I think the Rockets can knock off the Lakers in the 2nd round and set up this WCF match up. I’m pretty confident that the Rockets can beat the Lakers simply bc of style of play. I think the Rockets are going to push the pace as much as possible to neutralize any size advantage the opponent has on defense. If they can get down the court fast enough to get layups or open 3’s then it will force teams to match up with them. The Lakers will be forced to play AD at the 5 and the Rockets will double him from the weak side in the post as soon as he puts the ball on the floor. If the Rockets can make their rotations and the Lakers role players aren’t hitting open 3’s when they have the opportunity, then it could be an easy series for the Rockets. However, if the Lakers have the balls to bench AD and play Lebron at the 5, then things could be very difficult for the Rockets.
AD won't be benched. that will never happen. Hes going to get his regardless and its something the rockets will have to deal with. The lakers want to play big. AD has always made it his preference that he doesn't want to be the only big on the floor. my preference is that the lakers let the likes of dwight and mcGhee out on that floor to be exposed as much as possible and welcome their "3 pt" shooting all day.
I had read Morey didnt want to include Trez - but Clips insisted... and was a deal breaker without... its a shame we didnt utilize him properly...
Rockets only have like 4 rivalries 1. rockets/warriors est. 2015 2. Rockets/ Mavs 3. Rockets/Jazz 4. Rockets/Spurs I don’t consider anyone else a rival. We played lakers a lot in 2000s but it was one sided Kobe always won. And we went to game 7 once. So it wasn’t much of a rivalry.
I'm not even sure who our biggest rival is anymore. I felt like the Clippers thing was more of a CP3/BG and even Austin Rivers thing, lol things changed. Clippers - Two of the main instigators ended up on the Rockets Mavs - Really hate to see them succeed and land Luka, but Cuban has lately sided w Morey/Hou on topics, and Cuban has seemed less petty with age in his tactics and doesn't seem to lose his mind as much. Luka also seems like a good dude, and again the most annoying player was JET with his stupid airplane thing, who ended up contributing to the Rockets. GSW: Obviously not the same team My guess is OKC is going to be our biggest rival for the remainder of the season. I would not want a playoff matchup with them.
really? lol thats neat, i guess. i think blazer fans really hate us too. imo we only have 2 rivals and thats the mavs and jazz. we all dislike the warriors but that cant be a rivalry when all they've ever done is own us since the curry era. ive never really disliked the spurs. san antonio is irrelevant outside of the spurs so trash talk from their fans never really bothers me.
We played them "a lot" in the 2000s? I only remember two series. One of which (the one that went to seven) was a coulda/shoulda/woulda around Yao's injury, and the other of which involved Kobe, Shaq, Payton, and Malone against a 25-year-old Francis and 2nd-year Yao. (And we still took one game and came DAMN close in two others) You make it sound like Kobe dominated us or something, and we actually played him pretty well, but that only goes so far when the odds are that stacked. I'm not saying we have or had a rivalry against the Lakers, but I'm not sure I agree with your recollection of our history against them, either.
A third of the Clippers were once Rockets. Most of the players found themselves as players here, too. Their coach’s son is part of our rotation and plays on a cheap contract to be here. The Lakers haven’t been very good since the Clippers have excelled AND now the Warriors, too —> hard to kick a dog.
If James Harden beats Lebron James, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Giannis Antetekounmpo in this Playoffs alone. He will be the best Player in the League, even though he deserves 5 MVPs, 2 Championships by now, but the Idiot Media will say Asterisk.
