Chron: Rockets must now beware of Big D — mainly No. 41

The D I am concerned about is Dampier. He plays Yao very well and we need Yao to draw doubles. If Dampier is playing well, they may let him go heads-up against Yao, negating one of our biggest strengths.

That being said, Dampier is returning from injury, which will hopefully limit his productivity. I love seeing Bradley come in since Yao always torches him.

 

Damp does play Yao well and probably well enough not to double Yao.

But this article is right on, its going to come down to Dirk. We were letting Brand get all the shots he wanted because his teamates couldn't hit jack. But this is clearly not the case in Dallas, Terry-Stack-Finley-KVH have been playing unbelievable since Avery took over.

This should be a great series, probably the most intruiging matchup of the 1st round. Let's go Rockets!!

 

Well, we can put the same question to the Mavs "Will anyone be able to stop Big M as in Mac&Ming?"

Mavs know we have an unstoppable SF in T-mac and better center in Ming. But they are not worried. why? Because they think they are better as a TEAM. So, the key is we must play like a TEAM. We can beat them as a better TEAM. So, basically everyone has to step up and give their best effort. That's how we are gonna stop Big D.

 

This article makes for good drama, but the fact of the matter is the Rockets have got to be able to get through teams like Dallas if they're ever going to make it to the Finals. Finding a team in the Western conference playoffs that isn't a tough match up is nearly impossible. Seattle may be the only one right now, and even that is just because they're banged up. Everybody is focusing on how they'd rather see the Rockets play the Sonics in the first round, but playing the Sonics in the first round would mean meeting the Spurs in the second round. I'd much rather see the Suns in the second round.

 

This paragraph annoyed me because it didn't recognize the danger of falling to 7 with a tank job. Wouldn't it be nice to tank to dodge the Mavs only to end up drawing the Spurs instead?

 

I don't worry about Dampier at all. Dirk scares the horse dooky out of me and for some reason (maybe the past haunts me) Mike Finley will show up this series. We just have to be running on full cylinders! I don't believe we have to be great to beat Dallas......we just have to be really good at what we do as a team. The Rockets can not afford to be "alright" or "subpar" We will loose in 5 or 6 with that mess. We can save being "great" for the Spurs or even better....the Pistons/Heat in the finals

 

I almost have taken the stance that Dirk's going to drop 25-40 points on you no matter what defense you play on him, so let him get his. It's everybody else I'm worried about.

 

Same thoughts.

I also didn't like how the author doesn't realize that going through No. 4 seed Dallas, and then No. 1 seed Phoenix, is an easier way to get to the WC Finals, rather than beating up a thin third seed in Seattle, then having to beat San Antonio on the road in the second round (which would be a jump from a very mediocre playoff team in the first round, to the best team in the league in the second).

Frankly, I want to make progress this season. Last year we were bumped in the first round, and this year I want to make it out, but in all honestly a victory over Seattle and an ass-whooping by San Antonio wouldn't make me feel like we accomplished more this year than we did last.

I'd much prefer a first-round victory in Dallas, even if we get bumped in the next round by Phoenix. With the confidence a first-round victory over Dallas would give us, however, I wouldn't be surprised if we beat Phoenix in the second round and found ourselves in the Western Conference Finals.

At that point, with a player like McGrady, anything can happen.

 

Obviously, we're going to have big problems with good 4s for the rest of the year. But the advantage of the playoffs is that it gives Van Gundy several days to scheme defensively. So hopefully, we'll have a few different things for Dallas to deal with.

 

I disagree. Yao can score on anybody in the league 1-on-1 including Shaq. Yao will make you pay. Unfortunately, Yao too often crumbles with double teams. He goes from dominant to MIA.

Yao needs to dominate with single coverage (as he normally does) and be consistent if he sees double teams. If he does that, everything else will come much easier, IMO.

 

Not necessarily. In June, we might be faced with Udonis Haslem.

 

I really think that is the wrong way to look at it.

When measuring the progress of this team, you shouldnt just look at ho wfar they managed to get, but how well are they playing as a team and how well are they buying into the philosophy and identity of unselfish hardnosed team play.

With your basic core players comfortable and well-versed in the VG Way....any new players will be easily indoctrinated into their role come next season...the point is....that we have made huge process as a team regardless of playoff advancement....

The big thing we should want as fans is that our players get experience working together in playoff situations and hopefully learn what it takes to advance past a opponent that they are not better than...

It would be different if the same team we had last year couldnt get farther...but these guys aint them....this is a totally different team and I can live with reasonable progress towards the ultimate goal....just as long as progress is being made,

 

We share the same philosophy (that improvement isn't measured by whether we get out of the first round, but by the quality of ball we're playing), that's why I said I didn't think beating Seattle would be progress from last year (when we fell to a hands-down better team in the Lakers), as we're the hands-down better team against the Sonics.

I think where we differ is our view of what would constitute progress for this year's Rockets, outside of playoff advancements.

My point is that falling to Dallas in the first round, although not a disaster, is not an improvement upon falling to last year's Lakers in the first round. Sure, we could gut it out with them - playing with heart and hustle - and still lose... but guess what, that's what we did last year against a much better team than this year's Mavs (Laker's '04 with Daddy, Kobe, Mailman and Glove would handle Mav's '05 with Dirk, Finley, Stack, Damp, etc.).

Now, of course I am far more content with our roster going into this year's postseason than I was with our roster going into last year's postseason, but that's not the issue. We made all of these trades to win a championship (that's the goal). In order to do that, we need to make progress, and any way you slice it, regardless of one's personal opinions on our style of play and philosophy, if we continue to fall year-after-year in the first round, we've never made progress as a team.

Now, that's not to say that if we don't get out of the first round this year, we'll never make progress. But until we do that, with a first round loss against Dallas, at best we've built our team back up to the status it was at by the 2004 playoffs (a gritty team with talent and potential, outclassed by a better team in the first round), after having taken a temporary step back with all the roster movement.

Optimism would lie in the idea that once these guys have another year under they're belt, they'll soon be dangerous (and presumably get out of the first round). If it worked out that way and they got out of the first round in 2006, then fine, progress was made. But if they didn't, and got bounced in the first round again, you simply can't say that they've progressed.

In other words, basketball is results-oriented. Progress is determined by who you beat, combined with how far you've advanced. With Dallas? I think the talent disparity between us and them is far less than it was between us and the Lakers last year (and this year, it's arguably in our favor); we need to beat them to claim progress from losing to the Lakers last year.

 

In Jeff Van Gundy I trust. I have full faith that he is and will be the reason why we defeat the Mavs.