I thought this was very well analyzed. Now that Rosen seems to have gotten past his personal hatred for JVG, I find his articles a lot easier to digest. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6732590
pretty good read from rosen. the jazz made adjustments some good adjustments but they still couldn't do anything. if you look at the percentages that yao and tmac shot last night then they should have won, but they couldn't do anything again. our rebounding and hustle was excellent last night and that got us over the top. now we just need 1 hot shooting game in utah, hopefully game 3, and we will put them out of their misery. i would love a sweep but i will certainly be happy with 1 of 2 in utah.
If you read between the lines, he is still slighting JVG. He is saying that Sloan is an excellent coach and his players executed well defensively, but it's the players' fault for not executing well offensively. If he was was fair, he would have credited the poor Jazz offense to the Rockets and JVG's disciplined team defense in addition to the jazz players lack of execution. Its a good analysis, but he's being very one sided in his conclusions.
You noticed that too huh? No mention of the coach's awareness that the Jazz would bring a tougher game to the second matchup, and taking it to the basket would be a necessity. No mention of the rockets defense at all. But, it really was more a commentary on how the Jazz played, and little about how the rockets played save for results of matchups etc. so I won't take it too personally.
Rosen's game analysis was remarkably right where the Jazz left off. Good reading and let's wait till' the Rockets get to the hostile turf. GO ROCKETS!
that was a solid analysis, and i agree with the poster above who mentioned that this was much more of a jazz article than a rockets.... i dont view it as a slight towards jvg at all. if we can connect on our 3 pointers at a decent clip... look out. as it stands though, 4-24 from behind the arc and 36.1% overall is piss-poor. that wont cut it against the mavs, spurs, or suns.
The article was halfway decent but I would rate the Jazz a little differently: 1) Boozer was execellent on the offensive end but he was the one who allowed Chuck Hayes those 7 offensive rebounds. B+ instead of A. No experts including the ones on TNT cared to mention this because they were so busy blaming: 2) Kirilenko had a bad offensive game but he played pretty well defensively. He was no worse than our Battier, who always got the praise even with minimal stat line. Kirilenko had no TMac and Yao to provide him with open shots like Battier did. He should have a C- instead of a F like everyone gave him. 3) Okur also had a bad offensive game but he defended Yao straight up very well. He ought to get some credit for that. C+ instead of D. 4) The Jazz overall did pretty well as a team. 45% FG on their offensive end and limiting the Rockets to 36% FG was very good. 5) The Rockets won because we got off more shots, direct results of the offensive rebounds and low turnovers. The Jazz hard nose defense also put the Rockets at the FT line more. 6) The Rockets played very good defense despite what Boozer did. We gave him the outside shots but because we did not double him, noone else had any open looks. It's to their credit to have shot that well. 7) Bottom line, our star powers, TMac and Yao, our defense and Chuck Hayes's hustle was the difference.
For once, cleansed of his usual bile, Rosen tells it like it is. Translation: We won't survive the more athletic Mavs or Suns playing this way.
I don't think the article slights Van Gundy. It's just saying that the Jazz pretty much did all they could do defensively, and it wasn't enough. The Jazz are the focus of it. The Rockets will not let up next game. They will play looser away from home and all the pressure will be on the Jazz. I look for an early run by the Rockets next game, followed by a furious Jazz comeback, but an eventual Rockets win. Rockets haven't got their offense firing yet; they haven't yet played their best ball. Luther will get over the playoff jitters and find his game away from the pressure of Toyota Center. Shane Battier is a tough mother. Derron Williams is not going to forget what happened to him, same as D-Wade. (Anyone notice how much damage Rox did to Miami's season with Shaq and Wade?) I think the Jazz have already begun to feel psychologically beat down a little. They'd better come storming back for game 3 or face total collapse.
Congratulations to the Rockets, but this is the game we were expected to win. We have better talent, and played at home. Guys, we haven't done anything but hold our home court. Let's get focused, and steal one at Salt Lake City! BTW, it's a well written analysis.
Boozer was playing out of mind. I will bet he does not score more than 25 for the rest of the series and in at least a couple of games scores less than 20. When you live on a steady diet of 15-17 footers you can also die by them (please see game 1).
Agreed... but our offense won't be as hampered by their defenses. The Jazz's defense is really being underestimated. They play HARD for 48 minutes, and make the Rockets work for EVERY possesion, and EVERY shot. Sure, eventually there are breakdowns, and Battier, Alston, and Head get WIDE OPEN shots... but those no longer become a given when they're forced to expel as much energy as they do on both ends of the court, due to the Jazz refusing to ease up (they still, however, need to make a fair share of these).
Game 3 will be Utah's best effort of the year. We can not have another bad night shooting. It is about time Luther and Rafer showed up and hit some shots! We win by 4! Go Rockets!
