jmb247: Rockets guard James Harden clearly on the minds of Jazz players as they prep for tonight. Many mentioned him specifically after shootaround.
Or we could be 7-3. We lost 2 OT games + 1 game where we led by 5 w/ 1:30 left. Pointless to play the "we could be..." card, because it goes both ways.
the Jazz played Millsap at SF with Hayward off the bench a game or two ago. It was a bad move. Here's to hoping they continue with that experiment. Millsap has also been inconsistent this season. Very bad on offense on his bad days but then again slumping players always seem to find form against the Rockets.
I don't see any real problem with our offense and it can only get better (we are number 10 in ppg and the ball is moving well in the past few games), yet people loves to concentrate on critizing/defending individual players. IMO defense was the real problem in the past 2 games. We don't have enough bigs to match up with them (Blazers & Lakers). Poor Asik. Hope to see more analysis on the whole team after games. Looking to bounce back vs a less talented team. Let's go Rox! Get a blowout WIN tonight!
Exactly! I think people should really consider this. The rockets are the YOUNGEST team in the NBA. Their #1 option joined as pre-season finished and played his first regular season game with the team within days of joining. They are still figuring out a lot of stuff: chemistry, offense plays, defensive roles, rotations. AND they have enough cap space to sign a max level player (though I don't think they should use it all as they will need it in two years time to up Asik and probably Lin's salaries in order to keep them). But really the Rockets are so close to being a very hot team with just a little bit of tweaking. Despite the results, there's a lot of reason to be very optimistic about their future.
The Jazz are typically a mediocre road team but a home court juggernaut. I don't know if they have secret home court powers or if they just get All The Calls. All of them. The Jazz play a lot crisper in Utah, sure, but that home court advantage is the stuff of legend. In general, I'm awfully pessimistic about tonight's game, including the dubious Kelvin ("So you can see why I'm not a head coach") Sampson decision to rest the starters for this game when last night's game was well within reach.
P.S. That said, we do NEED a win tonight. With the Bulls and the Knicks coming up, we could easily find ourselves with a 5 game losing streak if we lose tonight and while I don't think it would be an apocalyptic event per se, Clutchfans would probably erupt into civil war and it probably wouldn't be the most ideal scenario for the confidence of these young players.
What still gets me is the fact that Harden + Defino's total minutes add up to almost as much playing time as the OTHER THIRTEEN GUYS. I mean, there's young, and then there's fetuses.
Chandler Bang the 800,000/year player has been outperforming Jeremy Lin the 8 million/year player game after game. Rockets should give Chandler Bang a bonus!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Jazz will stick with new lineup tonight. Jefferson, Favors, Millsap across the front. Foye and MoWill in the back. Hayward, MaWill bench.</p>— Jim Burton (@jmb247) <a href="https://twitter.com/jmb247/status/270599440862179328" data-datetime="2012-11-19T18:48:28+00:00">November 19, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Rockets guard James Harden clearly on the minds of Jazz players as they prep for tonight. Many mentioned him specifically after shootaround.</p>— Jim Burton (@jmb247) <a href="https://twitter.com/jmb247/status/270599845788667905" data-datetime="2012-11-19T18:50:05+00:00">November 19, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Rockets PG Jeremy Lin got the whole "Linsanity" thing going with a 28/8 game vs. Jazz last Feb. in NYC. Was his 1st start of his career.</p>— Jim Burton (@jmb247) <a href="https://twitter.com/jmb247/status/270619022750515200" data-datetime="2012-11-19T20:06:17+00:00">November 19, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Paul Millsap lauded the Rockets' guards: "They're going to pick-and-roll you all night, and we've just got to be ready for that."</p>— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) <a href="https://twitter.com/DJJazzyJody/status/270596992785346560" data-datetime="2012-11-19T18:38:45+00:00">November 19, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Say what you will about ol' 6 inch vertical Al Jefferson and the questionable outside shot of Paul Millsap at the three, that is a huge front line.
Ben_ESPN: ESPN has added two @HoustonRockets games to its 2012-13 @NBA sked: #Celtics at #Rockets Dec. 14, 8p ET & #Rockets at #Mavs Jan. 16 at 8p ET https://twitter.com/ben_espn/status/270658653927899136
Lin is a tough guy he has taken cheap shot after cheap shot and got up time after time it's his game tonight big game for linsanity
