A blog on the Rockets: [rquoter] It would be a clash of organizational philosophies if the Lakers and Rockets met deep in the playoffs this year. On one hand you have the Rockets, who have had Yao and McGrady in their fold for years, but it has been GM Daryl Morey who put many of the pieces around those two anchors to make a contender. Morey comes from a statistical analysis background, and the Rockets are the most stat-driven team in the league. Earlier this summer I called Lakers spokesman John Black and said since basically every team how had an advanced stats guy, I was hoping to interview the Lakers one. Black’s answer: “Phil Jackson doesn’t believe in that.” And in the Laker front office right now, if Phil doesn’t believe in it, nobody does. The philosophies may be different, but these franchises may have assembled the two best and deepest rosters in the NBA. ... [/rquoter] real the full post here A couple things I took from this: Phil Jackson, and by extension the Lakers front office, are apparently not fans of the advanced statistical approach. An interesting contrast there between them and us ... Luther Head is listed as one of the talented Rockets. I get the feeling that others around the league will value him much more than we, the fans, do. That's a good thing. I think we have a chance of fetching something decent for him. And here are some misc. posts from the comments section: [rquoter] I can’t find the interview, but I’m pretty sure Andrew listed Yao as his toughest defender. He said something to the effect that it’s difficult for him to adjust against a player that is actually bigger than him, which is surprising since Yao has never been known for his defense. The Rockets are going to very tough. I’d hate to face a healthy Rockets team in the playoffs. I really, really like Scola. I think Artest is going to have DPOY type season. And T-Mac is T-Mac. Good preview. Comment by Brandon Hoffman — September 29, 2008 @ 12:35 pm [/rquoter] [rquoter] Offensively, the Rockets were a below-average team last season. They’re probably going to be more familiar with Adelman’s Princeton-style offense this season, and Laker fans remember how efficient it can be. Comment by chibi — September 29, 2008 @ 1:09 pm [/rquoter] [rquoter] I actually like the Rockets and find myself wanting them to do well. Obviously this is not to say that the Lakers won’t handle them as they should, but for some reason all of the hard luck and feel good press about them year end and year out has carved out a little soft for them when I hear anything about them. Of course with Artest this will probably all change, as he can never keep himself out of trouble on any level. So it will be interesting to see how they are protrayed this year in the media. Comment by Don W. — September 29, 2008 @ 2:03 pm [/rquoter] [rquoter] It’s very hard to know how the Lakers will match up with the Rockets. So many injuries muddied the matchups last season. I don’t think Pau even played a game against them. Yao missed one, and Bynum played under 20 minutes (only 5ppg) in both games he played in. Then you have Tracy who had to leave halfway through one game. Then there’s the Artest addition. Not the clearest of pictures to ponder off of. Lot of guesswork needed. Houston are the team in the West that I’m most worried about. They bring what Boston brings. They have that toughness, that unbelievable defense, they’re even better on the backboards. They have two top tier defenders in Artest and Battier to throw at Kobe Bryant and Battier in particular does a great job. Houston, like Boston, get the Lakers offense out of rhythm and stymie the role players effectively. They force Kobe to score big, and take lots of shots to do it (splits: 33ppg, 29FGA, 40% FG%, 4 turnovers). They do everything that bothers the Lakers. That’s why they scare me. Like Boston they also have three top scorers including a powerful small forward in Artest who’ll likely trouble the SF by committee (like Bonzi Wells did). I think Lamar Odom’s ability to play small forward will be very important for this matchup, and I think he could defend Artest better than the other options. Houston also have McGrady who can match, not all, but a large portion of what Kobe brings to the table. I’m very interested to see how Pau Gasol attacks Houston’s physical power forwards. He has a huge size advantage over Landry/Hayes/Dorsey and still a pretty big size advantage over Scola. He should be able to shoot over these guys. His ability to create his own offense and give the Lakers a second go-to scorer will be very important. If he only shoots the ball If he attacks Houston like he did Boston, taking only 10 shots for 15ppg, I think the team could be in trouble offensively. The team needs an aggressive/assertive Pau Gasol