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Yao Ming and Brad Miller battle for a rebound Friday night in Sacramento. Yao had a decent game, scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. However, Miller killed the Rockets with 29 points on the way toward Sacramento blowing out the Rockets 103-74. (Photo courtesy AP)

FRIDAY, 11/28/03 - Pathetic. Embarrassing. Throw this game into the garbage along with the turkey carcass. The Rockets were outclassed in the worst way Friday night in Sacramento, losing 103-74 in a laugher. The Kings had 33 assists to Houston's 11, and shot 51.8% from the field compared to Houston's 36.3%. The game was a blowout by halftime, with the Kings building a 54-28 lead with the help of 9 steals (compared to only one steal for Houston). The Rockets "closed" the deficit to 22 points by the end of the third quarter, but coach Jeff Van Gundy decided to pull all the starters at the beginning of the fourth quarter, which was quite surprising given the fact you would think Van Gundy is a fighter, not one to throw in the towel so early. One of the reasons may have been because the Rockets had to fly to Seattle after the game, and play the Sonics on Saturday night. So he may have wanted to rest his players. Or he may have wanted to make a statement to some of the starters by showing he is not afraid to sit them down if they play poorly. Regardless, the reserves had no comeback in them this particular night -- Sacramento extended the lead to 30 points in the fourth quarter. Houston has now lost two games in a row, have a 9-6 record, and have fallen into the middle of the pack in the Midwest division. With the way they are playing right now, it is hard to believe that this is a Van Gundy-coached team. The defense continuously left Sacramento center Brad Miller wide open, who burned them for a season-high 29 points. Steve Francis continues to exhibit poor decision-making, like driving into traffic when no shot exists and then turning the ball over or throwing up a low-percentage shot. We're actually getting tired of this same predictable routine. Francis has been in the league 5 years - you would think he would have learned by now how to play smart basketball, or Van Gundy would have drilled it into his head. Remember the "pockets of resistance" quote that Van Gundy provided in the preseason after the Denver Nugget game? You've got to think now he was talking about Francis because he still looks like the same player. Jim Jackson continues to be awful from the field, shooting 0-for-7. He is now 1-for-15 over the past two games. Jackson also let his man, Peja Stojakovic, score on two easy buckets on inbounds plays. These weaknesses need to be addressed. You expect that Van Gundy will do something, like give Piatkowski, Nachbar or Padgett more minutes. In addition, Van Gundy said the other day the team is not done making deals this season. With the way these guys are playing, don't be surprised if there is a blockbuster trade. Do we dare say that Francis and Jackson could be traded while their perceived value is still high? The Rockets have a history of not being complacent when they have struggled like this before. Considering Van Gundy's tough attitude (supposedly), don't be surprised to see some shaking up of the lineup. Remember when the Kings a few years ago traded a highlight-reel player who didn't play all that smart (Jason Williams) for the more heady Mike Bibby? It was considered a risky move back then since spectacular athletes are rarely traded for more low-key ones, but it worked out for the Kings since they almost went to the Finals that year. Perhaps the Rockets will try to tear a page out of the Kings' history book. While they're at it, maybe they can copy a few pages out of their playbook! Ironically, the guy who had a great game for the Rockets was Yao, shooting 6-for-11 from the field and scoring 14 points and racking up 8 rebounds in 23 minutes. Cuttino Mobley had a decent game, shooting 6-for-11 for 17 points. The rest of the team only shot 16-for-55 (29%). It was surprising that Van Gundy did not demand that Yao get the ball more. But with the big hole in which the Rockets dug themselves and trailing by 26 in the second quarter, it was highly unlikely that Yao was going to beat the Kings by himself, no matter how many minutes Van Gundy played him. But you would think Van Gundy would have at least tried for a little while. By the way, this is my 100th game report covering Yao and the Rockets on this site. I hope you have enjoyed it! Missed