ClutchFans Game Thread: Lakers @ Rockets 11/14/2007

Good thing Lakers got a sorry bench too. So it's more like Tmac& Yao vs. Kobe. Yao will school those Baby Bynum and Brown. Rockets win 105-97!!

 

A likely win, the Lakes have a problem to contain Yao.

 

Charlotte and Memphis have LOUSY teams, so it isn't saying much that their crowds are weaker than ours. We have the rowdies, and overall, the noise at Toyota Center still sucks. People in the lower bowl and the corporate stiffs need to get off their fat lazy asses.

 

from now on, when there is a game, i am going to the parks shop.

infact, saturday vs phoenix, i am going to the parks shop.

 

Mike James will have a BIG game tonight. Silence to the Francis supporters.

 

Phil doesn't like to double post players at all. It is no accident that Yao has lit up the Lakers the past 6 times he's played them. Fronting should not be a problem unless there is a double team from the backside, which Jackson doesn't like to do. Yao needs to be fed, and there needs to be a commitment to feeding him. Of course you were happy last night since McGrady got to jack up his stats, but I wasn't since we lost.

 

Odom is back for them. No Kwame means more time Turiaf that's good for them as they get a decent PF on the floor. They might want it more, to equalize.

It's a home game though so Rockets should still be favourites.

 

Don't you guys remember that Yao/Kobe shootout last year that went into OT when Tmac was out and Yao and Kobe matched each other clutch shot for clutch shot but they squeaked it out in the end. I wouldn't mind seeing the same excitement but with a different result.

 

Trade Yao for Kobe and rings will come!

 

Pgabriel, Do you remember how we were arch enemies during Francis' first tenure. You were always defending him, and I was one of his many critics. Well, how times have changed, which is a testimony to just how bad Rafer is.

(set to Give Peace a Chance):
All we are saying,
Is give Steve a chance

All we are saying,
Is give Steve a change (or Brooks, Synder, the ball boy, somebody...)

 

your an idiot

 

Where is park shops? is that uptown park?

 

Damn I'm pretty sure there are to types of Rockets fans. Tracy fans more and Yao fans more and I think they are a rivals, really. I hate it cause people don't understand they're on the same team. And here on this forum there are much more more Yao fans. I think guys we need to stop it, we are still fans of the same team. Houston Rockets and the win should be important for us.

We have to stars. One night Tracy will go for 40 the other Yao. That's all.

We cannot be sure what will Jackson do. Maybe Yao will be hot maybe he will suck? We cannot be sure, it's game not nba live

 

I found this article interesting:

"The Subtle Difference Between Kobe and T-Mac" By Mike Moreau
http://www.***************/Story.asp?STORY_ID=6011


There are two ways to look at this season's opening night matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets:

Rockets 95 - Lakers 93

or

Kobe 45 - T-Mac 30

However you choose to look at it, they will face each other again Wednesday night in Houston. What a great opportunity to compare and contrast two of the top scorers in the NBA.

Watch almost any game Kobe Bryant plays, and what he is becomes evident pretty quickly - an aggressive, attacking scorer, with so many different ways to make a play it is almost impossible to defend him with matchups or schemes. Inside, outside, in transition, in the halfcourt, off the dribble, off a cut, in the post - you name it. The scouting report reads: Watch Out For Everything!

Although Kobe plays in the Lakers version of the triangle offense, he will frequently bail out of that three-sided ship and take on the whole defense by himself - and often with great success. He is fearless against any defender or defensive scheme, and will take on the whole team in the lane or at the rim. In any given game you may not see him score the same way twice.

In just the first quarter against Houston on opening night, Kobe took these shots:

- Catch and shoot jumper from a handoff at the top of the key
- Sweeping right handed sky hook off an elbow handoff
- Back to the basket spin move from the left elbow for a right-handed lay-up in traffic
- Transition jumper at the left elbow extended
- Transition hesitation drive from the right wing for a foul
- Catch-and-shoot three-pointer from the left wing
- Transition hesitation crossover - left-handed runner
- Steal, breakaway lay-up for a foul
- Catch-and-shoot jumper from the top of the key off a curl cut
- Curl cut, catch and drive, behind the back dribble shot fake for a foul
- Transition hesitation crossover dribble jumper
- Crossover - split the trap - left-hand lay-up off the high ball screen

That's just in one quarter - good luck defending that for 48 minutes.

