http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...A--?slug=ap-rocketsplayoffs&prov=ap&type=lgns wtf??? Rockets like chances against powerful Lakers By JOEL ANDERSON, AP Sports Writer April 15, 2004 HOUSTON (AP) -- Jeff Van Gundy noticed the unusual intensity of the Los Angeles Lakers in their regular season finale. The Lakers pulled out a double-overtime victory over Portland on Wednesday night, moving ahead of Sacramento to win the Pacific Division and secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Afterward, they celebrated as if they'd won a championship. What the Lakers really earned, however, was a first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets instead of the playoff-tested Dallas Mavericks. The best-of-seven series starts Saturday in Los Angeles. Houston, the seventh seed in the West, has won four of eight games against Los Angeles over the last two seasons -- pretty good for a team that hasn't been to the playoffs since Hakeem Olajuwon was patrolling the lane. The Rockets know that history won't mean much in this postseason. No team raises its intensity in April more than the Lakers, winners of three of the last four NBA championships. With veterans like Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and Karl Malone -- all of whom have played in the NBA Finals -- the Lakers know exactly how to pace themselves through the regular season to gear up for the playoffs. ``We know they're the best team in the league,'' Van Gundy said. ``We know what's ahead of us.'' Well, a few of the Rockets do. Houston has only one starter with any significant postseason experience -- forward Jim Jackson, who played with Sacramento last year. The closest the Rockets' two All-Stars, Steve Francis and Yao Ming, have gotten to the playoffs is watching them on TV. ``This is a big-time stage for us to grow and get better,'' Francis said. ``I hope this proves to be a good experience for us.'' The Rockets enter their matchup against the Lakers in a bit of a slump, losing seven of their last 10 games. Forward Kelvin Cato -- a key defensive option against Shaq -- has been in such a slump that he hasn't even gotten off the bench in the past two games and might not make the playoff roster. ``We'll find out in the next few days,'' Van Gundy said. Yao, who scored 29 and 33 points in games against the Lakers this season, has been the rare big man to have any recent success against Shaq. His 7-foot-5 height, touch around the basket and surprising willingness to mix it up with O'Neal could go a long way in keeping the series close. ``We'll just have to do better than we've done,'' Yao said. Indeed. Some people have even suggested that Houston actually wanted to face Los Angeles instead of another of the Western Conference's elite teams -- a sentiment that's surely caught the attention of the Lakers. Houston guard Cuttino Mobley scoffed at that notion. ``Sometimes if you wish for it, believe me, it will come to you,'' Mobley said.
man we're going to need Cato. JVG seems to be displeased with him for some personal reason, who knows what happen behind the scenes. But if this is how its going to go down, and he is not going to play, then the departure of Oakley really hurts us now because we are going to need all the big bodies on the bench to throw at Shaq when we want to intentionally put him at the freethrow line.
I think that he does the best job of all of our big men guarding Shaq, it's a shame if it's personal differences that keep him out of the lineup.
The rockets will put Cato on the 12 man roster. We are going up against Shaq. JVG isn't stupid, he knows we need big bodies
This is not a bash against JVG, just a question. Why did JVG chose to air out problems with players such as Francis & Yao, but not Cato? If Cato is complaining about PT, shots, late to meeting/practice, or even how he should be playing more aggressive, JVG usually would let that out to the media. Why so secret now? I hope it has nothing to do with substance abuse (1st strike, hence, not suspended).
JVG ususally don't hide behind a veil (sp?), he would've said something along the line "if a player wants PT, he needs to show me more aggressiveness when he is on the floor."
I get the impression that JVG has decided to use Padgett more for the shooting threat. Some people argue it is because of Cato's poor defense on craftier (read -- better shooting) power forwards. However, if Padgett makes even just 1 or 2 three's, the defense opens up for Yao a lot. Cato can't even hit a 10-footer. I would be dumbfounded if JVG was so stupid as to not keep his only legitimate back-up center on the roster. Cato is REALLY good at defending Shaq....
No disagreement that JVG is usually upfront with his comments. I just don't see mentioning that a specific player who has been a starter all season might not be on the playoff roster as "veiled". The comment seems pretty direct IMO. IOW, it doesn't take much to read between the lines if we all picked up on it.
If you tell guys like Taylor and Padgett they have to earn it, you've got to tell a guy like Cato he has to earn it back. But I worry about Cato a lot. He has the most fragile ego on the team. He might already be in a sulk from which he won't recover.
I heard an interview he did that they played on 610 updates and he was acting like the Rockets were the worst team in the Western Conference playoffs. He was laughing and being sarcastic about how he doesn't blame the Lakers for fighting like hell to try and win the Pacific in oder to face the inferior Rockets rather the Mavs. JVG is a really good coach but this is one thing I can't stand about him. He publicly disses our team and has no confidence in them. If our players have have that same attitude, we're going to be swept. Why come out and say things like these??? I know everyone seems to like his candedness but If/whenever Steve, Cat or Yao came out and said something like this they would be grilled and bashed to death. Peace. Rockets in 7.
That's funny. I started a thread about this a couple days ago and people blew it off and rated it a 1. I almost posted this AP article last night but I figured you guys weren't interested.
I was surprised it was bounced from the first page yesterday. I didn't look for it because I'm not sure what to say about this thing except that I am confused. Like Will, I'm just wondering if Cato's gone back off into never-never land. I just don't get it. Also if half this board is right and we are going to go through an overhaul this off-season we can forget about Cato having perceived value if he dosn't play against the Lakers. I respect Van Gundy, but I don't like him. Sometimes I wonder if he's just being a jerk because he enjoys it. Hopefully all this is about nothing. But it sure doesn't seem like it.
I think you guys are reading too much into it. JVG hasn't announced his playoff roster yet, so he doesn't want to "speculate" on individual players. You may have gotten that same response about any of our players if the conversation revolved around them.
I write about politics, so I can tell y'all that the rule about picking presidents also applies to picking coaches: You're always correcting the last mistake. Clinton was wishy-washy, so people voted for Bush, who was decisive. Only later do they start to see the downside of excessive decisiveness. Tomjanovich was soft, so Alexander picked Van Gundy, who's tough. Now we start to see the downside of excessive toughness. We'll probably veer back to Larry Brown next time around.
. . . I don't wanna hate, but doesn't this sound like a player whose team is already down 3 games to 0? I mean, sure, Francis precisely articulated my sentiment, but I wish the players themselves didn't view this as simply a "growth opportunity."
