Chris, Fort Leavenworth, KS: What do you think about the Mavericks trading away one Antoine W. / Antwan Jamison and/or Michael Finley to fill the void they are missing in the middle to make a championship run? Also who would be willing to trade for Stevie Franchise to help build around YAO MING, I see him the same type of player that AI is, but not quite as good? Would love to see YAO with the Mavericks, but HIGHLEY UNLIKELY. Dr. Jack Ramsay: (4:02 PM ET ) The Mavs are willing to deal any of those three...but they're probably not going to get a center for any of them...Dampier is their only hope...and I think he'll end up with Memphis. Yao? no chance. Patrick Boston, MA: any chance of boston getting Steve Francis? Dr. Jack Ramsay: (4:08 PM ET ) Slim and none...they have nothing to offer other than Pierce...and that's not going to happen. Plus, Ainge likes Banks... Spencer (Houston): Hey Dr. After the All-Star game and the game against Shaq, do you see Yao finally have his NBA game going, or he is still an up and down player? Do you see the Rockets make the playoff this year, and do they have chance to pass the first round if Yao keep play aggressvie? Dr. Jack Ramsay: (4:13 PM ET ) The Rockets seem ready to take off...good team D, and Yao is getting the ball more often...after averaging only 10 shots a game...had 21 vs Lakes. Francis is the key...more playmaking and less individual play is what the Rockets need from him. They should make the playoffs...advancement dependent upon opponent. They could beat Dallas... Dean Tucson, Arizona: Hey Dr Jack, I've heard a lot of rumors of a Pacer/Rockets swap of Austin Croshere for Mo Taylor, or Cato. I'm wondering what you think of that type of deal, and also are the Rockets thinking about moving Francis? Thanks Dr. Jack Ramsay: (4:17 PM ET ) I don't know why Houston would do that, although they might like Croshere's 3-point shooting. The combination of Taylor/Cato is working pretty good for them. Still taking questions
Rockets 2-year record against Mavericks: 0-5 Rockets 2-year record against Lakers: 4-2 It's good to see that Dr. Ramsay's analysis sticks to the cold hard facts.
Yeah, the three teams I'd least like to see would be the Mavs, Spurs, and Kings. Much rather play Lakers, Wolves or anyone else. The Mavs kick our @sses every time we play.
Well if you are ever gonna make some noise in the playoffs then we are going to have to beat one of those three teams. Kings, Mavs, or Spurs and I for one believe that we could beat the Mavs. Not quite as sure about the Kings or Spurs though.
Dallas is the last team I would want to play....It's hard to match up with them...in fact, that's the problem. If you end up matching up with what Dallas puts on the floor, then you're in trouble. You would have to have them match up with your lineup. They zone up against us and Yao has a hard time in the blocks. Then they put that line up of Dirk, Walker, Nash, Finley and Jamison on the floor...it's makes it almost impossible for Yao to be on the floor if he's not having a good offense game. Yao on Dirk doesn't work. I like Dr. Jack, but that's a bold statement about Dallas.
I think that we have better chance with Spurs and Kings. Against Spurs the game is mostly decided in the last several minutes so we always have chance. The key against Kings and Maverick is the control the flow of the game. Unfortunately, we don't have the PG that suits that job.
Actually, I'd LOVE to match-up with Sacramento. They got us a little early this year, but we typically have their number. I'd take the Lakers, too. I'd avoid Minn & San Antonio like the plague, though.
Yeah, I REALLY would be surprised if the Wolves don't make it out of the first round this year. They have just played too well this season for that to happen to them.
Don't let these regualar season games fool you. The last team I want to see in the first round is LA.
I always thought we matched up well with the Lakers. Don't think I'd want to see them though if they start playing well together. Who know if that'll happen, though... We don't play well against the Spurs or Mavs. I don't think we match up well with the Kings. I'd guess we could play the Spurs or Timberwolves okay. Minnesota is going to be tough with the whole 1st round thing. The Spurs play similarly to us. Don't know if that's a good thing... Doesn't look like we match up well with anyone in the playoffs. I just don't see us beating anyone if we even get there unless the Lakers still aren't playing well together.
Twolves will most likely get past the first round this year unless they match up against us. With the Mavericks .. I think we can beat the Mavs in a 7 game series, because they are a jump shooting team (like Seattle, Dallas, Kings) when you make your shots your unstoppable but everyone eventually runs cold. Thats why a big man is so important he can get you high % shots in close that may even cause other teams foul trouble. I think we were too much of a jump shooting team the first half and I hope we continue putting it on the floor and attacking the basket like we did with the Lakers. I was quite impressed with Cat's driving abilities and we all know SF3 can create off the dribble. If we attack the rim and get the ball inside we are one dangerous team. JVG stated early in the season points in the paint doesnt mean big man scoring inside (its layups, dunks, hooks) everything. J
I think that due to our style of play, we would have a chance against SA, MIN, or LA in the playoffs (In fact, I really think that we can beat MIN no matter what their record says). We can't run with Sac or DAL and hence have no chance against them.
Despite our record against the Mavericks of late, I would much rather face them in the first round of the playoffs than the Lakers. I can't see how Bradley, Fortson, or whoever they have at C can stop Yao right now. Taylor however is going to have to learn how to play defense pretty quickly if we want to match up with Nowitzki.
Good point, the Mavs has so many win over us in recent years, mostly by their outside shooting and fast break points. But they can't survie the physical playoff half-court basketball, no big man inside will be their major weakness.
The Mavs just beat the Knicks recently. Whats interesting is the lineup they used. They didnt not play any of there 3 big men a single minute so they could keep Dikembe on the bench. They just ran all game to keep his shotblocking ability on the bench. As we all know one of Yaos biggest weaknesses is running the floor and his stamina.
If my recollection of the last game against the Mavericks is correct, it wasn't just Shawn Bradley guarding Yao. Dirk was also in Yao's back pocket. The one thing about Don Nelson as a coach is that he emphasizes attacking a team's weakness. This is why he uses Hack-a-Shaq or the Bruise-a-Bowen (last playoffs) a whole lot. He's a clever coach. Yao is going to have Dirk and Nash all over him because Steve Francis and Cato are the worst jumpshooters of the Rocket starters.
Well I think the Knicks lost that game because the Mavs controlled the tempo. If we play the Mavs/ Kings game we will get smashed we have to control the tempo and run our sets and JVG better make some good ingame adjustments since we know Dnelson is pretty good at that. Dont get me wrong Mavs/Kings are great teams but I think we can beat them in a 7 game series of grind it hard nosed tough defense basketball. I think some of the problems we had against them are being worked out now and im willing to bet we have a different outcome this time around. (game coming up) J
It'll be awesome for Rox to play Lakers in the Playoffs. Can you imagine what the media is going to be like knowing there are 4 more Shaq vs Yao games ahead of them. Man!!! I bet ESPN is fighting with TNT for all this coverage.
Not just kicked our asses, Mavs kick our asses badly every time. I remember losing to the Mavs by double digits every time. Not once do we fight and loss a close game to Mavs since Yao's arrival in Houston. Otherwise, we kicked every other good teams' butt. I hate the Mavs just because we never beat them yet.
