The key is to give the ball to Scola, Yao, Battier, Landry. They are more efficient on offense. Let the Lakers to put more energy on defense to slow down a little bit.
we will shock the world and then national media and everywone else will jump on the bandwagon...you will go out of town and see people wearing Yao and artest jerseys!!!....this is a special team we have...rockets in 6...GET IT DONE
It is a understandable article. One that is hard to disagree with if you didn't watch the Rockets and Blazers series. But I did watch all of the Rockets blazer series and most of the Lakers Jazz. And IMO (IN MY OPINION) which (imo again) is more relevant than the Espn writers popular opinion based on little actual knowledge of this tough Rocket team who has only gotten better with each playoff game and are actually much better than that team the was 1 of the top 5 hottest teams since the All Start break with the toughest schedule. LMA is a tougher match than Gasol. I mean Gasol does some things better like postup but Aldridge overall is more athletic and shoots better. Blake is quicker than Fisher. The one thing that Fisher had going for himself last game was intimidation. That won't work this series. Brooks and Lowry will run circles around him. Oden and Pryzbilla are better at defending Yao than Bynum. Yeah you can argue that all you want but I watched Oden go up against Bynum the last game they played and Oden made Bynum look like a boy. In less minutes and even with his limited offensive repertoire he schooled Bynum. Pryzbilla played better too. And I had never seen 2 centers from the same team give Yao more fits. Yao will love the break from the pounding oden and billa gave him. That is for sure. Artest is wrong Kobe is better than Roy but not alot. ANd the reason I can say that is what Roy lacks in Kobes quickness he almost makes up for in his brute force and physical play So yes Kobe is an improvement but not major. Okay that covers 4 out of 5 positions leaving Odom. He is a definite upgrade over outlaw. If odom plays the 3 he will give us matchup problems. So possible he can be a difference maker. But he doesn't have a history of stepping up in the playoffs and battier will leave his heart on he court whoever he is guarding. So Odom is thier xfactor but it is a little x. Also I give us alittle edge on the bench. Landry and Lowry are Warriors. Von Wafer is a microwave scorer and that is all we need with the exception of Hayes if we get into foul trouble. Arriza is a good scorer and hustler.Wafer is better than Vujacic. Lowry is better than Brown. Landry is better than powell or Walton or whoever else they have left. This will a very tough series but if the Rockets can win 1 in La they will win in 6. Yes the rockets can do the same to the Lakers if they win 1 in LA. Their best bet is Monday and then they will hard pressed to win game 2 but that is okay. If we take the home court back on Game 1 we will never look back. Rockets in 6!
Good analysis. I agree with you. I don't see the the Lakers as an unbeatable team. The Blazers actually have better talents 1-10 than the Lakers, imo. The two exceptions: 1) Kobe can go off for 40, 50 but if we make him earn them, he will be taking shots from his teammates. 2) Lakers have more experience, if they focus, they don't beat themselves. If you leave an opening, they will go for the kill. We need to play our game, play smart, take the best shots available, doesn't matter who takes the shots but don't beat ourselves with bad shots. Play defense like we know how, don't commit silly fouls. We will give them a run for the money.
Sasha, Odom, Ariza, Powell, Walton does not fear me. Rockets should actually force Kobe to have to score early by keeping the pressure on Lakers. If kobe spends the 1st half just finding team mates and passing and the games are close through the 4th Kobe is going to take over down the stretch. Force Kobe to shoot alot. My gameplan would be to not let everyone else get theirs. Kobe is going to be kobe but dont allow the other guys to hurt you. Make kobe work all game, No possesions off. Ron artest needs to be smart back off kobe because he will beat you with his first step. Force Kobe to shoot jumpers, if he makes them live with it. But if kobe continues getting to the rack he's going to get and 1's all night. I think so many teams pay so much attention to Kobe it opens up everything for the rest of those guys. Landry, Brooks, Wafer, Lowry benifit from all the attention Yao gets, the same goes for that laker bunch with Kobe.
Agreed x 10. This is pretty much what I said in the other thread. Yao has to be a superstar, Ron has to be an All Star and the role players have to contribute and be consistent. I also add that one of our role players needs to have a breakout series. My bet is on Lowry due to his advantage over Fisher and Farmar as well as his willingness to go at the rim and draw fouls on the Lakers bigs. That could change the series. It's gonna be good!!!
One suggestion I have for Rick Adelman in this series: Use Artest on Gasol if Scola can't get the job done defensively early in games. He's big enough to play on the post, and can get in the head of a mentally soft Gasol. Take Gasol away, and you can beat the Lakers. As for Kobe, he is going to get his, and Shane can handle him as well as anyone else.
Rockets game 1 vs. La Yao only 12pts on 6-11 shooting 82-111 L Rockets game 2 vs. La Yao only 19pts on 9-18 shooting 105-100 L Rockets game 3 vs. La Yao only 16pts on 7-9 shooting 96-102 L Rockets game 4 vs. La Yao only 16pts on 6-12 shooting 81-93 L Rockets have to get Yao the ball more bottom line. We cant afford Brooks to continue to overlook Yao when he has his man sealed off. WE MUST GET YAO THE BALL!!!!!! Yao must average atleast 25 points in this series.
Not only this but he must do a good job of guarding the basket. He can't allow their smalls do get easy layups, no layups!
Yao must protect the hoop but other players should also do a better job of keeping their man from getting to the hoop.
That is some efficient scoring, It's just too bad that his teammates ignore him in the 2nd half. Yao can't be stopped, only himself and his teammates can stop him. The funny thing is most of those points came in the 1st half.. Aaron Brooks is the most stubborn player we have on our team, Artest is the biggest Kobe wanna be on offense ever. No good signs, but things can change. Artest changed in Game 6.
Sorry for double posting but also I believe Rockets led in two of those games by atleast 15 points and both times lost the leads. This absolutley can not happen. PROTECT THE LEAD. When you're up, less jumpers and more attacking the basket and drawing fouls.
He sure did. I believe Ron does have it in him to take good shots and not try to do to much. If his shot selection is held in check, I see nothing but good coming from him.
Its effecient but he's our star , Yao should be taking more than 12 attempts a game especially against Lakers. Brooks is affraid he will get the ball stolen because he is so small so he swings the ball or over dribbles only to jack up a shot or drive in the paint where there are 3-4 defenders poking at the ball.
Can someone tell the Rockets that Lamar Odom is left-handed. He was burning the Rockets to the rack going left and everyone seemed to be caught off guard.
Kobe will get his, Shane and Ron just have to make him work hard for every point. Kobe also likes to come from the blind side and poke the ball away from Yao. Odom and Gasol will have big games against us. They are just a mismatch size, speed, and talent wise. Need to turn Ariza into a jumpshooter and limit his hustle and energy plays which can swing the momentum at anytime. Limit Fisher's open looks, he thrives on those. Can't let Bynum get going in this series, he wants to have a good series against Yao and will be geeked up. Sasha WhoseABitch, Josh Powell, Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar...cannot let these guys have big games. Powell had some key offensive rebounds and putbacks in the last game against us...hint hint Carl Landry. Brown has played good lately, need him to be a nonfactor in our series. Luke Walton might be ready to play in game 1, he's another player that needs to be a non factor. And if Mbenga and Morrison have big games against us, consider it a bad omen of how we are doing. Transition D will be important, Lakers ball movement and patience in getting a good shot is excellent, can't have any breakdown on our D.
