O I will be there to watch The Rox tonight Last year it was painful to be a Rocket fan in US airway center but the status will change
The most important thing is : DO NOT EVER EVER PLAY SUN'S TEMPO!!! And a different Yao VS a different Amare Stoudemire. That's going to be interesting.
Here are my keys to Victory: 1. Impose our style over the Suns gimmicky Run & Gun style. Keep pounding the ball to Yao (there is NO ONE on their frontline that can hold him). He should shoot a MINIMUM of 25 shots tonight and try to get to the line as much as he can. In fact, our majority of our shots should be less than 18 ft in. This should limit the fast break points to the Sun due to shorter bounces from the rim and give Chuck Hayes good opportunities for putbacks. Try to limit shots from the corners. Corner shots usually leaves defensive imbalance. 2. Make Nash a shooter. Possibly stick VSpan on him for a majority of the game. He should have enough tenacity and quickness to stay in front of Nash. 3. Have Chuck Hayes POUND Marion inside (defensively and offensively). If Chuck is active getting Offensive Rebounds, this should limit Marion from those cherry picking run-outs. 4. Throw in Novak for a few minutes. Especially insert him when we have the guaranteed last possesion in each quarter. I never understood why JVG doesn't do this. If his concern is Novak's defense then why not jus insert him every time we have the last shot in each quarter. 5. Limit our 3's to a minimum of 10 attempts and NO CORNER SHOTS. 6. Post up TMac. Again, keep our shot selection to as close to the basket as possible and make them foul us. We have to slow the tempo down and nothing slows down the game as much as free throws. By the way, I would've loved to have Bonzi play tonight. He would've been a beast in there. Any thoughts?
you know what? I'm not going to be disappointed with the Rockets even if we lose by 50. They played well this month and they deserve a pat on the back.
anyhow i don't see how we lose this game unless the rockets decide to jack up bad shots and forget to get bad on D. defense is the key to this game, but DON'T underestimate the power a slowed down efficient offense can bring.. which is why i have to wholeheartedly agree with manhore on his notion that BONZI should be playing.. he gives us what we're missing, off. boards and post-up buckets. not to mention open 3's.
Let's put it this way, if the Rockets win this game I am going to be ecstatic because, rationally, I expect them to lose. Although, the Suns don't seem quite as in sync as in previous seasons. TMac needed to be in top condition for this game, and thanks to Mike James, who is now off of my other players I want list, he isn't. The back to back and travel doesn't help. The Rockets better slow this one down, or blow out city. Fans, you had better hope that the Rockets don't give the Suns the same transition opportunities they gave the T-Wolves.
Interesting matchup. For all the running the Suns do, don't forget that we still have a top tier defense. Superman (Hayes) vs Amare. Let's rock.
Let me get this straight. Half the board is saying, "Cut out the 3's and get the ball to Yao." Half the board is saying, "Play Novak, play Novak, play Novak." The real mystery is that it is the same Half that is saying both things. Go figure?
The great thing about Novak is that he seems to be able to hit HIGH percentage 3s ANYWHERE around the arc. He doesn't have to be in the deep corner to shoot. This should keep our defensive balance if he does miss. Also, I advocated to put Novak in SHORT minutes, not the majority. Novak is like any drug. He is great in small doses but don't get carried away or you become a basehead.
Right now, I would be happy if the following things happened: the game is kept close till the end (doesn't matter if we win/lose), within 5 points would be good. we show we can either run with them or stop them from running (and making 3s at will). there are no espn highlight type dunks on yao. chances are, we'll probably see them in the postseason... we have to figure out this team.
Definitely, but that's a given in EVERY GAME. Also, I would like for us to really PRESSURE the outlet passer. Or as soon as the shot is up (made or not), the man defending Nash, just stick him IMMEDIATELY. If we can just deny Nash the ball 40% of the time from the outlet passer, then we can force someone else to initiate their offense. This should disrupt their flow big time. And again, this will slow the tempo of the game.
Suns is a real test for us unless TMac is officially out, in which case it will be a hopeless one. Win or lose, I would like to see JVG comes up with some game plans to slow the suns down and limit their 3 attempts. Would be nice that we can sustain the run-n-gun style as that is porbably the most efficient way to defeat us.
