To beat the Suns, everything is on Scola's Hands. Scola must play a very diligent defense, allowing Amare to score easy baskets without committing stupid fouls. Offensively, he have to attack the basket every possession forcing Amare to commit stupid fouls and put him in foul trouble. Mutombo can take care of Shaq, Nash will not be a major problem IF guarded by Brooks. Of course T-Mac must play in T-Mac's way and we need a big contribution by Head. It will not be a bad idea to give Novak big minutes.
I agree, the Suns have no that can guard T-mac and Im just sick of the damn Jazz. Id even rather play the Spurs and hear it from my friends that are Spurs fans if we lost, than some how end up losing to the Jazz again.
I can live with losing to Utah 2 years in a row. The chances of that happening are slim hopefully if Tmac and the Rockets have anything to do with it. Please prove me right. Revenge is supposed to be a Mother effer. "I will be back.... We will be back" -Tmac
If utah wins in san antonio today, they become 3rd spot? Utah with 27 loses, San antonio with 26. San antonio is 1-2 vs utah (won 1 and lost 2). If we get san antonio we are doomed
hmm i guess suns would be a better matchup since deke can hold off shaq for a while, and we can cover all the perimeter shooter and just let amare get his points
I'd rather play Phoenix than SA or Utah.......their defense is porous and their coach far inferior to Sloan or Pops....
Dude, Suck. My. Balls. I'm a rocket fan. Go move to Dallas or Utah if you aren't going to believe in your team.
Call me crazy but how come no one wants to play sa i know their the defending champions but have u seen their offense lately??
All very good points. I think the Suns might be a little deceptive about how good they actually are. That perimeter shooting will be our end. In the end though, it's a very tough decision between the Suns, Spurs, and Jazz. We could beat all of them, and just as easily get mauled by all of them. I think we have the best shot at winning against the Jazz, but I'm not sure. Let's just wait for Wednesday to end.
Every year people think they're over the hill come playoff time, but 4 out of the last 9 years, they've won a trophy. And they have arguably the best PF to ever play the game. Just say no to the Spurs. As for this whole Suns/Jazz thing, no way no how the Rockets contain all the Suns shooters in a 7 game series. That's reality. Amare goes off for like 35 everytime he squares off against us. That's why the Rockets haven't fared well against the Suns the past couple of YEARS, with Yao or without Yao. We can't run with them. We can't stop them. With the Jazz, again, yes, they're a tough team to handle. But, we have a better shot of grinding it out against the Jazz, than going into a shootout with the Suns. And the Jazz aren't all that great on the road this year, which is a plus to us since we'll have HC. Last year is last year. This year is this year. Bring on the Jazz.
uhh look at sun's front court. They can still run with you if you choose to. But if you want to play halfcourt, shaq and amare would sure welcome that too
Concerning the Spurs: Ginobli will not be 100%. Groin strains are tough. Barry and Horry will be out for the 1st round. Finley has not been shooting well over the past 2-3 months. To beat them: 1. Rebound!!! Ducan, Thomas, and Oberto are taller than our front line, and rebounding is as important for them as it is for us. 2. Never leave Michael Finley alone. Seriously. Let Parker get 14 lay-ups, Let Duncan shoot over Scola and Deke. Bowen, Stoudamire, & Udoka have been hot/cold from 3 the second half of the season. Of course BAttier will be on Ginboli, but whoever is on Finley must be glued to him, If you keep him below 8 pts, you have a shot to win. Concerning the Suns: Raja Bell has been horrible shooting all year. I say Hill is still hurt and not a shooter, and Barbosa has seemingly lost his mojo. Nash does not seem to be the same player he was. I've watched 4 Suns games since the trade, and not once seen him take over a game, not sure if he is waiting til playoffs or what. To beat them: 1. Make Nash & Amare defend: Force them to use energy on defense and slow them on offense, and if Scola is aggressive and gets Amare into foul trouble we should be okay. 2. PnR them to death. Their best defender on it is Diaw and we will never use the player he defends to set the pick because of this. Shaq was horrible at this. 3. Again, rebound. They are taller, but we have craftier players. After a game or two, they may figure out the lanes to get to the ball and where the Sun's shots bounce to. Concerning the Jazz: Korver has been hot and cold. D-will has been solid but not extraordinary in awhile. To beat them: 1. Make players do stuff they don't do well. I.e. Korver & Okur are shooters, so close out and force them to drive. Brewer & Kirelinko are more mid-range and finishers, so force them shoot. Do not let Harping come of screens cleanly. I know it is easier said than done, and you may get burned a few times, but play the odds. 2. Play like the Jazz. I know this sounds dirty and cheap, but hey if the Refs won't call fouls every play to "keep the flow of the game" and it benefits the Jazz, why not use that to benefit us? At the same point, make their fouls shooting fouls by driving!!!! 3. I would love to see some randomly thrown in full court press. D-will is by far their best ball handler. Kirelenko, Brewer, Okur, Harpring, etc can get away with it some, but please try to trap them once in awhile or at least force them to take 8 seconds to set up their offense every play and have to shoot jump shots. 4. Rebound. We saw in Utah on Monday that a lot of their rebounds go long. During the regular season it is hard to prepare for that, because it does not happen against every opponent. In a series we should be able to prepare for that, and our young front court should be able to learn those rebounding lanes and get the ball. I'm not sure which of these is the easiest, or which one the Rockets would be better suited to do. The thing i see as the biggest problem with these 3 teams is that all three can neutralize one of the biggest reasons we win, rebounding. When we do not, we don't often (unless we are shooting an insane percentage (like 45% for this team) or something). The other things are do able, but rebounding wise, the best match-up for use is the Suns, then Spurs and then Utah. I picked that way because of Utah's front court depth plus size, and that Amare often can be put in foul trouble. So maybe the Suns are a better match up, but frankly we don't get to choose , the Suns do, so lets just beat the Clippers.
No no no, please no Suns. I just don't see us winning a playoff serie against Suns. Right now in that Wild Wild West the best matchup would be Utah I belive
