1st Round Matchup: Who do we match up with the best??

The difference between Rockets and Mavs is that Rockets are constantly improving, while Mavs are in decline ever since they traded NVE.

TO and bad entry pass to Yao are Rockets problems. But they are easily solved by some good coaching/practicing. Zone defense cannot last for 7 games either. On the other hand, Dallas's lack of defense will be much harder to improve!

 

Give me LA with a hobbled Kobe; otherwise, Dallas, so I can go to some games.

 

First round. 5 games. Minnesota no doubt.

The Kings, Spurs and Mavs could all either sweep or win in 4 unless the Rockets find a serious level of consistency over the next 2 months.

The T-Wolves and Lakers are our best bet. Either series could and likely would go 5 games, but I like our chances better against Garnett and Co. We have a clear advantage in the post, with Yao, Cato, Taylor and Weatherspoon all playing well, but there are two more important key matchups IMO. Francis must remain controlled and not get into a personal battles with Cassell. Also, Jackson/Mobley's matchup with Spree could be the most important matchup because it's going to be the third scorers that decide this series.

 

FYI, I asked for the Mavericks BEFORE the last Mavs game in another thread.

If we don't turn it over 30 times, and the Mavs don't miss layups, it's even-steven. Meaning we win. As for last year and the playoffs: they're not the same team. They were a FAR better team last year, look at their record, especially on the road. Jamison, Walker, Scott Williams, Josh Howard, and Marques Daniels are all new to the team.

Before this season is irrelevant. Were 1-2 against these Mavs, with one more game coming up at home. Even if we get trashed in that one, gimme the Mavs.

The most important point being: JVG won't let them run as much, and in even a slightly slower game, the Rockets will absolutely abuse them.

The Wolves will improve in the playoffs, while the Mavs, who are already worse than last year, will get even worse.

Walker and Jamison at PF? Scott Williams, Najera and Nowitzki at C? Is there any better matchup we can ask for?

 

I gotta agree that the Mavs would be a bad match up for the ROx in the first round. We would have to count on the JVG and the Rox players being better able to force the Mavs to adjust to our style than the run and gun style of the Mavs. I'm not sure we'll see that. We got lucky winning that last game because the Mavs went cold at key stretches and made several TO's themselves. We can't count on the same thing happening over 7 games against us.

I like our odds vs. the T-Puppies or the Lakers. The T-Puppies have the baggage of never getting past the first round and losing twice to us and once on their own floor and once by a blowout. Same thing with the Lakers. We might be able to get enough into their heads to swing things our way.

 

FYI, first round playoff has been changed to 7-game series, from LAST year. Where have you been?

 

i don't want the spurs or the kings. otherwise, i like our chances against the rest.

 

Which Rockets fan in the right state of mind would hope the team to match up against the Lakers in the playoff at the beginning of the season?

 

exciting too see our fans calling for the Lakers.. I think almost every other team fears them.. because with the Lakers its no guarantee.

Again I like the jump shooting run and gun teams... Don Nelson made an interesting statement.. he said he didnt like to stay in the zone for too long because people will start to figure it out the longer he uses it. I take that as a gimmick defense that will eventually be adjusted too.. 7 game series is alot of time to make adjustments and I like our chances because of a strong inside presence and tough interior defense.

Shooters run hot and cold inside game is usually a higher %.

As long as our guys keep dribble penetrating against every team we play I think will be fine.

J

bring me any team I think we'll whoop them. Last game if we controlled the TO's it would have beena rout of the Mavs.

 

kings, mavs and spurs still kick ass of houston

the only chance to pass by the 1st round is matching LA or Min.


(yes, don´t say the rockets win of the kings, spurs or even mavericks after that horrible win)

 

1. Wolves
2. Lakers
3. Spurs
4. Mavericks
5. Kings

The Kings have it going on: depth, passing, shooting. Everything but defense, and even then, their length and quickness pose problems.

Mavericks? Yesterday's game notwithstanding, they have owned us for awhile. I'm not sure we've really turned the corner against them.

Spurs: we should be able to beat this team. The Rockets have just played them stupid. Steve and Mo seem to lose their cool against Tony Parker and Duncan. We should have beaten them once or twice. No go, but we're due.

As far as the Lakers, we match up well with them, especially given the fact that Kobe might be in court during the beginning of the playoffs (quite a factor).

The Timberwolves are a solid team but we have fared well against them. On paper, they should own us. But they don't.

 

Obviously, we will be the underdog against any of the "BIG 5", here is the order of the teams I like us to face,

1. Spurs -- Despite all the loses we had against them, I still like our chances against them. Both teams are so similar in terms of style, strength & weakness.
Odds: 4:6

2. T-wolves -- Yao will make the Wolves an outside shooting team. They will live & die by their outside shooting.
Odds: 4:6

3. Kings -- They are a very talent & experienced team, but it seems there is always some bad luck with that team. Divac is only good for ~15 minutes, Webber has never been a physical player in his career, Miller will have to settle for the outside shooting against Yao.
Odds: 3:7

4. Lakers -- I know we have beat them 2-1, but when Malone comes back, our weakness at 4 will be exposed.
Odds 2:8

5. Mavs -- This is the team I feared most. They are too fast for us, they will have more good shooting games than bad one, which doesn't body well in a 7 game series.
Odds: 2:8


--daoshi

 

I agree that the Dallas Mavericks defense isn't great but they have done a pretty good job against Houston. They held Houston in the 80's twice this season and the score probably would have been in the mid to low 90's this game if Dallas didn't have to foul as much in the fourth quarter. If you guys plan on holding Dallas to the high 80's to low 90's every game in the playoffs then I think you guys will be in trouble. Also, if Dallas and Houston ever met in the playoffs, Dallas would have home court advantage and Dallas doesn't lose at home. In my opinion Dallas would definitely win three of the four at home and would only need to win one on the road.

