ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Suns 11/15/2002

The Suns have a pretty big lineup.

Tsakalidis is 7'2-3
Googs 6'10
Marion 6'7
Penny 6'7
Marbury 6'2

Amare 6'10
Joe Johnson 6'8
etc etc The Suns are the 4th talles team in the league or so and one of the heaviest teams too.

But anyway i expect Griffin to see time at center because it will force Tsakalidis on the bench because he isn't involved offensively at this point and can't take advantage on the other side but has trouble to defend small and quick centers.

 

I want to see the Rockets play Yao so he can score at least 15 points on TV, that'll make the haters cry.

 

Just like his teammates need to more and more adopt SF's personality, the fans need to do the same. Take Sane's post, for instance, what is this strange feeling you are getting? His post is not unigue as quite a few of them do not reflect the results or the potential of this team. This is the NBA and you know what they say about any given night, but the fact is we have answers to all of their best weapons and they do have for all of our's.

 

DearRock,

Although I agere that anything can happen, I just feel that we dont' match up well with this team especially.

If you have to know, I think we match up very well with the Mavs and Lakers.

I'm not a pessimist, I just think that the Suns happen to have a certain skill set that doesn't favour us over the other 27 teams in the league.


This pessimist vs. optimist thing is getting out of hand guys. Give it a rest.

 

i think you guys have the forward matchups all wrong. i would matchup this way:


stoudamire vs. kenny thomas
marion vs. eddie griffin

marion absolutely cannot create his own shot and has very suspect lateral movement offensively. so griff's perimeter defense won't be an issue. and i am convinced marion cannot shoot 15 footers over griff.

stoudamire, as i said before, cannot hit his ass with either hand. he just a highjumping brute. put kt on him, because kt can keep that strong body on him.

i also would not play cat as much this game. i love him, but i think the guard matchups dictate that hawkins will get 20-25 minutes somewhere on the court. why? because he is the single best matchup vs marbury. i don't want steve expending energy chasing stephon around the court.

 

If you take out Mobley to put Hawkins on Marbury, they can make Francis guard Hardaway. I'm not so sure how well that works when the other team has a tall SG who can score, much less, run the offense.

Hawkins can guard 3 positions, indeed, but so far, the only time we've had him on a PG is in short sequences (not a viable game plan) or when the opposing SG was not the type to take Steve Francis to the hole (Brent Barry). In that game, we had SF and CM in the game, when Hawkins took Payton. CM is used to guarding taller players, so he can cover Small Forwards better than Francis can cover SGs, and Cat doesn't need to score while he's putting out that effort. imo, Steve Francis on a SG is one of the reasons we despise the 3 guard lineup. I don't want to do that too much, especially at the expense of sitting Mobley.

over the season, I expect Hawkins and Mobley to switch defensive assignments while on the floor together, way more than we bench Mobley for Hawks defense. Hawkins is the player we wanted in Shandon, and he's more a real small forward, too. My guess is that we will use the SF, CM, and Hawk lineup like we ran the SF, Shandon, CM lineup..

 

heypee:

good point. i forgot about penny. oh well, just leave cat in and bring hawk in when needed. what did you think about amare v kenny & eddie v marion?

 

as for the other matchups, I have no fear of Griffin on Amare...(refer to Summer League). Marion will play the perimeter, so there is something to say about Kenny going out there to get him and leaving Griffin near the basket.

anyhoot, have we seen Griffin on a Small Forward yet this year??

another thing to note is Voskuhl in on the Injured List, and Tsak and Scott Williams are only getting 30mpg combined. I suspect Amare will be playing center some and be guarded by Cato/Yao

 

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere, but is tonight's game on Ch. 51? The Chronicle two days ago said it was, but today's paper says ESPN. I don't have cable and want to know if I'll need to go to the bar to watch the game.

 

I read it was on both ESPN & 51. I am sure it is on 51 at 1AM also because of the late 9:30 pm start.

 

I would be pretty disappointed if the rocks were to lose to the Suns. This is exactly the kind of team the Rocks should spank. Outside of Marbury, they have no one scary on offense. Outside of Marion, their frontcourt bites. If SF has some help, they should win this game easily.

I'm looking for Griff to have a huge night.

 

I couldn't disagree more. Does anyone think Amare would have more luck pushing Eddie around than Rasheed? I don't and besides Amare is not a real threat to beat you on the offensive end. KT has better quickness IMO and will give Marion fits.

When we played Portland I remember watching Eddie standing next to Rasheed and thinking that they were damn near the exact same size. Eddie is getting strong and the Rockets should not shy away from putting him on another power forward, perticularly one that is fresh out of high school and has no offensive game.

 

...the harder they slam in your face!

 

Hawk will play 'rover' 'D'...Rudy will bring him in to cool off the hot dude. Marion won't be hot without Starbury being hot. Shut down the little feller and the bigger guy will be containable.

I expect Hawk to play several minutes every game just to shut off the smoke.

 

Cato's Status from the Rockets official website:
http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rockets_200203_Injury_Report-55410-34.html
Will join the team for tonight's game in Phoenix; questionable to see action

 

If he is there it does not make since for him to not see action, he not injured.

 

So how will the Rockets do against the officials tonight?
Just keep out of foul trouble and keep your composure.

 

Thank you Slinslin. I 'bout fell out of my chair when I read about Amare getting "junk" points.

All this talk about the Suns lack of offense is very real, just like with many other teams this year, they installed a new offense and have had a hard time adapting to it. That being said, they do have the best defense in the league right now.

I see another close game, the Rockets always play the Suns tough, so I imagine it will be the same this go around.

...and for whoever was wishing injuries on Phoenix players, you have no class whatsoever. Watch that karma, it might just bight you on the a**.

Good luck tonight guys.

 

Hmmm. . . he missed so many days of action. Rudy probably won't play him due to his "familiarity" problem.

 

I disagree about griffin vs. marion. Marion can create his own shot, especially on someone like Griffin. We do NOT want him guarding on the perimeter. I'd rather have KT out there because he is much quicker. Eddie would have no problem with Stoudemire, but remember Amare is no joke even if he is a rookie he's still tough as hell.