Haha, good point. That's what I feared the worst. Compared to Suns, Rockets have played horrible this season so far. So we are probably not even on their radar screen yet. Well, they will be in for a BIG surprise! Check out Suns' forums. Most think they will win at Houston easily. http://www.phxsuns.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3684
I don't think we can count on Yao for a huge game. He's still going to be suffering from the flu and I don't think he'll have all of his energy back. He'll have to find a way to be solid, though, because we HAVE to have his points. TMac is going to have to show just how good he is, because the Suns' gameplan is likely going to be: Take TMac out of the game. The usual double teams should be there all night. As much as people are going to hate to admit it, the key for the Rockets is going to be Jeff Van Gundy. In order to win, the Rockets will need to slow down the pace of the game, play stingy man-to-man defense and contest shots, and limit second-chance opportunities. I forsee Padgett and Deke getting big minutes with our flower forwards and Yao racking up fouls, so we're going to need Wesley, Sura and Barry to get open and knock down shots. Juwan, Mo and Yao might have luck getting open regularly for the mid-range jumper. Nash is the Suns' engine, so frustrating him is important. I think Wesley would probably defend him best.
Put our quickest PF to guard Amare, and put Yao on help D. GET BACK ON TRANSITIONAL D!! Lot of teams got killed by the Suns just because they can't defense the fast break. Yao needs to do more ball fakes tonight, athletic guy like Amare tends to try to block every shot, it's a easy way to get him into foul trouble.
The key here will be guarding the Nash/Amare pick and roll. If you go under the screen and don't trap, Nash will kill you from outside. But if you double team, Amare will charge to the basket before Yao can recover, and with no other shotblockers he'll kill us inside. Here are some keys that we'll have to follow: 1.) If you shoot 3's, MAKE THEM! Missed 3pt shots lead to long rebounds. Long rebounds lead to Phoenix fast breaks. Phoenix fast breaks lead to Rockets getting blown out. 2.) Methodical Offense: Slow the tempo. Make the Suns play D for 20 seconds at a time. Keep the scoring in the 80's and 90's. 3.) Keep a man on Joe Johnson and Q. Richardson at all times through the first 3 quarters, and hope that Wesley can contain Nash's penetration by himself for a while. By the 4th, change up the defense and focus on denying penetration. Average shooters won't hit if they've been shut out the first 3 Qtrs. 4.) Keep them off the FT line. No careless fouls. We need to be at full strength for the whole game. I don't think JVG's usual strategy of just shutting down the other team's main man will work this time around. Marion, Johnson, and Q can all light it up.Just focus on contesting shots and staying in front of Nash. On offense, be patient and take GOOD shots. Hope that Yao and Tracy both have big nights, and that Sura plays aggressively and doesn't pick up his dribble. Wesley, it's time for a breakout game. JHo, keep it up on the boards, and try to get a garbage bucket here and there... We might have a chance.
1. The Suns do not have much of an interior (shot blocking) defense. This means tmac, Sura, Berry and Wesley must continuously attack the basket. 2. For a "small" starting 5 they rebound quite well. We must rebound very well defensively and limit their 2nd chance points. 3. We must play solid transition defense. They are a run and gun team. Everybody must know their assignments on transition D and execute it perfectly. Thank goodness we have 2 practice days before this game. 4. Slow the game down a bit. Not many in this league can stay with them in a high scoring game. Nuff said. 5. Wesley, Motay, Howard and Berry will definitely be dared to knock down open shots....and the must in order to give Yao and tmac operating room and breathing space on offense. This game is national tv (ESPN) in prime time (8 EASTERN). You know tmac and Amare will like to shine. It would be nice if Yao is completely healthy and rearing to go. Yao need to stay out of foul trouble early and we also need to limit our turnovers to 12 max. I saw tmac grimmacing in the last game against Utah Jazz (his waste or lower back area). I hope it is nothing serious - he would have to carry the team offensively because I do not see how Q or JJ could stay with him, and we need him to take fewer jumpers and simply attack the bucket + make plays.