If you guys look at the game thread from the game a few weeks ago. Everyone on the board was saying that you guys don't match up with Dallas. One game should not change that.

 

Sane, why are the mavericks just going to automatically slow down in the playoffs? just because? i'm pretty sure we try to slow them down now and it's worked once to the tune of a 3 point win. about the only argument that the playoffs slow you down is there is more intensity and even that doesn't move me too much. it's still the same ball, same 10 foot goals, same 94x50 court, same 48 minute game and we still have to stop them. the mavs won't just slow down b/c it says playoffs now. they were in the WCF last year. of course webber getting hurt helped that but then again they may have beat the spurs if dirk didn't get hurt.

i would like to face the kings the least simply b/c they are just damn good. they hit all of their shots (b/c everyone on that team can shoot), they play smart, they've played w/ each other for a long time and they play enough D.

the spurs are just behind the kings for me. they're us, just better. they kill us with their D. we already struggle on O, and when the spurs put the clamps down, we're helpless. we just can't contain their offense the way we can contain there's so it's usually just a game where no team really gets a big lead, but where we seem to be just behind the entire time and eventually can't pull it out b/c we can't score. it's very frustrating.

the mavs just score all over us if they're hitting reasonably well. the fact we finally got the monkey off our back helps a little, and the fact they don't play much D helps, but i just don't like our odds at all of keeping up. even w/ good D they can still score on you.

the lakers would be a good matchup b/c obviously we matchup well with them. the best thing is they play no defense. we aren't the most cohesive or fluid offense but with steve and cat in the backcourt, jj hitting 3's, mo scoring off the bench, and of course yao manning the middle if you put up little or no resistance (which is what the lakers do), we can score. and since our D isn't a sieve against the lakers, we can hang with them and beat them. i swear i think in every game our fg% has been in the mid-50's at least into the 3rd quarter. one huge positive for this series is all the hype. 7 games of the most hyped game already. nice. one huge negative is if you think the refs treat us bad in the regular season against the lakers, you ain't seen nothing yet.

wolves are the best simply b/c they don't play that much D (or at least the crazy swarming stuff on yao that confounds us so) and they are the least battle-tested. plus, as we've seen, we can actually beat them.

i don't think we'll beat any of these teams but it would be more fun against the wolves or lakers.

 

Cassel scares me for Minnesota. He has championship experience (we shoulda never traded him ) and he understands the first round and out situation in Minnesota. Him and Garnett will be tough to stop in the playoffs. I really hope we get the Lakers. The Rockets match up well against them and Yao always has a huge game against Shaq. Plus Kobe's trial will probably force him to miss some games in the first round. Without Kobe I dont think they can beat us.

 

I would take Lakers as our 1st rnd mach-up.
If you want to win the NBA chimpship you must win against the most puissant opponent. And Lakers is the No.1,IMHO. We will learn a lot to compete with Lakers than others for our futher games.
You all see.Yao reached high level after Yao-Shaq V because he knows how to deal with the strongest opponent,and for those lesscompeters than Shaq,it's easy for Yao to pass,so does the Rockets team.

 

Good post Codell.

In order of who I'd want to play most:
Normally I'd say I wanna play the Lakers in the first round before anyone else, but they're a totally different team come playoff time. With that said, I'd prefer to play the Wolves in the first round. They are just about as unproven as us in the playoffs because they never win in them. Plus we just match up with them good, beaten them 2 outa 3 this year haven't we.

If Kobe or Malone is injured in the first round, then I LOVE our chances against the Fakers. Since we've had Yao our games with them are always CLOSE and more often than not we beat them. That game last wednesday really ticks me off - it's basically a win to me - we would not fold like that in the playoffs.

Spurs: Our defense is just as good if not better than theirs and we usually shut Duncan down, so bring 'em on.

Mavs: The game Sunday gave me hope. I think our defense would be a lot better against them than usual knowing that they're the final games of the season. The Rockets had always played pretty good in the first half during the 6 game losing streak to them, so they know how to beat them. I think we would get up and play at a higher level considering it is the playoffs.

Kings: Just go away. I don't want any part of that.

 

If Malone is out, and Kobe's in and out, then I want the Lakers, no doubt. Some here hate it, but I will be at the arena chanting the hell out of "BEAT LA!"

If Malone or(Yes, or) Kobe plays, then I want the T-Wolves. The Mav's, Kings, and Spurs are about equal in how little I want us to play them.

 

I am not sure about which team Rockets can match best, but I am sure the worst team could be Spurs.

Reason: They got BRUCE LI bowen!! At least one Rockets player may have season-ending (I hope not career-ending) injury because of the Kong-Fu Bruce. I have been really impressive with his game laterly.

 

A 75% Karl Malone is better than a 100% Medvedenko. Anyone who thinks Maurice Taylor can post up Karl Malone better look at Karl's physique. This guy is old by NBA standards, but he's probably still a top 5 player in strength.