin Cato checks in to take his place. We don't understand this move by acting coach Larry Smith. Yao has only taken one shot and missed; it's not as if Yao was being outplayed by his counterpart, Ostertag (who is scoreless). The Rockets trail the Jazz 6-13.
2nd quarter - By only shooting 22% from the field (1-for-14 on two-point shots), the Rockets seem to be attempting to break their franchise record in lowest shooting percentage, which was just set in yesterday's game against Portland! Contributing to this debacle is the Rockets inability to hit free throws; the Rockets were only 3-for-9 from the line in the first. After one quarter of play, Yao has 0 points (0-for-1 from the field), 1 rebound and 1 assist. The Rockets trail the Jazz 17-24. Cato starts the second quarter.
7:56		The Jazz start the second quarter with a 7-2 run and lead 31-19. Yao checks in for Cato.
3:14		Yao catches a post entry pass at the middle of the right edge of the lane. With his back to Ostertag, Yao dribbles once and turns baseline for a right-handed hook shot, but the shot is short off the front of the rim! Yao's shooting struggles seem to have carried over from last night's game. He now has missed his first three shots of the game. The Rockets trail 24-38.
1:02	Great defense	After Yao misses a long jumper, Greg Ostertag grabs the rebound and throws a long outlet pass to Karl Malone who is ahead of everyone. However, Yao hustles back and is able to get in front of Malone and secure a solid defensive position as Malone accidentally fumbles the pass. Once Malone gathers the ball in, it's too late for him to take a shot because of Yao's intimidating presence, so he tries to pass off instead. But Yao is able to deflect the pass out of bounds. Great effort by Yao to get back on D.
0:53.2		On a Rockets fastbreak, Cuttino Mobley knifes his way across the paint and puts up a layup attempt on the left side of the rim. Cat's layup misses and as the ball rolls off the rim, Yao skies to the hoop and cleans up Cat's miss with a SWIFT TWO-HANDED DUNK! As the ball falls through the basket, Mobley spikes the ball down in frustration over his missed layup! Yao scores his first 2 points and the Rockets trail 28-40.
Halftime - The Rockets' shooting troubles continue in the second quarter, and after one half of play the Rockets are shooting a miserable 23.7% (10-for-43). They are also 4-for-11 from the free throw line. As a result, it's no surprise that the Rockets only scored 11 points total in the second quarter. Francis is 1-for-7 from the field, and Mobley is 2-for-7. Yao has 2 points on 1-for-5 shooting, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist. The Rockets trail the Jazz 28-42.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the third quarter.
11:46		James Posey passes to Yao who is positioned just a step outside the middle of the left edge of the lane. As Yao works his way inside, Calbert Cheaney moves in from the top to double-team Yao. Yao deftly avoids Cheaney and crosses to the middle of the paint where he fires a beautiful 5-foot hook shot that rattles in! Yao is now 2-for-6 from the field, and has 4 points. The Rockets trail 30-42.
11:03	Assist	In almost the identical position as the previous play from the left edge of the lane, Yao works his way to the middle of the paint. As the Jazz defense focuses on him, Yao smartly kicks the ball out to a wide-open Cuttino Mobley behind the 3-point line on the upper-right side. Mobley squares up, shoots, and buries the 3-pointer! In the third quarter, the Rockets are off to a positive start, scoring 5 points in their first two possessions. It looks like the Rockets decided in the locker room at halftime to get Yao more involved in the offense, starting at the beginning of the second half. The Rockets continue to trail 33-44.
7:52		The Rockets are on a fastbreak, and as Cuttino Mobley speeds his way down the left side, he sees James Posey cutting to the basket for an alley-oop dunk. Mobley jumps to throw the pass, but he loses the handle on the ball, and throws an errant pass backwards that crosses over to the Rockets' backcourt, thus committing a half-court violation! As Francis heads back to retrieve the loose ball, FRANCIS KICKS THE BALL OUT OF FRUSTRATION INTO THE STANDS! Francis gets whistled for the obvious technical foul! WHAT IS UP, STEVE? We can understand Franchise's frustration in the turnover; if the Rockets had executed on that fastbreak, they would only be down 7 points! But as the leader of the Rockets, Franchise made a grave mistake in letting his frustration overcome his composure, which he has done occasionally this season. Jazz Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton hits the technical, and on the subsequent Jazz possession, Karl Malone is fouled in the act of shooting. Malone hits 1-of-2 free throws and the Jazz lead 38-49. This sequence was a pivotal turning point in the game. If the Rockets don't make the playoffs this season, we can envision the replay of Francis kicking the ball out of the stands being played over-and-over, and could be the play that haunts Francis for a long time. In effect, this play could label him as a player who doesn't play with his head in the game at all times.
6:52	+	James Posey passes to Yao who is a foot away from the middle of the left edge of the lane. Yao works his way deep inside and turns to his right to take a two-foot shot off the glass, but Ostertag plays good defense on Yao, and forces Yao to take a tough fadeaway. As a result, the ball is shot hard off the glass, but Yao has enough presence of mind to position himself for the offensive board. Yao fights and snatches the rebound over two Jazz players and drops in a layup from the right side of the rim! Yao now has 6 points on 3-for-9 shooting and the Rockets trail 40-50.
6:19		Karl Malone recognizes a mismatch between Steve Francis and Jazz forward Matt Harpring, and lobs in a pass to Harpring in the deep right post. With Stevie obviously overmatched, Yao rotates in from the top to help out, but as a consequence leaves the middle wide open. Harpring jumps to shoot, but at the last second he dumps a pass to Ostertag who sneaked his way into the paint uncontested. With Yao recoiling from Harpring's offensive move, Ostertag jumps and goes in for the dunk, but Yao refuses to give up and VALIANTLY tries to block Ostertag's dunk. But Ostertag is able to dunk over Yao to the delight of the Utah bench, which jumps out of their chairs. This was a brilliant setup by Harpring, but also a mistake by Yao for committing to Harpring and leaving Ostertag a wide-open lane to the bucket. The Jazz lead 40-52.
3:29		Cato checks in for Yao, who leaves with 6 points on 3-for-9 shooting. The Rockets trail 42-59.
4th quarter - The Jazz outscore the Rockets in the third quarter 22-18, and extend their lead over the Rockets 64-46. Houston is shooting 27% from the field thus far. After three quarters of play, Yao has 6 points (3-for-9 from the field), 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
		Acting coach Larry Smith decides to throw in the towel and benches the entire Rockets starting lineup the entire fourth quarter. The Rockets never get within striking distance as the Jazz are able to maintain a comfortable double-digit lead throughout the fourth.
0:00		With the Rockets shooting an embarrassing 31.5% in tonight's game, the Rockets get blown out by the Jazz 94-73. Yao ends the game with 6 points (3-for-9 from the field, 0-for-2 from the line), 5 rebounds and 2 assists. With the Phoenix Suns strong victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the Rockets have now fallen 2 1/2 games behind the Suns for the eighth and final seed of the Western Conference.