Little blurb from nba.com (if its posted somewhere else mods... please lock it up for me) It's my hope that Shane won't fade into the floorboards in this series. I agree that if he can create something offensively at least a good portion of the time, he's the one that will turn the tide in our favor.
Actually, that's precisely my concern. Suffice to say, history hasn't been on Battier's side...and he does have a thing for...let's just say fading when it counts the most. Of course, he did hit that big 3 in the Phoenix game near the end...so we'll see if he can shake that disappearing act label in the playoffs this year.
yeah and on NBA.com if you look right on the Xfactor section.. this is what i found http://www.nba.com/playoffs2007/news/millegan_postseason.html Never Understimate the Heart of the ... Rockets Posted by Eric Millegan on April 20, 2007, Noon ET I'm so excited about the playoffs. Most excited I've been since the Blazers were in the playoffs in 2003. So many great storylines. Don Nelson vs his old team. Vince Carter vs his old team. Grant Hill vs his old team. Rematch of last year's exciting series between the Lakers and the Suns. Will Kobe be more aggressive this time around? The record for most points in a playoff game is 63 by Michael Jordan. Kobe has the skills to break that record. I can't wait to see what happens. I'm very excited to see how Iverson and Carmelo work together vs the Spurs. Iverson finally has a real superstar running mate. And watch out for Marcus Camby. He will shine. Cleveland has the closest thing to a first round bye since Gilbert Arenas is sidelined for Washington, Cleveland's first round opponent last year. The defending champs and the Chicago Bulls will have a rematch of last year's first round series. And the Jazz/Rockets series will be Yao Ming's coming out party. Just watch. I hate to make playoff predictions, cuz in a way, I like to be wrong. I like to be surprised. Alas, I said the same thing last year when I picked the Heat to beat the Mavs in 6 games. Lo and behold, I was right! So I'm going to make some predictions again. I won't explain. I'll just type them out for you. You might think I'm crazy, but hey, I was right last year! First Round: Warriors over Mavs in 7 Rockets over Jazz in 6 Suns over Lakers in 6 Nuggets over Spurs in 7 Pistons over Magic in 5 Heat over Bulls in 6 Cavs over Wizards in 5 Nets over Raptors in 6 Second Round: Rockets over Warriors in 6 Suns over Nuggets in 7 Pistons over Heat in 7 Cavs over Nets in 6 Conference Finals: Rockets over Suns in 7 Cavs over Pistons in 6 NBA Finals: Rockets over Cavs in 7 Finals MVP: Yao Ming Peace Go Blazers. Win the lotto.
He and Rafer are the X factors. Battier just has to keep shooting those baby hooks, and Rafer needs to keep knocking down the 3. Did you notice that the NBA site said we won the last game against Utah? Pretty funny stuff. http://www.nba.com/playoffs2007/series/series_w1s4.html
or Battier should take the 3's that Rafer is shooting.. why does Van Gundy insist on Rafer to shoot but not Battier?
Rafer, Battier, Luther and Howard are all X factors. I really expect T-Mac and Yao to really bring it every game. I do think that for a lot of people (who haven't been paying attention) are going to be very surprised by Yao. Too funny.
Absolutely! It's time for him to man up. And he will most definitely have to put some points on the board for the Rockets to have a realistic shot at getting to the conference finals. I agree with you that he is the key here.
Tell me about it: Shane's reg season averages: 10.4 pts 4.8 rebs 1.8 asts 1.2 stls 1 blk Playoffs: 6 pts 5.2 rebs 0.8 asts 0.5 stls 0.6 blks He's gonna have to step it up this year.
Personally i think the X-factor will be Juwan! T-mac and yao will get their numbers. Hayes will basically fouled out every game in 20 minutes defending boozer or okur, so it will be all on Juwan to produce! Be it hitting open jumpers, hit the board hard or play some defense to help yao out!
in my opinion he was expected to be the second best player on memphis during those playoff matchups. When that happens, it's just...not good. as a roleplayer for the rockets? who knows, let's hope it's something similar to the phoenix game.
If shane can get 15 points then we are the champions. If he keeps his defense honest and becomes the offensive weapon everyone know he can be and if Head + Rafer can keep the cool then the only one stopping us are only our own team.