You guys will see Van Gundy put it down this series. It's one thing to coach from game to game against different opponents, but 4 to 7 games in a row against the same team is a whole different monster. Think back to the Laker series last year. Yeah we lost 4 to 1, but we were in every game with the exception of one, and this was with players that wanted to do their own thing. We were obviously overmatched, but we still fought hard every game. With this team, I think we would have beat last years Lakers in that first round. His experience and coaching mind will have us ready for Dallas, he will make adjusments as needed, and a seven game series is a long time for Van Gundy to figure an opponent out. If the players execute, we'll beat the snot out of Dallas.
Well I am not really sure what to expect from Dallas. In our big win up there in January, they doubled off Juwan and left him open for the 16ft elbow jumper. He torched them for 14-19 FG. But I just read in a post from Rileydog that Avery never doubles. So who knows what they will do with their defensive matchups. I know from stats that they are one of the top defensive teams as far as limiting opponent's 3pt FG percentage and I know from watching them that they love to pressure the ball on the perimeter and force cross-court passes for interceptions. I am not too concerned about this for our team though, because TMac, Sura, James, Wesley, and Barry are all very heady ballhandlers who can make the adjustment to dribble into position for better looks at the basket and better passing angles. Actually, the only aspect of their defense that concerns me at all is if Yao has trouble posting up against Dampier's hacking or gets called for a ton of offensive fouls if Bradley flops. Dallas' offense is another story though. They have 4-5 deadeye long-range shooters who can consistently drop daggers on us everytime we double or go to helpside. And they are all good slashers who can hurt us if we run out on them. Even Van Horn. They run some very efficient half court sets geared at making the defense pick its poison on who to leave open and right now the Mavs have been playing very unselfishly in hitting the open guy. I am not too concerned about their transition game as long as we control the boards - which I think we can do against this team since they do not really have gritty players (other than Henderson who won't see much PT) and since they spread the floor so much on both offense and D while JVG will be pushing for his players to gang rebound. TMac keeping Josh Howard off the glass will be key though. I think our best bet is to force their players (especially their forwards Nitwitzki, Howard, and KVH) to put the ball on the floor and shoot off the dribble. We have to run out on their shooters and Yao/Deke have to intimidate inside so much that Dallas players will have to settle for in-between runners and floaters, which I do not think they are capable of making. I've only seen Marion, Nash, Wade, Hamilton, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and Mike Miller consistently make those kinds of shots in today's NBA. So I don't think our D is going to be a Top 3 factor in this series. As in the game that we won up in Dallas, looks like we are going to have to put a lot of points on the board in order to win games.
Out of 4 we lost last year against Lakers, the 1st one was close, the one we lost in OT was close, so we were closer to the 4:1 record suggested. Clearly Lakers were the best team in the west. I dont think Mavs is anywhere close to the dominance the Lakers could impose. If we could hang tight with Lakers with Francis and Cat, we have better chance this time against Mavs with a improved team.
I agree. But unfortunatly I think that is going to have a lot do with the refs and just how much they allow Shawn Bradley to get away with. Because if Yao Ming gets it going, in will come Shawn Bradley, and everybody in the arena will be aware that Shawn Bradley is coming out there to do anything he can get away with to stop Yao Ming. so it's going to be a matter of just how much the refs allow Bradley to pull, hold, grab, or do anything he can to stop Yao Ming. This is my greatest concern about the whole series. Just how much will the refs allow Shawn Bradley to get away with against Yao Ming. I mean I can already see it. I better prepare myself and put away all heavy objects that can be thrown because I can already see this chump, this cheating loaf, getting away with some dirty tactics. We better have some damn fair refs thats all Im gonna say.
You mispelled "cylinders" in the last paragraph. You typed "Cylanders." Just thought you might want to change it.
I like your prediction. Houston in 7!!!!!!!!! I agree with all the advantages. GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No disrespect Jeff, but I disagree with your bench assessment. The only real impactful player on the Rockets' bench (IMO) is Deke. But here is what we have off the bench: Barry, Deke, MJ, Padgett. I think their bench is deeper and gives them more weapons to mix-and-match than we do: Stackhouse (6th man candidate, former 20+ ppg player, and can still do it) Marq Daniels (a good bench player/defensive player) Shawn Bradley (can knock down the 15 ft shot if nec, good defender/annoying defender/dirty player who gets up for Yao) Van Horn (very good scorer, a starter on many teams) Darrell Armstrong Again, I think our bench is capable, but here is (IMHO) what the whole series will come down to: our role players making their outside shots, because if they are at all inconsistent/ineffective in that aspect, then we will be burned by the Mavs, who are much better shooters from the outside than we are, and have more shooters than the Rockets have. Now, Dampier and Bradely on the inside, and Howard and Daniels on the outside are decent defenders, so don't take Dallas lightly in that aspect. Their defense is a lot better than the Suns' or the Sonics'. While it is true that their defense is not as good as ours, they have the capability (with their players) to turn up the defensive intensity a notch or two to be more effective on defense. As for the overall matchup, make no mistake about it: Rockets are by FAR an underdog in this matchup Can the Rockets win? Absolutely, but it is a slim chance (I would say a 40% chance at best). Dallas are, IMO, easily the 2nd best team in the West, only behind the Spurs. They are more balanced a team than in previous years (imagine if they got to the WC finals before purely on offense, add to that any amount of defensive effort and an argument can be made that they are THAT much more dangerous). There is a good reason why people here were dying for a matchup with the Sonics, because at least against them we were on a par (nearly a 50/50 chance to win or lose if the Sonics were healthy and had Rashard back). Now, against a MUCH superior Dallas team, the Rockets cannot in any way, shape, or form be considered even close to a favorite. I understand the homer aspect of it as a Rockets fan, but to say the Rockets are a "favorite" or even if you said they have an "even" chance of advancing to the 2nd round, then...well...you are either being hopefully optimistic or delusional Again, I would love for the Rockets to win and advance, but I am being objective here as much as I can. So here is my prediction: Mavs in 6. I would be content with an all-out effort by the Rox, but we are clearly at a disadventage against the Mavs (their collective talent, depth, size, and sheer offensive firepower might prove too much for us to handle)
I have to agree with tiger that we are underdogs. I feel like they're better..but I feel like if we play good..we can beat them. I also feel that Shawn Bradley is gonna be a little dirty/frustrated and throw some elbows around Yao and Dikembe and Tmac. Not cool if it happens
Michael Finley is as hit or miss as Wesley....he's basically a taller verion of Wesley. Sometimes he can be so automatic, with a nasty drive and dunk (whereas Wesley can be automatic with a suprisingly quick and effective layup on the break). I hope Finley is miss this series. I could see Dallas' bench being more productive than ours, but Finley not really being that much of a mismatch at all against Wesley.
Here are the Dallas Fans points of view: http://dallas-mavs.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=2&threadid=22223
I have faith on YAO/DEKE, they can handle Dampier/whatever. But Dirk is so so scary to me and yse, ref just love him and this guy got actor talent. I hope YAO is not in foul trouble
ya know..everybody is picking us upsetting the MAVs..dunno it's just too good to be true..ha ha ha..but i do hope they are right