and if they get it they’ll be in great shape. I really like what Houston have going on their bench too. Deep squad. More good defenders, rebounders, some shooters. Lots of quality role players. They’re going to keep coming at you and attacking. In terms of the Rockets weaknesses …. Rafer Alston is their weak spot in the starting lineup but the Lakers likely won’t be able to exploit that. Another big weakness is Yao’s inability to defend when he’s moved far away from the hoop but the Lakers will struggle to exploit that also. Perhaps the Odom-Gasol pairing would be a good choice for big minutes, at least in the regular season, to see if they can get at Yao and take that Rocket’s interior defense out of their comfort zone. Probably won’t work too well, Bynum needs to play big minutes to protect the boards and defend Yao in the post. Be tough to exploit that at a high level. Their third weakness is how they defend long PF’s which Pau could exploit. I think Houston will match up extremely well against LA. Very close, very tough series. That would be a great series to see. I regard them as the biggest threat to LA in the West. With Houston and their health, who knows if this matchup even has a chance of happening come playoff time. Comment by Dave — September 29, 2008 @ 2:25 pm [/rquoter] [rquoter] It will take a near miracle for this Houston team to seriously contend. Everything looks right and mighty on paper, but they are unproven. Their winning streak, which contributed heavily to their final standings came without key pieces, and their newest prize has not played ONE game with them. I sincerely do with they do well, since I believe T-Mac and Yao to be above average citizens in the NBA, but them incorporating Artest and having a serious run at the championship is as unlikely as Ariza playing more minutes than Lamar. Comment by harold — September 29, 2008 @ 4:44 pm [/rquoter] [rquoter] Coach Adelman was/is leaning towards starting Battier and bringing Artest off the bench. W/delay in Battier’s recovery from surgery,that may be shelved for now. But Artest off bench would solve many Rocket problems,chief being no one off bench who could get their own shot. Vs the Lakers,great matchups all up and down the lineup-if they’d only meet in Playoffs. Yao vs Bynum. Yao’s strengtn,size and soft touch vs Bynums’ energy and athleticism. Scola vs Gasol. Scola’s hustle and uncanny ability to make junk shots vs Gasols’ passing and shooting skills. European readers can prob give us a good analysis of what happened when they met in assorted Euro/International contests. Arizza vs Battier.(Assuming these are the eventual starters at SF.)Youthful energy vs veteran cunning. Battier’s 3pt shot vs Arizza’s hi-wire act. Altho both will spend their time on the court guarding… T-Mac vs Kobe. Is there anybody who wouldn’t want to see these two going against each other in a series? Alston vs Fisher. Two solid pros who get the job done. Leadership,clutch shooting,adequate D,executing coach’s plans. Bench: Dorsey,Landry,Hayes vs Lamar. Different specialties vs Lamar’s all-around game and quickness. Artest vs Walton,Radmanavich. See above. Barry vs Sasha. Qui-Gon,Anakin. Farmar vs Brooks. Heart vs ligthning. Comment by Stephen — September 29, 2008 @ 9:31 pm [/rquoter] Just a sampling. There are some more posts in there.
Great work durvasa! Whoever that Dave guy is I'm impressed with his analysis of the Rockets and I can't say I disagree with him at all, although we no doubt would differ on the eventual outcome of a series. Regarding His Zeness and stats, you can bet that there's guys that are paid to stick relevant data in his face when necessary.
That last post mentions Artest off the bench... I wonder what it's like to be regarded as such a serious threat off the bench. I think that that would be a great weapon because if you bring in Artest off the bench it scares the crap out of the other team and he has to enjoy knowing this fact. I think Artest is going to really enjoy this role, as being the one who comes out to save the day. It's almost more flattering than starting in my opinion, to be the guy who comes in who can, and will, clean up house for the starters.
hopefully when shane comes back we get to see how well artest proves off the bench if they stick to that plan
Finally somebody posts this. I couldn't make a new thread, so I put it here (in the When did you see the Rockets First thread) in hopes that somebody would http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=3927087&postcount=111
well someone finally posted this. I saw this a couple of days ago but with the onslaught of threads we're facing right now I didn't feel like risking my "Member" status for it. But give Luther another chance. Utah is probably just a bad matchup for him.
