Ok, hear me out. I also rather would have had the 2nd / 3rd seed playing the Hornets / Blazers but let's think about this for a minute, had we played: Mavs: Jason Terry is a Rockets killer, Nowitzki can be limited but cannot be stopped (not even by Hayes) and Howard in the end always gets his way. Combine this with the refs blowing the whistle in their favor, the 04-05 'Cuban' incident and nobody who can stop Jason Kidd / Barrea and you have a First round exit. Of course we would have a chance with home court but after last night's loss I don't see us winning on the road and a game 7 is never good for the Rockets until they prove otherwise. Hornets: With the return of Chandler we all know how the game would go, alley-oop, pick-n-roll, alley-oop, pick-n-pop etc. AB has maybe done a good job in the regular season against CP but I do not expect him to a great job in the playoffs. CP will step it up heavily and then there's the third offensive force: West. This guy has had his way with us most of the time and the blowout this week was not an indication of how they would come it in the playoffs. Also the refs again would be crucial with the flopping of CP. With home court we would've had a chance but with 3pt shooters like Peja and Posey I would've seen this series go again to 7 games, if the Rockets had not been knocked off earlier. Spurs: It doesn't matter that Ginoflop is not there, the team has experience, nobody can containt Parker and Duncan will step it up. The refs will not be kind to us so the flopping, shots after the buzzer, 3 sec violations and Yao hacking would've not been called. Then there's the 3pt killers Mason and that ahole Finley and of course Matt Bonner who has killed us at times with 3pt shooting. Lately Udoka has been good against us too and even though Scola has been terrific against the Spurs, I do not see us winning 2 games on the road so had we not had home court this would've gone to 7 games. If we would've had come court, I see them taking at least 1 of the first 2 because of our choke actions so again 7 games could've been very probable. Which brings us to the Blazers: Young & inexperienced. Two things that will work in our favor because of A. the refs will not be leading heavily towards one side, B. they are not good on the road and C. Blazers are one of the few who will play Yao straight up. Battier and Artest can contain Roy, Yao can go to work on both ends and their not that good defensively so Landry, Scola and the rest will have their good games to take us to the next round. We have an advantage at the PG spot I believe because of Lowry so that shouldn't be a problem. We also do not have to worry about flopping, except from Pryzbilla but the refs tend not to call it. The fact they have bigger and more athletic players is overrated so we should have their number. So I really think we can win this in 6 but we have to get at least one Win in these next 2 games. That way we have the advantage, confidence to win both at home and then it shouldn't be a problem. If we get down 2 however, I do not like our chances and we would probably lose in 5/6 but hopefully we can turn our choking ways into clutch actions against this young team. If we get down 2 against any other team I do not see us coming back at all so that's why I think the Blazers are the best way to go. Even without home court advantage because we might have a good home record, this does not mean the refs will favor us in any way, most reg season records do not mean much in the playoffs and we now take momentum home if we win 1 or 2 games on the road. This mainly because we lost last night and I do not see us bouncing back well, even at home. This Rockets team has shown it needs time to get on the right track and RA is a bit stubborn so maybe if we lose the first game or two, RA will shake things up a bit and get us going. This is also a series I see Deke playing a role, because of how Pryzbilla and Oden play. I believe he can play a big role in any series but RA does not and he probably has his reasons for it. I can understand how he does not use Deke not much, if at all, against the likes of Hollins & Dampier - Chandler - Bonner & that Argentinian flopper, but I cannot see how Deke should not get minutes against a center like Oden & Pryzbilla who do not have any outside game. One more plus: I like how in 93-94 we also went through Portland in the first round so LET'S GO ROCKETS !!! MAKE US BELIEVE AND TURN CHOKE CITY AGAIN INTO CLUTCH CITY !!!!!
chandler being back might be good for Houston because he may not be 100% and be a liability for the Hornets. Anyway, I do see you point and indeed, Portland is a good matchup for us. Im juts not that confident that we're gonna be able to beat them without homecourt. I have a feeling our backcourt will lay an egg on this one especially Brooks and Wafer :| Hopefully im wrong though.
