ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Hawks @ Rockets 12/20/2002

We will win. We must win. who said itt before?

 

Well, at least in this game, if Steve turns the ball over, Jason Terry may turn the ball over right back. But Stevie has to take care of the ball...he really is dead last among point guards in assist/turnover ratio:

Terry 2.3
Francis 1.5

 

I am quite interested about:
Can Rice claim something over Glenn Robinson before Posey arrives?
Any thoughts?

KH

 

hawk is a trash team compare with Pacer. I cannot beleieve that rox will lose the game. meanwhile, for all the team respect us now(they analyst us pretty well). I think they will put more weight on defeat. it should not be a blow-out.

Rox 95
hawk 88

 

Is Posey not going to be playing this game?

If Griffin can keep Rahim in check, the game will be a blow out. Otherwise it'll be close.

 

Rocks ALWAYS beat the good teams and just when we think they've pushed their status to contender, they turn around and lose to a crappy team with a less than .500 record. Let's see how they fare this time around.

 

Im going to make a prediction.. of Maurice breaking out like a beast and dropping 20 in the Hawks

GO BIG MO!

GO ROCKETS

Welcome to your new home James!

Don't take the Hawks easy and get this win started.


Rockets 108
Hawks 97

 

We also need to get "Big Dog" under control.

 

should have some interesting matchups this game...

yao v ratliff - a pretty good defensive center against yao...yao should still dominate him though.

francis v terry - two very good offensive minded guards.

posey v big dog - we get our first look at how well posey can play defense.

griffin v abdur-rahim - maybe eddie can hold his own against him.

the rockets should win this game, but you never know with this team. the hawks have lost 4 straight and are 2-10 on the road.

rockets 102 hawks 87

 

Rockets 111
Hawks 93

Yao will Dominate and Griffin will show up with solid play. Francis will have another good game as well.

 

we always win when people think we will lost; we always lost when we think we should win. So i predict we will have a tough loss.

rox: 101
hawks: 104

 

W I N (This is all I can predict )

 

The Rockets have yet to win three games in a row, which they could do against Atlanta.

But they won't. The Rockets ALWAYS lose to bad teams immediately after beating good teams. It happens every time.

Nothing will change here.

The score will not be an indicator of how thoroughly the Rockets are beaten.

Hawks: 110
Rockets: 100.

If I am wrong, and the Rockets somehow pull out a win, I will be the most impressed as I have been with the Rockets this year.

The wins over good teams mean nothing if they go and lose to crap the next night.

 

<i>Posey didn't arrive in time for practice, but he passed his physical and started studying the Rockets' playbook so he can be ready for tonight's game against Atlanta at Compaq Center. </i>

That's the Chron confirming that Posey will be suiting up. If Rice is getting burned by Robinson, Posey might get thrown right into the fire.

 

The Hawks are one of the worst road teams in the entire NBA over the last three years and are the worst team in the NBA in terms of turnover differential. Plus, their best rebounders are actually bench players (Mohammed and Henderson) and they seem to have an affinity towards our reject point guards (Matt Maloney, Emmanuel Davis). So should be an easy Rockets win right? Well, I think it will depend on:

1) Shutting down Jason Terry. Big Dog and Reef will get their #s against anybody but its the former Wildcat who is really their only 3pnt threat. Terry has been very inconsistent lately and you really don't know what he's gonna do day in and day out. He doesn't play defense all that well either (pretty small guy), so it might be tempting for Stevie to have a duel with Terry if he gets out. Message to Stevie: NO DUELING WITH TERRY!!

2) Keeping the rebounding edge. IMO, their best boardsman are Mohammed and Henderson but they lose something when those guys are in. If the Rockets are killing the Hawks on the boards, you might see Reefer sit and Ratliff sit.

3) Play the halfcourt game. Atlanta almost beat Dallas last year in a shootout and with their Big 3, can light it up. I think Rockets gotta play setup their offense and play smart transition basketball.

Bottom line: We should not lose to this type of team at home. Yeah, they got three good scorers and sometimes Dion Glover can turn it on but they stink at defense. I guess we'll see if the Rockets continue to play to the level of the competition.

Rockets 102
Hawks 88

 

This is well say... for Rockets to win, just keep half-court and inside-out game, Hawks got no chance.

 

I predict a blowout win by the rockets.
altanta has no legit center, ratliff is an altheletic power forward, too short and not skill enough to stay with yao.
Cat is going to have a great night scoring..
and terry doesn't do anything better than stevie.
the atlanta front court may create some problem, cuz they are talent offensiively, but eddie and posey should be adequate to contain them.

it will be a blowout unless the rockets just completely melt down.

 

Graet point,derrock.If we try to outscore them we will lose badly. The Hawks can really score when,Rahim,Robinson and Terry get going.Slowing them down on defense,rebounding and playing a inside-outside passing game with good shooting can lead to a victory but I wonder which Rockets team will show up.
I expect a very close game even if we play correctly because we are not shooting well. The team which makes fewer mistakes and shoots better will win.

 

We need for Rice, Griffin, and MoT to get out of their funk and play some solid consistant basketball...Hopefully the rockets can win their 1st 3 game winning streak of the season..I agree with alot of you..once you see the rockets beat some quality teams, they disappoint us by losing to mediocrity. Hopefully they have learned from their previous mistakes and will take care of the Hawks early and knock them out by the 3rd quarter...