Win? What?

" If we do win, expect an update right after the end of the match."
Some dumbass, 11/10/07.

Ow. So much for that idea. The game was a blowout, with the final score being 107-70 for the T-Mac-less Rockets. Panathinaikos didn't even come close to challenging them for the win, in fact they gave up somewhere around the end of the first quarter.

Not trying to make up excuses for Panathinaikos, but as I've been saying for a while in this blog, the NBA rules and general referee attitude are very different than what we're used to in Europe. Essentially, this means that defense works completely difference than what PAO's players are used to. This was perhaps the main difference last night. Too many costly mistakes, such as violations of the three seconds in the paint defense, meant that the Rockets got more easy baskets than they should. Not that we would have won otherwise, but the match would have been a little more interesting.

It didn't help that some of our best players did so badly, either. Diamantidis played horribly, which is surprising for him, though I guess this game showed why he really has no place in the NBA; he is far too slow for the tempo of NBA teams. Jasikevicious was fairly mediocre too, perhaps he thought he had too much to prove against an NBA team, and that's never a good mindset to get into.

The Rockets weren't pulling any punches, either. They didn't even keep the unwritten rule of not attacking in the last 24 seconds if you're up big, which I thought was somewhat lame. But whatever. They do seem like a whole new team from last year's JVG borefest, however, and that's not a bad thing. Interestingly enough, their best player was Argentinian rookie Luis Scola, who was drafted by the Spurs, but was traded earlier this summer for... Spanoulis. Funny how life works sometimes.

On a final note, the referees were unecessary harsh for an exhibition match. Too many fouls called (at some point the Rockets had 19 free throws and PAO had... 2), too many travelling violations called, and they even called two technical fouls on coach Obradoviç, who was sent away during the fourth quarter. Alright, so Obradoviç isn't the most calm person in the universe so he may have had that coming. But still, it's an exhibition game you douchebags, let them play the damn game instead of destroying any sort of tempo that either team was trying to create, by stopping the clock every five seconds.

I'm tempted to say that the officials were trying to make a point with their general attitude towards Panathinaikos, but I guess they're just not used to the European style of basketball, as this is what happens with NBA teams in Europe, as well.

Hopefully the match against the Spurs won't be so painful to watch.