Give credit where credit is due. Those guys are good but it's our players and defensive schemes by Rick Adelman that has slowed them down. Barkley and Kenny said it best yesterday in the post game. Our role players have out- hustled them and played with more intensity.
Not sure I saw this anywhere in the discussion, but imo most of these games would not be as close if Deke was still playing. Not saying he is the top 5 guy or anything, but with his defense/shot blocking/rebounding while Yao is out these games would not be as close as they are. Not sure Roy would be driving quite as much, and hence getting to the FT line as much with Deke down low for 15 or 20 a game.
"Two top ten centers" my ass. Blazers have zero post game - zero! 4 points, nine fouls last night - pretty normal. They just can't compete against the Rockets - Lakers - Spurs - Mavericks - Sun - Celtics - Magic - Nuggets - etc., etc. Their jump shooters can compete as long as they're making shot, but when they (inevitably) go cold, they suffer.
Of course the Blazers have a talent advantage in this series - they don't have a $21 million hole in their starting line up. Stop underestimating the Rox and appreciate what they do have. Just think when we finally: * Get great players to fill that $21 million hole * Brooks and Lowry are more experienced The future looks bright for this franchise. BOOK IT.
I think they have more athletically talented players than us, but I wouldn't call them better. They have a couple of guys who you know can score big, and carry that team. We have a TEAM. Anyone of our guys could be "our" guy for a game. Our leader can be Wafer, Yao, Scola, Brooks,......and at times even Artest. You never know which one of our guys is going to step up and be the team leader on any given night. Portland, you know Roy and Aldridge are their main guys and perhaps outlaw when his head is screwed on right. That's it. It's like how we used to be a team, where it was only TMAC and Yao....and occasionally Rafer. The Rockets are a TEAM......they are all hustle guys....they are smart....they are tough. We don't have athletic guys, except Wafer.....and that's why he seems so damn athletically gifted.....because we haven't had that since the younger and healthy TMAC. I think the Rockets are a better team.....the term being...>TEAM< Blazers do have more talent.....but that given talent / athleticism can only take you so far. You need to have the smarts and grit too. GO ROCKETS.
I stated that this series would've been over last night had Deke played. The paint would've been locked down and there's no way Roy pops off for 42 in game 2.
lol Exactly, Greg Oden has been injury prone, foul prone, doesn't even have a full season under his belt yet, and a ton of ppl still question whether he's going to be a bust or not. Somehow this guy has become a 10 ten center is a joke. The kid has potential but that's about it. As for Pryzbilla, he would make a decent backup center in this league for his toughness and that's about it.
I think the same way as well. Game 2 was a layup drill for the blazers especially in the second half. Deke would have made a huge difference.
6'11 jump shooters with no inside game are useless. Inexperience is overrated also. Von Wafer and Kyle Lowry are supposed to be inexperienced.
So your just as ignorant for not posting numbers in your initial post??? You said the Blazers are a good shooting team and we are average. Well...... Rockets - FG 48.1%, 3PT 40.9% Blazers - FG 45.1%, 3PT 38.3% And as for depth, the 3 players playing significant minutes off both benches are Outlaw, Fernandez and Oden for Portland and Lowry, Wafer, and Landry for us. So far this series our 3 have outperformed their 3 and the series is just about over.
What in the world. 1-11 the last twelve regular season games against us. Down 3-1 in the playoff series. Blown out by 25+ in Game 1. Had a 17 point deficit in Game 3. And they are the better team? Don't get me wrong - the Blazers are plenty dangerous. And by no means should the Rockets think this series is over. But it's pretty obvious Portland has talent; Roy and LMA. In order for them to be 'better' they have to find more depth than that. Come on guys. Can we celebrate the Rockets success on this board without still finding some way to bash them?
The only reason the Blazers are even in this series is the fact that they have the largest front line in the league. They have 3 legitimate 7 footers who can defend Yao and soak up fouls. If Joel or Greg arent there, Yao is going to have a far superior impact on the game. They simply cannot stop him.
Blazers have MORE talent, but we just play harder and smarter than them. Last year's Rockets team also fought valiantly and also busted their butts just to be in the series against the Jazz. This year our role players just matured and we have more talent.
Talent is pretty subjective. The Rockets were built around Yao and Tmac and Morey chose his role players accordingly. Same thing that Pritchard has done for Portland. You can't just say X is better than Y therefore X is greater. You really have to look at the whole team and its chemistry. You can't really say inexperience is causing Portland to fail against the Rockets. The final few minutes of the 4th quarter boil down to execution, and Portland, except for Oden, has had 82 games this season to learn how to execute. The Rockets, with the injuries to Ron, the inclusion of Wafer, the promotion of Brooks, and trade for Lowry, with the subtraction of Tmac, have definitely had less experience executing down the stretch than Portland has. You can see it whenever the Rockets run "Chicken with their head cut off play". Part of being able to execute down the stretch is having good coaching. Going back to that first point about the team being built around Yao and Tmac, you have to admit that the Rockets, or Adelman, is a lot more flexible and able to adapt then McMillan. So for the whole inexperience argument, I would say Portland has a less experienced coach which could explain some of the losses. It almost certainly explains the Game 1 fluke, as Portland didn't seem to front Yao as much. But as a team, the Rockets have had less experience together but they're still kicking Portland's butt, even if its not as wide as a margin as people like. Most NBA games are won within 10 points, the parity of talent between the players in the NBA allow that, but to say Portland is more talented "team" then the Rockets, the scoreboard is proving that the Rockets as a team are more talented.
See now you are getting with what the OP and I are saying. Basically the decision from Nate on how to guard Yao was a smart one. He's basically saying I will not let Yao beat us, someone else will have to do it. Unfortunately that someone is experience, the experience of veterans to know what to do at the end of games is a invaluable gift right now. The Blazers have a vast amount of talent; but their inexperience is killing them right now, especially in the 4th period. See this is where we see thigns differently... Portland only has one person Blake with a good amount of playoff experience.. Rose, Young and Paul were with teams that had veteran players with playoff experience.
i think the OP is dead wrong. both from a content perspective, and for posting this in the first place. just, wow.
This thread is ridiculous. We're up 3-1 in the series , have OWNED Portland all season. Their only 2 wins against us all year were a MIRACLE last second half court shot by Roy at the buzzer, and game 2 when we lost b/c of missed free throws (in their building). The comment that have more talent is a joke. Roy is a great player, I'll give him that, but after that they don't have one single positional player that I would take over any of ours. Aldridge is good, but I'll take Scola. After that, it's not even close... starters or bench. Get a clue dude....
And nothings changed in terms of players from game 2 and games 3 and 4. The only thing that changed was RICK ADELMAN'S adjustments. Believe in Rick the Ruler!