shots Yao could have dunked Over the past 9 games, Yao has only had two missed shot attempts that perhaps should have been dunked. So far, his supposed lack of aggression is a myth. About this chart A lot of people in the media, especially in Houston, seems to be getting on Yao for not being aggressive enough on offense. They say he doesn't call for the ball strongly enough, and that he tries to finesse his shots when he could really dunk them. The first claim may or may not be true. I see him with his hands up plenty of times when the Rockets are on offense, so I don't really have too much of a problem with that part of his game. However, regarding the second criticism of him not dunking the ball, there are many times when I am preparing my Detailed Yao Analysis where I see that Yao really had no chance to go up for a dunk. Yet he'll get criticized for not going up strong with a dunk. It's so easy for a member of the media to jump on a claim that everyone else seems to be chanting, which can become sickening if you know the claim is a myth. Remember last year's comments from the media where everyone thought Yao was a flop, which led to my creation of the 'Expert' Hall of Shame? Well I intend to do the same kind of thing here. To see if everyone is generalizing too much about Yao saying that he should dunk the ball more, I'm going to start tracking all the times when Yao misses a shot that could have been dunked. That way we'll have tangible numbers to really see if he's not being powerful enough. I'll also track the number of times he dunks the ball when he DOES have a defender around him, or in his face, in order to give him credit for those times where he is being aggressive around the rim.

1st quarter- Cato jumps for the opening tip.
11:32		On the opening possession of the game, Yao gets the ball on the left baseline a few feet outside the left edge of the lane. He jockeys well for position against Vlade Divac to the edge of the lane using his size as leverage. He then fakes briefly to the inside of the lane, but then reverse pivots toward the baseline and shoots an unblockable fallaway jumper over Divac's outstretched hands, and SCORE THE BASKET! The Rockets lead 2-0.
10:08		Yao misses a jumpshot from the right baseline. He is now 1-for-2 from the field.
9:39		On the offensive end, Jim Jackson shoots a three-pointer that bounces off the rim and comes down to Mike Bibby. However, Bibby mishandles the rebound and the ball bounces loose. Seeing the ball a few feet from him, YAO FLIES TO THE FLOOR DIVING FOR THE BALL!! Amazing desire shown by Yao! We've rarely seen him put his body at such risk for a loose ball like that, mainly because a man of his size can really hurt himself dong that. Although Bibby gathers possession, Yao's teammates hopefully will replicate this same "want" for the ball.
9:19		Francis shoots a jumper from just inside the 3-point line. The ball clangs off the iron and backboard, but Yao is crashing the boards and goes up high to grab the rebound, brings it down AND IMMEDIATELY GOES UP AND SLAMS IT DOWN WITH HIS RIGHT HAND! The hustle pays off for an easy bucket! Yao is 2-for-3 with 4 points.
8:50		Jim Jackson delivers the ball to Yao just outside the left edge of the lane. With his back to the basket, Yao pivots 180 degrees, calmly squares up and launches a jumper AND SWISH!! Yao has gotten off to a fast start this game!! Yao is 3-for-4 with 6 points.
7:25		Yao gets the ball again in the same spot as before. He then pump fakes once on Vlade, dribbles once toward the lane and it looks like he's going to go up for a strong offensive move. However, Doug Christie comes over from the free throw line threatening to double-team him. Yao senses the impending double-team, so he flicks it to Mobley, but Mobley immediately passes it back to Yao because he sees that only Vlade is guarding Yao. Yao pivots toward the baseline, but then reverse pivots back into the lane for a shot. However, you can see Yao's right foot get tangled up with Vlade's foot, so he has to attempt a tough fallaway hook shot before getting called for traveling The shot misses. Bad break getting tangled up like that. Yao is 3-for-5 from the field.
5:15		Yao gets the ball on the left edge of the lane and pivots toward the center of it. As he goes up for a jump shot in the middle of the lane, Doug Christie jumps up and gets his hand on the ball from behind. It looks like the Kings may have seen some of the tape from the Utah game and saw how Curtis Borchardt did that to him. Yao is now 3-for-6 from the field.
