[BARKLEY on the series] Utah was a bad matchup for Houston

now utah would have to approach their next opponent completely difference because they are .... Fast

 

If you go by that, only San Antionio and Dallas are good matchups for the Rockets because all the other teams are more uptempo teams.

 

If you wanna talk about bad matchups, WE were supposed to be a bad matchup for the Jazz. We were the 3rd best 3 pt. shooting team and the Jazz are notorious for not guarding the 3 point line. We have the "best center in the NBA" and Okur is a softie on defense. We also had T-Mac on Derek Fisher. We have far more matchup advantages than Utah.

 

Actually Dallas is bad for us too because they just sit Dampier/Diop and put Dirk at the 5 and run us off the court.

Basically with the way the game is called today, having Yao CAN be a disadvantage

 

I was kind of in the closet about it, cause im always an optimist, but i was nervous about this series. Utah, like the Suns is a team that can use Yao to their advantage, instead of be dominated by Yao. The Jazz weren't a team like the Suns that would run up and down like crazy and rush Yao would little guys, but it was very hard for Yao to guard Boozer. Boozer played great, but Yao was just too slow to guard Boozer. Hayes could've done a much better job, but then Yao would have to go behind the arc to guard Okur. Utah was a horrible match up for Yao, because no matter who he was guarding he would be at a disadvantage.

 

My biggest disappointment is not being eliminated. It is the fact we don't get to see how the Rockets matchup with what appears to be the general trend in the league. We played a genuine throwback series against the Jazz, so we really have no idea how we might have been able to do against Phoenix or Golden State. Even if we were to get swept in the second round, I would still want to know how it happened.

That said, I don't agree that the Jazz were a bad matchup for us. We picked a half court team, like ourselves which was a major thing in my opinion. There was no battle for the tempo of the game, so it boiled down to execution. Boozer abused us throughout the series, but every serious playoff team has a serious mismatch to throw at the opposing team.

They have Boozer, and we have McGrady and Yao. We lost.

 

I still think Deke should have gotten more minutes. Rockets sole win over the Jazz in reg season involved Deke with his 17 rebs.

 

i dont really buy this: so JAZZ is bad match, who else we could win? if you want to be champ, no bad matchup

YAO/TMAC didnt deliever, simple and easy

 

Bottom Line:

Offense:
Our role players can only shoot jump shots and even then, inconsistently.

Defense:
Yao is too slow to guard attacking PFs and Rafer is too slow to guard quick PGs. That's a bad combination.

Any matchup would be bad for us.

Rafer vs. Deron Williams/Baron Davis/Tony Parker/Steve Nash

Of that group, Williams is the most inexperienced and playoff savvy.

 

I dont understand why didnt he try to switch Yao on Okur, at least just for few possessions. Just let Okur shot his long jumpers and see if he can make it. Okur is not a volume shooter anyway. Hayes did a respectable job on Boozer. But defensive genius JVG never TRIED. What adjustments did he make? NONE. And dont let me start how we have 2 offensive superstars but always struggling to get 80 points.

 

That is dumb. The difference is Okur is strong enough to hold his own against Yao, while Dirk is a terrible, terible post defender--Yao will eat him alive. That is why Dallas almost never put Dirk at 5 for extended period against us. Dallas has to put Dampier in the game to defend Yao (coz Diop isn't that good on Yao), that slows down their pace and that is to Houston's liking.

 

i Blame this game on JVG with bad game plan.

For once, I think Yao should be bench and let deke play more on guarding Boozer. For those minuates that deke played he was actually more effective than Yao on guarding boozer and grabbing the rebounds.

I was waiting to see if JVG would put deke and his elbows out on the jazz, as they were playing all physical on rox the whole series.

 

So Utah is a bad matchup for us, but then so is GSW and Phoenix. Oh and let's not forget Dallas, if they made it to the second round.

So who's left?

 

I wonder which team in the west conference playoff would be a GOOD matchup for us? Maybe the lakers? the Nuggets?

Or maybe we're just not good.