[ESPN] Scouting Breakdown: Rockets-Lakers

I don't know .. I have a feeling this will be a Ralph Sampson series!!!

 

That's a pretty good series review thats accurate on most aspects. Kudos to David Thorpe.

 

Love David Thorpe. He has the most entertaining chats of all of the ESPN Analysts.

 

Thanks for posting that, great read.

 

Even though he picks the Lakers to win (and realistically so do us all) in 6, it is still a great piece of analysis, incredible piece if you consider it is from ESPN. I think that the Rox are the best team left in the West to hang with the Lakers, but my biggest fear is they will simply outlast us in our favored mud fight due to the sheer quantity of excellent scorers they have. All of us remembering Fisher lighting us up during the Jazz series as well as Kobe and Gasol lighting us up in the regular season.

 

Really, really good. I can tell he spent a lot of time reviewing past games between the Rockets and Lakers on Synergy Sports.

 

i disagree, rockets in 6. we'll win a game up in staples.

 

That was a great read. Thanks!

 

Rockets will win under some of the following conditions:

- We execute with near flawless precision considering that after Yao and maybe Artest (huge maybe) no one is really able to create for themselves
- Our role players play out of their minds. The only one during the regular season that ever shows up on the offensive end of our bench is Wafer.
- Yao doesn't get into foul trouble. Face it, ever since Mt. Mutombo went down, nearly every Western playoff team's front court demolish us in size. If Yao is out, they can post on us all game.
- We make our threes. Rockets generally live and die by the threes when they front Yao.
- Shane and Artest force Kobe to be a volume shooter and Artest does not ignite Kobe into a 4th quarter blowup with his stupidity.
- Yao either blows up or gobbles up o-boards.
- Artest does not lose his brains on offense or at least keeps his stupid shots to a minimum. Being realistic, I will be content if he takes under 10 stupid shots.

Don't get me wrong though, Rockets can make every single game winnable. Unfortunately, the absence of a closer really makes each second half a total PITA for us.

 

i can already foresee those incredibly frustrating 5-min. scoreless stretches killing us...

 

This guy looks like he actually watched the series unlike every other reporter/analyst out there.

Yao: Despite numbers that were just solid (15.8 and 10.7), Yao was terrific against Portland. When they did not give him special attention, he was nearly perfect as a scorer (including 9-for -9 in Game 1). When they doubled and shadowed him, he was content to serve as a decoy and let his teammates make the necessary plays. He'll need to win his battle against Gasol and Bynum to give the Rockets any chance. Additionally, avoiding fouls against that tandem is mandatory now that Dikembe Mutombo is out.

Gasol: Very steady effort, as always, against Utah. If he can score inside against Yao and force Houston to send a second defender to help, L.A.'s cutters (Ariza and Odom) and Kobe's drives/post ups will be far more effective. Gasol averaged 18.5 ppg against Yao during the season. Likewise is his ability to defend Yao by himself -- if he can to some degree then Houston will have a far tougher time earning great shots. The biggest question for both he and Odom is how much toughness they bring to the games. Houston has a lot of similarities to how Boston plays and defends.

Guess he wasn't told Bynum was going to start. Oh well.

 

great read. our offense does rely on good screens and passing, but we saw in the portland series how bad we can be at executing our offense.

if we win 2 games against the lakers i'll be happy, but realistically i see us losing in 5.

i predict we go down 0-2 at LA

then win one of two at home making it 3-1

then the lakers beat us on their floor

i dont see us putting a better fight than the jazz.

 

I don't agree with that bold statement. THEY wont shut us down.. we'll shut our selves down. That's basically overrating their defense if anyone thinks that LA team can shut a team down defensively. That's their weakness, more specifically, their perimeter defense is terrible. I can't believe that ESPN scout said that.... we have a better chance of shutting them down than them shutting us down. We get ourselves in trouble by not running the offense when Yao is fronted. When Yao is fronted, we are not shutdown. AB and Ron have to realize that they need to become the playmakers and everyone has to move without the ball, it's Rick Adelman's offense then.

 

It is not that their defense is great, but that that our offense isn't that consistent. Beyond Yao and Artest, we really don't have anyone that can create for themselves. Brooks and Wafer go off at times, but the offense does not start and end with them. Besides, when motivated, Bynum is a pretty talented big. Also, as soft as Gosol is, he is still good and can defend pretty well.

 

Excellent, incredibly thorough analysis. Everything is spot on.

We will have to play our best offense of the year to pull it out. Our periods of total offensive cluelessness will set us back.

Our best chance is to steal game 1 and hold home court. I'll pick Rox in 6.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with this analysis. We will have to play above ourselves offensively to have a chance, and some off-nights for Kobe and crew would certainly help. I'm hoping we have some ace 3-point shooting nights in us. We need Brooks, Wafer, Ron, and Shane hitting a high percentage to have a chance, and Scola and Landy have to hit those long jumpers consistently.

I think it's almost certain that LA will take at least 1 game in Houston. That means we have to win at least 2 in LA, which is a very, very tall order. Our best shot to get one of those is game 1 in my opinion. We need to hit them hard and hopefully Rick puts in a few offensive wrinkles their not ready for. If Kobe is feeling ill and not 100%, so much the better. The ability to surprise disappears as the series goes on.

We could always get hot again in game 2, 5, or 7, but I think taking game 1 is the key. If we're down 2-0 when we come back to Houston, I really don't like our chances.

I expect LA to win this series, but if we play smart and aggressively and stick to the game plan, we could certainly surprise the Lakers.

 

speak for yourself....Rockets in 7

 

I agree with most of the stuff David Thorpe said, He's a very good analyst. He did pick us to take out the Blazers in 6.

To me, I think the most important thing for us is our offense. We know we are an elite defensive minded team. However, we need to put up points in order to take out the Lakers. Lakers are almost the opposite of us. They are offensive minded, but they can shut you down as well but not as well as we can.

We know Yao will get is, If his teammates feed him the basketball. Yao has played efficient 1st halfs against the Lakers this year. But when the 2nd half started they start going away from him and I truly blame Aaron Brooks for that because a PG is suppose to direct an offense and that was one thing Rafer Alston was extremely underrated in.

The only way we can take out the Lakers is by defense. We stand no chance in a track meet or in a 3 point contest against the Lakers. We need to get transition buckets if it is possible, force turnovers and alter shots in the paint. We need to win against the Lakers with our defense. Our offense will be key if we can't stop them on the other end. Lakers are not the best defensive team out there.

Go Rockets though and this should be a good series.

 

Impressive... A national journalist with serious local knowledge.

Give that guy a pat on the back.