...

 

...continued)

Tracy McGrady also has great versatility. He can score in transition, hit the jumper, drive and create, and post up. Whereas the Lakers run their triangle and allow Kobe to pick his spots, Houston seems to run more sets to get McGrady the ball in certain situations.

He will get lots of ballscreens on the wing and on the top of the key from Yao to get free on the dribble. When he hasn't had the ball in his hands in a few possessions, Houston will run the classic "single/double" to allow McGrady to catch and shoot off the screen. They will also dive him into the post and isolate him on a smaller defender.

Sometimes the Rockets will start T-Mac down in the post, and the action will begin with the point guard passing to the high post at the elbow. The guard cuts off the outside shoulder of the high post, then down screens for McGrady - who cuts off the post, gets the handoff, and drives to the foul line area. Getting T-Mac to the middle on the dribble is a common theme of Houston's action for him.

In another set, Yao Ming and McGrady will set up on opposite elbows. The point guard feeds McGrady, cuts off his outside hip, then Yao comes across the foul line to set a ballscreen - again allowing for T-Mac to dribble to the middle of the foul line area.

The Lakers take advantage of Kobe's versatility and creativity by allowing him to freelance within their system; the Rockets use McGrady's in a more systematic and structured way.

One interesting aspect of this matchup is McGrady rarely guards Bryant, but Kobe defends McGrady a significant amount of the game. The Rockets will start with Shane Battier on Bryant, then rotate as many as three and four players to guard him throughout the game. Luke Walton and Kobe share the duties of guarding T-Mac.

At the defensive end, Kobe relishes the challenge of guarding Tracy McGrady. Kobe gets up in him, picks him up full-court, denies him the ball, and contests hard on every shot. While T-Mac seems to accept this challenge, Kobe lives for these confrontations.

When Kobe has to guard a lesser player, he appears almost disinterested. But when he is matched with McGrady, you can see him come alive - aggressively challenging every move, being physical, and daring T-Mac to try and beat him. He competes hard and concedes nothing.

When McGrady does find himself guarding Kobe, Bryant smells blood and goes right at him. On one possession in their first meeting, T-Mac switched onto Kobe on a ballscreen. As soon as Kobe saw this, he backed out, stared McGrady down, then went between the legs, behind the back, then between the legs again and blew by McGrady. T-Mac "matadored" it and just swiped at the ball trying to get the strip.

On another occasion, Kobe had just jumped in and stolen a pass at the elbow, and was racing to the basket on the dribble with McGrady chasing. The fans were expecting a confrontation at the rim - dunk, hard foul, etc. Instead, McGrady just conceded the rim and swiped down hard at the ball - committing the foul.

T-Mac doesn't appear to want to challenge Kobe when faced with guarding him. He seems content to lay back, bail out, or just try to get a strip.

And maybe that's the true difference between these two great players. Both are versatile, creative, and can score in so many different ways. However, Kobe is also among the best in the league at both ends of the floor, while McGrady deosn't seem to have the desire to really mix it up on the defensive end. You don't hear T-Mac mentioned in the same sentence with "Killer Instinct" and "Rip Your Heart Out." Kobe should wear those on the front of his jersey.

It's that difference in mentality that may be the biggest contrast of all, and what makes Kobe arguably the best player in the game and McGrady merely a talented All-Star who can't advance in the playoffs.

However, this season T-Mac is playing with the best supporting cast of his life. So, this may put him in his best position to go deep into the playoffs - which is the real showcase for the game's best players.

And that is a stage on which Kobe Bryant has already shined.

 

rings will "come" to la...

 

Please WIN tonight !!

 

truly kobe is aggressive, and that's why shaq left la
i prefer a teamplayer, tmac

 

every time we play the lakers two things worry me:
1. we will lose a big lead and the final score will be close.
2.kobe will go for 50 or more

we really HAVE to step up. and i mean everyone other than yao and tracy especially after im hearing they got lamar odom back

 

Nah i like alston for kobe, rings will then come