5:14		Yao checks out of the game for Taylor. The Rockets trail 9-14. Yao has 6 points on 3-for-6 shooting.
2nd quarter - At the end of the first quarter, Sacramento leads 25-14. Although Yao is 3-for-6, the rest of his teammates are 3-for-19, resulting in team shooting of 24% in the quarter. They also have 6 turnovers. Yao starts the 2nd quarter.
11:42		Yao gets great position down low on Brad Miller, and Eric Piatkowski delivers a perfect bounce pass to him. Yao then pump fakes to the left like he's going to go up for a hook shot, which gets Miller leaning, BUT THEN ROTATES THE OTHER WAY TOWARD THE BUCKET, PUMP FAKES AGAIN, AND DUNKS IT RIGHT-HANDED OVER MILLER! No way anyone was going to stop that one! Yao is 4-for-7 from the field with 8 points. The Rockets trail 26-16.
9:34		Yao misses a fadeaway jumper from the left edge of the lane. He is now 4-for-8 from the field.
8:43	Intimidation	On a Kings' fast break, Doug Christie drives toward the basket, gets in the air underneath the hoop, then passes back to the middle of the lane to Tony Massenburg. Massenburg jumps into the air to slam one down over Yao, but Yao jumps and intimidates him so much that the ball flies out of his hand!
6:22		Yao gets good position on Brad Miller, this time on the right edge of the lane. Without much hesitation, Yao goes up and shoots a little right-handed hook shot from the baseline and hits it!! Yao is now 5-for-9 from the field for 10 points. Unfortunately, the Rockets trail 19-39.
4:52	Good defense!	From the left elbow of the lane, Vlade Divac drives to the basket, BUT YAO ESTABLISHES GOOD POSITION AND VLADE CHARGES INTO HIM AS HE GOES UP FOR A SHOT, AND IS CALLED FOR THE FOUL! Yao fell backwards on to the floor, and showed great sacrifice of his body on that play! An official's timeout is called, and Yao checks out of the game for Alton Ford.
2:48		Yao checks into the game for Ford. The Rockets trail 23-44.
2:32		Yao misses a little jump hook in the lane. He is now 5-for-10 from the field with 10 points. The Rockets trail 23-46.
Halftime - Rockets trail 54-28.
3rd quarter - Yao starts the quarter.
11:45		Yao gets the ball far out on the left baseline. Vlade is playing a few feet off him, so Yao calmly measures the shot and shoots a jump shot, and COUNT IT! He is now 6-for-11 from the field with 12 points. The Rockets still trail big-time, though, 30-54.
9:27	Free Throws	Yao grabs an offensive rebound in the middle of the lane, and as he's going up for the shot, he is fouled on the arm by Divac. Yao goes to the free throw line and makes both free throws. The Rockets trail 34-60. He now has 14 points and 8 rebounds.
6:17		Mike Bibby drives to the hole, then dishes a wraparound pass around Yao to Divac on the other side of the lane. Vlade goes up for a layup attempt off the glass, but Yao recovers from tracking Bibby AND REJECTS VLADE'S SHOT WITH VIGOR! That is Yao's first blocked shot of the game. Although the Rockets are getting blown out, at least we have the pleasure of being awed by Yao's talent!
5:46		Yao checks out of the game. He is 6-for-11 with 14 points.
4th quarter - At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets trail 57-79. Houston outscored the Kings 29-25 in the quarter, but it only put a small dent in the Kings' monstrous lead. Mobley had 12 points in the quarter, and the Kings' Brad Miller scored 10 points. Yao does NOT play the entire fourth quarter. Van Gundy plays all the reserves, probably because he wants to rest the players because they play in Seattle tomorrow night. Yao finishes with 14 points (6-for-11 from the field, 2-for-2 from the line), 8 rebounds and one block.