We've got an 8-game series starting Wed, and I like how things are lining up: The Three Prior Games Wed, Nov 1: Rox 97, Utah 107 We can almost discount this loss, as JVG got his first taste of why Battier at the 4 wasn't going to work. Howard DNP and Hayes got only 8 mins, Shane managed only 1 board and 5 PF, and Boozer ran amok with 24 pts and 19 boards. McGrady opened the season looking subpar (this game: 8-24 shooting) and Yao did well but did not dominate. Fri, Jan 5: Utah 86, Rox 100 Yao was not present, but McGrady torched Utah for 44. Boozer nabbed 17 boards but did not score as well (15 pts). Mutombo took advantage of Okur for 19 rebounds of his own, including 8 offensive ones. April Fools Day: Utah 86, Rox 83 First matchup of the season to feature all main players for both teams. Yao (35 and 16) was the only dominating figure on offense for either team, with McGrady, Boozer, and Williams all shooting poorly against geared up defenses. Poor execution and decision-making late in the game cost the game for Houston. Running Subplots in the Three Games: 1. Rafer Alston gave his critics lots of fuel in each meeting: -->shot 5-13, 5-17, and 2-10 overall (30% for series) -->shot 3-8, 4-9, and 1-7 from the arc (33%) -->gave out 4, 8, and 7 assists, never having more assists than 3PTA in any game -->managed only 2 steals total in the 3 games (season average: 1.59 spg) 2. Shane Battier has been in foul trouble, getting hit with 5, 4, and 5 in the three games. The Rockets' Advantages: 1. With AK47 having such a bad season, no one on the Jazz can effectively stop McGrady, especially if he is at the 2-spot. The Jazz have to send help to bail out Fisher, Harpring, or Giricek. 2. Mehmet Okur can score well, but not enough to make up for the damage Yao can deliver to him in the post. Again, the Jazz are almost forced to send help in this matchup. 3. The Jazz are a good matchup in that they are a slow halfcourt team. Their tempo matches ours and we out-talent their stars with our own. Their defense is also similar to ours, in that they tend to collapse and are vulnerable to outside shooting. Rafer, Head, and Battier should get good looks. The Rockets' Worries 1. Rafer must play within his game. Maybe he sees Derek Fisher and a 2nd yr Williams and thinks he should take advantage of them, but his 8 misses in each game have been painful. He would do well to focus on what he does best - winning the turnover battles. 2. Carlos Boozer is not a favorable matchup for us, and Hayes and Howard need to go all-out to make his scoring difficult. The more he has to work on offense, the less energy he has to harass us on the boards and be an effective help defender (especially on Yao). 3. The High Pick & Roll: Sloan is able to have Boozer or Okur come out high with Deron Williams, and either can nail 20 footers with decent regularity. Yao and Dike are ill-suited to show on the perimeter, but JVG does not like to go to a zone much at all. It is imperative that the Rockets play this perfectly every time - Rafer and Head must fight through the screens, and the bigs need to show/bump the guard to slow him and deny penetration before they rotate to challenge the possible jumper by Boozer/Okur. If Shane or Tracy has to continually collapse into the lane to challenge Deron, we will be very vulnerable to... 4. Matt Harpring. Like the Jazz, our defense is designed to collapse and make the paint a no man's land. This takes away from our perimeter D, and Harpring is the kind of shooter that can hurt us. He's easier to leave on the court than Giricek because of his rugged D and rebounding. We can't forget about him or let him get hot. 5. Derek Fisher. His offense is gone, but he's still the most aggravating player in the league with the way he draws charges. It's not the biggest concern, but his "play" can get everyone frustrated after a few whistles. The Overall Keys to Success 1. Yao needs to punish the Utah frontcourt, which means the team must be ready to deal with the Jazz doubling/tripling to deny him the ball. Yao must be aggressive at establishing and re-establishing position and the team must be ready to sharply swing the ball to the opposite block and give him a chance to counter fronting. 2. The Rockets must discourage the pick & rolls without getting tagged with cheap fouls. 3. McGrady needs to carve up his defenders, and be quick to feed outside shooters once Utah collapses on his drives. 4. Rafer must keep himself from getting trigger happy and focus his energy on denying penetration by Deron Williams. 4. Howard and Hayes need to give Boozer a battle to keep him off the boards and make him burn too much energy to be a major help defender. 5. Make them pay from the outside. If the Jazz don't need to respect our shot, we could find ourselves in a nightmare scenario with Fisher, Kirilenko, and Boozer constantly harassing Yao and creating turnovers. Evan
Battier, Head and Alston. Our success depends on how well they shoot in the series. Its almost that simple.
don't be too cocky about the Jazz. this series will go 6 or 7. the Jazz are a good team. but the key for houston is keeping deron williams in check. i've watched quite a few jazz games this year. he is their best player and when he struggles, their whole team struggles. the key is: STOP deron williams and you STOP the jazz.
I like what JVG did in the last game. He put Chucky/Howard on Okur and Yao on Boozer. This keeps Yao from having to go out of the paint to guard Okur's 3pt.ers.
If Yao and McGrady both play to their potential, nothing else matters. But I voted for keeping Boozer in check.
actually my biggest concern is dont let Okur gets easy jumpshots, that'll kill rockets... and dont let Hapring go off..
My biggest concern is Mac not going off into Mac playoff form; if he does, we should be beyond fine against the Jazz, who seem to struggle against star 2s. Still, hustling for rebounds, shutting down Boozer (we did a good job last time) and reacting to the Jazz P & R are pretty big concerns as well. Overall, I'm not too worried. Maybe I should be, but I just don't feel the worry anymore.