Simple, shut down Nash, trap him when he crosses the halfcourt line. Take the ball out of his hands, and the game will be ours, it's really that simple. The guards also cannot crash the offensive glass, cuz the Suns are a fastbreak happening every single possession
Hope the Suns are really tired... After all they play back-to-back games. They play the Timberwolves the night before and Houston will have two days rest. This should be a good game if Houston is sharp like Sunday.
I strongly disagree with slowing the game down. In the 4 games the Suns have lost, they have had fastbreak point differentials of +10, +9, +7 & -7. We obviously can't out run them, but not forcing tempo eliminates easy baskets which we're going to need. It also forces Nash to play both sides of the ball. If we can keep the differential under 10, we've got a good chance. In a half court set, I'd use McGrady on Joe Johnson and Wesley on Q. I'd let McGrady sag off of Johnson and flash double Nash. We're much better off in a half court set having Joe Johnson make the passing and/or penetration decisions. As good as the Suns are at putting points on the board, Joe Johnson is -2.0 in a +/-. Marion and Voskuhl are not much better at +1.9 & +3.8 respectively. IMHO, taking the ball out of Nash's hands is a key. Shawn Marion is a very quick, athletic player...but he's hardly a typical PF. Howard and Mo need to take advantage of him in the low block. 15' jumpers by our bigs will keep the Suns honest and possibly slow them down. The game will be won or lost in Q1.
Penetrate. If they play a lineup of Stoudemire/Marion/Q/JJ/Nash just penetrate and try to get Amare and/or Marion into foul trouble. You take away Amare and put him on the bench for a long period of time, it'll take away their primary offensive threat. Amare's shot selection are more likely to go in (inside the paint) than johnson's or marion's or nash's 3s. Talk about Yao's mom. Get him fired up and make him WANT to punish Stoudemire and their scrub centers. He SHOULD be able to contribute (20/10, AT LEAST) effectively since they have no one that can guard him. Maybe Outlaw can bother him but Yao needs to put together a good game. Run. Screw the half court pace. The game versus Utah was an example of how NOT running a slow half court offense can pay off. Instead of getting the TO and setting things up, JVG should just let them take it to the hoop. Fast break points = easy points. Either you get a layup or get fouled.
All you have to do is watch how the Spurs beat them to see the formula: Rebound - don't allow second chance opportunities. Force the action - get to the basket and up and down the floor and you can hurt their game. Transition Defense - you won't stop them, but you have to slow them down. Half-Court Defense - get a hand in every shooter's face, especially around the three-point line, because they don't score as well when they are defended. The key to the Suns is their ability to push the ball in the open court because it creates wide open shots. In the half court, it is much more difficult for them to get wide open looks and their shooting percentage drops significantly. Phoenix is also not a good defensive team, so you have to attack them constantly. I don't think the Rox will win this one, but it will be interesting to see if they can contain the Suns somewhat.
Good point. This team (Rox not the Suns) have a tendancy to fold if the opposition gets up early. There's been too many games where the Rox have gotten off to a bad start, and had to struggle to comeback in the rest of the game. Though they've been better at that recently, with that horrible Bucks game being an exception.
the problem is that we do not have anybody that can contain Nash or Marion or Amare. They are very quick and we do not have fast defensive players. Amare wil kill us. he is to quick for us. I hope we wil win. but i fear we wil not
if anyone can think of a defensive strategy to win this game it's JVG. this is his time to shine! our offense will take care of itself. tmac + shooters like wes and barry...oh yeah and yao ....can hold thier own with even the suns. it's a matter of who will have the better defesive game. thats why i say we will win!
I think it's rather simple on paper. Executing it to a T will be the challenge. 1) Smart offense - meaning good shots within the halfcourt offense, go to Mo and Yao alot. Slow it down and no stupid turnovers, this means you, Yao (me). Anything to keep them from running is a good thing. 2) Rebound. Limit their second chance points. They have 3 great offensive rebounding options in Amare, Quetin and Marion. Keep them off the boards. This is either going to be a close game or a blowout by the Suns, I think there is a VERY slim chance that the Rox will be able to blow out the Suns, who can score 90 points in their sleep where we struggle to get anything over 90. Stuart