Theoretically, yes, the Rockets match up very well against this team. However, Portland is a very dangerous team that can blow anyone out when they get hot. We're going to have our chances, but it's going to take our best basketball to beat them four times. I can't wait.
Either we win one of the first two games in Portland and win this in 6, or if we go down two, I hate to say it, but get your fishing rods out.
Truth be told, we should be playing the Spurs in the first round w/o HCA. If not for the refs completely botching Finley's three in Sactown, we would face them. Portland got effed. I feel like we caught a break in the end...for the first round, at least.
Blazers will front Yao; Yao can be neutralized by any scrub above 6'10" with fronting defense. Yao doesn't have the speed and hands to catch a lob, and we don't really have a point guard to toss consistant lobs.
The only thing that makes me feel better about last night's epic fail is that if we had to play one team that we might actually be able to steal one from and then take care of business at home, its Portland. They have no playoff experience, very young team and all the pressure is going to be squarely on them for the first two games. Of course that doesn't solve our "Artest gets the ball, goes bat**** crazy and destroys what used to resemble a fluid offensive gameplan" issues.
Man, the inexperienced bit is overplayed, who on the Rockets is expeienced? We are young and inexperienced too... I do not think this matchup is all that great for us. The only place we have a clear advantage is at center. Homecourt means a lot. DD
The inexperience of the Blazers in comparison to the relative experience of every other team can't be overlooked, not trying to overblow it and say Portland isn't going to perform well, but this is a team we at least have been able to beat. You can't just say that isn't a factor.
Certainly, but I don't think experience is that much of a factor when you have a team whose primary experience is one of choking in the 1st round. Is it better to be inexperienced, or have experience at failing? I don't think their youth is all that much of a disadvantage, particularly because they have Brandon Roy running the show, we have no one as mature or as intelligent and skilled as he is on our team. When the games get tight, he is their guy......all that happens on the Rockets is that the going gets tight, and tighter, and tighter still. DD
I know Dwyer says Brandon Roy is a superstar trapped in a sluggish offensive system that bridles his output, but guys like Fernandez and Outlaw are who you wonder are going to be up to playing at a high level when its bench time.
Couldnt agree more. No matter how inexperienced you are, if you play well as a team, you win as a team. They are young and fast, we are going to have our hands full. I wouldn't be suprised if we went down 0-2 and bring it to game 7, which we will win of course!
In most series our bench has an advantage, it is why last night still pisses me off, against Portland they have a better bench, much better. There is no silver lining, and I don't think Artest is mature enough to make smart decisions over the course of a 7 game series, and the PGs on our team are not comfortable enough in taking the ball away from him. Gonna be interesting, but if Artest does his Artesticle stuff, then I do not want him back.....at any price. DD
If we could possibly get Shawn Marion for Artest money... I'm all for it. I love the guy's intensity and I honestly do feel he fits in here, but not as the #2 guy on offense. He is not a volume shooter. He shoots us right out of the game.
"Experience" has a lot to do with how you compose yourself in the fourth quarter. Yeah, they are young, but their 4Q poise is nothing to sneeze at. Ask the Lakers. This will be a dogfight.
I feel very comfortable in winning @ Portland, not so much at any other city except for New Orleans maybe. The only thing I am worried about is Artest and Wafer. Artest with his gambling on defense which will end up in many dunks by Roy, Outlaw, Fernandez, Batum, Aldridge or Oden. Second thing with Artest is he will probably guard Roy the most, because he wants it and plays at the 2. This worries me because even though Ron gets away with a lot of physical play, Roy can handle it and can blow by him so Battier would be the better option on him. With Wafer we have a serious problem, even though it would be the case in most series (just look at how he left Terry & Kidd open last night). When he has to play Roy, Fernandez or Outlaw who can all shoot the three and come off screens I feel we will get killed if Von doesn't step up on defense. The only reason he didn't get many minutes last night was because he lost track of Terry on screens a lot of times and left three point shooters wide open. You cannot do this with Roy, Outlaw and especially not with Fernandez. However, if the Rockets just for once make the adjustments and beat fronting Yao will have a heck of a series and will carry us to the 2nd round.
