If it's been posted, lock it up! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-HoustonPreview0506 Where will the Houston Rockets finish in the Southwest Division and the Western Conference? Get 12 different takes from ESPN's NBA experts. Go to the link for more info...
Oh, and hey... Be sure to vote at Dallas' page: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/polling?event_id=1711 I went there and spread as many hate votes as I could.
THE GOOD: Ric Bucher They should be the second-best team in the West by the end of the season. Stromile Swift's biggest contribution will be helping keep Yao out of foul trouble and on the floor. Chad Ford The Rockets may be the second best team in the West this season. If Yao progresses, Stromile produces and Rafer behaves, T-Mac and Van Gundy should lead Houston deep into the playoffs. Jim O'Brien Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady just got some more ammunition in the backcourt with Derek Anderson and Rafer Alston. Stromile Swift makes them deeper along the front. They could make the Spurs flinch. THE BAD Chris Broussard Need a Dawg to play next to Yao. Eric Neel I like them, but the backcourt is a problem, and with both Swift and McGrady, the team could check out for games at a time. Chris Sheridan True story: One night last June, a woman at the bar of the Delano Hotel in South Beach went decibel crazy while summing up that Yao is soft and T-Mac was worthless in Game 7 against the Mavs. THE UGLY: John Hollinger - get this guys headshot off of the website please!
I love the thorough analysis by the ESPN: The magazine. Stromile's pedestrian while Deke is old as dirt.
i also found this pretty fair: Hollinger's Player Spotlight: although Yao doesn't have great stamina, the Rockets have him running all over the place. On defense, they ask him to step out and trap screen-and-roll plays, then run back to the middle. On offense, he has to set a high screen for McGrady before he dives down the lane to a spot on the blocks. If he only had to run from block to block like Shaq, he might be able to stay on the court for much longer.
That's the only opinion that matters. He's a coach with real NBA knowledge. I don't care if there were 1000 opinions by these clowns acting like journalists or basketball experts against the Rockets. If an NBA coach who just left the game tells you something, then it has a lot of merit. I'd rather listen to a monkey than Bucher or Rosen
The team "scores" (which aggregates the rankings of the different starters and bench) is the most interesting aspect of it all. Even though the Rockets are the consensus 4th seed in the West (and considered by many of these experts to be a top 2 or 3 team), the Rockets' team score is a lowly 42, with 6 teams (Dallas, Denver, Phoenix -- w/o Amare, Sacramento, San Antonio and Seattle) scoring higher. That doesn't compute. The individual insults abound: T-Mac only a 9 -- He became a 10 during the playoffs. Yao an 8 -- He elevated his game in the playoffs to a 9. JHo a mere 6 -- The League should stop dissing this guy just because he was one of the first players to break the bank with a huge contract. The team's struggles at the close of the season are a testament to his skills. Bench a 7 -- I think anyone who followed the Rockets last season can attest to how great the bench was. But you know what? I have a feeling our guys like this kind of attention and doubting by the media. We're going to go out and prove them wrong. We need a chip on our shoulders, and the press has provided just that. So on second thought, thanks.
the lineup rundown was comical. especially the bench. i think the rockets have one of the best benches in the entire league but these guys just write them off as average. calling TiVO pedestrian, dikembe old as dirt even though he was awesome last year, and derek anderson always hurt but denied the fact he's going to be asked to play about 20 minutes a game, not start.
btw I'm so sick of the Rik Smits comparisons. When did Smits ever put up numbers like Yao? "Hi I work for ESPN cuz I don't know anything about sports. I just read AP summaries and stupid articles from other misinformed idiots who like me, have no clue about what's really going on in the sports world." and this from Tim Legler "Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming haven't come close to realizing their potential as one of the top inside-outside combos in the NBA. " followed by John Hollinger proclaiming Yao and TMac to be better than Nash-Stoudemire and Duncan-Ginobilli. I can only think of Wade-Shaq as being better.
Well even then, aside from his rookie year, Yao still gets the edge in PPG, RPG, BLK, and FG%. Nevermind the fact that Smits was a face-up jumpshooter from the high post and that Yao is a true low-post, back-to-the-basket big man.
espn nba columnists are horrible now, including scoop jackson. bill simmons and ralph wiley were two writers who actually had unique takes on the nba without having to resort to gimmicks or pandering to the audience. scoop's "ghetto slang" approach seems to be espn's attempt to bring back wiley's unique approach, without the intelligence and humor. i actually thought charley rosen was pretty good for the brief time he wrote for espn--his opinions are divisive, but he writes clearly and with purpose, and has a grasp of subtle humor. i liked chris broussard as a reporter for the new york times, but thus far his work for espn as a columnist has been mediocre at best. similarly, i felt david aldridge was once one of the best beat reporters and writers for the washington post, but when he later moved to nba commentary and television for espn, he wasn't as effective.
